2026 Aerospace Manufacturing Composites Apprentice

**The opportunity**:
Leonardo offers a range of Apprenticeships across a variety of STEM and business routes, offering paid training, coupled with on the job learning that enables you to gain practical skills, experience and knowledge that sets up the best start to your career. We offer competitive entry salaries and fully support your academic learning through to qualifications, with salary increases as you progress.

We support helping you settle into your new location ensuring you are familiar with the team and have a warm welcome from day 1. There is a member of our Apprentice team at each site, helping you progress, ensuring your study time is protected, enabling access to digital learning as well as opportunities to get involved with the local community and STEM projects, enhance many aspects of each programme.

**The Apprenticeship**:
Our Aerospace Manufacturing Composites apprenticeship is suited for those who are interested in the practical (hands-on) elements of engineering.

Over the 4 years on scheme, you will have the opportunity to rotate across a number of placements, based within the Dynamics Composites Centre (DCC) department, which is the area that manufactures blades for many of the Leonardo Helicopter aircraft, including military, civil and VVIP aircraft. The ultimate aim of the scheme is to move you into a final placement area based on the skills displayed during the apprenticeship.

The apprenticeship will start with an Induction into Leonardo, followed by a Yeovil College Induction to ensure that apprenticeship requirements and expectations are fully established.

You will combine your time between Yeovil College and work placements at Leonardo Helicopters, increasing your work placements as you move through the years.

Throughout the apprenticeship, apprentices may be placed in some or all of the following departmental areas within DCC:

- Clean room: The manufacture of the majority of the blade products is completed in this area (including the blade spar, which is the main structural component of the blade)
- Repairs: The area that deals with the in-service products, the blades come in from working aircraft that require maintenance or repair (this can be from general wear and tear or from battle damage)
- Non Destructive Test (NDT): The testing of the blades through the use of non-destructive test methods is covered in this placement
- Inspection: The Inspection of completed processes/tasks against the requirements of the Leonardo Engineering standards
- DCC Quality Control (QC): This department is responsible for the audit of DCC process compliance, and the Investigation of any product/process non-compliance that may occur.

During your apprenticeship, you will:

- Grow your knowledge of an engineering business.
- Develop practical skills in engineering and understanding key processes and technologies.
- Support early careers activities - our apprentices have the opportunity to work as STEM ambassadors in schools, colleges and universities

Each Apprentice on this route will need to complete an End Point Assessment as defined in the Apprenticeship Standard, this will take place in the final months of the program.

**The starting salary for this role is £17,850**

**What we need from you**:
**Qualifications**

You must have (as a minimum) the following qualifications:

- 4 GCSE grades 4 - 9 or grades A*- C or equivalent - Mandatory: English, Maths and Science. *Note - due to the course content, a higher tier C in Maths is recommended

**Security Clearance**

**Why join us**

At Leonardo, our people are at the heart of everything we do, key contributors in shaping innovation, advancing technology, and enhancing global safety.

We offer a comprehensive, company-funded benefits package that supports your wellbeing, career development, and work-life balance. Whether you're looking to grow professionally, care for your health, or plan for the future, we’re here to help you thrive.
- ** Time to recharge**: Enjoy generous leave with the opportunity to accrue up to 12 additional flexi-days each year.
- ** Secure your future**: Benefit from our award-winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution.
- ** Your wellbeing matters**: Free access to mental health support, financial advice, and employee-led networks championing inclusion and diversity (Enable, Pride, Equalise, Armed Forces, Carers, Wellbeing and Ethnicity).
- ** Rewarding performance**: All employees are eligible for our bonus scheme.
- ** Join in our success**: Our annual Employee Stock Ownership Plan provides you the opportunity to own shares in Leonardo.
- ** Tailored perks**: Spend up to £500 annually on flexible benefits including private healthcare, dental, family cover, tech & lifestyle discounts, gym memberships and more.

We are committed to building an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace. We believe that a diverse workforce sparks creativity, drives innovation, and leads to better outcomes for our p