The first week of September marked the 10th anniversary of the first intake of Project Management Higher Apprentices at BAE Systems (www.baesystems.com). A company spokesman said: “This scheme has gone from strength to strength, consistently giving young people at the company invaluable work experience combined with classroom learning.

“We are delighted to announce that 67% of the most recent graduates received a first-class honours degree in project management. The national average is around 18%.”

Alex Dawson-Brown, a recent graduate from the scheme, said: “Receiving my first-class honours degree after five years of study assured me that I’d made the right choice in joining the scheme. The years of work experience have provided opportunities to travel internationally, meet customers and involve myself in challenging projects; I would consider this to be the best-possible start to my career.”

The degree element of the programme is delivered by Blackpool and the Fylde College on behalf of Lancaster University. Operations manager Adrian Bamber said: “This scheme has seen over 150 apprentices studying at the college, attaining the highest levels of success both on the academic programme and within the business. Our strong partnership with BAE Systems provides a truly integrated approach to education that ensures students are not only challenged and stretched throughout their apprenticeship but also become the future high performers within this world-class company.”

The BAE Systems apprenticeship applications window re-opens on 1 November and closes on 28 February.