Marine Engineer Apprentice – Level 3 Marine Engineer

Position: 2026 Marine Engineer Apprentice – Level 3 Marine Engineer
Location:

turnchapel, united kingdomthales people provide armed forces customers with operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout the mission. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defence mission systems solutions at land, sea, and air. Our platforms extend across the battlespace including above and sonar, electronic combat, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems.together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us.

At thales uk, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across the major industries of aerospace, defence, security and space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you;

whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.
** 2026 marine engineer apprentice – level 3 marine engineer
**** start date:
** 07 september 2026
** salary:** £24,000 per annum
** employee type:
** permanent
* * location:
** tu
* * r
* * nchapel
* * working schedule:*
* * 37 hours a week,
* * monday – thursday 8 hours a day, friday 5 hours (0800 to 1700 with a 1 hour lunch break)
*** what the role has to offer:
*** earn while you learn
* job specific training experience
* recognised qualifications
* permanent role from day one
* tuition fees for university or approved training providers are fully covered
** as a marine engineer apprentice, you will:
*** work hands-on with thales uk vessels, supporting their operations and upkeep
* carry out fault finding and troubleshooting tasks to ensure safety and reliability
* perform both planned and reactive maintenance on cutting-edge marine systems
* collaborate closely with the operations team and skippers to maintain vessel serviceability and high standards
* accurately report and document defects to aid continuous improvement
* provide practical support for all trials conducted at the turnchapel site
** apprentice programme
** for this apprenticeship you will role onto a level 3 marine engineer programme at city of plymouth college. This programme will be delivered over a 3.5 year period, with a further 3-6 months for your end point assessment. For the first year of the apprenticeship, you will attend college full time for your academic studies. During the academic holidays you will work from the thales site in turnchapel to embed your learning and integrate with the team there.

In your second year you will attend college on a day release basis and then spend the rest of the time in the business. Year three will be work based, with remote support from the college. At the end of the apprenticeship, you will have achieved a level 3 qualification in marine engineering and will roll off into a permanent role at our turnchapel site.
** requirements:
*** 5 gcses grade 9-4 (a-c) including english, maths and a science subject
** benefits
* ** 201 hours annual leave (plus a company day and bank holidays)
* company pension
* health care cash plan
* life insurance
* discount portal
* performance-related pay uplifts
* 80 hours volunteering (first two years)
** please note, assessment centres for shortlisted candidates will be held between february - may 2026.  Induction week for all graduates and apprentices will take place from monday 7 september - friday 11 september 2026.
**** closing date:
** our applications will close at
** 11.59pm
** on
** thursday 12 february 2026**, this is the only time we will be accepting applications this year. Please note, we will be in contact by the end of
** february 2026
** with details of next steps.
** please note that roles may close earlier than the advertised deadline if we receive a high numer of applications.  We encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid missing out on this opportunity.
**** recruitment process:
** for further information about our future talent recruitment process, including…