Programme title: Hull Surveying Apprenticeship
Level: SCQF Level 7
Salary: £16,000 (rising annually)
Location: HM Naval Base Clyde
Application closing date: March 2025
Programme start date: September 2025
Kickstart your career as a Marine Surveyor with the 4-year Hull Surveying Apprenticeship at Babcock. Gain hands-on experience and professional qualifications while supporting the Royal Navy’s fleet.
About the programme
Our Marine Surveying team plays a vital role at HM Naval Base Clyde, conducting detailed structural surveys on submarines, surface ships, and visiting vessels, ensuring safety, quality, and compliance with industry standards and specifications.
As an apprentice, you’ll gain a mix of office-based and field experience. In the early stages, you’ll shadow experienced surveyors to learn key responsibilities, such as:
- Conducting visual inspections of submarines and ships, including in tanks and confined spaces.
- Supporting divers during underwater surveys.
- Supervising contractors to ensure work complies with established standards.
- Preparing detailed reports and technical drawings for submission to the Design Authority.
As you progress, you’ll take on more responsibility, directly contributing to the team’s work and playing an increasingly important role in inspections and report preparation.
Your education/training
As part of your apprenticeship, you will receive training both on-site and at West College Scotland. In the early stages, you will complete essential online courses covering safety practices, submarine awareness, confined space protocols, radiological awareness, and more. Throughout the programme, you will study towards:
- SVQ 2 in Performing Engineering Operations at SCQF Level 5
- NC in Welding & Fabrication at SCQF Level 6
- SVQ 3 in Technical Services at SCQF Level 7
- HNC in Welding & Fabrication at SCQF Level 7
Future prospects
Upon completing the apprenticeship, you will have the opportunity to gain additional role-specific qualifications through off-site courses, including:
- ICORR Level 1 Paint Inspection
- CSWIP 3.0 Visual Welding Inspector
- PCN Visual Inspection
- Lloyd’s Hull Inspection Damage & Repair
- Acoustic Tiling Processes
Once fully qualified and experienced, you will be ready to step into a Marine Surveyor role at Babcock. In this position, you will conduct detailed structural surveys of submarines, surface ships, and visiting vessels at HMNB Clyde to meet the requirements of the design authorities. This role currently offers a competitive salary of around £45,368, with a clear and structured career path leading to senior roles.
What you’ll need
- Maths at National 5 or above or equivalent.
- English at National 5 or above or equivalent.
- Science or Technical subject at National 5 or above or equivalent.
- Two other subjects at National 4 or National 5 or above.
- Many of our early careers roles are subject to Security Clearance and Trade Control restrictions which mean that your place of birth, nationality, citizenship, or residency you hold or have held may impact which roles you are eligible for. Further details are available at United Kingdom Security Vetting: clearance levels – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). For our early careers roles, you must be able to achieve BPSS and many of them require you to be eligible for Security Clearance.
What you’ll get
We’ll provide you with a supportive and engaging environment where you can grow your career. In addition, you’ll benefit from:
- Fully funded qualification
- Personal development training and opportunities
- Minimum 28 days holiday allowance including bank holidays
- Competitive pension scheme
- Employee share scheme
- Flexible benefits including cycle to work scheme and employee shopping savings portal
You’ll also have the chance to get involved in our STEM outreach activities and volunteering opportunities, which our apprentices find incredibly rewarding.
Your career development
It’s hard to beat the variety of fantastic opportunities and business experiences you’ll receive. You can expect real world encounters and exposure to exciting projects that will really help you navigate where you want to take your career.
Plus, when you join us, you’ll be automatically enrolled onto our Apprentice Development Programme. Through a series of digital and face to face sessions, presented by wellbeing and performance experts and our external partners, we will equip you with the knowledge and tools you need to thrive and perform at your very best on your programme and beyond.
Closing dates
Please be aware that if there is a high level of interest in this programme, applications may close earlier than advertised. To give yourself the best chance of being considered for a place on this programme, please submit your application as early as possible.
