My name is Abidul Islam. I am an apprentice within the Cyber team. I joined the company when we were part of VIMA Group in September 2022, and in August 2023, as part of the TUPE process, I transferred into Frazer-Nash.
I took a BTEC IT course in college and during my second year, I was encouraged by my careers adviser to draft a UCAS application for university. However, while doing that, I wasn’t sure on what path to take because I didn’t want to go down the traditional university route, complete a degree, and then not know how to pursue my career further.
After doing some research, I came across this degree apprenticeship opportunity, which was advertised as working within a consultancy firm while also attending university for the learning aspect. The combination of the two gave me more reassurance that by going into an apprenticeship, I would be able to learn what cyber is theoretically, as well as how it is practically implemented within a real work environment.
Throughout my apprenticeship, I have worked on a range of projects. I have worked on client‑related tasks as well as internal work. One of the projects I completed involved delivering cyber risk assessments for a client and automating their information‑gathering process. This felt really refreshing, as their existing process was very inefficient, and by helping to automate it, it felt like we were genuinely bringing value and making a real difference.
In terms of the college aspect, I attended on block‑release weeks, which were 1 week every month, although this varied as some months had 2 weeks of delivery. These block‑release weeks consisted of traditional university‑style lectures relating to the specific module we were covering, and they also prepared us for the assignments we were set in the second week.
I finished the modules of my third year in June 2025 and sat all of my exams in October 2025. This consisted of four practical tests that were 12 hours each, split across two days. Throughout my apprenticeship, I also had to create a portfolio of activities and projects that I worked on, which demonstrated how I met each of the competencies outlined within the apprenticeship standard. After completing the practical tests, I also had to sit a two‑hour technical discussion with an external assessor. This discussion involved taking the assessor through my entire portfolio, explaining every activity I had undertaken, how it satisfied the competency, and being ready to answer any questions they had regarding my portfolio and the work within it.
I have developed a wide range of skills since starting this apprenticeship. I have enhanced my technical skillset by gaining exposure to areas I hadn’t seen before and by actually building systems (e.g. creating a virtualised environment with a two‑tier virtual firewall configuration). This apprenticeship has also helped me develop soft and functional skills such as stakeholder engagement, verbal and written communication, and delivering presentations.
I would highly recommend the apprenticeship route to anyone considering it. However, one piece of advice I would give is that it is important to be aware that you will need to manage your time and balance your responsibilities. Since you will be doing a full‑time job alongside studying for a full‑time degree, it is challenging and can sometimes feel overwhelming, especially when deadlines overlap. Balancing everything is essential to ensure that both components are fulfilled without one being compromised, and I would say that if you get stuck, reach out and talk to someone.
