IT Apprenticeship

Make IT your career!

Gain IT skills and experience with training provided by Belfast Met, Northern Ireland's Designated Digital IT Curriculum Hub! We have over 50 IT Apprenticeship roles available with a range of employers. 

Successful applicants will be given opportunity to be employed in one of the participating companies and receive "on-the-job" training from Belfast Met.

Level 3 IT Apprenticeship 

Belfast Met offers two offers two A-Level equivalent Level 3 IT Apprenticeship programmes at the Castlereagh Campus. The current programmes offer two IT Apprenticeship routes. These are Networking Infrastructure and Software Development. 

• Level 3 Apprenticeship in Networking Infrastructure - read more info 
• Level 3 Apprenticeship in Software Development - read more info 

Experience is not required but applicants must possess a minimum of 5 GCSE's off Grade C or above, including English and Mathematics. 

Level 5 IT Higher Level Apprenticeship 

Higher Level Apprenticeship offers the opportunity to gain quality training and a recognised qualification in paid employment. The HLA will be two and a half years in duration. Apprentices will spend one day on the programme for 30 weeks and the remaining 4 days in employment each year. 

The qualification titles for these HLA's are as follows: 

• Foundation Degree in Cyber Security with Cloud and Networking Infrastructure  - read more info 
• Foundation Degree in Software and Cloud Development with Data Analysis - read more info 

Applicants must hold 160 UCAS points or 64 tariff points, GCSE's at C or above in English and Mathematics, or equivalent qualifications, such as Level 2 Essential Skills in Numeracy and Literacy. Consideration for prior learning can also be submitted. 

Level 6 IT Higher Level Apprenticeships Level 6 BSc (Hons) 

Higher Level Apprenticeship offers the opportunity to gain quality training and a recognised higher qualification while in paid employment. Belfast Met will be offering two new Level 6 Top-Up HLAs in IT. These are Cyber Security & Networking Infrastructure and Software, Cloud & Application Development. These Level 6 BSc (Hons) degrees are validated by The Open University. The HLA and Part Time course will be 13 months in duration. 

• BSc (Hons) Cyber Security and Networking Instructure (Top-Up) - read more info 
• BSc (Hons) Software and Cloud Development with Data Science (Top-Up) - read more info 

Students must have completed and passed a relevant Computing Foundation Degree or HND or have completed and passed the first two years of relevant Computing bachelor's degree. Those who do not meet this criteria must complete and pass the bridging qualification, Cicso CCNA 1 (Introduction to Networks). 

As part of the application process, you are required to complete a Mindmill Online Psychometric test at home. This must be completed by 9am on Friday 23rd August 2024. Failure to complete the test by this deadline will be considered as your withdrawal from the process.

If you meet the benchmark, you will be invited to an invigilated verification test, which will be conducted via Microsoft Teams on Wednesday 28th August 2024. Failure to attend the invigilated session will be considered as your withdrawal from the process. Click here to read more info about what to expect in the test. 

If you are applying for more than one Apprenticeship Level, you will only need to complete the Online test once.  

If the Online Psychometric Assessment is likely to pose a particular difficulty for you due to learning difficulties, please contact Mindmill  and outline your specific requirements. It will be necessary for you to furnish documentary substantiation of your condition (e.g. medical reports or educational psychologist's report) prior to taking the test. Subject to your requirements we will make adjustments to your test timings.