Babcock has welcomed more than 800 apprentices, graduates and undergraduates across its UK operations as it continues to invest in the skills needed to deliver the future of defence.
Celebrating Tomorrow’s Engineers Week and Scottish Careers Week (9-13 November) our 2026 intake reflects the changing nature of defence and engineering, combining the heritage trades that have supported the sector for generations with the digital and technology-focused roles and capabilities that are increasingly critical to modern defence programmes.
The latest cohort includes apprentices and graduates starting careers in areas such as welding, electrical and mechanical engineering, fabrication and manufacturing, alongside software engineering, data analytics, cyber security, digital engineering and other emerging disciplines.
Technology is also transforming traditional trades, with employees increasingly using advanced digital tools to complement their craft, from scanning and modelling software to additive manufacturing and 3D printing.
Together, they will support our work across the land, sea, air, cyber and space domains, contributing to some of the UK’s most important defence and national security programmes, and as defence systems become more connected, autonomous and data-driven, these skills are helping shape how future platforms are designed, operated and supported.
Harry Holt, Group CEO, Babcock, said:
“Our apprentices and graduates are at the heart of our future success. Defence is evolving rapidly, and so are the skills needed to support it.
“From highly skilled tradespeople building and maintaining critical platforms to software engineers, cyber specialists and data analysts helping unlock the next generation of capability, every role has a vital part to play.
“By investing in emerging talent, we’re creating rewarding careers while ensuring the UK has the expertise needed to deliver sovereign defence capability for decades to come.”
This investment aligns closely with our recently launched Engineering the Future of Defence skills study, developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford’s SKOPE research centre. The study examines how the UK can develop the engineering and technical workforce needed to support future defence capability, highlighting growing demand for expertise in areas including artificial intelligence, cyber security, advanced manufacturing and autonomous systems.
We continue to invest heavily in emerging talent programmes as part of our broader commitment to supporting UK prosperity, strengthening sovereign capability and ensuring the nation has the skilled workforce required to meet future defence and security needs. Our apprenticeship and graduate programmes support communities and regional economies across the UK, creating pathways into high-quality careers while strengthening national engineering capability. The announcement comes as we continue to receive national recognition for our investment in workforce development, rising from 29th to 12th in the Department for Education’s Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers rankings and securing a place in the Top 20 of The Sunday Times Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2026 and a place in its Top 100 Graduate Employers list for the second-year running.