motivated talent who are committed to developing with the organisation. Apprentices bring fresh perspectives, digital skills, and a strong desire to make an impact. With the right support, they grow into confident professionals who strengthen teams and stay for the long term. My work on the Future Leaders UK programme is very personal to me. I immigrated from Pakistan at the age of 11, from a working-class background, and I know what it feels like to walk into rooms where no one looks or sounds like you. Early on I learned how inequality shapes confidence and choice. After 18 years of working as a teacher, I founded Future Leaders UK because I never wanted young people to shrink themselves in spaces where they deserve to stand tall. I wanted to build a pathway that shows them they belong, their voice matters, and their background is a source of strength. Talent is everywhere, and it is our job to ensure that opportunity is as well. By widening access to degree apprenticeships, we can turn potential into progress for thousands more young people – and build a future where life-changing success is shared by all.
Jacob Slater is another recent Future Leaders UK participant and is embarking on a degree apprenticeship in commercial banking at HSBC. “I strongly believe that I would not have been enrolled in my degree apprenticeship without the support of Future Leaders,” he says. “The programme gave me the confidence and self‑belief to apply to such competitive, prestigious apprenticeships. Choosing the apprenticeship over university wasn’t an easy decision, but it gave me certainty about my future employment in a way university couldn’t guarantee.” At Amazon, Roshan Arora has just started a data analyst degree apprenticeship, having finished the Future Leaders UK programme earlier in 2025. “My experiences at Future Leaders really helped me get a sneak peek into the professional world,” he explains. “It taught me what it would be like working in a corporate setting, helped me build connections and develop confidence. In the end, I chose a degree apprenticeship over university because learning while working really appealed to me. One month in, I’m doing real work, applying my new skills and I’m thriving both professionally and socially.” For employers like Amazon, HSBC and WSP, degree apprenticeships create a pipeline of diverse,
22 Degree Apprenticeships
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