Airbus UK apprentices are sifted on GCSE grades first, then an online assessment that prep sites describe as a set of games

Airbus says only that apprentices take an online assessment, and prep sites report game-based tasks rather than question papers. Our reasoning test is useful background for the numerical and verbal items some guides list, and our mechanical test covers the levers, gears and forces that craft and technician apprentices work with, which helps you talk confidently at a skills day.

Neither of our tests is a game, and neither reproduces whatever Airbus currently uses online. No source we found says Airbus sets a mechanical comprehension paper, so treat that practice as general readiness, not a mirror. Airbus publishes no time limit or pass mark for apprentices.

Airbus publishes entry requirements for each family of apprenticeship. For craft and technician roles in the 2024 intake, the document asked for five GCSEs including grade 4 or C in maths and in English language, and 4-4 or CC in double award science, with an alternative route through a Level 3 engineering maintenance qualification or an HNC in mechanical technology. Degree apprenticeships have their own, higher requirements.

Because this is a hard filter, the most useful thing you can do before applying is compare your predicted grades with the exact programme document. If you are on the borderline, it is worth asking the apprentices team, which Airbus lists on its adverts, before spending time on the online stage.

Airbus describes its online stage only as an assessment that helps it understand you. Prep sites and candidate reviews fill in the rest: a set of short games, built by Arctic Shores according to several guides, with tasks that measure things like reaction speed, attitude to risk and memory. One candidate described it simply as a mobile game.

Games like these measure behaviour as you play, so there is no answer key to learn. What helps is practical: play on a device with a reliable screen, rest beforehand, read each set of instructions fully, and do not rush the practice round. Our game-based assessments guide explains how this style of test is scored.

A 2026 to 2027 apprenticeship guide describes in-person skills days for craft and technician candidates, each lasting no more than a day, running from late January to mid-March 2027. Candidate accounts of Airbus assessment centres mention group exercises and an interview. The aim is to see how you work with others, how you take instructions and why you want to build aircraft.

Mechanical understanding helps here even if nobody sets a written paper. Craft apprentices fit, drill, rivet and test structures, and being able to explain why a longer spanner turns a bolt more easily, or why a gear train changes speed, shows real curiosity. Our mechanical aptitude test is a quick way to check those basics.

Prep guides say Airbus accepts UK apprenticeship applications from October to February, but individual roles close much earlier. For 2026 intakes, adverts summarised in search results showed Broughton craft roles closing between early November and mid-December and Filton roles in November. The 2024 entry document placed assessment centres in February and March and offers in March and April.

Treat the earliest date you see as the real deadline. Set a reminder for the start of October and apply in the first fortnight.

These come from anonymous reviews, university careers pages and prep guides. They often disagree, and Airbus UK has not confirmed them. Read them as leads, not rules.

• Prep guides report that Airbus sends the online assessment within about three working days of an application.
• Several prep sites name Arctic Shores as the builder of the Airbus games and describe tasks measuring reaction time, risk-taking and memory.
• Candidates on Glassdoor describe the online stage as a set of game-based tests, with one calling it a mobile game.
• Candidate reviews describe assessment centres with group exercises and an interview, held virtually or on site.
• Candidates report total timelines from about four weeks to four months.