British Airways vs Rolls-Royce Graduate Scheme 2027: Which Should You Apply To?

British Airways and Rolls-Royce are two of the biggest aviation-linked graduate employers in the UK, and their 2027 windows close nine days apart. This guide compares the engineering routes side by side from each employer’s own pages. Single-employer detail is in our British Airways graduate scheme guide and our Rolls-Royce graduate scheme guide.

British Airways vs Rolls-Royce graduate scheme 2027: side by side

Evidence: Official means taken from the employer’s own pages. Not published means we found no figure.

At a glance: what each employer states

Evidence labels: Official = the employer’s own pages; Not published = no figure found. See our Transparency Index for how we score pay, dates and stages.

The biggest difference: where you work and how you are tested

British Airways recruits into Heathrow and runs a pre-application task, online assessments, a video interview and an assessment centre at Waterside. Rolls-Royce asks for no CV, sets three online assessments and three written motivation questions, then a virtual assessment centre with a technical presentation. If you prefer a single London-area site and a video stage, BA is the closer fit. If you want rotations across Derby, Bristol and Solihull and are comfortable with a written and technical presentation format, Rolls-Royce is.

British Airways vs Rolls-Royce graduate scheme: pay

British Airways publishes £33,000 for both engineering graduate schemes. Rolls-Royce publishes £31,000 plus a £2,000 joining bonus. The headline salaries differ by £2,000, which is the same as the Rolls-Royce joining bonus, but we did not find when the bonus is paid, so compare what you would receive month to month using our paycheck calculator.

Who can apply

British Airways Engineering Business takes any degree subject with a 2:2; Engineering Technical needs mechanical or aeronautical engineering. Rolls-Royce asks for a STEM degree or joint honours combining STEM with business or economics and does not state a minimum classification in the posting. Both ask for the right to work in the UK, and Rolls-Royce adds nationality rules for Defence work and a Security Check. British Airways states that its Engineering Technical scheme is not currently eligible for visa sponsorship.

What the pages do not tell you

Neither employer publishes pass marks or the test provider and format in full: British Airways does not name its online assessment provider on the pages we read, and Rolls-Royce does not say what the minimum entry requirements checked after the assessments are. Treat any pass-mark claim from a third-party site as unverified. For general test formats see our online tests guide.

Application stages compared

What a graduate says

We could not find a short, directly quoted account from a clearly named graduate on either employer’s own pages that we could verify, so this page contains no quote rather than an invented one. British Airways quotes a former intern on its own listing and Rolls-Royce quotes an employee on its early careers page; both are employer-selected, and we link to them from the single-employer guides instead.

Checklist

British Airways vs Rolls-Royce graduate scheme: which should you apply to?

Choose by the career you want, not by the salary. Pick British Airways if you want a two-year scheme at Heathrow built around fleet maintenance strategy, with a video interview and an assessment centre in January. Pick Rolls-Royce if you want rotations across engineering, manufacturing and Defence work at Derby, Bristol or Solihull and you hold a STEM degree. The British Airways deadline is nine days earlier, and BA allows only one emerging talent scheme per applicant. The pages we checked do not say whether applying to both employers affects either decision. For other engineering routes see our Airbus graduate scheme guide and Siemens vs Airbus comparison, the assessment centre guide, all schemes on the graduate schemes hub, and closing dates in our deadlines calendar.

British Airways vs Rolls-Royce graduate scheme: FAQ

Which closes first, British Airways or Rolls-Royce?

British Airways closes first, on 4 November 2026. The Rolls-Royce Engineering and Technology Graduate Programme closes on 13 November 2026 according to its advert text, and may close earlier.

Which pays more?

British Airways publishes £33,000 for its engineering graduate schemes. Rolls-Royce publishes £31,000 plus a £2,000 joining bonus.

Do I need an engineering degree?

British Airways Engineering Business takes any subject with a 2:2; Engineering Technical needs mechanical or aeronautical engineering. Rolls-Royce asks for a STEM degree or joint honours combining STEM with business or economics.

Do both use online tests?

Yes. Rolls-Royce sets three online assessments with four days to complete. British Airways sends online assessments after the application, but does not publish the provider or format.

Is there a video interview?

British Airways has a video interview, with invitations in November. Rolls-Royce uses written motivation questions and a virtual assessment centre instead.

Can non-UK nationals apply?

Both require the right to work in the UK. Rolls-Royce adds nationality rules for Defence work, and British Airways states that its Engineering Technical scheme is not currently eligible for visa sponsorship.