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Software & systems

Software developer Green Job

Software developers design, build and test computer programmes.

Annual Salary

£24,000 to £70,000

Average UK salary in 2022 was £33,200
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

37 to 40 a week

You could work: evenings / weekends; occasionally

2.4%
Future employment

There will be 2.4% more Software developer jobs in 2027.

Day to day tasks

You could:

  • find out what the client and the development team want
  • take part in technical design meetings
  • write or amend computer code
  • test software to find and fix problems
  • keep accurate records of the changes you've made
  • check software before it's released
  • maintain and support systems once they're up and running

Working environment

You could work in an office, from home, remotely or at a client's business.

You can get into this job through:

  • a university course
  • a college course
  • an apprenticeship
  • a graduate training scheme
University

You could do a foundation degree, higher national diploma or a degree in:

  • computer science
  • information technology
  • software development
  • financial technology
  • software engineering for business
  • maths

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma
  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
For more information
College

You could do a college course, such as:

  • A Level in Computing
  • Level 3 Certificate in Programming
  • T Level in Digital Production, Design and Development
  • Higher National Certificate in Computing

After your course, you could complete a more advanced qualification, such as a higher apprenticeship. You could also get a trainee position with a company.

Entry requirements

You may need:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English, maths and computing
  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths for a T Level
  • 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a higher national certificate or higher national diploma
For more information
Apprenticeship

You could do an apprenticeship such as:

  • software development technician advanced apprenticeship
  • software developer higher apprenticeship
  • DevOps engineer higher apprenticeship
  • digital and technology solutions professional or specialist degree apprenticeship
  • game programmer degree apprenticeship

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship
For more information
Other routes

You may be able to apply for a place on a graduate training scheme with a company if you have a degree.

These are often open to all graduates, not just people with a degree in a computing subject.

More information

Career tips

You could build up your skills and knowledge using free online learning resources for programming languages, project management and software development methods.

You can find free online courses through The Skills Toolkit.

Further information

You can find out more about working and training in computing from The Chartered Institute for IT and techskills.

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With experience, you could:become a senior developer; take responsibility for your team or a project; move into related areas, such as systems design, IT architecture and business systems analysis; set up your own business; work as a consultant

You may find opportunities to work internationally by travelling overseas or working remotely.

For roles linked to Software Developer, you can do an IT Degree Apprenticeship with employers such as SSE.

You can find out more about working and training in computing from The Chartered Institute for IT and Tech Future Careers.

Or by looking at the Code23 site

How does this job help to address the impacts of climate change and protect wildlife and nature in the West of England?

Software Developers are needed to build and test low carbon and green digital products and services in the West of England region.

There are several different routes you can take to get into working in this job which you can explore further in the 'Routes into this job' section above. 

Click here for an explanation of the different course and apprenticeship levels.

Examples of post-16 courses you could study at local schools or colleges

  • Maths, Computer Science, Business A-levels
  • T Level Digital Production, Design and Development
  • Level 2-3 Computing

Click here to find a local provider

Apprenticeships you may be able to take with local employers

  • Level 3 Software Development Technician
  • Level 4 Software Developer

Click here to search for a local apprenticeship

Examples of post-18 courses you could study at local higher education providers

Click here to search for other university courses

Local employers 

  • Amey
  • Arup
  • Babcock
  • Map Impact

For more local employment opportunities see the 'Live job vacancies by region' section above.

A software developer would develop the software that sits on board the satellite to deliver the customer solutions for the satellite mission.  

Examples of post-16 courses you could study at a local school or college

  • Maths, Computer Science A-levels
  • Level 2-3 Computing 
  • T-Level Digital Production, Design and Development

Find a local provider

Examples of post-18 courses you could study at a local provider

Search for a degree course

Apprenticeships you may be able to take with local employers

  • Level 4 Software Development Support apprenticeship.

Search for apprenticeship vacancies

Employers in the South West 

  • CGI Thales Alenia Space
  • Frazer Nash Consulting
  • National Composites Centre 
  • Rolls Royce
  • GKN
  • GE Aviation
  • Moog
  • Jacobs
  • Airbus
  • Universities of Bristol, Bath and West of England (UWE)
  • SpaceForge
  • BAE Systems
  • Ministry of Defence
  • Map Impact

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

You'll need:

  • analytical thinking skills
  • maths knowledge for understanding programming
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
  • complex problem-solving skills
  • excellent verbal communication skills for sharing ideas
  • persistence and determination
  • the ability to write computer programs
  • thinking and reasoning skills
  • to have a thorough understanding of computer systems and applications
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