Degree Apprenticeships at Creditsafe: Siobhan and Kelly’s Stories

One of the best parts of degree apprenticeships is the chance to learn while you earn: it strengthens your skills, career, and your company too.

We’re really proud to congratulate Kelly Mason and Siobhan Stephens, who have recently completed their degree apprenticeships with us. They’ve taken the time to tell us about what the experience was like, how this combination of learning and working works together, and their advice for others considering the same path.

What is a Degree Apprenticeship?

At its heart, a degree apprenticeship combines work with university studies. Students on a degree apprenticeship can have much of the usual university experience: attending lectures and seminars, labs, reading, and maybe the occasional night out!

Uniquely, a degree apprenticeship allows students to draw on what they’ve learnt at work to complete assignments, allowing students to showcase how they’ve put the course into practice, and draw on the practice for their understanding.

One key challenge degree apprentices face, is the tricky need to juggle your paid work with your course work, something Siobhan and Kelly both navigated with success, even though it did feel difficult at times!

Below, Kelly and Siobhan share how this combination of work and learning complemented each other, and what they got from this rewarding experience.

Kelly’s Story

Kelly Mason’s journey through her degree apprenticeship is one made of curiosity, determination, and a genuine love for hands‑on learning. As someone who’s always been “more of a practical, hands‑on person rather than an academic learner,” she found that the applied nature of a degree apprenticeship suited her, hand-in-glove!

Kelly’s career path has been shaped by over 20 years in the financial services and data sector, where she found a growing fascination with data. She first encountered this world in 2010, when she joined Creditsafe. “My role involved working with data and reporting, and that’s when I began to realise how much I enjoyed analysing and automating processes”.

Her apprenticeship allowed her to build on that foundation with real‑world projects that deepened her technical confidence. Completing her Level 4 in Data Analytics with ALS Training gave her the momentum to continue on to Cardiff Met, where the flexibility of part‑time study enabled her to balance work, life, and learning sustainably.

Kelly’s not shy about the challenges that come with balancing life, work and studies: “I completed my studies in my own time alongside a full-time role and the responsibilities of being a single mother. It required dedication and resilience, and made the achievement all the more rewarding.”

While these challenges were there, that didn’t stop Kelly from progressing into a data engineer role at Creditsafe Group, another step that shows the value of developing professionally while contributing directly to the business.

As for how the course and work complemented each other, Kelly was able to deepen her understanding: “The course helped me immerse myself in a new layer of technology. While I had some exposure to it through work, studying it in more depth gave me a clearer understanding and allowed me to engage more confidently and meaningfully in workplace discussions.”

As for the most rewarding part of it all? “What I most enjoyed about the degree apprenticeship was being able to turn my practical, hands-on experience into a recognised qualification, giving formal structure and credibility to the skills I had developed through work.”

Kelly’s graduation was a special moment for her, she reflects: “I could hardly believe that everything I had worked so hard for had finally come to fruition, I graduated on my mums 60th Birthday so she had a great day out.”

Her message to others considering a similar path is simple and empowering: “Don’t doubt yourself – you can do it.”

Siobhan’s Story

For Siobhan Stephens, a degree apprenticeship was just the right route for her. She first came across the programme while in college, weighing up her options for full‑time Software Engineering degrees. “It was quite late in the year and I’d already had unconditional offers from other unis,” she explains, “but as soon as I’d heard about the degree apprenticeship I had my heart set on it.” With it being the first scheme of its kind in Wales, the idea of combining study with real work experience stood out.

Siobhan knew she wanted to start working as soon as possible but also recognised how important a degree would be for her future. This way offered the perfect balance: “The opportunity to work and study part time (and have the degree funded by the Welsh government) was perfect.”

Unlike many in her degree cohort, most of whom were upskilling from existing roles, Siobhan joined directly from A‑levels. That meant securing a job was a condition of joining the scheme, something she tackled with a good deal of confidence.

She laughed as she recalled turning up to an employer marketing event for the digital degree apprenticeship scheme, CV in hand. She remembers “I stood up and basically asked everyone in the room for a job! Luckily it worked in my favour as I got a job then and there for my *bravery*, as a junior software developer with Mobilise Cloud in Swansea.”

Siobhan later moved on to Creditsafe in 2021, where both the university and the company “were extremely accommodating” of her studies. Alongside her coursework and job, she also became an ambassador for the programme, also something she genuinely loved. “I do believe in it wholeheartedly and wanted to share my experience with other employers and college students. I even met the education minister and was on ITV news!”

Balancing work and study wasn’t always easy. “I won’t sugar coat it,” she says. “Doing a degree is a significant amount of work and requires quite a bit of time outside of the study day once a week.” But the overlap between her job and her learning made a real difference. Applying skills in context helped assignments feel more accessible and meaningful: “It added a level of context that so many students would otherwise miss out on.”

The apprenticeship opened the door to steady progression at Creditsafe too! Over the course of her studies, she moved from Junior to Mid developer, and eventually even stepped into a Team Lead role. She also graduated with a First Class Honours degree, a moment she remembers with pride. “Knowing all the hard work was worth it and no one can take it away!”

For Siobhan, the journey has been challenging, rewarding, and full of growth. She’s quick to acknowledge the support around her: “The understanding of my colleagues and HR at Creditsafe have allowed me to do this and I am very grateful for that.”

A Big Well Done!

It’s a big achievement to balance life with work and study, but Kelly and Siobhan did! They both had outstanding results and enjoyed the experience of taking on the challenge.

For Creditsafe, degree apprenticeships allow our people to accelerate their learning, enrich their work, and get the chance to gain a meaningful qualification. For our people, they get to learn, grow, develop soft and technical skills, all within a flexible framework where learning and earning go together and supports their current and future needs.

Once more, a huge well done to both. If you’re considering doing a degree apprenticeship, here are some links to some handy resources: