I think you should bear in mind that Airbus and BAeS are NOT by and large aircraft maintenance organisations, they are aircraft manufacturers. An apprenticeship at either is about manufacturing engineering, not about aircraft maintenance. So it's setting somebody up for a career path into manufacture, possibly into design, quite probably into senior management (BAeS' MDs are almost always ex company apprentices). But, it's not about getting aircraft maintenance engineer licences and anybody offering advice in that regard, basically doesn't understand these companies.
Yes there are maintenance people there, but they're a small minority of the overall. Far more people are building new jets, or even working on the development of the next generation of jets.
A candidate for these apprentice wants to learn as much as they can about the company, their role, their product range - and be able to convincingly show that they not only have the mathematical and practical aptitude to become a good technician and potentially an engineer, but they also need to show that they have an interest and attitude that could lead them into a full career at these companies, building and developing the next generation of aeroplanes.
These apprenticeships are not, I repeat not, usually about maintenance engineering. Comparisons to airline maintenance engineering apprenticeships are generally comparing apples to oranges.. They are on the other hand certainly amazing opportunities for the people who are lucky enough to get in.
G