An apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training, and often some accompanying study. 

Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulated profession.

An apprenticeship could be for you if it’s your first job, you’ve been promoted to a new role which has more responsibilities or different skills, you’re looking for a change of career, or you’re having to get a new job away from a manual role that’ll will require new skills.

More information available at: https://www.gov.uk/become-apprentice

You are never too old to start an apprenticeship! 

It isn’t just for someone to start a career. An apprenticeship goes beyond that - it’ll develop your job, qualifications and your career; and so will cover an expansive journey to help you become an expert. It will reignite your sense of curiosity, discovery and improvement within your job. 

Apprenticeships aren’t just a valuable route for school leavers, they can also be the catalyst for a career change and for pursuing missed opportunities. It’s just a new opportunity to gain more qualifications, or to update your skillset in a new industry.

An apprenticeship must last for a minimum of 12 months, but can vary in length for up to 24 months for Level 3 and Level 4 programmes.

Apprenticeships have equivalent education levels.

Level and Equivalent educational level

• Intermediate  2 = GCSE
• Advanced 3 = A level
• Higher 4,5,6 and 7 = Foundation degree and above

Some apprenticeships may also give you an additional qualification, such as a diploma.

Off-the-job training is learning which happens outside of the normal day-to-day working environment, and leads to the achievement of an apprenticeship. This doesn’t mean you lose your apprentice for a fixed amount of time each week. Rather, your apprentice can set aside time to develop each week.

Examples of off-the-job training include classroom training, role play, coaching and mentoring, simulation exercises, online learning, work shadowing, manufacturer training, industry visits, self-study and assignment completion.

More information available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeships-off-the-job-training

The Apprenticeship Levy is only due on annual pay bills in excess of £3 million, and is paid to HMRC through the Pay-as-you-earn (P.A.Y.E) process alongside payment of Income Tax and National Insurance contributions. It is held in a ‘digital fund’ that the employer can use to pay for apprenticeship training. 

A 10% contribution is added to each monthly payment by the government. Set at 0.5% of your annual pay bill, the levy is part of the government’s plans to increase the number of UK apprenticeships and improve how they are funded.

Non-levy paying employers will share the cost of training and assessing their apprentices with the government – this is called ‘co-investment’. The co-investment rate has changed for new apprenticeships starting on or after 1st April 2019. You will now pay 5% towards the cost of apprenticeship training. The government will pay the rest (95%) up to the funding band maximum.

You can get funding to pay for apprenticeship training and assessment costs through ‘The Apprenticeship Service’.

More information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-levy-how-it-will-work/apprenticeship-levy-how-it-will-work#non-levy-paying-employers

You will need an Apprenticeship Service account. You’ll use your account to:

• Get apprenticeship funding
• Find and save apprenticeships
• Find, save and manage training providers
• Recruit apprentices
• Add and manage apprenticeships

The Adult Education Budget (AEB) is a government-funded programme that can be accessed by employers and individuals to fund a wide range of training and qualifications for all adults at the age of 19 or above:

• The funds can be used for anyone aged 19-23 to get a level 2 or 3 qualification if they don’t already have one.
• AEB can be used to fund low-waged learners aged over 24 to get their first level 2 or 3 qualification.
• The AEB can be used to fund anyone who is unemployed for any course or qualification up to level 2.
• The AEB can be used to fund any low-waged individual, whose first language isn’t English, to improve their language skills up to level 2.