An Apprenticeship gives quality hands-on experience at the same time as a nationally recognised qualification. Apprenticeships offer lots of benefits to businesses, from dedicated workers to increasing business competitiveness. Apprenticeships also offer the apprentice the opportunity to develop their skills and career in the sector of their choice.
Find an Apprenticeship and discover all the information you need here or learn about how to recruit and fund apprentices for your business.
An Apprenticeship is a package of learning that mixes on and off-the-job learning to make sure apprentices get the skills and knowledge they need.
Apprenticeships:
- involve a partnership between the apprentice, employer and training provider
- are available to learners of all ages
- are generally available at two different levels
- take between 1 – 3 years to complete, depending upon the industry and the level
- can be supported with public funding
Apprenticeships are a proven way to train your workforce. They can make your organisation more effective, productive and competitive by addressing your skills gaps directly – which is even more important in uncertain economic times.
Real business benefits of apprenticeships
There are lots of benefits of doing an Apprenticeship. Doing an Apprenticeship means you can earn while learning in a way that best suits you – learning through hands-on experience on the job.
Benefits to apprentices
The training part of the Apprenticeship is funded. The amount is dependent on age; 16 to 19-year-olds receive full funding. Older apprentices receive part funding but the employers contribution can be in kind – for instance providing an on-site training environment. You will need to pay your apprentice a wage - minimum wage laws apply.
You may be eligible for further funding Use our Fund Finder tool to find out more:
Fund Finder
Due to the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children & Learning Act and the resulting legislation that we have to adhere to, any apprentice that completes on or after 13th April has to give his/her permission for a training provider to apply for an Apprenticeship certificate on their behalf, or they can apply for their own certificate directly with us.
We will, immediately, be amending the current certificate request forms to include this permission slip. Until we make the amendments download our permission slips to use in the meantime.
Further education loans are available for Apprenticeships.
The Skills Funding Agency has a guide available to help you understand the loans.
Download the guide for more information.
More than 85,000 employers offer Apprenticeships. The Government is increasing funding for adult Apprenticeships by up to £250m, and plans deliver 75,000 more apprenticeships at advanced level and above.
So, with Apprenticeships a central pillar of skills policy, many businesses are asking how they can make the most of the opportunities on offer.
Check out our quick guide to how you can get involved with Apprenticeships.
Read more.