Apprenticeship schemes are often in the news - and not always for the right reasons. We’ve had a look at what they are and where you can find out more details about them.  

Many UK businesses find that skills shortages and recruitment difficulties are a big problem, and Apprenticeships can be an answer as they combine working with studying that leads to nationally recognised qualifications.

Official Apprenticeship schemes can ensure companies have the right practical skills and qualifications in their workforce and ensure the company keeps up to date with the latest technology and practices. 

Apprentices must work with experienced staff, learn job and specific skills and study during their working week (at a college or a training organisation, for example).

Apprenticeships on an official scheme tend to be more motivated and loyal to the company that has invested in them. See our separate article here about interns.

What is an apprentice?

• Apprentices are usually full employees employed on an apprenticeship agreement, which is a contract of service, so the apprentice undertakes to work for the employer and is treated as a normal employee. The Agreement must either be:A modern English (or Welsh) Apprenticeship Agreement which is in a prescribed form (from 6th April 2012, following the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children & Learning Act 2009, ASCLA).  The ASCLA and The Apprenticeships (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2017 set out certain provisions that must be in the contract. The UK government provides a template employers can use to form apprenticeship agreements, that supports the 2022/34 funding rules. Alongside the apprenticeship agreement there must be a Training Plan, which provides an overview of the training.\
• Or a common law Apprenticeship Agreement (which is principally an agreement to train an apprentice, rather than for the apprentice to work for the Employer; in addition the NMW for apprentices does not apply to these agreements, so you need to pay your apprentice the ‘normal’ NMW rate for their age).

However, any apprenticeship entered into after 15 January 2018 in connection with an apprenticeship standard must have an apprenticeship agreement that complies with the 2017 Regulations.  

If an Apprentice is hot employed directly by the Employer under an Apprenticeship Agreement, the apprentice will come via an Apprenticeship Training Agency (ATA), who employs the apprentice directly.  The Employer would pay the ATA a fee for the apprentice in this scenario.  There is a national register of ATA’s which you can check here. 

Employers can use apprenticeship schemes to train both new and existing employees and funding is available from the Government to train apprentices.

To start an apprenticeship, an individual needs to be aged 16 or over (by the end of the summer holidays) and cannot be in full-time education. 

For further help you can contact the Government’s Apprenticeship Service by email,  nationalhelpdesk@findanapprenticeship.service.go.uk, or by telephone on 0800 015 0400.

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Apprenticeship law

If you’re thinking of hiring an apprentice, there are certain obligations you and your apprentice will need to meet before you can take them on:

• The National Minimum Wage for apprentices is £5.28 per hour from 1st April 2023. However, many employers pay more. This minimum wage applies to all apprentices aged under 19 and apprentices aged 19 or over in the first year of their apprenticeship. It must be paid for all the time the apprentice spends working or training (that is part of the apprenticeship). After this, the apprentice must be paid the normal National Minimum Wage for their age
• Apprentices must be offered employment for at least 30 hours per week (including off-the-job training time), except in some circumstances where the learner can’t complete the full 30 hours (for example if they have caring responsibilities or are disabled).  
• Off-the-job training should be at least 20% of their working hours.
• Apprentices must be employed/trained for a minimum of 12 months.
• Apprentices are fully covered by the Working Time Regulations (so that they are entitled to normal holiday and rest breaks, as employees are) and the Equality Act 2010‍
• Depending on the role, an Apprenticeship contract will be for a fixed period of time that is needed to acquire the skills and qualifications for the job.  This can take between one and five years (one year is the minimum).
• Apprentices have the same dismissal rights, and can be dismissed for the same reasons, as other normal employees.
• If an apprentice’s employment isn’t renewed when their training ends, they will be treated as having been dismissed. The apprentice will be entitled to receive a written reason for dismissal and the ACAS Dismissal Code will apply (as for all employees), if they have been employed for over 2 years. Additionally, in some circumstances, terminating a Fixed Term Contract may amount to a redundancy. ‍
• There’s no need to provide a notice period of dismissal because they were employed on a Fixed Term contract.
• There is no legal requirement to provide employment at the end of the apprenticeship but an employer may agree to do this; there’s no duty on the employer to redeploy the apprentice into suitable alternative employment either
• The Apprenticeship Funding Rules say that an apprentice, if they leave the apprenticeship, must not be asked to contribute to ‘eligible’ costs of training, or any part of the cost of any Apprenticeship Levy the Employer pays.  The Funding Rules also specify the ‘ineligible’ costs that an apprentice could be asked to pay back.  This is a complicated area, and while Employers may be able to ‘claw back’ some apprenticeship costs, if the Apprentice leaves, they should take advice before doing this.  Details about how this should be done are here (under ‘unauthorised deductions from pay’).
  

Hiring your apprentice

The details on how to hire an apprentice are here, including:

• Choosing an apprenticeship framework or standard for an apprenticeship in your industry
• Finding an organisation that offers training for the apprenticeship framework or standard
• Checking what funding is available
• Advertising your apprenticeship
• Selecting your apprentice and making an apprenticeship agreement and commitment standard with them.

In order to complete an English apprenticeship under an apprentice agreement, an apprentice must meet the standard completion conditions (or the alternative completion conditions, which we have not covered here). The standard conditions require an apprentice to have entered into an apprentice agreement relating to a recognised apprenticeship framework. 

They must also have completed a course of training for the qualifications identified by the framework and met all the requirements specified in the apprenticeship framework to be awarded the apprenticeship certificate.

What is a framework?

A framework is a document that’s used by colleges, employers and training providers to make sure apprenticeships programmes are delivered consistently and includes the name of all qualifications, and how long the apprenticeship will take.Apprenticeship levels

There are four levels of apprenticeship available:

• Intermediate Level 2 Apprenticeships (equivalent to gaining five good GCSE passes; usually takes 12-18 months)
• Advanced Level 3 Apprenticeships (equivalent to gaining two A level passes; usually takes 2 years)
• Higher Apprenticeships 4, 5 (equivalent to a foundation degree level, HND or HNC )Degree Apprenticeships, levels 6 and 7 (equivalent to a Bachelor’s or Masters degree level).

More details are available from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) website here. 

Apprentice vacancies

Apprenticeship vacancies are found, in England, on the EFSA website here. Details of apprenticeships and vacancies (for employers and individuals) in Scotland is here.

Details for Wales are here, and Northern Ireland here.

Apprenticeship funding

Apprenticeship funding is available for employers from the government. The size of the funding you will receive varies depending on whether you pay the apprenticeship levy or not.   

If you do not pay the apprenticeship levy you will pay 5% towards the cost of training and assessing your apprentice. The government will pay the rest (95%) up to the funding band maximum, directly to the training provider.

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Apprenticeship Levy

The apprenticeship levy was introduced on 6th April 2017 and requires Employers with pay bills of more than £3 million to pay 0.5% of their annual pay bill to the levy fund.  A levy allowance of £15,000 pa can be offset against the levy.

The levy charge is paid through the monthly PAYE process to HMRC and it must be paid by all companies, with pay bills of more than £3 million, even if they do NOT employ apprentices.

Once the levy has been paid Employers can access funding for apprenticeships through an online account.  However, the funds expire after 24 months if they have not been spent by the Employer.

The fund must be spent on apprenticeship training using approved providers.  The Government adds a 10% top-up to the Employers fund. 

The Apprentice, for the purposes of the levy, can be any employee who wishes to receive training to provide them with new skills - but they must be released for 20% of their time for off-the-job training.

If there are any significant changes to the Apprenticeship levy, or Apprenticeship law, in the future, we’ll update this!

If you are an employer and need ongoing professional help with any staff/freelance issue then talk to Lesley at The HR Kiosk – a Human Resources Consultancy for creativebusinesses.d.

Please note that the advice given on this website and by our Advisors is guidance only and cannot be taken as an authoritative or current interpretation of the law. It can also not be seen as specific advice for individual cases. Please also note that there are differences in legislation in Northern Ireland.