Apprenticeship Training Funding

Apprentices are aged 16 or over and combine working with studying to gain skills and knowledge in a specific job.

This guidance is for employers in England. There’s a different way to employ an:

apprentice in Scotland

apprentice in Wales

apprentice in Northern Ireland

Apprentices can be new or current employees.

You must pay the apprentice at least the minimum wage.

Apprenticeships can take from 8 months to 6 years to complete, depending on the type and level of the apprenticeship.

Your responsibilities

You’re responsible for making sure your apprentice:

works with experienced staff

learns job-specific skills

gets time off during their working week for apprenticeship training

Hiring an apprentice

There are several steps to taking on an apprentice.

Choose an apprenticeship for your business or organisation.

Find an organisation that offers training for the apprenticeship you’ve chosen.

Check what training funding you can get.

Create an account - you need this to manage funding and recruit apprentices.

Advertise your apprenticeship - find out how to create an advert or give your training provider permission to do this for you.

Make an apprenticeship agreement and training plan with your chosen apprentice.

If you do not want to hire and train the apprentice yourself, you can use a flexi-job apprenticeship agency. The apprentice will be employed by the agency but will work in your organisation.

You can get help from the government to pay for apprenticeship training.

You might be able to get additional funding depending on the apprentice you hire.

You can get money to go towards the cost of training and assessment up to the funding band maximum. The amount you get depends on whether you pay the apprenticeship levy or not.

Find out if you need to pay the apprenticeship levy.

If you do not pay the apprenticeship levy

The government will pay 100% of the cost (up to the funding band maximum) of training and assessing an apprentice if they are:

aged 16 to 24

aged 15 (if the apprentice’s 16th birthday is between the last Friday of June and 31 August)

For all other apprentices, you pay 5% towards the cost of training and assessing your apprentice. You need to:

agree a payment schedule with the training provider

pay them directly for the training

The government will pay the rest (95%) up to the funding band maximum. They’ll pay it directly to the training provider.

Use your apprenticeships service account to manage funding and provider payments.

Apprenticeship hiring payment

If you do not pay the apprenticeship levy, you may be eligible for a hiring payment of up to £2,000 when recruiting new apprentices.

You’re eligible if your apprentice is one of the following at the start of their apprenticeship training:

16 to 24 years old

15 years old (if the apprentice’s 16th birthday is between the last Friday of June and 31 August)

You will not be eligible if your apprentice has worked for you for more than 90 days before their apprenticeship training starts.

You can spend it on any costs related to the apprentice’s employment, for example work equipment, travel costs or uniform.

Check the funding rules to find out if you’re eligible.

The training provider will pay you once they’ve confirmed that the apprentice is eligible. You’ll be paid in 2 instalments of £1,000.

You’ll get:

the first payment 90 days after the apprenticeship starts

the second payment 1 year after the apprenticeship starts

Training providers must pay you within 30 working days of receiving the money from the government.

You’ll only get paid if the apprentice is still employed by you when each payment is due.

If you pay the apprenticeship levy

You’ll get funds to spend on training and assessing your apprentices.

If you’ve already used all your funds, the government will pay 100% of the cost of training and assessing an apprentice if they are:

aged 16 to 24

aged 15 (if the apprentice’s 16th birthday is between the last Friday of June and 31 August)

For all other apprentices, you pay 25% towards the cost. The government will pay the rest (75%) up to the funding band maximum. You need to:

agree a payment schedule with the training provider

pay them directly for the training

Find out how to pay the apprenticeship levy.

Use your apprenticeships service account to manage funding and provider payments.

You cannot use funds from your apprenticeship service account to pay for a flexi-job apprenticeship agency’s services.

Help to pay for other costs

You can get £1,000 to support your apprentice in the workplace if, at the start of their apprenticeship training, they are one of the following:

16 to 18 years old

15 years old (if the apprentice’s 16th birthday is between the last Friday of June and 31 August)

19 to 24 years old with an education, health and care (EHC) plan

19 to 24 years old and have been in care

You can spend it on any costs related to their employment, for example their work equipment, travel costs or uniform.

How and when you’ll be paid

The training provider will pay you once they’ve confirmed that the apprentice is eligible. You’ll be paid in 2 instalments of £500.

You’ll get:

the first payment 90 days after the apprenticeship started

the second payment one year after the apprenticeship started

Training providers must pay you within 30 working days of receiving the money from the government.

You’ll only get paid if the apprentice is still employed by you when each payment is due.

If an apprentice has an education, health and care (EHC) plan or has been in care, the training provider must get the apprentice’s agreement before sharing this information with you. The training provider will also need this agreement before making any payments to you.

If you’re providing a foundation apprenticeship

You may be able to get an employer incentive of up to £2,000. This is to support your apprentice doing a foundation apprenticeship if they’re one of the following:

16 to 21 years old

22 to 24 years old with an education, health and care (EHC) plan

22 to 24 years old and have been in care

22 to 24 years old and are in prison or leaving prison

Foundation apprenticeships cover the following areas:

construction and the built environment

engineering and manufacturing

health and social care

digital

catering and hospitality

retail service, supply and administration

You can spend the money on any costs related to their employment, for example their work equipment, travel costs or uniform.

How and when you’ll be paid the employer incentive

The training provider will pay you once they’ve confirmed that an apprentice is eligible. This will be paid in 3 instalments.

You’ll get:

the first payment of £667 - 90 days after the apprenticeship started

the second payment of £667 - 242 days after the apprenticeship started

the third payment of £666 - 90 days after the apprentice moves onto their next apprenticeship

Training providers must pay you within 30 working days of receiving the money from the government.

You’ll only get paid if the apprentice is still employed by you when each payment is due.

If an apprentice has an education, health and care (EHC) plan or has been in care, the training provider must get the apprentice’s agreement before sharing this information with you. The training provider will also need this agreement before making any payments to you.

Apprentices who need access to learning support

Learning support funding is available to cover the training provider’s costs for making reasonable adjustments. Check the funding rules to find out if you’re eligible.

You need to create an apprenticeships service account. You’ll use this service to:

advertise apprenticeships

accept employer agreements with the Department for Education (DfE)

give account access to people within your organisation

set permissions for training providers to allow them to do some things on your behalf (such as advertising apprenticeships)

You can also use this service to add details about:

your organisation(s) or company

your PAYE scheme

your apprentices

You’ll need a GOV.UK One Login to set up or access an account. You can create one in the service using a work email address.

Start now

Before you start

You’ll need either your organisation’s:

Government Gateway username and ID number

PAYE scheme reference number and Accounts Office Reference Number (AORN)

You’ll also need to provide your:

Companies House number, charity number or public body name

email address

PAYE scheme details

You must sign an apprenticeship agreement with your apprentice.

This gives details of:

the skill, trade or occupation the apprentice is being trained for

the name of the apprenticeship they’re working towards

the start and end dates for the apprenticeship

the amount of training you’ll give them

You can write your own apprentice agreement or download an apprenticeship agreement template.

Training plan

You must sign a training plan with your apprentice and the training provider.

You can write your own plan or use the apprenticeship training plan template.

It must include:

the planned content and schedule for training

what is expected and offered by the employer, the training provider and the apprentice

how to resolve queries or complaints

If the apprentice has relevant experience

Your apprentice could spend less time training or qualify earlier if they have relevant experience. The training provider will tell you which it will be, depending on how the training is delivered.

Relevant experience includes having:

qualifications, such as a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in a relevant subject

industry or sector experience

completed training, such as an IT course

If the amount of training is reduced, you must agree this with both the training provider and the apprentice during the initial assessment.

You are responsible for:

giving your apprentice their contract of employment

paying your apprentice’s wage

signing an apprenticeship agreement

Pay for apprentices

You must pay apprentices at least the National Minimum Wage.

There are different rates of pay for apprentices depending on their age and what year of their apprenticeship they’ve completed.

The contract of employment should make it clear what wage you’ll pay your apprentice and for what hours.

Aged 16 to 18

The current National Minimum Wage rate for an apprentice is £8 per hour.

Aged 19 or over and in their first year

The current National Minimum Wage rate for an apprentice is £8 per hour.

Aged 19 or over and have completed their first year

Apprentices will be entitled to the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage rate for their age.

Use the National Minimum Wage and Living Wage calculator to check if you’re paying your apprentices correctly.

Conditions

Apprentices must work towards an approved apprenticeship. Their training must last at least 8 months.

They must be employed in a real job that gives them the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills they need to pass their assessment.

Training and study

You must pay your apprentice for time spent training or studying for their apprenticeship.

Apprentices must get time off during their working week for apprenticeship training.

The training might take place:

at their place of work

somewhere else (for example, a college or training provider)

online

If your apprentice is also studying for English or maths qualifications required by their apprenticeship, they are entitled to paid study time during their normal working hours.

Employee rights

You must offer apprentices the same conditions as other employees working at similar grades or in similar roles. This includes:

paid holidays

sick pay

any benefits you offer such as childcare voucher schemes

any support you offer such as coaching or mentoring

Apprentices and redundancy

Apprentices have the same employment rights as your other employees. Follow the process for making staff redundant if you have to make an apprentice redundant.

Get legal advice if you want to end the apprenticeship early for another reason.

Support for apprentices

Your apprentice can get support if they’re being made redundant or are at risk of redundancy.

They can get:

financial and legal advice

support for their health and wellbeing

help finding another apprenticeship

DfE Apprenticeships and Skills Helpline Telephone: 0800 015 0400 Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm

You can get more information on the employer support site.

If you still need help, contact the employer support service.

Employer support service Telephone: 0800 015 0400 Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Find out about call charges