Incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice
Incentive payments for employers who hire a new apprentice between 1 August 2020 and 31 March 2021.
We’re extending incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice
You’re now eligible if you take on new apprentices from 1 August 2020 to 31 March 2021.
If you take on new apprentices from 1 February 2021, you can apply between 1 February 2021 and 30 April 2021.
We have introduced payments to support employers who hire new apprentices between 1 August 2020 and 31 March 2021. You can apply for the payment until 30 April 2021.
The payment is in addition to the £1,000 employers already receive for hiring an apprentice:
- aged 16 to 18 years old
- under 25 with an education, health and care plan or has been in the care of their local authority
What you’ll get
For apprentices aged:
- 16 to 24, employers will receive £2,000
- 25 and over, employers will receive £1,500
We’ll need your organisation’s bank details, so that we can pay your organisation directly.
What you can use the payment for
The payment is different to apprenticeship levy funds, so you can spend it on anything to support your organisation’s costs. For example, on uniforms, your apprentice’s travel or their salary. You do not have to pay it back.
Eligibility
You can only apply for new apprentices who joined your organisation from 1 August 2020 to 31 March 2021. This includes if you recruit apprentices who have been made redundant.
You cannot apply for an existing employee who joined your organisation before 1 August 2020, even if they started an apprenticeship after this date.
How to apply
You can apply for an incentive payment after you add new apprentices to your apprenticeship service account.
You can apply until 30 April 2021.
When you’ll get paid
We’ll make the payment in 2 equal instalments for each apprentice. The first payment is after an apprentice completes 90 days of their apprenticeship and the second is after 365 days.
To receive the full payment, the apprenticeship must last for at least one year.
We’ll make payments by Bacs on the 14th working day of the month. It usually takes 3 working days to process.
After you apply, you can view the estimated payment dates for each apprentice in your apprenticeship service account.
Get help
You can either:
Last updated 17 December 2020 + show all updates
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Financial incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice have been extended to new apprentices hired by 31 March 2021.
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Added information about when we'll make the incentive payments.
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Updated information on incentive payments and how to claim them by setting up an apprenticeship service employer account.
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First published.