Guidance

Payments for hiring a young apprentice

Employers and training providers could be eligible for £1,000 each if they hire an eligible apprentice.

Applies to England

Eligibility

Employers and training providers could get £1,000 each for taking on an apprentice who is either:

  • aged 16 to 18 years old, or
  • aged 19 to 25 years old and has an education, health and care (EHC) plan or has been in the care of their local authority

What you can use the payment for

You can spend it on any costs associated with supporting an apprentice in the workplace.

For example, on uniforms, your apprentice’s travel or their salary.

How to get the payment

Employers do not need to take any action.

We use confirmation from the training provider that an apprentice is eligible and calculate payments.

Training providers must get consent from apprentices who have EHC plans or have been in the care of their local authority to share this information with the employer. Payment will not be calculated for employers if consent is not provided.

When you’ll get paid

The first payment of £500 should be paid to the employer by the training provider after 90 days of the apprenticeship training start date.

The final payment of £500 should be paid to the employer by the training provider after 365 days of the apprenticeship training start date.

Training providers have 30 working days to make payment to employers.

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Published 10 August 2020
Last updated 21 May 2022 + show all updates
  1. Updated to reflect the end of the £3,000 incentive payments.

  2. The application closing date has changed from 15 May to 20 May

  3. Updated the content to reflect the deadline employers need to apply for incentives payments.

  4. Updated the content to reflect the new employer incentive apply date for January 2022. Added new information for employers to make sure they add in the correct PAYE scheme for their apprentice. New information added for training providers to ensure they add the correct NI number.

  5. Updated the application date.

  6. Removal of previous incentive period. Addition of new incentive period. Reordering of the content for clarity.

  7. Updated to show that the application deadline has passed for phase 1 incentive applications.

  8. Added phase 2 application closing deadline.

  9. Extending the phase 1 application window to 31 May 2021.

  10. Updated to reflect incentives extension and increase.

  11. Added additional information to make it clear that you can only apply for an incentive payment for a new employee apprentice, if you have set up an apprenticeship account and are using it to access funding for that apprentice's training.

  12. Financial incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice have been extended to new apprentices hired by 31 March 2021.

  13. Added information about when we'll make the incentive payments.

  14. Updated information on incentive payments and how to claim them by setting up an apprenticeship service employer account.

  15. First published.