Overview

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:

Apprentices can be new or current employees.

You must pay the apprentice at least the minimum wage.

Apprenticeships must last at least a year. They can last up to 5 years depending on the level the apprentice is studying.

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.

  1. Choose an apprenticeship for your business or organisation.

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

  3. Check what training funding you can get.

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

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

  6. 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.