Employer Frequently Asked Questions

The term ‘Apprenticeship’ refers to on-the-job training which typically leads to nationally recognised qualifications, developed by industry. The National Apprenticeship Service supports, funds and co-ordinates the delivery of Apprenticeships throughout England.

Your Apprentice will work as an employee of the company, often spending one day in College. They will complete all the tasks as their job role demands and is within their skill level.

The length of an Apprenticeship depends on the course they are doing and the level of that course. This can range from 12 to 42 months. Apprentices must be employed for the full duration of their training, but they are able to start employment before their programme begins and stay on at the company should you so wish, on completion.

The term ‘Apprenticeship’ refers to on-the-job training which typically leads to nationally recognised qualifications, developed by industry. The National Apprenticeship Service supports, funds and co-ordinates the delivery of Apprenticeships throughout England.

Your Apprentice will work as an employee of the company, often spending one day in College. They will complete all the tasks as their job role demands and is within their skill level.

There is no upper age limit for Apprenticeships, anyone over the age of 16 can start the course.

I have an employee who would like to do an Apprenticeship. Can I still take them on as an Apprentice?

Apprenticeships are not just for school leavers anymore! If you have an employee that wants to develop your skills they can absolutely start an Apprenticeship. This is an excellent way to fill a skills gap and promote staff development. You will need to be willing to release them for one day a week so that they can attend their College course.

The average Apprentice will work a 37.5 hour week, made up of four days at work and one day at College. Apprentices must be paid for their day in College.

The minimum number of hours an Apprentice must work is 30 hours per week, unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Yes, the Government incentivises employers looking to take on an Apprentice or Pre-Apprentice.

You can receive up to £3,000 from Government for an Apprentice –
There are two levels of payment, and these are based on age:

• All employers will receive £1,000 at the start of the Apprenticeship for an Apprentice aged under 19 (or under 25yrs with an Education and Health Care Plan). This will be paid to you in two equal instalments, 3 months and 12 months into the Apprenticeship, through your training provider.

In addition to this the Government has increase funding post Covid 19 Lockdown:

• For Apprentices aged 16-24 the payment will be £2,000, and for Apprentices aged 25 or over the payment will be £1,500. The Apprentice must be a new employee at the company in order to qualify for payment. The payment will be made directly to employers in two equal instalments, where the Apprentice is still in learning at day 90 and day 365. An incentive payment will be made to employers who hire an Apprentice between 1 August 2020 and 31 January 2021. The Apprentice must be a new employee to the business, have a contract of employment start date between 1 August 2020 and 31 January 2021 (inclusive) and must not have been employed by the employer within the six months prior to the contract start date. Claims can start to be made by employers in relation to these Apprentices from 1 September 2020. Those claims must be made through the Apprenticeship service. There will be no limit on the number of incentive payments that an employer can claim for Apprentices eligible to receive funding, provided each Apprentice meets the criteria.

Employers who make new work placement opportunities available to Pre-Apprentices (or Trainees) can register to receive an incentive payment of £1,000 per learner, for up to 10 learners.

If you a company based within the Construction Industry (excluding plumbers and electricians) then you may be able to claim Apprenticeship grants through the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).

If your organisation employs less than 50 staff, for Apprentices aged between 16-18 years old, the training fees will be fully-funded.

If you were to employ an Apprentice aged 19 years or older, the government asks that you contribute 5% of their course fees, which may be as little as £100, and they will fund the remaining 95%.

If you do employ more than 50 staff, you would need to pay the 5% contribution regardless of the Apprentice’s age.

The minimum rate of pay for Apprentices during their first 12 months of training, regardless of their age is £4.15 per hour.

After 12 months of training, the national minimum wage would apply to those aged 19 and above.

We would encourage you to pay more if possible to increase your chances of attracting the best quality candidates, and to compete with other roles that may be advertised at the same time.

All Apprentices are entitled to statutory paid leave – 20 days plus 8 bank holidays. Depending on your annual leave policy you may give them more.

Yes. Like all employees Apprentices are entitled to Statutory Maternity Leave of 52 weeks with Statutory Maternity Pay for up to 39 weeks.

Your Apprentice’s contract will lie with your company and therefore they are considered an employee. Therefore, the pension regulations will be the same as for your other employees.

As Apprentices tend to fall into certain eligibility brackets, we would like to draw your attention to the following:

You must automatically enrol your Apprentice into a pension scheme and make contributions to your pension if they are aged between 22 and State Pension age and earn at least £10,000 per year.

If they are aged 16 to 21 or earn less than £10,000, but above £6,136 (for the tax year 2019-20), you do not have to automatically enrol your Apprentice in the scheme. However, they can still ask to join, in which case you can’t refuse and must make contributions.

Yes. We understand students are also employees and so will often take holidays that fall within term time, and that fall on College days. This is absolutely fine, we just ask that they email the person taking the course to let them know in advance and make sure they catch up on any work they have missed.

Apprentices will usually attend College for day release one day a week, excluding term breaks. However, this can differ depending on the Apprenticeship programme.

Apprentices are assessed against criteria throughout their programme to ensure they are developing the required competencies.

Throughout their programme Apprentices will be tasked with keeping an online log of their learning. This log is in a diary format, where students can keep track of the 20% off-the-job training requirement and evidence new skills and knowledge. At the end of the programme the Apprentice will complete an End Point Assessment which is the final part of their Apprenticeship. An End Point Assessment can involve;

• A multiple choice online test
• Professional discussion, either face-to-face or via Skype
• Workplace observation

The off-the-job-training can include anything from shadowing a colleague, attending a conference, through to the hours spent in College. Ultimately, it is time that the Apprentice has spent not fulfilling their day-to-day duties, and learning something new or building their skills and knowledge. Hours spent fulfilling this requirement during the working day or for business purposes outside of office hours can be included, however, time outside of this, taken on an Apprentices own initiative, sadly does not count.

For example, if the Apprentice were to read a book over the weekend that related to their course this could not be logged, however, if they have stayed on late to complete an evening course, this is applicable.

N.B Functional Skills or Maths and English cannot be considered off the job training.

As the employer, you are expected to provide your Apprentice with an induction into the workplace and necessary mentoring/supervising in order for them to adequately fulfil their role.

An Exeter College Skills Officer will also set the Apprentice tasks to complete in the workplace and carry out regular reviews approximately every 8-10 weeks. The Skills Officer is also your main point of contact for any queries you may have along the way.

You will release your Apprentice one day a week to the College during term time (subject to their course). When the Aollege is closed, the Apprentice should be allocated study time (which equates to approx. 6 hours per week) and you will receive guidance for how best to facilitate this during your regular Skills Officer reviews.

Our team of recruitment experts are here to help you, as much or as little as you require. We are able to help with matching a job description to a qualification, vacancy advertising, application review, eligibility checks, interview support, and inductions.

All Apprenticeship vacancies will be listed on the National Apprenticeship Service site, Indeed and our Exeter College website. We can also promote your role via our social media platforms and via internal communications to our current full-time students, who are looking for their next step. Before we post anything, we will send you a draft of your vacancy advert to review and, once approved, it can go live within 24 hours. You can also be provided with a link to your vacancy, if you wish to share on your own website and social media.

No, you are under no obligation to employ an Apprentice after their Apprenticeship has finished. However, as your company has invested in an individual’s training and development to suit your business, ideally you should want to offer your Apprentice a permanent position.