What is an apprenticeship and how do you get one?

Apprentice minimal wages are going up from £6.40 to £7.55 an hour in April 2025, the federal government has introduced.

Tens of 1000’s of younger folks begin apprenticeships yearly – getting a wage and on-the-job expertise, in addition to time to coach and examine.

But, with dropout charges at about 50% and concern about low pay, there is quite a bit to contemplate when weighing up whether or not or not it is for you.

Being an apprentice means you normally spend 4 days every week working, and sooner or later learning for a qualification at work, school, college or on-line.

You get paid and the qualification you get is free – it is paid for by the federal government and your employer.

Since April, the federal government has paid small firms the total value of apprenticeships for folks aged 21 or beneath to assist small companies create extra apprenticeships.

Any employer can rent apprentices. They are answerable for ensuring you work with skilled employees and obtain break day for learning.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the totally different ranges of apprenticeship are:

• Intermediate (Level 2 – GCSE customary)
• Advanced (Level 3 – A-level customary)
• Higher (Levels 4, 5, 6 and 7 – basis diploma or above)
• Degree (Levels 6 and 7 – bachelor’s or grasp’s diploma)

In Scotland, they’re:

• Foundation (principally SCQF Level 6 – Highers customary)
• Modern (principally SCQF Levels 6 and 7 – Highers or Advanced Highers customary)
• Graduate (SCQF Levels 9, 10 and 11 – undergraduate or grasp’s diploma customary)

If you are beneath 19, or if you are 19 or older however within the first 12 months of your apprenticeship, you will probably be paid the apprentice charge, £6.40 per hour.

Otherwise, you will earn not less than the minimal wage:

• £8.60 for 19 and 20-year-olds
• £11.44 for these aged 21 or above. This charge is often known as the National Living Wage

The National Union of Students is campaigning for all apprentices to be paid not less than the National Living Wage.

In April 2025, the apprentice charge will rise to £7.55.

That means apprentices’ annual wages will go as much as £14,762, from £12,513 for the time being.

Other minimal wages are rising too.

People typically do apprenticeships in the event that they know the profession they need, or if they’re already working of their chosen profession however need extra expertise.

There aren’t any UK-wide figures for the variety of apprentices, however there have been 752,150 in England final 12 months – that is larger than years with a number of Covid disruption, however decrease than it was within the mid-2010s.

Advanced apprenticeships – A-level customary – are the most well-liked.

The new authorities has promised to shake up the best way apprenticeships are funded amid considerations that the present system “has not delivered for young people”.

Last 12 months, 23% of recent apprentices had been beneath 19, whereas virtually half had been 25 or older.

If you know the place you wish to work, you can head straight to the employer’s web site and apply.

You can seek for apprenticeship alternatives via totally different official web sites in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. If you are in England, you could make an account and apply to a number of apprenticeships in a single place.

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) permits you to seek for vacancies and plans to permit you to use for them.

You will interview for the apprenticeship earlier than you begin, and you might want to move an evaluation displaying what you have discovered earlier than you can end.

The hottest apprenticeships for brand new starters between final August and this April had been in well being, public companies and care – adopted by enterprise, administration and legislation.

Some of the greatest employers of recent apprentices in England within the final monetary 12 months had been the British navy, the civil service, and the pub and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers.

In England, 54.6% of apprentices accomplished and handed a remaining evaluation in 2022-23 – properly beneath the federal government’s 67% goal by the top of 2024-25.

A Department for Education report in March 2022 recommended that 4 in 10 individuals who didn’t full their apprenticeship cited private causes, together with profession modifications, psychological well being points and caring duties.

However, about 4 in 10 additionally mentioned they weren’t given sufficient time for coaching, that the coaching didn’t meet their expectations, or that the apprenticeship was badly run.

Ucas has warned that younger persons are being delay by a variety of boundaries, together with:

• low pay
• lack of availability
• having to use for apprenticeships individually, moderately than sending off one utility to a number of employers.

According to Ucas, 430,000 college students mentioned they had been inquisitive about apprenticeship alternatives in 2023.

However, solely 189,430 apprenticeships had been revealed on the official web site in England within the final tutorial 12 months.

The final authorities mentioned that was “nowhere near enough” and launched an on-line apprentice assist centre.

Think arduous about what the apprenticeship presents – will the qualification assist you progress within the profession you need? Can you image your self in a job within the trade? What alternatives are there to progress on the organisation itself?

You will wish to think about the place the apprenticeship is, how a lot you will get paid, and how lengthy it lasts.

It is vital to do your analysis, and ask employers for particulars about coaching in your interview. You may also learn evaluations of apprenticeships on websites like RateMyApprenticeship.co.uk.