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Apprenticeships are a great way to boost your business, whether through hiring a new team member or upskilling current employees.
Now that you’ve decided to recruit an apprentice, how do you start and what steps should you take? We explain all below.
Create an apprenticeship service account
One of the first things you need to do is to create an apprenticeship service account. All apprenticeships in England must be managed through the apprenticeship service and you will need an account to do this.
Once this has been created, you’ll be able to access and manager apprenticeship funding, set up and approve apprentices and give feedback on training apprentices.
Choose the right apprenticeship training
You’ll need to think about the right level and skills that you want your apprentice to achieve. Make sure you choose the right training to suit your business and think about the level and duration of the training.
Apprenticeships can last between 12 and 48 months. Although apprentices are employed by a company, they’ll spend 20 per cent of their working hours studying with a training provider or college to gain a recognised qualification.
Find a training provider
Training providers can manage the apprenticeship for you from start to finish. Choosing a training provider that is right for your business is really important so take your time exploring the options available.
At Total People, we take the time to understand your business and design the right training plans based on what your organisation needs.
Our dedicated Recruitment and Engagement team are available to help you every step of the way. We provide apprenticeship training in over 30 sectors and with years of apprenticeship experience, we can help you find your ideal apprenticeship.
Check costs and what funding is available
Apprentices are entitled to the National Minimum Wage, which currently stands at £4.30 an hour for those aged 16-18, or 19+ in their first year. Apprentices aged 19+ who have completed their first year are entitled to the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage rate for their age.
In addition, apprentices are entitled to time for training or study as part of their programme, holiday pay and other employee rights.
Funding for apprenticeships depends on the size of your business.
If you’re a large business with an annual wage bill of £3million or more, you’ll already be contributing 0.5% of that wage bill towards apprenticeship training costs. This is known as the apprenticeship levy and you have 24 months to use it before it automatically goes back to the Government.
If you’re a business with fewer than 50 employees, you could get 100 per cent of the cost of training paid for by the Government. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can also access levy gifted funds to pay for apprenticeship training. This is funding from large employers who have ‘gifted’ some of their contributions for smaller businesses to use.
There may even be some employer incentives that you can access to help you with costs associated with your apprentice. Whatever size you are, we’re here to support you every step of the way.
If you're looking to hire one or more apprentices, or access apprenticeships training for your existing employees, call us on 03333 222 666.
