The Ultimate Guide to Apprenticeships

What is an apprenticeship?

An apprenticeship is a paid job that includes structured training. You work for a real employer, earn a wage from day one, and study towards a recognised qualification at the same time. The training element is usually delivered by a college, university, or specialist training provider, and includes a set number of paid training hours, roughly a day a week for most. This is called your "off-the-job" training, and it is protected by law. Your employer cannot cancel it or ask you to skip it to cover a shift.

Apprenticeships sit at levels 2 through 7. Level 2 is equivalent to GCSEs. Level 7 is equivalent to a master's degree. You do not need to climb them in order. If you have A-levels or a BTEC, you might start at Level 4 or higher. If you are 16 and leaving school with GCSEs, Level 2 or 3 is the typical starting point.

There are over 700 apprenticeship standards in England, covering roles from nursing to software engineering to hospitality management. Each standard is designed by a group of employers in that industry, so the skills you learn are the ones that sector actually needs. These standards are approved and overseen by Skills England (the body that replaced the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education - IfATE), the government body responsible for apprenticeship quality.

You must be at least 16 to start an apprenticeship. There is no upper age limit. You must live in England and not be in full-time education.

The levels explained

Here is how the levels map to qualifications you already know. For a side-by-side comparison, see our apprenticeship levels explained guide.

Foundation Apprenticeships (Pre-Level 2)

Launched in August 2025, these are short (typically 8-month) entry-level routes for 16-21 year olds who are not yet ready for a full Level 2 apprenticeship. You earn a wage while developing employability skills and gaining a broad overview of a sector (like digital or construction) before progressing to a specific Level 2 or 3 standard. Read our full guide to Foundation Apprenticeships.

Level 2 (Intermediate)

Equivalent to five GCSE passes at grades 9 to 4. Typical roles include retail team member, care assistant, hospitality operative. You need no formal qualifications to start, though some employers ask for GCSEs in English and maths. If you do not have those GCSEs, you will study Functional Skills alongside your apprenticeship at no extra cost (compulsory for 16-18s; employer-led for 19+).

Level 3 (Advanced)

Equivalent to two A-level passes. Roles include engineering technician, dental nurse, junior journalist, accounts assistant. Most employers ask for five GCSEs at grade 4 or above, though some accept Level 2 completion instead.

Level 4 and 5 (Higher)

Equivalent to a foundation degree or the first year or two of a bachelor's degree. Roles include construction site supervisor, data analyst, associate project manager. You typically need A-levels, a Level 3 apprenticeship, or equivalent.

Level 6 (Degree)

Equivalent to a full bachelor's degree. You study at a university while working. Roles include registered nurse, chartered manager, civil engineer. Entry requirements are similar to university: usually A-levels or a Level 4/5 qualification. The employer pays your tuition fees. More on this in our deep dive on degree apprenticeships.

Level 7 (Master's)

Equivalent to a master's degree. Roles include solicitor (via the solicitor apprenticeship route), chartered accountant (ACA), and advanced data scientist. While many Level 7 apprenticeships require a bachelor's degree or professional experience, school-leaver Level 7 routes—such as the six-year solicitor apprenticeship and ACA accountancy apprenticeships—take 18-year-olds straight after A-levels without a degree. Note that public funding for Level 7 apprenticeships was removed for people aged 22 and older from January 2026.

You can find the full list of approved standards on Skills England's apprenticeship standards search. Each standard lists the typical duration, the qualification you earn, and the knowledge, skills and behaviours you will be assessed on.

Pay and money

You are paid a wage for every hour you work, including your training time. There is no tuition fee, no student loan, no repayment. The training costs are covered by your employer and the government.

The minimum wage for apprentices

If you are under 19, or aged 19+ but in the first year of your apprenticeship, you must be paid at least the apprentice minimum wage. As of April 2026, that rate is £8.00 per hour. This figure is reviewed each year and typically rises in April. Check the current rate at gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates.

Rates after your first year

Once you turn 19 and finish year one, you are entitled to the National Minimum Wage for your age bracket, not the apprentice rate. For example, from April 2026, the rate is £10.85 an hour for 18-20 year olds, and £12.71 for those 21 and over. Many employers pay above the minimum regardless. Engineering, tech, and finance apprenticeships in particular often pay £20,000 to £28,000 in the first year.

Holiday, study time, and pension

• Holiday: You get at least 20 days paid holiday per year plus bank holidays. Many employers offer more.
• Study time: Your off-the-job training hours are paid. You are not expected to make up those hours elsewhere.
• Pension: If you are 22 or over and earn above the auto-enrolment threshold, your employer must enrol you in a workplace pension. Under 22, you can opt in voluntarily.

What you do not pay for

Training. Assessment. End-point assessment (the final exam or project that completes your apprenticeship). Any qualification fees. If an employer or training provider asks you to contribute to these costs, that is a red flag. Report it to Skills England.

Your rights

Apprentices are employees. You have the same core employment rights as any other worker.

You have a written contract or apprenticeship agreement from day one. It states your role, your wage, your training plan, and your working hours. You are entitled to a payslip, to protection from unfair dismissal after two years (dropping to six months from 1 January 2027), to statutory sick pay (payable from the first day of sickness with no lower earnings limit from 6 April 2026), and to a safe working environment under the same health and safety laws as every other employee.

If you are 16 or 17, your working hours are capped at 40 per week and you cannot work between 10pm and 6am with very limited exceptions. You are also entitled to one 30-minute rest break in any shift over four and a half hours.

You cannot be fired for taking your training time. You cannot be asked to do work that is nothing to do with your role or your training plan. If your employer asks you to skip college to cover staff shortages, you can raise that with your training provider, who has a duty to intervene.

If something goes wrong, your first point of contact is your training provider. After that, ACAS offers free, confidential advice on employment disputes. The government's apprenticeships service also runs a helpline that can direct you.

Finding an apprenticeship

The main search tool is the government's Find an apprenticeship service. You can filter by keyword, location, level, and pay. New vacancies are added daily. You can create an account, save searches, and set up email alerts for new listings that match your criteria.

Other places to look:

• EarlyBird (that's us!). We track the best apprenticeship employers in the UK. You can browse our Jobs & Companies directory to discover companies with the highest-rated training programmes.
• UCAS apprenticeships lists degree and higher apprenticeships alongside university courses. Useful if you are in Year 12 or 13 and comparing options.
• Employer careers pages directly. Large employers like the BBC, NHS, Rolls-Royce, Barclays, and the Civil Service run their own application portals and often do not list on the government site.
• Your school or college careers adviser. Many employers contact schools directly when they have vacancies, particularly for Level 2 and 3 roles.

How to apply

Most applications go through an online form. You will typically be asked for:

• Your personal details and right to work in the UK.
• Your education history, including GCSEs (or predicted grades if you are still in Year 11).
• A short personal statement or answers to motivational questions like "Why this employer?" and "Why this role?"
• Sometimes a CV, though many apprenticeship applications do not require one.

Our guide to online application forms walks through each section, and how to write a cover letter covers the employers that ask for one.

You do not need work experience to apply for most Level 2 and 3 apprenticeships. Employers know they are hiring 16- and 17-year-olds. What they look for instead is reliability, willingness to learn, and some evidence that you are interested in the sector. That evidence can be a part-time job, a school project, a hobby, volunteering, or even a YouTube channel about engineering if that is the field.

After the application form, you might be invited to a phone or video interview, then an in-person interview or a short practical task. The process varies by employer. Small businesses might interview you once and make an offer the same week. Large employers like the NHS or Rolls-Royce might run a multi-stage process over six to eight weeks, often including online tests, a video interview, and an assessment centre.

Prepare for interviews the way you would for any job. Research the company. Know what they do, who their customers are, and what the apprenticeship involves day to day. Have two or three questions ready to ask them. Dress smartly. Arrive on time or log in five minutes early for a video call.

What the training looks like

Your working week splits between your employer and your training provider. The split depends on the standard and the employer. A common pattern is four days at work and one day at college or university. Some apprentices do block release: several weeks at the training provider, then several weeks back at work. Degree apprentices at Level 6 or 7 might attend university one or two days a week during term time.

The training content is set by the apprenticeship standard. Your training provider follows that standard. You will build a portfolio of evidence as you go: projects, assignments, observations, professional discussions. This portfolio feeds into your end-point assessment.

End-point assessment (EPA)

At the end of your apprenticeship, an independent assessor tests whether you have met the standard. The format varies by level and sector. It might be a practical task, a written exam, a project and presentation, a professional discussion, or a combination. Your training provider prepares you for this. You do not pay for it.

Degree apprenticeships (Levels 6 and 7)

You are enrolled at a university. You earn a full bachelor's or master's degree. The employer pays the tuition fees. You earn a wage throughout. You graduate with no student debt. The trade-off is that the degree can take longer (typically three to four years) because you are studying part-time while working full-time. You also miss the traditional university social experience, though many degree apprentices say the workplace friendships and professional network compensate. See our deep dive on degree apprenticeships, or weigh it up in degree apprenticeship vs university.

You can search for degree apprenticeship vacancies on UCAS and on gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship.

Outcomes and what comes next

Most apprentices who complete their programme stay in work, and many are promoted within their employer. The Department for Education publishes the latest apprenticeship starts, achievements, and participation data on its apprenticeship statistics page.

After completing a Level 3 apprenticeship, you can progress to Level 4 or 5. After Level 5, you can move to Level 6 or 7. You do not have to stay with the same employer or the same sector. The qualification is yours.

Some apprentices go on to university after completing a Level 3; while apprenticeships generally don't carry UCAS tariff points, many universities accept them as entry qualifications. Others move into management, start their own business, or specialise further with professional qualifications (for example, moving from an accounting apprenticeship into full ACCA or CIMA membership).

There is no single path. The apprenticeship gets you into the workforce with a qualification and experience. What you do after that is up to you.

Myths, corrected

"Apprenticeships are only for people who didn't do well at school." Higher and degree apprenticeships (Level 4 and above) now make up around 41% of all starts in England. Level 6 and 7 programmes at employers like the BBC, Goldman Sachs, and the NHS receive thousands of applications for a limited number of places, making them as competitive as university places at top institutions.

"You don't earn enough to live on." The minimum wage is a floor, not a target. Many employers pay well above it. Engineering apprentices at large employers like Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems typically start on around £20,000 or more. Degree apprentices in law or finance can earn £25,000 to £30,000 while studying.

"You're just a cheap worker making tea." By law, you get protected, paid off-the-job training time. Your employer must follow the apprenticeship standard. If the role does not match the standard, the training provider is required to raise it. You are not an intern or a temp. You have a contract, a training plan, and a qualification at the end.

"Employers don't respect apprenticeship qualifications." Every standard is designed by employer groups. The qualification signals that you can do a specific job to industry standard. Professional bodies including the Engineering Council, ICAEW, ACCA, and the SRA recognise apprenticeship routes as equivalent to traditional academic paths.

"It's too late if you're over 18." There is no upper age limit. Only around one in five apprenticeship starts in England (20.6% in 2025/26) are by people under 19. Career changers use apprenticeships to move into nursing, teaching, and data science.

FAQ

• Can I do an apprenticeship if I already have a degree?↓

  Can I do an apprenticeship if I already have a degree?

  Yes. There is no rule against it. However, you cannot repeat training you have already received. If your degree is in the same subject as the apprenticeship, the employer and training provider will assess whether the content overlaps. In practice, many graduates take Level 6 or 7 apprenticeships in a different field to retrain.

• Do I need GCSEs in English and maths?↓

  Do I need GCSEs in English and maths?

  Not always. Many Level 2 apprenticeships have no formal entry requirements, and if you are 16 to 18 without English and maths at grade 4, you will study Functional Skills alongside your apprenticeship at no cost. For Level 3 and above, most employers ask for grade 4 or above in both.

• Can I switch employers during an apprenticeship?↓

  Can I switch employers during an apprenticeship?

  Yes. If you leave your employer, you can find a new one and continue the same apprenticeship standard, provided the new employer agrees and the training provider confirms the arrangement. You do not lose the training you have already completed.

• What happens if I fail my end-point assessment?↓

  What happens if I fail my end-point assessment?

  You can retake it. Your training provider will tell you what you need to improve and when you can resit. There is usually a small fee for the resit, paid by your employer. You do not lose your apprenticeship.

• Is an apprenticeship the same as an internship?↓

  Is an apprenticeship the same as an internship?

  No. An internship is typically a short, sometimes unpaid, work experience placement. An apprenticeship is a paid job with a contract, structured training lasting from eight months to six years, and a formal qualification at the end. They are different things with different legal statuses.

• Can I do an apprenticeship part-time?↓

  Can I do an apprenticeship part-time?

  Apprenticeships are full-time by default (minimum 30 hours per week). Part-time apprenticeships exist but are less common and must still meet the minimum training hours. Ask the employer or training provider if they offer flexible arrangements.

Ready to get started?

Apprenticeships are no longer the 'alternative' route; they are a primary pathway into some of the UK’s most competitive and rewarding careers. Whether you want to learn a traditional trade, become a software engineer, or qualify as a solicitor, there is likely an apprenticeship standard that fits your ambitions.

The next step is to start looking at what is available. Create a free EarlyBird account to get personalised apprenticeship recommendations, track your applications, and discover the best employers in the UK.

Sign up for EarlyBird or browse our Company Directory to get started! Good luck!