How to take on an apprentice

Whatever type of employer you are, even if IT is not your main function, hiring an apprentice is a great option to boost your IT talent pool with home-grown experts.

Specific digital apprenticeships are available across skills and careers, such as:

• Hardware, network, cloud and infrastructure
• Cybersecurity
• Software development
• DevOps
• Data
• Business analysis
• Digital marketing

But, how do you take on an apprentice? What are the key steps and necessary stages in the process?

As you read on, we’ll explore the mechanics of hiring an apprentice and the benefits that taking on an apprentice can generate for your business.

What are the first steps toward hiring an apprentice?

The first step in taking on an apprentice is: be sure you’re prepared. You need to be clear in your mind about why you’re making the decision and that you’re making it for the right reasons.

Taking on an apprentice isn’t like hiring a fully-rounded and ready employee who is skilled, experienced and primed to slot into an existing job role.

Employing an apprentice is an investment - one which can repay you with many benefits (we’ll look at those later). But, to achieve those benefits, you will need to put in time, money, patience, energy and support.

In summary, as a hiring manager, you need to be prepared equally for the yield and investment sides of the equation.

How do I begin taking on an apprentice?

You’ve made the decision. That’s great. Now, get ready for some administration.

All apprenticeships in England are managed through HM Government’s Apprenticeship Service. You’ll need to create an account.

When you’ve created an account, you’ll be able to carry out key steps such as:

• Accessing and managing funding for your apprentice
• Advertising roles on the ‘find an apprenticeship service’
• Choosing an apprenticeship training course and finding a training provider
• Starting recruitment
• Managing payment to your training provider
• Registering and managing your apprentice

To create an apprenticeship account, you’ll need some HR, PAYE and account details and permissions.

Helpfully, HM Government’s Apprenticeships Service has created a useful instruction video:

Watch the video

What is an apprenticeship training provider?

Apprenticeship training providers deliver the apprenticeship standards and framework which leads to a nationally recognised qualification for apprentices who complete their programme.

There are effectively three types of providers:

1. Further education colleges
2. Independent Training providers
3. Employers themselves who offer their own training programmes

Many training providers specialise in certain industries and cover specific geographic locations. To find a training provider, again, the government’s website can help.

Training providers can also help employers who are taking the first steps in hiring an apprentice. If there’s a provider in your local area, or one that offers an apprenticeship you’re interested in, then get in touch for advice and guidance. Some training providers are registered with BCS.

How do I find my apprentice?

When you’ve been through the process of creating your apprenticeship account and registering your specific apprenticeship, the website will advertise your job on the government's find an apprenticeship page. It’s effectively a huge, searchable job board where anybody looking for an apprenticeship should head.

You can increase your chances of finding the perfect person for your apprenticeship by doing some marketing yourself:

• Arrange visits to local schools, colleges and universities
• Use social media
• Hold an open day

Your chosen training provider may also help you when recruiting an apprentice.

How to employ an apprentice: what are my responsibilities as an employer?

Good question. Your first responsibility, as it with all employees, is to create a safe working environment.

Again, as with all employees, apprentices will need to be ‘onboarded’, or inducted, into the business.

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They’ll need to be orientated, shown around their workplace, inducted and introduced to colleagues. As an employer, you’ll also need to introduce your apprentice to any relevant procedures and policies.

Your apprentice won’t be able to perform their working duties all day, every working day.

You’ll need to set aside a minimum of 20% of their time for ‘off-the-job’ training. This is delivered by a training provider during the apprentice’s normal working day.

And, of course, you’ll need to support your apprentice with ‘on-the-job’ training.

Finally, there are some contractual and legal obligations which you’ll need to observe. These are set out clearly in the government’s guide: How to take on an apprentice. It’s well worth reading.

How much will it cost to take on an apprentice?

Again, the government’s website has some clear and concise information about funding an apprenticeship.

Happily, you can get financial support to help pay for your apprentice’s training and assessment. How much you pay depends on whether you need to pay the apprenticeship levy.

In a nutshell, if your organisation’s wage bill is over £3million each year, you’ll need to pay 0.5% of your total salary figure. So, bigger organisations pay more.

If you don’t pay the levy, you pay 5% of the costs of training and assessing your apprentice.

That’s a very broad overview and, again, it’s well worth reading the government’s official guide to funding an apprenticeship.

What are the benefits of taking on an apprentice?

For employers, apprenticeships offer many benefits. These include:

• Access to government funding to help with the costs
• Use of the apprenticeship levy. If your business and its wage bill are big enough, you’ll have to pay the apprenticeship levy. If you don’t take on an apprentice, you’ll be wasting this cash
• Taking the risk out of recruitment. You know who your best and most reliable employees are. Upskilling these people is far less risky than hiring new people

Of course, there are lots of other benefits for the apprentices themselves too.

Who can be an apprentice?

Apprenticeships are designed for people over the age of 16. They provide the apprentice with an opportunity to combine working and studying and, in the fullness of time, to gain knowledge in a real working environment.

During their day-to-day life, apprentices will:

• Work alongside your existing staff (or you if you run a small business)
• Have time allotted for studying and training during their working week (it is usual for an apprentice to spend at least 20% of their working hours studying)
• Gain and develop skills which are relevant to your business

Your apprentice could be a new employee hired specifically for a particular role, or they could be an existing employee who has a genuine training need.