Hiring an apprentice lets you build capability in-house and develop staff to your organisation’s way of working. Apprentices are employees, so you can recruit new talent or upskill existing staff, while they gain real experience alongside structured training.

In sport, physical activity and education settings, apprentices can increase capacity on sessions, improve consistency and quality of delivery, and support progression routes for coaches and support staff. Many employers also value improved retention, because apprentices typically train for a specific role over a sustained period.

Apprentices can add capacity and consistency to PE, sport and wider enrichment. In primary settings, they can help deliver high-quality activity alongside teachers, support targeted groups, and increase the number of clubs, interventions and events a school can offer.

Where the apprenticeship role includes wider duties (for example, behaviour, wellbeing, lunchtime activity or wraparound support), apprentices can also contribute to a positive culture and pupil engagement – provided the role is planned, supervised and aligned to the apprentice’s training plan.

Yes – the apprenticeship standard is fixed (the nationally approved knowledge, skills and behaviours), but the job role and training plan can be tailored to your setting.

Training must focus on developing new competence for the role and must not be funded for knowledge, skills or behaviours the apprentice can already demonstrate through prior learning or experience. Providers must review prior learning to tailor the plan appropriately.

We offer a range of pathways on our apprenticeships, including the following:

• School
• Community
• Care
• Wrap around
• Swimming
• SEND

Employers must provide a genuine job with a contract long enough for the apprentice to complete their programme, and pay at least the applicable National Minimum Wage/National Living Wage.

You’ll also need to:
• Agree and sign the apprenticeship agreement and commitment statement/training plan with the apprentice and provider
• Provide appropriate supervision, mentoring and on-the-job experience to build occupational competence
• Allow the apprentice time to complete off-the-job training (OTJT) and any required assessments
• Ensure health and safety, safeguarding (where relevant), equality and employment law compliance
• Keep accurate records and work with the provider to review progress and attendance.

There is no upper age limit. Apprenticeships are available to people aged 16+ who have the right to work in England and meet the programme eligibility requirements.

 Support can include (depending on the service you choose):
• Helping you shape the role profile and eligibility criteria
• Advertising support and candidate attraction
• Initial eligibility checks (right to work, residency/working in England rules, and apprenticeship eligibility)
• CV sifting, shortlisting support and interview templates
• Joining interviews (where agreed) and supporting offers, onboarding and enrolment paperwork 

If you have an in-house process already, we can plug into the parts you need most.

Yes. Apprenticeships can be used to upskill existing staff (as long as the apprenticeship develops substantial new knowledge, skills and behaviours and the role provides the opportunity to practise them). The training plan is agreed with the employer and provider, and the apprentice completes an End-Point Assessment at the end of the programme.

It depends on whether you pay the apprenticeship levy.

• Levy-paying employers (annual pay bill over £3 million) pay 0.5% of pay bill into their apprenticeship service account (with a £15,000 annual levy allowance). Levy funds in the account can be used to pay for apprenticeship training and assessment, up to the funding band maximum.

• Non-levy employers usually pay co-investment (currently 5% of the agreed training and assessment price, up to the funding band maximum), with government paying the remaining 95%. Some exceptions and additional support may apply under the current funding rules.

• Levy transfer: levy-paying employers can transfer funds to other employers to cover 100% of the eligible training and assessment costs (up to the band), subject to the transfer agreement and any subsidy control considerations.

If your annual pay bill is over £3 million, you pay the apprenticeship levy at 0.5% through PAYE. You receive a £15,000 annual levy allowance (shared across connected organisations) which reduces the amount of levy you pay.

Levy funds appear in your apprenticeship service account and can be used to pay for apprenticeship training and assessment for apprentices working in England (and meeting the 50% working time in England rule). You can also transfer a proportion of your funds to other employers via the apprenticeship service to support their apprenticeship training.

You must pay at least the statutory National Minimum Wage / National Living Wage.

As of 15 January 2026, the apprentice rate (from 1 April 2025) is £7.55 per hour. This applies if the apprentice is:
• under 19, or
• aged 19+ and in the first year of their apprenticeship.

After the first year (and if they are 19+), they must be paid at least the minimum wage rate for their age.

Rates are due to increase from 1 April 2026 (apprentice rate will rise to £8.00 per hour).

There is an additional payment of £1,000 for employers who employ an apprentice aged 16–18 at the start of their apprenticeship. The payment is typically made in two instalments via the training provider and passed in full to the employer.

The same £1,000 additional payment also applies for apprentices aged 19–24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or who have been in local authority care (care leavers).

In addition, employers do not pay employer National Insurance contributions on earnings up to the relevant threshold for apprentices under 25 (subject to HMRC rules).

Off-the-job training (OTJT) is paid time during working hours where the apprentice is learning new knowledge, skills and behaviours related to the apprenticeship (for example taught sessions, coaching/mentoring, shadowing, project work, assignments or simulation).

For new apprenticeship starts from 1 August 2025, OTJT is no longer expressed as a blanket ‘20%’ requirement. Instead, each apprenticeship standard has a published minimum OTJT hours requirement, and the programme must be planned to meet (or exceed) that minimum, taking account of any recognised prior learning.

In practice, many employers still plan for roughly an average of a day a week (or equivalent over time), but the exact pattern can be flexed around operational needs as long as the minimum OTJT requirement for that standard is achieved.