Support for employers on education and skills
Information for employers on work-based education programmes, including information on apprenticeships, T Levels and traineeships.
Applies to England
Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Find out about COVID-19 business support on GOV.UK.
You can also read our COVID-19 guidance for educational settings on GOV.UK.
The Skills Toolkit
The Skills Toolkit is made up of free online courses, tools and resources to help improve digital and numeracy skills during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Department for Education has consulted some of the country’s leading educational experts and employers to make up a collection of high quality resources to suit a range of interests and skill levels.
Introduction
This guide brings together information for employers wanting to get involved in work-based education.
Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships combine working with studying to gain skills and knowledge in a specific job. Apprentices can be new or current employees.
You can read more information about the benefits of recruiting an apprentice to your business.
The Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education have also published information for employers on apprenticeships.
How to hire an apprentice
Our step-by-step guide explains how to hire an apprentice.
Find out the correct National Minimum Wage for apprentices to help with your planning. You can also find out more about employing staff.
Manage your apprenticeship
As an employer you can use an online tool called the apprenticeship service to view your apprenticeship levy funding, recruit apprentices and manage apprenticeships.
Read more about using the apprenticeship service and the benefits to your business.
Find apprenticeship training
You can find apprenticeship training for your apprentices.
Employers who want to directly deliver training to their own employees must be registered on the register of apprenticeship training providers. Our guidance explains the process for employers who want to directly deliver training to their apprentices.
Find an end-point assessment organisation
Apprentices must complete an assessment to demonstrate what the apprentice has learnt and that they can perform all aspects of their occupation.
The end-point assessment organisation must be independent from the training provider.
You can find an end-point assessment organisation for your apprentice.
How apprenticeships are funded
Employers can get government funding to cover some of the cost of training and assessing an apprentice if you’re based in England.
The amount of money you receive depends on if your annual pay bill is over £3 million and whether you subsequently pay the apprenticeship levy or not. You can read more about the costs and funding you can receive.
Traineeships
A traineeship is an education and training programme with work experience that unlocks the potential of young people to prepare them for their future careers.
Trainee work placements are designed to give young people work experience to get them ready for work or an apprenticeship.
Placements must last at least 100 hours. If your trainee gets unemployment benefits the placement can’t last longer than 8 weeks.
You don’t have to pay trainees or give them expenses, but you can if you want to.
Find out how your business can offer traineeships to young people. You can also read more about how employers can support traineeships.
T Level industry placements
T Levels are 2 year technical courses for young people age 16 to 19 that will be available from 2020. They combine classroom theory, practical learning and a substantial industry placement to make sure students have the real experience of the workplace. Industry placements are being implemented now in readiness for the rollout of T Levels.
You can find out more about T Levels on GOV.UK. You can also find out more about industry placements.
For more detailed information about industry placements and how to get involved, contact the employer helpline on 0800 015 0600 (free from landlines and mobiles) or email tlevel.placement@education.gov.uk.
Employing learners with SEND
The Education & Training Foundation have published guidance for employers who employ people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The Preparing for Adulthood website contains an employers guide to employing people with a learning disability.
The Department for Education (DfE) has published guidance on how to provide supported internships for young people with special education needs and an education, health and care (EHC) plan.
Contact us
You can contact us using our online enquiry form or you can call us on 0800 0150 0600 (free from landlines and mobiles).
Updates to this page
Last updated 2 February 2021 + show all updates
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Added a link to the new find an end-point assessment organisation service.
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First published.