Six steps to your first apprentice.
This is genuinely what it takes, and it is the reason a lot of employers who want an apprentice never get round to one. None of it is difficult. All of it is time you have not got. We can do all six.
Step 1: Pick the role
Choose a job you need filled and find the apprenticeship standard that matches it, from Level 2 up to degree level.
What we can do instead- Standard and level selection — Which apprenticeship standard fits the job you described.
Step 2: Choose a provider
Compare colleges, training providers and universities on the national register and pick one that covers your standard.
What we can do instead- Training provider introduction — Matched to your sector and your area.
Step 3: Set up an account
Create an apprenticeship service account to manage funding and payments.
What we can do instead- Apprenticeship service setup — Account, vacancy and funding, done for you.
- Funding walkthrough — What you will actually pay, for your situation.
Step 4: Advertise
Post the vacancy on the national service, where it sits alongside everything else and says little about who should apply.
What we can do instead- Advert writing — Including the entry requirements almost no advert states.
- Featured placement — Your vacancy lifted in matched results and on browse.
- Matched candidate alerts — Pushed to the students who actually fit, by email.
- Sector and location placement — On the pages people find through search.
- Social campaign — Your role, in the places 16–18 year olds actually are.
Step 5: Hire and agree terms
Sift the applications, interview, then issue a contract of employment, an apprenticeship agreement and a training plan.
What we can do instead- Pre-screened shortlist — A ranked list with reasoning, not a pile of applications.
- Shortlisting and interview support — Sifting, scheduling and a structured interview pack.
Step 6: Support and develop
Assign a mentor, protect the off-the-job training time, and plan the role they move into at the end.
What we can do instead- Onboarding pack — The first ninety days of someone’s first job.
The bits that stay yours, whoever does the admin.
A contract and an agreement
An apprentice is an employee. They need a contract of employment, a written statement of particulars from day one, and an apprenticeship agreement alongside the training plan you sign with the provider.
Pay, including training time
At least the apprentice rate, and that includes the hours they spend on off-the-job training. After the first year, or once they turn nineteen, the normal minimum wage for their age applies.
Extra care for under-18s
Young workers have additional protection on working hours, rest breaks and health and safety risk assessment. If you are hiring at sixteen, this is the part to get advice on rather than guess at.
Day-one rights
Statutory sick pay from the first day of sickness, paternity leave and the rest apply to apprentices exactly as they do to anyone else on your payroll.
This is a summary, not legal advice. Employment law is yours to get right and we will always tell you to take proper advice on the contract itself.
Want us to take the six steps off you?
Tell us the job you need doing. We will come back with the standard that fits it, what it would cost you, and a provider in your area who covers it.