An apprenticeship is a real job with formal training attached. The apprentice is employed, paid a wage and does productive work. Alongside their job, apprentices undertake structured training against an approved occupational standard, sometimes including one or more mandatory qualifications. They must meet the training, assessment and completion requirements of that standard before achieving the apprenticeship.
That combination is what distinguishes an apprenticeship from a job that happens to include some training. Four things have to be true:
- The apprentice has a contract of employment and is paid at least the apprentice minimum wage.
- The apprenticeship meets the statutory minimum duration. For new starts from August 2025 that is 8 months of practical training, reduced from 12 months. In practice apprenticeships run from around eight months to several years, and each standard specifies its own expected duration.
- A proportion of the apprentice's paid hours is spent on off-the-job training – learning new skills relevant to the occupation, away from the immediate demands of the job.
- The apprentice must meet the assessment requirements of their apprenticeship standard. The assessment model is currently changing, with revised plans allowing some assessment during the programme and, where specified, some provider-delivered assessment – see how are apprenticeships assessed?
How big is the programme?
In England, there were 308,770 apprenticeship starts between August 2025 and April 2026, and 735,500 learners participating in an apprenticeship at some point in that period. In the last complete year, 2024/25, there were 353,500 starts and 198,330 achievements.
Apprenticeships are not only for school leavers. In the current period, 20.6% of starts were by someone under 19 and 52.4% by someone aged 25 or over.
Is an apprentice an employee?
Yes. An apprentice has an employment relationship with an employer, so an apprentice is not a student on unpaid work experience. Apprentices receive a wage, holiday pay, employee rights, time for apprenticeship training and occupational experience. The employer must provide a real job that lets the apprentice develop the knowledge and skills the apprenticeship requires.
How much time is spent training?
Current GOV.UK guidance says an apprentice gets “time for training and study related to your role (at least 20% of your normal working hours)”. This is usually called off-the-job training, and the name misleads people.
It does not necessarily mean physically leaving the workplace. Training can take place at a college, with a training provider, at the employer's workplace, online, or a combination of these. Off-the-job does not have to mean off the premises. What makes training off-the-job is that it is structured learning towards the occupational standard rather than the apprentice's ordinary productive duties.
Are apprentices paid while training?
Yes. Required apprenticeship training takes place within paid working time. An apprentice must be paid for normal working hours, required apprenticeship training, and required English and maths study where it forms part of the apprenticeship. See how much do apprentices get paid?
Who can start an apprenticeship?
For apprenticeships in England, a person normally needs to be aged 16 or over, live in England, and not be in full-time education when the apprenticeship starts. There is no upper age limit.
The conditions have to be met when the apprenticeship begins, not when the application is made, so a Year 11 or Year 13 student can apply for vacancies while still at school or college.
Are apprenticeships only for school leavers?
No, and this is the biggest misconception about them. Final 2024/25 data shows under-19s were 21.2% of starts, while 51.3% were aged 25 or over. The provisional 2025/26 data shows the same pattern continuing, with 52.4% of starts between August 2025 and April 2026 by people aged 25 or over.
So apprenticeships are used by school leavers, young adults, career changers, existing employees developing new occupational skills, and adults progressing into higher-level roles. See what the apprenticeship data actually shows →
How long does an apprenticeship take?
GOV.UK describes apprenticeships as taking “Apprenticeships can take from 8 months to 6 years to complete, depending on the type and level”. Higher and degree apprenticeships are generally longer than many Level 2 or Level 3 apprenticeships. The occupational standard sets out the training needed, and relevant previous qualifications, training or experience can sometimes reduce the amount of new training required, following the provider's initial assessment.
What qualification do you get?
It depends on the standard. Some apprenticeships include a separate qualification such as a diploma or a degree. Others are built around the occupational standard and its assessment without a separate qualification carrying the same title. What every approved apprenticeship is designed to demonstrate is competence in the occupation. Check the specific standard rather than assuming every apprenticeship produces the same certificate.
Do apprentices pay tuition fees?
No. Apprentices do not personally pay university-style tuition fees for the apprenticeship training; it is funded through the apprenticeship funding system and employer arrangements. This is one of the major differences between a degree apprenticeship and the conventional full-time university route.
Is an apprenticeship right for everyone?
No route is automatically best for everyone. An apprenticeship may suit someone who has an occupational area in mind, wants substantial workplace experience, is ready to apply for jobs, is comfortable balancing employment responsibilities with structured study, and wants to earn while training.
Someone who wants to keep a very wide range of future subjects or careers open may prefer a broader full-time route such as A levels. The useful question is not which route sounds more prestigious, but which fits the learner's interests, circumstances and intended progression. Compare apprenticeships, A levels and T Levels →
What an apprenticeship is not
- Not unpaid. Apprentices are employees and must be paid at least the apprentice rate of the National Minimum Wage; many are paid considerably more.
- Not work experience. Work experience placements, internships and traineeships are different things with different rules.
- Not a single level. Apprenticeships run from Level 2, broadly equivalent to good GCSEs, up to Level 7, broadly master's level. There are also foundation apprenticeships, introduced in 2025 as an entry route for younger people. See apprenticeship levels explained.
- Not the same across the UK. Skills policy is devolved. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own apprenticeship systems with different rules and different statistics. Everything on this page describes England.
Who is involved
Three parties, and it helps to keep them distinct. The employer hires and pays the apprentice, provides the job, and verifies the behaviours the apprentice demonstrates at work. The training provider delivers the training, supports the apprentice through the programme and, under revised assessment plans, may deliver and mark some assessment elements. An assessment organisation, independent of training delivery, designs the assessment materials and quality-assures them. Government contributes to the cost of the training through the apprenticeship funding system, which since 2026 sits within the Growth and Skills Levy.
Note on the assessment role. Under the established model an independent end-point assessment organisation carried out the final assessment itself. Under the revised assessment plans now being rolled out, independence sits in the design and quality assurance of the assessment rather than necessarily in its delivery. Both models are in use through 2026–27, so what applies depends on the standard and version an apprentice is on.