Employing an apprentice: Overview - GOV.UK Cookies on GOV.UK We use some essential cookies to make this website work. We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. You have accepted additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. You have rejected additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. View cookies Employing an apprentice Skip contents Overview Apprentices are aged 16 or over and combine working with studying to gain skills and knowledge in a specific job. This guidance is for employers in England. There’s a different way to employ an: apprentice in Scotland apprentice in Wales apprentice in Northern Ireland Apprentices can be new or current employees. You must pay the apprentice at least the minimum wage Apprenticeships can take from 8 months to 6 years to complete, depending on the type and level of the apprenticeship. Your responsibilities You’re responsible for making sure your apprentice: works with experienced staff learns job-specific skills gets time off during their working week for apprenticeship training Hiring an apprentice There are several steps to taking on an apprentice. Choose an apprenticeship for your business or organisation. Find an organisation that offers training for the apprenticeship you’ve chosen. Check what training funding you can get Create an account - you need this to manage funding and recruit apprentices. Advertise your apprenticeship - find out how to create an advert or give your training provider permission to do this for you. Make an apprenticeship agreement and training plan with your chosen apprentice. If you do not want to hire and train the apprentice yourself, you can use a flexi-job apprenticeship agency . The apprentice will be employed by the agency but will work in your organisation. View a printable version of the whole guide Related content Is this page useful? Maybe Thank you for your feedback Help us improve GOV.UK To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today. Please fill in this survey (opens in a new tab