Offer apprenticeships: FAQs

In this section you will find answers to the common questions that voluntary sector organisations have about recruiting, training and funding apprentices. If you have a question that is not answered in this section or to find out more please contact us.

Q: How do I find an apprentice?: A:
You can recruit an apprentice yourself in the same way you recruit other staff, train one of your existing staff members as an apprentice or ask your Fair Train training provider to match you with an apprentice through the national vacancy matching service. Training providers can also help with the selection process if you wish them to.
Q: How do I get started?: A:
Charities, social enterprises, co-ops and other third sector organisations interested in running an apprenticeship should get in touch with Fair Train.

Fair Train will match you with a Fair Train training provider in your region. The Fair Train training provider will visit your organisation and discuss what skills would help you to make a difference to people and communities, and the options for training an apprentice.
Q: How long will it take?: A:
Because apprenticeships are based on demonstrating that someone can do a job to national standards, it very much depends on how fast a young person learns.

On average, a Level 2 Apprenticeship takes between 12 and 15 months while an Advanced Apprenticeship takes between 18 and 24 months.
Q: How much time will they have to spend out of the office?: A:
You need to employ an apprentice for at least 16 hours a week although most are employed full time. The time apprentices spend studying is organised flexibly to suit your needs. It can be organised on block release to a training centre or provider for a number of weeks, or on regular release such as one day a week. In some cases, training happens in the workplace.
Q: What roles are suitable for apprenticeships?: A:
There are also sorts of roles where people can learn on the job and there are over 190 different apprenticeship frameworks, that set out what an apprentice should learn and achieve during their training and what they should be able to do once they have completed their training.

The most common roles that third sector organisations train apprentices in include business administration, information and communications technology, youth work, childcare, health care and customer service. You can see the full list of frameworks provided by Fair Train trining providers in the Find training provision section of this website. Your Fair Train training provider will help you to identify the skills gaps in your organisation and how these can be filled by training an apprentice.
Q: Why should we train apprentices?: A:
Research has shown that apprentices are frequently better employees. Employers say that apprentices make better, more motivated applicants, who become more productive employees, who are then more loyal than other employees. In short, they make economic sense.
Q: Will I have to fill in lots of paperwork?: A:
Training an apprentice doesn’t need to include lots of paperwork. Training providers will take care of most of the paperwork so you don’t have to do more administration than for any other employee.
Q: Will it cost me?: A:
The government pays 100 per cent of the cost of training for apprentices aged 16 to 18 and 50 per cent of the training costs for young people aged 19 and over.

Apprentices are affordable as special National Minimum Wage rules apply. You need to pay the salary costs of an apprentice of at least £92.50 for a 35 hour week, although many organisations pay more. To work out how you can affor an apprentice see the Funding for apprenticeships section of this website.