You should look at an apprenticeship as a part of your workforce planning strategy or, if you are a smaller business, as part of your approach to building capacity and ensuring business continuity. Either way, you will have identified a business need, either now or on the horizon. 

There are hundreds of apprenticeships to choose from. They offer flexible, but structured, training that meet your needs as an employer. First you should understand what your business need is and then check which of the existing apprenticeship standards represents the best fit for this need.

Apprenticeships are designed by groups of employers. They reflect the knowledge, skills and behaviours that an apprentice needs to perform competently in an occupational role. They have a level assigned to them, for example digital marketer (Level 3), and a funding band identified for each standard.  

Apprentices can be a new or existing employee. They must:

  • be 16 or over
  • combine work with study to gain skills and knowledge in a specific job
  • spend at least 20% of their working hours on 'off-the-job' training with your chosen training provider

New employees

An apprenticeship can help you recruit and train new employees. 

You can employ apprentices at different levels, from school leavers and university graduates, to people who want to further their careers or change career direction completely.

You can hire someone new or upskill an existing employee.

As an employer, you can get funding from the government to help pay for apprenticeship training.

Hiring an apprentice is a productive and effective way to grow talent and develop a motivated, skilled and qualified workforce.

In a recent survey of employers:

  • 86% said apprenticeships helped them develop skills relevant to their organisation
  • 78% said apprenticeships helped them improve productivity
  • 74% said apprenticeships helped them improve the quality of their product or service

Other benefits of working with apprentices include:

  • you can adapt their training according to the needs of your business
  • they’re motivated to learn new skills
  • you can expand and upskill your workforce

Existing employees

You can use apprenticeships to upskill and retrain your existing workforce.

You can use apprenticeship training to:

  • fill skill gaps in your business
  • boost employee motivation by investing in their development
  • improve your staff retention

For example, you may have experienced staff who are keen to get a formal qualification in their specialist area, or there is someone who has the aptitude and drive to learn something new and progress into a different role. Apprenticeships can help.

There are apprenticeships from level 2 (GCSE level) to level 7 (equivalent to a master’s degree). So you’ll be able to find apprenticeships that suit the learning and development needs of your employees.

What you should look for

Apprenticeships are being developed and approved all the time, so you can choose the right apprenticeship training for your business.
When looking for an apprenticeship, make sure you:

  • select the right training to suit your business
  • think about the level and duration of the training
  • discuss your expectations with the training provider

You can search for apprenticeship standards on the Institute for Apprenticeships website. You can filter by routes, occupational sectors and levels.

Get in touch 

We are here to help make the process easier.

You can talk to us about finding the right apprenticeship, and apprentice, for your business.

Book a chat about apprenticeships