Recruitment

Apprentices are aged 16 or over, and are salaried employees during their apprenticeship. They will combine working with studying to gain skills and knowledge in a specific role.

Visit our Resources & Data section in the Long Term Workforce Hub. There is a variety of guidance to help you support your apprentice including around Care Experienced Apprenticeship Recruitment and how to ensure that your apprenticeships are accessible. You can also access the Association of Apprentices (AoA) Partner Toolkit there.

Resources: 

• Skills for Health – Steps for employing an apprentice printable
• NHS Employers – Recruit and retain young people toolkit
• NHS Employer – Busting myths on recruiting under 18s into the NHS
• NHS Employers – Inspire, Attract and Recruit Toolkit

Apprentices must have a contract of employment and a learning agreement for the duration of their apprenticeship.  These are known as Apprenticeship agreements. You can download a template and further details of what it should contain from the government website here. Other helpful resources to use when recruiting apprentices can be downloaded below.

Resources:

• Government’s apprenticeship agreement template and apprenticeship training plan template.

Sometimes apprentices are supernumerary. For regulated roles, please check the NMC and HCPC’s positions on supernumerary status. Other regulatory bodies may have position statements on this.  If in doubt, please contact them directly to ask.

Resources:

• NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) – Supernumerary and protected learning time
• HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council) – Standards of Education and Training 

Apprentices are salaried employees during their apprenticeship.  The minimum wage per hour for an apprentice (correct as at April 2024) is £6.40 during the first year of their apprenticeship at any age. 

If the apprentice has completed the first year of their apprenticeship, they are entitled to the minimum wage for their age:

• Under 18: £6.40
• Age 18 to 20: £8.60
• Age 21+: £11.44

From 1st April 2025, the Apprentice Minimum wage rate is £7.55.

In health, many organisations may choose to pay their trainees more than the minimum wage, view below.

Resources:

• HASO Printable: How to Fund the Salary of Apprentices
• NHS Employers Agenda for Change
• Apprenticeship pay guidance and FAQs | NHS Employers
• The NHS Staff Council – Apprenticeship pay

Access to good employment and education opportunities for local communities is crucial for maximising an integrated care system’s (ICSs) impact on improving population health, healthcare outcomes, reducing inequalities, increasing productivity and value for money, and supporting broader social and economic development.

Apprenticeships are a strong widening participation tool that can support employers and systems to attract talent from their local communities.

Resources: 

• NHS Employers Widening Participation Tools
• Widening Participation – strategic approach case study
• NHSE Widening Participation and Access
• Busting myths on recruiting under 18s into the NHS
• Recruiting young people
• How to recruit and support disabled staff in the NHS

Before an apprenticeship begins, the main training provider must assess the individual’s prior learning to establish the ‘starting point’, or baseline, of the apprentice. The employer might undertake the initial assessment alongside the training provider and prior to making the individual an apprenticeship offer.

Resources: 

• • Gov.uk guidance – Apprenticeships: initial assessment to recognise learning

For apprentice starts before 1^st August 2022, an apprentice is required to train for a minimum of 20% of their working hours.

For apprentice starts from 1^st August 2022 onwards, the minimum volume of hours is not linked to working hours. The minimum off-the-job training requirement for a full-time apprentice is 20% of a 30 hour week (even where the apprentice works more than 30 hours per week for an employer); this equates to an average of 6 hours of off-the-job training per week.

The off the job minimum requirement for a part-time apprentice remains unchanged at 20% of their normal working hours.

Please note that the volume of training hours delivered must be supported by the initial assessment. Some apprentices and standards will need more than the minimum requirement.

Training delivery models vary from apprenticeship to apprenticeship but here are some examples:

• at work four days a week; in training one day a week
• following a degree programme in term time; at work during academic holidays
• attending training blocks at college quarterly; in work all other times.

In some instances a rotation of work-based experiences may be needed if the learner cannot meet all the necessary requirements in their normal work place.  These will be agreed between the employer and training provider.

Resources:

• Short Guide – Off the Job Training
• Gov.uk – Off-the-job training top 5 myths
• Gov,uk – Off-the-job training flowchart
• Gov.uk – Off the job training guide
• Papworth NHS Foundation Trust Off-the-job recording sheet (Pre August 2022 guidance)
• NHS England (Health Education England) What is 20% off the job training (Pre August 2022 guidance)
• ESFA Funding rules  – access the funding rules for the relevant year which contain details on off the job training.