Huge changes to hiring apprentices in January 2020 – Don’t miss out!

Apprenticeships keep improving and there are important changes if you employ apprentices or are considering employing apprentices. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) who fund and regulate apprenticeships have announced changes to the way businesses recruit apprentices and access apprenticeship funding. This will be in the form off a new Digital Apprenticeship Service.

The key benefits to employers will be:

More control of apprenticeship funding
A wider range of local Apprenticeship providers
Access to the apprentice recruitment service
Support and guidance from Professional Apprenticeships to set up system for you
Use funding to recruit new hire apprentices or even train existing staff or managers
The government will fund 95% of any apprenticeship

The new system will be on a first come first served basis and the government have released only 15,000 apprenticeship places for the entire country between January and March. To avoid missing out, you need to reserve your apprenticeship training provider as soon as the system goes live in January. Professional Apprenticeships are happy to support with setting up the system and you will need to confirm your organisation may be require using:

Government Gateway Credentials
Companies House number
Account Office Reference Number
PAYE Reference number

Over the past 3 years there have been lots of changes effecting apprenticeship training. Many of these changes affecting delivery and improving quality of apprenticeship training through the introduction of apprenticeship standards and new subject areas and higher levels. Apprentices now get access to better quality training paired with better assessment at the end which guarantees competence within their role. So with better quality, higher level applicants, there has never been a better time to employ an apprentice. At Professional Apprenticeships we can recruit or train existing staff in the following