What is an apprenticeship and how much are apprentices paid?

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he wants to see two-thirds of young people in the UK go on to university, further education, or a "gold standard apprenticeship" by the age of 25.

The minimum wage for apprentices went up in April, but there are still concerns about low pay, and high dropout rates.

What is an apprenticeship?

Being an apprentice means you usually spend four days a week working, and one day studying for a qualification at work, college, university or online.

You get paid for the time you spend working and the cost of the qualification is split between the government and your employer.

Since April 2024, the government has covered the full cost of apprenticeships offered by small businesses to people aged 21 or under, to help encourage more placements.

Any employer can hire apprentices. They are responsible for making sure you work with experienced staff and receive time off for studying.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the different levels of apprenticeship are:

• Intermediate (Level 2 - GCSE standard)

• Advanced (Level 3 - A-level standard)

• Higher (Levels 4, 5, 6 and 7 - foundation degree or above)

• Degree (Levels 6 and 7 - bachelor's or master's degree)

In England, only 16 to 21-year-olds and existing apprentices will qualify for funding for level 7 apprenticeships after January 2026.

In Scotland, the different levels are:

• Foundation (mostly SCQF Level 6 - Highers standard)

• Modern (mostly SCQF Levels 6 and 7 - Highers or Advanced Highers standard)

• Graduate (SCQF Levels 9, 10 and 11 - undergraduate or master's degree standard)

How much are apprentices paid?

If you are under 19, or if you are 19 or older but in the first year of your apprenticeship, you will be paid at least the apprentice rate of £7.55 per hour.

Otherwise, you will earn at least the appropriate minimum wage rate for your age:

• £10 for 19 and 20-year-olds

• £12.21 for those aged 21 or above. This rate is also known as the National Living Wage

Who does apprenticeships?

People often do apprenticeships if they know the career they want, or if they are already working in their chosen career and want more skills without having to study full-time.

There are no UK-wide figures for the number of apprentices, but there were 736,500 in England in 2023-24 - the most recent full-year figures.

Under-19s made up 23% of new apprentices in the same year.

Advanced apprenticeships - A-level standard - are the most popular, and the number of people doing higher apprenticeships has been rising.

The most popular apprenticeships for new starters in 2024-25 were in business, administration and law. There were more apprenticeships in engineering and manufacturing technologies and in construction, planning and the built environment than in the same period of the 2023-2024 academic year.

The Department for Education ranked the pub and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers, BAE Systems and Amazon as England's "top" three apprenticeship providers in 2025 - based on a number of criteria including intake numbers and feedback.

How to get an apprenticeship

If you know where you want to work, you can head straight to the employer's website and apply.

You can search for apprenticeship opportunities through different official websites in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

If you are in England, you can make an account and apply to several apprenticeships in one place.

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) website also lets you search for apprenticeship vacancies.

You will be interviewed for the apprenticeship before you start, and you will need to pass an assessment showing what you have learned before you can finish.

• BBC Bitesize: Three apprenticeship tips to kickstart your career

• BBC Bitesize: Which apprenticeship would suit you best?

What are some of the problems with apprenticeships?

In England, 60.5% of apprentices completed and passed a final assessment in 2023-24.

The previous Conservative government had aimed for that to reach 67% by August 2025.

A Department for Education report in March 2022 suggested that four in 10 people who did not complete their apprenticeship cited personal reasons, including career changes, mental health issues and caring responsibilities.

However, about four in 10 also said they were not given enough time for training, that the training did not meet their expectations, or that the apprenticeship was badly run.

Ucas has previously warned that young people were being put off by a range of barriers, including:

• low pay

• lack of availability

• having to apply for apprenticeships individually, rather than sending off one application to several employers.

In February 2025, the government relaxed the rules for apprentices over the age of 19 by allowing businesses to decide whether a maths and English qualification should be part of the prescribed course.

In August it also reduced the minimum duration of an apprenticeship, from 12 months to eight.

How do I know if an apprenticeship is right for me?

Think hard about what the apprenticeship offers - will the qualification help you progress in the career you want? Can you picture yourself in a job in the industry? What opportunities are there to progress at the organisation itself?

It is important to do your research. Make sure you understand what training you will receive, how much you will get paid, and how long the placement will last.

You can also read reviews of apprenticeships on sites such as RateMyApprenticeship.co.uk.