The apprenticeship recruitment process for a training provider runs from agreeing the vacancy with the employer, through advertising, screening, interviews and the offer, to the apprenticeship agreement, training plan and enrolment. This guide sets out each step in England, who does it and the rules in force on 16 October 2026.
Each step has an owner and an output
The employer hires the apprentice. With its permission, you, the training provider, can run much of the recruitment for it.
| Step | Who does it | Key output |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Agree the vacancy | Employer and provider | Agreed job details and the Recruit apprentices permission |
| 2. Write and advertise | Provider or employer; the Department for Education reviews | A live advert on Find an apprenticeship |
| 3. Screen applications | Provider | Eligible applicants and initial assessment |
| 4. Interview and shortlist | Provider | A shortlist for the employer |
| 5. Employer interview | Employer, with the provider | The chosen applicant |
| 6. Offer | Employer | An accepted offer and contract of employment |
| 7. Agreement and training plan | Employer, apprentice and provider | Signed agreement and training plan |
| 8. Enrolment | Provider | A learner recorded in the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) |
If you are choosing software for this process, the applicant tracking system checklist sets out what to ask suppliers.
1. The employer agrees the vacancy and gives you permission
Agree the job with the employer first: duties, apprenticeship standard, workplace, hours, wage and start date. The job must have a clear and substantial link to the standard (apprenticeship funding rules 2026 to 2027).
The apprenticeship must last at least 8 months, and longer if the apprentice works fewer than 30 hours a week. This minimum applies to starts from 1 August 2025; before then it was 12 months.
The employer must pay at least the apprentice minimum wage, £8.00 an hour from 1 April 2026, for time at work and in training (minimum wage rates). The rate applies to apprentices under 19 and to older apprentices in their first year. After that, the rate for their age applies.
To advertise and review applications for the employer, you need its Recruit apprentices permission in the apprenticeship service (Set training provider permissions). The employer can choose Yes, Yes with its own review of each advert, or No. A separate permission, Add apprentice records, lets you reserve funds for a non-levy employer.
2. You write the advert, and the Department for Education reviews it
Find an apprenticeship is the GOV.UK service where people search and apply for apprenticeships in England. You create the advert in the apprenticeship service, or send it from your own software through an application programming interface (API) called the Recruitment API.
An advert must meet these rules (Creating an apprenticeship advert; Recruitment API documentation):
- The title includes the word “apprentice” or “apprenticeship”. Put the word on its own, with a space either side.
- The working week is 16 to 48 hours, including training. This is the service’s own check; the funding rules set no minimum hours.
- The duration is at least 8 months, and longer below 30 hours a week.
- A fixed wage is at least the apprentice minimum wage.
- The workplace is in England.
- A foundation apprenticeship advert does not ask for qualifications or skills.
Set a closing date at least 2 weeks away, as the API documentation asks. The Department for Education (DfE) checks every advert before it is published. It says it usually approves or rejects adverts within 24 hours. If the employer chose to review your adverts, it approves each one first.
Once an advert is live, you can increase the wage or extend the closing date in the apprenticeship service (Manage your apprenticeship adverts). The Recruitment API can only create adverts. Applications made on Find an apprenticeship are managed in the apprenticeship service, unless the advert sends applicants to your own application form.
3. You screen each application for eligibility and need
Screening tells you whether the applicant can start an apprenticeship and whether this one suits them. The main eligibility rules are:
- The applicant is 16 or over, starting after the last Friday in June of the school year in which they turn 16.
- They are not in full-time education.
- They have the right to work in England and an eligible residency status, and will spend at least half their working hours in England.
- They are not on another apprenticeship, apprenticeship unit or government-funded skills bootcamp at the same time.
- If they hold a qualification at the same or a higher level, the apprenticeship brings significant new skills.
Before the start, your initial assessment checks eligibility, prior learning, learning support needs, and English and maths. It must show the person needs significant new knowledge, skills and behaviours. Prior learning reduces the content, duration and price. If less than 8 months or 187 hours of content would remain, the person is not eligible.
English and maths is a mandatory part of the programme for apprentices aged 16 to 18 without a suitable qualification. For those aged 19 and over, it is optional and needs the employer’s agreement.
The Learning Records Service (LRS) issues each learner’s 10-digit Unique Learner Number (ULN) and holds their Personal Learning Record (PLR) (LRS user guide). Only registered organisations may use it, so checks run under your own registration. For applicants aged 16 to 18, the funding rules expect you to check the PLR when assessing prior learning.
A possible LRS match needs a person to check it. The PLR only shows regulated qualifications, from 2012 onwards in England, so an empty record does not mean no qualifications. You can view a PLR only if the learner has seen the LRS privacy notice.
4. You interview applicants and build a shortlist
Your interview tests the applicant’s interest in the occupation, their readiness for work and the evidence behind their eligibility answers. Use it to explain the training, the off-the-job hours and the end-point assessment (now being renamed apprenticeship assessment). No apprenticeship may plan fewer than 187 hours of off-the-job training, which happens within paid hours.
Then send the employer a shortlist. Share only the details the employer needs to decide. Hiding names and contact details keeps the focus on the job.
5. The employer interviews the shortlist and chooses
The apprentice will be the employer’s employee, so the employer makes the hiring decision. You can arrange the interviews and collect the employer’s feedback. With their agreement, consider unsuccessful applicants for your other vacancies.
6. The employer makes the offer
The employer’s offer needs a contract long enough for the apprentice to complete the apprenticeship. Pay must meet the minimum wage that applies to the apprentice, for work and training time. Under the 2026 to 2027 funding rules, if you learn an apprentice is not paid in line with the minimum wage rules, you must withdraw them from the programme.
7. The employer, apprentice and you sign the agreement and training plan
The apprenticeship agreement is a legally required agreement between the employer and the apprentice, signed at the start (How to take on an apprentice). It sets out the occupation, standard, level, dates, practical period and off-the-job training. It is separate from the contract of employment. GOV.UK updated its agreement template on 4 August 2026.
The training plan, previously known as the commitment statement, is signed by the employer, the apprentice and you. It must be a separate document, and you sign the plan but not the agreement. Under the 2026 to 2027 rules, all three also confirm at the end that the plan was delivered.
You then record the apprentice’s details in the apprenticeship service. The employer must approve them before funding flows.
8. You enrol the apprentice and record them in the ILR
The Individualised Learner Record (ILR) is the data return providers send DfE about their learners. DfE uses it to fund providers. At enrolment, show each learner the ILR privacy notice, and give them the LRS privacy notice.
The ILR specification 2026 to 2027 needs the learner’s ULN, National Insurance number, prior attainment and employment status, among other fields. The placeholder ULN 9999999999 must never be used for an apprenticeship funded through the employer’s apprenticeship service account. New in 2026 to 2027, planned off-the-job hours move to a new Hours Record, and an Agreement ID links the record to the employer. An apprentice must be in learning for at least 42 days before any funding is earned.
Several rules changed in 2025 and 2026
Responsibility for apprenticeship guidance and the funding rules moved from DfE to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on 1 April 2026 (How to take on an apprentice). LRS and the ILR stay with DfE.
| Change | From | Effect on recruitment |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum duration cut from 12 to 8 months | Starts from 1 August 2025 | Shorter apprenticeships can be advertised |
| Apprentice minimum wage rises to £8.00 an hour | 1 April 2026 | Fixed wages on adverts must meet it |
| No 10% levy top-up; new levy funds expire after 12 months | 1 August 2026 | Check the employer’s funds before agreeing the start |
| No employer co-investment, within the funding band, for apprentices aged 16 to 24; for those aged 25 and over, 5% for non-levy employers or 25% once levy funds run out | Starts from 1 August 2026 | Cost depends on age and levy status |
| £2,000 hiring payment for non-levy employers taking on 16 to 24 year olds | Starts from 1 October 2026 | Paid through the provider, from January 2027 at the earliest |
enrola supports these steps up to enrolment
enrola holds each vacancy as an Opportunity and posts apprenticeship vacancies to Find an apprenticeship through the Department for Education’s Recruitment API, checking the service’s rules first. Applicants from Find an apprenticeship apply on your enrola form, and changes and closures after posting are made in the apprenticeship service.
When your organisation has LRS credentials, enrola looks up each new applicant’s ULN and past qualifications automatically.
enrola does not produce an ILR file; learner data is exported to CSV (comma-separated values) for your management information system.
How enrola works · Posting to Find an apprenticeship · LRS checks in enrola
Questions
Can a training provider advertise an apprenticeship for an employer?
Yes, if the employer gives you the Recruit apprentices permission in the apprenticeship service. The employer can also choose to approve each advert before it goes live.
What is the minimum length of an apprenticeship?
At least 8 months for starts from 1 August 2025, and longer if the apprentice works fewer than 30 hours a week. Before then the minimum was 12 months.
What is the apprentice minimum wage in 2026?
£8.00 an hour from 1 April 2026. It applies to apprentices under 19 and to apprentices aged 19 or over in their first year.
Who signs the apprenticeship agreement?
The employer and the apprentice. The training provider signs the training plan with them, which is a separate document.
Sources
- Apprenticeship funding rules: August 2026 to July 2027, version 3, Department for Work and Pensions.
- How to take on an apprentice, GOV.UK.
- National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates, GOV.UK.
- Set training provider permissions, help centre.
- Creating an apprenticeship advert, GOV.UK.
- Recruitment API version 1 documentation, apprenticeship service developer hub.
- Manage your apprenticeship adverts, help centre.
- Using the Learning Records Service for learning providers, GOV.UK.
- LRS privacy notice, GOV.UK.
- ILR specification 2026 to 2027 and ILR privacy notice, Department for Education.
- Changes to apprenticeship levy funding, help centre.
- Apprenticeship hiring payment for non-levy employers, help centre.