An applicant tracking system for apprenticeships should post to Find an apprenticeship, collect applications on forms built for apprenticeship applicants, check the Learning Records Service (LRS) on the terms LRS sets, and let employers take part. This checklist gives the questions to ask any supplier and why each answer matters.
Ask every supplier the same questions in writing
A demonstration shows what a supplier chooses to show. Written answers to the same questions are easier to compare.
- Mark each question below as essential, useful or not needed.
- Ask each supplier for written answers.
- Ask to see each essential answer in the live product, not on a slide.
- Ask your data protection officer to review the data protection and LRS answers.
- Get the contract, data processing terms and full price in writing before you decide.
The apprenticeship recruitment process guide explains the steps these questions cover.
Posting to Find an apprenticeship has fixed limits
Find an apprenticeship is the GOV.UK service where people search and apply for apprenticeships in England. Software sends adverts to it through an application programming interface (API) from the Department for Education (DfE), called the Recruitment API.
| Question to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Does it post through the Recruitment API with your organisation’s own key? | Keys sit in your own apprenticeship service account, and deleting a key stops the integration (developer hub). |
| How are edits and closures handled after posting? | The Recruitment API can only create adverts. Changes such as increasing the wage or extending the closing date are made in the apprenticeship service (Manage your apprenticeship adverts). |
| What does it show while DfE reviews an advert? | DfE reviews every advert before it goes live and says it usually decides within 24 hours. Adverts sent by software join the same review, so a successful send does not mean the advert is live (Creating an apprenticeship advert). |
| Does it check the service’s rules before sending? | Titles need “apprentice” or “apprenticeship”, the week must be 16 to 48 hours, the duration at least 8 months and the workplace in England. Early checks avoid rejected adverts. |
| Where do applicants from Find an apprenticeship apply? | Applications made on the service stay in the apprenticeship service, and the API cannot read them. To receive them, the advert must send applicants to the system’s own form. |
| Does it handle foundation apprenticeships? | Their adverts cannot ask for qualifications or skills (Foundation apprenticeship). |
Your own job board and website need the same vacancies
Applicants also look for vacancies on your own website and on other job boards.
| Question to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Does it give you a job board you can place on your own website? | Applicants who come to you directly should see every vacancy, without staff copying adverts by hand. |
| Does it post to other job boards and record where each applicant came from? | Source data shows which boards are worth the effort. |
Application forms must suit apprenticeship applicants
| Question to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Can you build a different form for each type of vacancy? | A foundation apprenticeship, a degree apprenticeship and a register of interest need different questions. |
| Does the form collect what eligibility and initial assessment need? | Before a start, you check age, residency, prior learning, and English and maths (apprenticeship funding rules 2026 to 2027). Asking at application saves chasing later. |
| Does it work on a phone, and is there an accessibility statement? | No one is there to help an applicant who gets stuck. A form they cannot finish loses them before you see them. |
Automation should save time without hiding decisions
| Question to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Can you set your own statuses and choose what each one does? | Each status should be able to send an email, request information or book an interview, in your order. |
| Is every status change, email and note kept in the record’s history? | You need to show what happened and when, if an applicant or employer asks. |
| Does it close an applicant’s other applications when they are placed? | An applicant may apply for several vacancies. Closing the rest avoids offering a placed applicant another job. |
Ask how it connects to LRS
LRS issues each learner’s Unique Learner Number (ULN) and holds their Personal Learning Record (PLR). Software connects to it through the LRS web service (LRS getting started guide).
| Question to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Does it use your organisation’s own LRS registration? | Each organisation has its own connection, and each search carries its own UK Provider Reference Number (UKPRN). |
| How does it handle possible matches and failed calls? | A possible match needs a person to check it, and a failed call is not a “no records” result. |
Employers should take part without extra accounts
| Question to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Can you share applicant profiles, choosing the fields and hiding names? | Employers need enough to decide, and no more. |
| Can employers send feedback or ask for an interview from a link? | Every extra sign-in is a step between the employer and a reply. |
| Can an employer contact be the interviewer, with emails to accept or decline? | Interviews involve the employer, so both sides need invitations and changes. |
Data protection answers belong in the contract
| Question to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Who is the controller and who is the processor? | Your data protection officer needs this in writing. You still need your own lawful basis and privacy notice, because DfE’s LRS notice covers only DfE’s processing. |
| Where is the data hosted (the UK, the EU or elsewhere), and which other companies process it? | Hosting affects what your privacy notice says and any policy you hold on where data may go. |
| How long is data kept, and can you set your own retention periods? | Unsuccessful applicants’ data should not stay longer than you need it. Ask how deletion works. |
| Can you export all your data in a format you can use? | You need your records if you change supplier, and to answer applicants who ask for their data. |
| How are staff sign-ins protected, and who at the supplier can see your data? | The system holds personal data about applicants, some aged 16 or 17, and employer contacts. |
Integrations and roles should match your organisation
| Question to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Does it connect to your management information system and e-portfolio, and how? | Without a connection or a clean file, staff key enrolment data twice. |
| Is there a documented API? | Your own systems can read and add records without waiting for the supplier. |
| What roles are there, and can you limit who runs LRS checks? | LRS expects organisations to give users only the access they need (LRS user guide). |
| Can one login work across several organisations? | Groups and partnerships may recruit under more than one organisation. |
Pricing and migration terms should be clear before you sign
| Question to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Is the price per user, per learner, per vacancy or a flat fee? | The model decides what growth costs. Ask who counts as a user. |
| Are setup, import, training and support included? | One-off costs can outweigh a low monthly price. |
| What is the minimum term, and how are price rises handled? | You need the cost over the whole contract. |
| Do connected services need your own accounts? | LRS needs your own registration, and other services may charge separately. |
| Can it import your vacancies, employers, contacts and applicants, and who runs the import? | Records left in an old system are hard to use. Ask how failed rows are reported. |
Every system has limits worth asking about
Ask each supplier what its system does not do, such as producing the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) file or syncing calendars. A clear answer is more useful than a long feature list.
| Question to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Does it produce an ILR file, or pass data to the system that does? | The ILR is the data return DfE uses to fund you. The 2026 to 2027 specification moved off-the-job hours to a new Hours Record, so ask which year a file or export follows. |
| Does it sync interviews with Outlook or Google calendars? | If not, check how interview times reach staff and employer calendars. |
| Can it update or close adverts on Find an apprenticeship? | The Recruitment API only creates adverts. Ask how staff make changes in the apprenticeship service. |
| Which features are live today, and which are planned? | Buy what works now. Treat planned features as unavailable until they are in writing with dates. |
enrola states its answers, including its limits
enrola creates vacancies on Find an apprenticeship through the Department for Education’s Recruitment API; 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 is hosted in the EU (Ireland), and users have one of four roles: Read Only, User, Admin or Team Owner.
enrola does not produce an ILR file; learner data is exported to CSV (comma-separated values) for your management information system. It does not sync interviews with Outlook or Google calendars.
Applicant tracking in enrola · Product facts · Security and data protection
Questions
What is an applicant tracking system for apprenticeships?
It is software that collects applications for apprenticeship vacancies and tracks each applicant to enrolment. Apprenticeship features include posting to Find an apprenticeship, Learning Records Service checks and sharing applicants with employers.
Can an applicant tracking system update adverts on Find an apprenticeship?
Not through the Recruitment API, which can only create adverts. Staff make changes, such as increasing the wage or extending the closing date, in the apprenticeship service.
Can a supplier run LRS checks under its own account?
No. Each call must carry your organisation’s own UK Provider Reference Number and password, and LRS does not allow one organisation’s details to be used for every organisation.
Should an applicant tracking system produce the ILR?
It depends on where you produce the ILR today. If your management information system produces it, the applicant tracking system should pass enrolment data to it without rekeying.
Sources
- Apprenticeship service developer hub and Recruitment API version 1 documentation, Department for Education.
- Creating an apprenticeship advert, GOV.UK.
- Manage your apprenticeship adverts and Foundation apprenticeship, help centre.
- Apprenticeship funding rules: August 2026 to July 2027, version 3, Department for Work and Pensions.
- LRS getting started guide v3.2, web services interface specification v6.4 and LRB web services interface application v2.6, Department for Education.
- Using the Learning Records Service for learning providers, GOV.UK.
- LRS privacy notice, GOV.UK.
- ILR specification 2026 to 2027: summary of changes, Department for Education.