Training providers and employers can post apprenticeship vacancies to Find an apprenticeship from their own system through the Recruitment application programming interface (API), which the Department for Education (DfE) runs. The API creates adverts only, and DfE reviews every advert before it goes live.
Each part of the service has an official name
Find an apprenticeship is the GOV.UK service where people search and apply for apprenticeships in England. Employers and training providers write and manage adverts in the apprenticeship service. Software connects through APIs that DfE publishes on its developer hub, where DfE calls them the apprenticeship service APIs.
| Name | What it is |
|---|---|
| Find an apprenticeship | The public website where people find and apply for apprenticeships in England |
| Apprenticeship service | The online account employers and providers use to write adverts, manage them and give permissions |
| Recruitment API | Creates adverts on Find an apprenticeship from your own system |
| Recruitment API sandbox | A test version of the Recruitment API, at a separate address |
| NAS | The National Apprenticeship Service; an informal name for Find an apprenticeship and its APIs |
Many people still search for “NAS”, short for the National Apprenticeship Service, when they mean Find an apprenticeship. DfE’s API documentation does not use the term. The old “Recruit an apprentice” start page on GOV.UK has redirected to the apprenticeship service sign-in since 4 January 2023.
Some developer hub pages still credit the Education and Skills Funding Agency. That agency closed on 31 March 2025, and its work moved into DfE. Separately, responsibility for apprenticeship guidance and the funding rules moved from DfE to the Department for Work and Pensions on 1 April 2026 (How to take on an apprentice).
Providers post only with the employer’s permission
Employers create adverts in the adverts section of their own apprenticeship service account. A training provider can advertise for an employer only if that employer gives it the “Recruit apprentices” permission (Set training provider permissions). The permission has three settings.
| Setting | What it means for the provider |
|---|---|
| Yes | It can advertise vacancies and review applications for the employer |
| Yes, but I want to review adverts before they’re advertised | It can do the same, but the employer approves each advert before it goes live |
| No | It cannot advertise for that employer |
A provider can ask for the permission from its own account. It finds the employer by the email address the employer signs in with, and the employer accepts or declines by email. A second permission, “Add apprentice records”, is separate. A provider needs it to reserve funds for a non-levy employer (Training provider permissions).
The permission also shapes what the API returns. Its list of employer legal entities shows only employers that have given you permission. Check that list before you prepare an advert for a new employer.
Each organisation gets its own Recruitment API key
Keys are issued through the apprenticeship service account, as DfE’s developer hub explains.
- Sign in to the apprenticeship service.
- Open the section that holds your keys. Training providers use “Developer APIs” on the account home page. Employers follow the link for recruitment APIs in the “Adverts” section, which users with owner permissions can open (Get started with the recruitment APIs).
- Copy the Recruitment API key. Each of DfE’s APIs needs its own key.
- Store the key outside your code and source control. DfE advises regenerating keys regularly, including with each release.
Every request sends the key in a header named Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key. A missing or invalid key returns error 401. Every request must also send a whole version number in the X-Version header. If you delete the key in the apprenticeship service, your integration stops working.
The API creates adverts and nothing else
Version 1 of the Recruitment API has one write operation, which creates an advert (Recruitment API documentation). It cannot update, close, withdraw or read back an advert. Your staff make those changes in the apprenticeship service (Manage your apprenticeship adverts).
| Task | Recruitment API | Apprenticeship service |
|---|---|---|
| Create an advert | Yes | Yes |
| Increase the wage on a live advert | No | Yes |
| Extend the closing date | No | Yes |
| Close or withdraw an advert | No | Yes |
| Clone an advert | No | Yes |
| Review applications made on Find an apprenticeship | No | Yes |
The API also offers four lookups. They return the employer legal entities you may post for, apprenticeship training courses, skills and qualifications. Each advert names its course by its Learning Aim Reference Service (LARS) code from the course list.
You choose a unique ID for each advert you send. A successful request returns an advert reference, so store it against your own record. The API accepts up to 150 requests in any 5-minute period, and returns error 429 above that until the period resets. When DfE releases a new API version, it keeps the old one for 3 months only.
Posting an advert takes six steps
- Confirm the employer has given you the “Recruit apprentices” permission.
- Get your Recruitment API key and store it securely.
- Fetch the employer legal entity, course, skills and qualifications from the API’s lookups.
- Test your request against the sandbox, which has the same structure at a separate address.
- Send the advert to the live API and store the advert reference it returns.
- Wait for DfE’s review, and for the employer’s approval if it asked to review adverts.
The advert itself must meet Find an apprenticeship’s rules on title, hours, duration, wage and location. The guide to apprenticeship vacancy rules covers each one.
DfE reviews every advert before it goes live
DfE checks every advert before it is published. It says it usually approves or rejects adverts within 24 hours (Creating an apprenticeship advert). That page was last updated in December 2021, so treat 24 hours as DfE’s stated aim rather than a promise.
Adverts sent through the API join the same review. A successful API response means DfE has accepted the advert for review. It does not mean the advert is live.
An advert has one of five statuses: draft, pending review, live, rejected or closed. If DfE asks for changes, they appear on the adverts dashboard in the apprenticeship service. Email notifications are optional.
Where the employer chose to review adverts, it must approve each one before it is advertised. The employer receives an email when an advert is waiting.
Applicants apply on Find an apprenticeship or on your own form
Each advert sets an application method. Applicants either apply on Find an apprenticeship, or follow a link to an external application site, such as your own form.
| Question | On Find an apprenticeship | On your own form |
|---|---|---|
| Where do applicants apply? | Find an apprenticeship | Your website, at the application address you send |
| Which questions are asked? | Two standard questions, plus up to two of your own | Whatever your form asks |
| Where do applications arrive? | The apprenticeship service | Your own system |
| Can the Recruitment API read them? | No | Not applicable |
Find an apprenticeship always asks “What are your skills and strengths?” and “What interests you about this apprenticeship?”. Each of your own questions can be up to 250 characters.
The Recruitment API cannot read applications. If you want applicants in your own system, choose the external method and send the address of your own form. You can add short instructions for applicants as well.
enrola posts through the Recruitment API
enrola posts apprenticeship vacancies to Find an apprenticeship through the Department for Education’s Recruitment API. Before posting, it checks Find an apprenticeship’s rules, including that the title contains “apprentice” or “apprenticeship”. Vacancies posted from enrola send applicants to your enrola application form, so their applications arrive in enrola. enrola creates the vacancy; changes and closures after posting are made in the apprenticeship service.
Post to Find an apprenticeship with enrola · Post to other job boards
Questions
Is NAS the same as Find an apprenticeship?
“NAS” is short for the National Apprenticeship Service. People still use it for Find an apprenticeship and its APIs. DfE’s documentation uses the names Find an apprenticeship and Recruitment API.
Can the Recruitment API update or close an advert?
No. Version 1 only creates adverts. Staff make changes and closures in the apprenticeship service.
How long does DfE take to review an advert?
DfE says it usually approves or rejects adverts within 24 hours. Treat that as an aim, not a promise.
Does a training provider need permission to post for an employer?
Yes. The employer must give the provider the “Recruit apprentices” permission in the apprenticeship service. It can also choose to approve each advert first.
Is there a test version of the Recruitment API?
Yes. The Recruitment API sandbox has the same structure at a separate address. Use it to test requests before you post to the live API.
Sources
All sources were read on 16 October 2026.
- Apprenticeship service developer hub, Department for Education.
- Recruitment API v1 documentation, developer hub.
- Recruitment API sandbox v1 documentation, developer hub.
- Creating an apprenticeship advert as an employer, GOV.UK.
- Get started with the recruitment APIs as an employer, GOV.UK.
- Using the apprenticeship service as a training provider, GOV.UK.
- How to take on an apprentice, GOV.UK.
- Set training provider permissions, apprenticeship service help centre.
- Training provider permissions, apprenticeship service help centre.
- Manage your apprenticeship adverts, apprenticeship service help centre.