Apprenticeship Grant for Employers

If you’re a small to medium size enterprise employing between 1 and 1000 members of staff, and looking to hire your first Apprentice, you could qualify for a £1,500 incentive.

The National Apprenticeship Service has developed the ‘Apprenticeship Grant for Employers’ (AGE), to encourage businesses to hire a 16 – 24 year old as their first Apprentice, and there are up to 10 grants available per-employer*.

The ‘AGE’ incentive is available until March 2013, and employers will be issued with the full amount of £1500 13 weeks after the Apprentice starts.

Terms and Conditions

Employers will sign an agreement at the point of application which will confirm:

• The number of Apprentices they will be taking on as a result of the incentive (to a maximum of ten)
• That they wouldn’t have employed an Apprentice without this additional incentive
• A commitment to employ the Apprentice for at least the time it takes to complete the framework
• They are aware of and will not breach any state aid rules
• An agreement to pay the minimum wage of £2.60 per hour, although most apprentices receive more than this
• They have not taken on an Apprentice in the past twelve months.

More Information

To find out more about how an Apprentice could benefit your business, please contact the Trafford College Business Training Department on 0161 886 7070 or email enquiries@trafford.ac.uk for more information on the types of Apprenticeship available.

Commonly asked questions and key facts are available by downloading the AGE Grant – Employer Fact Sheet

Average timescales are available in the AGE Grant – Claim Timeline

Apply

To apply for a grant or to find out more, visit the National Apprenticeship Service at http://apprenticeships.org.uk/Home/Employers/Steps-to-make-it-happen/Incentive.aspx

*Subject to availability

Find out more about employing an Apprenticeship, and the wide range of programmes on offer in the Apprenticeship section of the website.