Forthcoming changes to English apprenticeships

Forthcoming changes to English apprenticeships

The government is making a number of changes to apprenticeships in England, most which will take effect from 1 August 2025. If you hire apprentices, what are the key changes that you ought to be aware of?

Minimum duration of apprenticeships

The Apprenticeships (Miscellaneous Provisions) (England) Amendment Regulations 2025 will come into force on 1 August 2025 to reduce the minimum duration of the "practical period" of an approved English apprenticeship agreement from twelve to eight months (and an equivalent change is being made in relation to alternative English apprenticeship arrangements). The practical period of an apprenticeship is the period during which an apprentice is expected to work and receive training. An apprenticeship agreement must specify the length of its practical period.

Tip. This reduction in the minimum will apply to apprenticeships starting on or after 1 August 2025.

The government's rationale is to better meet the needs of specific sectors and learners and support skills development in occupations where competence can be reached in less than twelve months, i.e. where the apprentice has substantial "prior learning" so they don't need twelve months of training to become occupationally competent or where specific apprenticeship standards don't require twelve months of off-the-job training for occupational competence to be reached. Prior learning must be assessed and recorded.

Tip. Whilst eight months is to become the new minimum, most apprenticeships will continue to have a typical duration above the minimum.

Off-the-job training hours

The rules currently provide that off-the-job (OTJ) training must be at least 20% of the apprentice's normal working hours (with hours capped at 30 per week for this purpose). This 20% rule is being phased out. For new apprenticeship starts from 1 August 2025, each apprenticeship standard will have its own published OTJ minimum training hours requirement, removing the need to calculate hours based on working time. These published hours will apply only to apprentices with no relevant prior learning (and those with prior learning must still receive at least 187 OTJ training hours).

Foundation apprenticeships

The government is introducing new foundation apprenticeships, at level 2 (GCSE level), which are designed to provide young people aged 16-21 with a route into careers in critical sectors such as social care, engineering and construction. They will have a typical duration of eight months, and the first seven foundation apprenticeship standards will be available for starts from 1 August 2025.

Tip. If you take on a foundation apprentice, you may qualify for an employer incentive of up to £2,000, subject to retention and progression.

Other changes

From 1 January 2026, the government will no longer generally fund level 7 (master's degree equivalent) apprenticeships, although support will continue to be maintained for existing level 7 apprentices. From that date, only students aged 16-21 will qualify for funding for new level 7 apprenticeships. Levy funding will instead be rebalanced towards training at lower levels.

Finally, the apprenticeship end-point assessment process is to be streamlined, with a new set of assessment principles, to make the process more efficient and relevant to the skills being learned.

The minimum duration of an apprenticeship is being reduced to eight months, off-the-job training hours will have new standard-by-standard minimum requirements, new entry level foundation apprenticeships will be available for young people, and (other than for young people) level 7 apprenticeship funding is to be removed.