The apprenticeship system, in practical terms

STRUCTURE

What "doing an apprenticeship" actually involves

Every apprenticeship in England has the same three structural elements, regardless of standard:

1.  Workplace competence

The apprentice works in a real job, under supervision, building practical experience that maps to the Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviours (KSBs) defined in the apprenticeship standard. The employer is responsible for providing genuine work that exposes the apprentice to the breadth of the role.

2.  Off-the-job training

A regulated minimum proportion of the apprentice's working time must be spent on training away from their normal duties. The legal floor is currently 187 hours of evidenced delivery, or 8 months in actual duration — whichever is greater, with the per-standard minimum specified on each standard's Skills England page.

For Access Law's apprenticeships, off-the-job training is concentrated in November through March — the conveyancing quiet season — to minimise disruption to the practice during peak transactional months. This is a deliberate calendar design, not a generic flexibility claim.

3.  End-Point Assessment

The apprentice cannot be awarded the apprenticeship until they pass an independent End-Point Assessment (EPA), conducted by an approved EPA organisation that is structurally separate from the training provider. For ST1311 and ST1312, the EPA is conducted by Qualifications Scotland.

Before reaching the EPA, the apprentice must pass through a formal Gateway — a checkpoint confirming they're ready for final assessment. The Gateway requires completion of all required Diploma modules, employer confirmation that the apprentice is consistently working at the required standard, and Level 2 English and maths.

FUNDING

How apprenticeships are paid for

Apprenticeships in England are funded through a combination of the Apprenticeship Levy (paid by larger employers) and government co-investment (for smaller employers). The apprentice never pays anything towards their training — that's a defining feature of the system.

The Apprenticeship Levy

A 0.5% payroll tax applied to UK employers with annual payrolls over £3 million. Levy funds sit in a digital account and can only be spent on approved apprenticeship training. Levy-paying employers can use levy funds to cover 100% of an apprentice's training cost, up to the Skills England-approved funding band for that standard.

Levy funds expire 24 months after they enter the digital account, so unused funds are forfeit. Employers can also transfer up to 50% of their levy to other employers (including non-levy-paying small firms) to fund apprenticeships in those organisations.

Government co-investment for non-levy employers

Employers with annual payrolls under £3 million don't pay the levy. For these employers, the government co-invests 95% of the training cost; the employer pays 5% — again up to the funding band maximum.

For apprentices aged 16–21 at the start of training, the employer's 5% co-investment is waived entirely — the government covers 100%. The same applies to apprentices aged 22–24 with an Education, Health and Care plan or care leaver status. (This age-based 100% waiver replaced the older "small employer" / "<50 staff" rule, which is no longer in force.)

Changes coming in August 2026

From 1 August 2026, the Apprenticeship Levy is being transformed into the Growth and Skills Levy, with a wider remit (including, in time, funding for some non-apprenticeship training products). The 0.5% rate, the £3m threshold, the £15,000 levy allowance, the 24-month expiry, and the 50% transfer cap are all unchanged. There's also a new £2,000 hiring grant for non-levy employers taking on certain apprentices, and the age waiver is being extended.

We update employer-facing material on funding once each year's funding rules are confirmed. For the live mechanics in any given month, the authoritative source is the DfE's Apprenticeship Funding Rules publication.

A note on funding bands. We don't quote a single per-apprentice price on this site — and you'll see "from" pricing nowhere. The actual price for a specific apprentice is determined after an Initial Assessment, sits within a Skills England-approved funding band, and depends on the apprentice's prior learning. Funding band figures change; always check the live Skills England page for the current band on the relevant standard.

WHERE NEXT

More on Access Law's apprenticeship programmes

This page is the explainer. The programme pages have the detail on each specific apprenticeship — duration, structure, funding, and how the academic Diploma fits into the apprenticeship wrapper.

Conveyancing Technician (Level 4) →

Probate Technician (Level 4) →

Licensed Conveyancer (Level 6) →

Licensed Probate Practitioner (Level 6) →

How we're regulated →