Employment contract for an apprentice

An apprentice is an employee with a training programme attached, and the law requires the arrangement to be documented in a particular way: an approved apprenticeship agreement in the prescribed form, naming the standard and the training, alongside the employment terms. Get the form wrong and the apprentice may be an ordinary employee without the apprenticeship, or an apprentice under the old common law rules with protections the employer did not intend. The contract has to be the approved agreement and the employment contract in one, with the pay, the training time and the end-point assessment set out. I draft it for the employer for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Employers in England taking on apprentices under an apprenticeship standard, from a first apprentice in a trade to a business running a programme, who want the agreement in the form the law requires.

What matters in an apprentice's contract

The approved apprenticeship agreement the law requires

An apprenticeship under an English apprenticeship standard is an approved English apprenticeship under section A1 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 only if there is an approved apprenticeship agreement in the form the regulations under that Act prescribe, stating that it is governed by the law of England and Wales, that it is entered into in connection with a qualifying apprenticeship, the standard, the start and end dates and the training to be provided; an approved agreement is a contract of service, so the apprentice is an ordinary employee for most purposes, whereas an apprenticeship documented any other way may be a common law contract of apprenticeship that is harder and more expensive to end. The contract is drafted as the approved agreement.

The standard, the training provider and off-the-job training

The agreement should name the apprenticeship standard and its level, the training provider and the training plan agreed between employer, provider and apprentice, the minimum off-the-job training the funding rules require within the apprentice's working hours, who pays for the training (the levy or co-investment) and the employer's obligations under its agreement with the provider, and the apprentice's obligation to attend training and complete the programme; the contract should say that off-the-job training is working time and paid as such, and that the employer will release the apprentice for it.

Pay, hours and the apprentice minimum wage

Apprentices are entitled to the apprentice rate under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 in the first year of the apprenticeship or while under nineteen, and to the rate for their age afterwards, for all working hours including training, and the contract should state the pay, the hours (the minimum the funding rules require for the apprenticeship), holiday under the Working Time Regulations 1998, sick pay under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, pension assessment under the Pensions Act 2008 and the young worker protections in the Working Time Regulations where the apprentice is under eighteen; the apprentice rate is a floor, and many employers pay more.

The end-point assessment and what happens after

The agreement should set the expected duration, the gateway to the end-point assessment and the employer's role in confirming readiness, the assessment organisation, what happens if the apprentice fails (a resit within the rules) and what happens on completion: continued employment on the standard terms for the role, with a new contract or a variation, or the end of the fixed term where the employer engaged the apprentice for the apprenticeship only, which should be stated at the outset so that the ending is a planned expiry rather than a dismissal without a reason.

Ending an apprenticeship early

An apprentice under an approved agreement can be dismissed like any employee, with a fair reason and process and with the notice the contract and section 86 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 provide, and the agreement should contain a probation period, a notice clause and the disciplinary procedure; it should also say what happens if the apprentice withdraws, if the training provider ceases to deliver, or if the business can no longer support the apprenticeship (redundancy, with the employer's obligations under the funding rules to help the apprentice find another employer), and should not contain training cost repayment clauses that the funding rules prohibit.

The particulars and the rest of the contract

The contract supplies the written particulars section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires on day one, including the training entitlement, and contains the usual terms: confidentiality, intellectual property under section 11 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, conduct, the handbook's policies, safeguarding obligations where the apprentice is under eighteen or works with children or vulnerable adults, and the employer's obligations under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 for a young and inexperienced worker, with restrictive covenants rarely appropriate for an apprentice and omitted unless the role justifies them.

What it costs

Employment contract, £595. One template you can reuse for a grade of staff. Five working days.

Staff handbook and core policies, £995. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the employment contracts and handbooks page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how you employ people
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Confidentiality and intellectual property provisions that put ownership where it belongs
• The statutory particulars, so the document does the job section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires it to do
• Flexibility clauses where you genuinely need them, drafted to survive challenge
• Core policies: disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, equal opportunities, data protection and, increasingly, AI use
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Acting for employees
• Employment tribunal representation
• Payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and tax
• Immigration and sponsor licence work
• Day to day HR handling, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancy processes

Questions I am often asked

Can we just use our normal employment contract for an apprentice?

An ordinary contract will not do. An apprenticeship under a standard needs an approved apprenticeship agreement in the prescribed form; without it the apprentice may be an ordinary employee without the apprenticeship, or an apprentice under old common law rules that are harder to end. The contract is drafted as the approved agreement.

What do we pay an apprentice?

At least the apprentice minimum wage rate in the first year or while under nineteen, then the rate for their age, for all working hours including training. The contract states the pay and that training time is paid.

Can we recover the training costs if the apprentice leaves early?

Not where the funding rules prohibit it, which they do for the funded training. The contract contains no repayment clause for the apprenticeship training; other costs the employer funds outside the programme can be addressed separately.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Settlement agreements for employers, £795
• Employment contract for a graduate trainee
• Trainer agreement for a training company

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.