£3000 Incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice

From 11 January 2022 employers can apply for a payment of £3,000 for new apprentices with an employment start date from 1 October 2021 to 31 January 2022.

Updated the content to reflect the new employer incentive apply date for January 2022. Added new information for employers to make sure they add in the correct PAYE scheme for their apprentice. New information added for training providers to ensure they add the correct NI number.

Apply for the hire a new apprentice payment

For apprentices with an employment start date from 1 October 2021 to 31 January 2022, applications open on 11 January 2022 and close on 15 May 2022.

For apprentices with an employment start date from 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021, applications are now closed.

You must set up an apprenticeship service account before you can apply.

To receive the full payment, the apprentice must remain employed by you and on their apprenticeship for at least one year.

Eligibility

For apprentices with an employment start date from 1 October 2021 to 31 January 2022, applications open on 11 January 2022 and close on 15 May 2022.

They must also have an apprenticeship start date from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022.

What you can use the payment for

The payment is different to apprenticeship levy funds, so you can spend it on anything to support your organisation’s costs. For example, on uniforms, your apprentice’s travel or their salary. You do not have to pay it back.

The payment is in addition to the existing £1,000 an employer will already get for taking on an apprentice who is either:

aged 16 to 18 years old
under 25 and has an education, health and care plan or has been in the care of their local authority

This £1000 payment will be paid to your training provider and you will receive it from them.

How to apply

Applications open on 11 January 2022 and close on 15 May 2022.

To receive the payment, you must submit an application for each eligible apprentice using your Apprenticeship service account after 11 January 2022.

You will need to add the apprentices to your Apprenticeship service account first. Find out how to apply.

To help ensure your application is successful, make sure the PAYE scheme for the apprentices is the same as the PAYE scheme registered on the employer account and check the training provider has been given the correct National Insurance Number for each apprentice.

When you’ll get paid

We’ll send the payment in 2 equal instalments for each apprentice.

To be eligible, your apprentice must complete:

90 days of their apprenticeship for your first payment
365 days of their apprenticeship for your second payment

Once the apprenticeship information has been checked, we will process the payments.

Payments will be made on the 14th working day of the month, it can take up to 3 days for the payments to reach your account.

You can track when your payments are due to be paid on your view applications page.

We cannot send any payments until we’ve received and verified the organisation and finance details. This could take up to 80 days.

Published 10 August 2020
Last updated 1 December 2021 – hide all updates

1. 1 December 2021 Updated the content to reflect the new employer incentive apply date for January 2022. Added new information for employers to make sure they add in the correct PAYE scheme for their apprentice. New information added for training providers to ensure they add the correct NI number.
2. 27 October 2021Updated the application date.
3. 13 October 2021Removal of previous incentive period. Addition of new incentive period. Reordering of the content for clarity.
4. 1 June 2021Updated to show that the application deadline has passed for phase 1 incentive applications.
5. 7 April 2021Added phase 2 application closing deadline.
6. 16 March 2021Extending the phase 1 application window to 31 May 2021.
7. 15 March 2021Updated to reflect incentives extension and increase.
8. 18 February 2021Added additional information to make it clear that you can only apply for an incentive payment for a new employee apprentice, if you have set up an apprenticeship account and are using it to access funding for that apprentice’s training.
9. 17 December 2020Financial incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice have been extended to new apprentices hired by 31 March 2021.
10. 3 December 2020Added information about when we’ll make the incentive payments.
11. 28 September 2020Updated information on incentive payments and how to claim them by setting up an apprenticeship service employer account.
12. 10 August 2020First published.