Applications open for £3,000 apprentice incentive payment

Applications are now open for the £3,000 incentive payment for hiring a new apprentice.  Employers need to have recruited new apprentices before 31 January 2022.

How employers apply:

Employers should check their apprentices’ eligibility – they must have:

• an employment start date from 1 October 2021 to 31 January 2022
• an apprenticeship start date from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022

To receive the payment, employers must submit an application for each eligible apprentice using their apprenticeship service account.

There is a step-by-step guide for more information.  When applying for the incentive payment for hiring a new apprentice, employers should make sure they have:

• added the correct PAYE schemes, that they use to pay their apprentices, to their apprenticeship service account, in line with the service terms and conditions
• only applied for eligible apprentices and they have documentation which can validate their claim, as listed in the apprenticeship funding rules
• checked their training provider has the correct National Insurance Number for each of their apprentices, and that they have included this in their funding submissions.

If the employers’ information is incorrect, this will delay their incentive payments.

If you have a query about the incentive payment, check the help articles in National Apprenticeship Services help portal.  If your query is about an application that has already been submitted, read the help article about how you can view your application and its status.