Traineeships for employers

Traineeships are work experience programmes that give young people who have little or no skills or experience the chance to work with an employer for 6 weeks to 6 months.

They’re aimed at 16- to 24-year-olds who want to progress to an apprenticeship, paid employment or further study. For 16- to 19-year-olds, they're designed to form part of the Study Programme provision.

Once a young person has completed a traineeship, they should be offered an apprenticeship, a paid role within the business or an exit interview on their time within the business.

The core content of a traineeship should consist of 3 elements:

• Work preparation training
• Work placement
• English and maths.

Learning providers play a key role in coordinating the traineeship, engaging with local employers to offer the work experience placements and encouraging young people to participate.

By offering traineeships, you’ll play a key role in developing the workforce of the future and helping them secure an apprenticeship or employment. The benefits to your business include:

• Introducing young, enthusiastic people into your organisation can have a positive effect on the business, encouraging a culture of learning.
• Young people who start their working life with a company can be trained to embrace the company’s culture and tend to have a higher commitment to the overall objectives.
• Traineeships are government-funded, which means there is no financial cost to your company and you can even advertise your traineeship vacancies for free on the GOV.UK website. Adding traineeships to your recruitment strategy can be a good financial investment for the future.
• Your current employees will have the opportunity to build their mentoring and coaching skills.
• Traineeships can form part of your commitment to corporate social responsibility.
• You could be eligible for a grant of £1,500 if a trainee progresses to an apprenticeship within your organisation. (To see if you’re eligible for funding, contact the National Apprenticeships Service (NAS) on 0800 150 600).