WorkPlus

The Training Provider, employer, and apprentice must agree, sign, and date a personal training plan in respect of the apprentice. Individual courses have specific training plan requirements too.

Workplace Mentor

All apprentices must be assigned a dedicated mentor by their employing company. Mentors need to be carefully chosen and have particular skills for dealing with apprentices, whose concerns may extend beyond those typically presented in the workplace by more experienced employees. They should be an experienced and trusted advisor to the apprentice. 

Feedback from existing apprenticeship schemes suggests that a mentor with a professional qualification (or close to qualifying) is advisable. They can assist the apprentice with demonstrating their academic and professional qualification abilities and experience.

An apprenticeship is a job with training built–in. It’s a great way to develop new talent. Through on–the–job and off–the–job learning, an apprentice is considered a full–time employee and earns a good wage, whilst avoiding student debt (government pays their student fees).

We start with your organisation's needs and the jobs you need done. We'll help you connect with the right apprenticeships, learning providers and also run application campaign which reach a diverse audience of talent.

You'll find it easy to search our talent pool and match with apprentices that want to work for you!

No, organisations involved in the Software For All programme will receive support and the Workplus recruitment service at zero cost.

Government pays your apprentices student fees (if they are eligible). It is the employer’s responsibility to pay the apprentice wage. Apprentices are paid a full time salary to cover their on–the–job and off–the–job work. 

The following are the Employer Class 1 National Insurance Contributions rates for 2025–26:

• Apprentices aged 16–24 (Class H) rated at 0% when earning less than £4,189 per month

• Apprentices aged 25+ (Class A) rated as regular employee (15.05%)

An apprentice can be anyone who has reached compulsory school age and is either looking to be up–skilled in their current place of work, or a new employee taking up a permanent job offer.

• Belfast Metropolitan College

• CAFRE

• North West Regional College

• Northern Regional College

• Private Training Providers (e.g. 21 Training, People 1st)

• Queen’s University

• South Eastern Regional College

• South West Regional College

• Southern Regional College

• Ulster University

During the Workplus application campaigns you can view the live job opportunities available that year.

In the meantime, check out our YouTube stories to hear from apprentices, employers and Workplus. As a Workplus apprentice, you join a network of apprentices – check it out here.

We also have a mailing list and if you would like to be kept up–to–date, sign–up here.

By joining Workplus, you can be a part of the two hiring campaigns (when applications are open for applicants) each year:

• January – March

• August – September (shorter, clearing–like campaign) 

Workplus was established in 2019 to help employers and apprentices connect. Since that time, we have grown a community of employers in construction, IT, finance, manufacturing and engineering and created a B2B2C marketplace which allows employers to indicate demand and aspiring apprentices to apply. Since 2019 we have helped 100 employers connect with 400+ apprentices.

There are some guidelines for organisations who want to take on an apprentice(s):

• The apprentice must be employed for over 50% of their time in NI and be completing their directed training in NI with an approved local Training Contractor.

• If your organisation is in the Public sector, you should be eligible to employ an apprentice as long as the apprentice’s salary is not derived from public funds.

Watch these short clips from some of the employers we’re working with on our YouTube Channel.

Typically apprentices attend college or university one day per week but the Government covers the cost of the education. During the course of an apprenticeship, there will be work–based learning modules to be completed, including a project and reports. Employers will need to work closely with the college and university assessors to help the apprentice with this work, with mentors giving time and support to facilitate success. At the discretion of the employer, apprentices may be working towards a professional qualification. This will often require mentoring, so employers should ensure that they discuss with the relevant professional body.

In short…it doesn’t! All businesses across the UK with a payroll >£3m pay 0.5% of their total wage bill (minus an apprenticeship levy allowance of £15,000) as an Apprenticeship Levy. In England, employers are able to re–coup funds collected through the levy to pay the training provider for their apprentice’s training costs. In Northern Ireland, there is no direct correlation between the levy raised from employers and the funding allocation for apprenticeships. Government covers the apprentice training costs and pays the training provider directly. So, in summary, whether you pay the Levy or not, you are eligible to employ apprentices in NI and there is no link to the Levy amount you’ve paid to Government. 

To be an apprentice, you must have:

• a job position (on–the–job learning); and

• a place on the training provider’s course (off–the–job learning).

You can apply for the apprenticeship job through Workplus (during the Workplus application campaigns – see website for dates and deadlines) and you must also apply separately to the specific training course, usually through the training provider’s own website. We recommend doing both of these applications in parallel (i.e. around January/February time). It is the applicant’s responsibility to apply to and get a place on the training course.