The following is intended as a summary of the eligibility requirements which are set out in full in the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s Apprenticeship funding rules and guidance for employers.

For an apprenticeship to be eligible for funding it must:

• be either a new job role or an existing job role, where the individual needs significant new knowledge and skills to be occupationally competent;
• be a job that allows the apprentice to gain wider employment experience as part of the apprenticeship;
• allow the apprentice to spend at least 20% of their paid hours on off-the-job training over the planned duration of the apprenticeship (i.e. up until the gateway for the end-point assessment).

Each apprentice must:

• not be enrolled on another apprenticeship, or another DfE funded FE/HE programme, at the same time as any new apprenticeship they start;
• not be asked to contribute financially to the cost of learning or assessment;
• not use a student loan to pay for their apprenticeship;
• have the right to work in England and spend at least 50% of their working hours in England over the duration of the apprenticeship;
• be one of the following:
  • a citizen of a country within the European Economic Area (EEA) (including other countries determined within the EEA or those with bilateral agreements), or have the right of abode in the UK, and have been ordinarily resident in the EEA (including other countries determined within the EEA or those with bilateral agreements), for at least the previous three years on the first day of learning;
  • a non-EEA citizen with permission from the UK government to live in the UK, (not for educational purposes) and have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least the previous three years before the start of learning.