Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agency:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is a Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agency?
We provide employers with a managed apprenticeship service. It is also known as a Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agency (FJAA). FJAAs are an initiative developed by the Department for Education (DfE) in 2022. FJAAs supply, employ and manage apprentices and place them with ‘host’ employers.
The model is designed to provide external support to employers, to make it easier to recruit and develop talent or to share apprentices between more than one organisation.
Our Apprenticeship Agency page gives an overview of the types of businesses that benefit from a flexi-job apprenticeship agency model.
Did you know?
Supplytrain is one of just a handful of government-approved FJAAs on the DfE’s Flexi-Job Register. We are the only FJAA approved to support businesses in all sectors and all parts of the country.
Which businesses can host apprentices through our Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agency?
Any organisation that wants to offer apprenticeships, no matter the size, is able to apply to use our managed apprenticeship service.
There is a due diligence process that organisations must undergo to assess your suitability to host apprentices through the service. This assessment is done remotely and is not intrusive, but will cover suitability of the service for your circumstances (i.e. is the standard apprenticeship model better suited to you), your financial viability, health and safety commitment, suitability of business premises and willingness to support the apprentice’s training.
Talk to our experts
Once you submit your interest in the service a member of our team will be in touch to setup a 30 minute Teams call to discuss the service. If we think flexi is not the right option for you, we’ll signpost you to more appropriate support.
How much do I have to pay to use the Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agency?
Payment is simple. You choose how much you want to pay the apprentice per hour and how many hours a week they will work, we charge you this amount and any relevant Employer NI or pension, plus a weekly admin fee that covers payroll, timesheet processes, pastoral support and insurance.
You can pay apprentices £6.40 per hour in the first year, however if you can afford to pay more it’s advisable to do so. This is because it is a competitive jobs market at the moment – you’ll have more candidates to choose from at interview if you can pay at least National Minimum Wage for the candidate’s age.
Once in post, apprentices are also more likely to feel valued and committed to work if you’re able to pay them a good trainee salary. Once you submit your interest in our service, our team will talk you through your wage options.
From £252 a week
With apprentice wages covered and our weekly admin fee included, it can cost as little as £252 a week to host an apprentice through our service.
Our admin fee is also a flat rate, so if you are able to offer more hours or pay apprentices a higher wage, our admin fee won’t rise.
Are graduates able to become apprentices through the Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agency?
Apprentice candidates may have been to university. There is nothing stopping a graduate filling an apprenticeship position as long as they are acquiring substantive new skills. As an example, a Civil Engineer graduate is unlikely to be eligible for a Civil Engineer Degree Apprenticeship, however they would be eligible for an accountancy or legal apprenticeship instead.
Likewise, candidates can be any age too. There are many people that have multiple careers now, so you may find your perfect candidate is looking for a new career having taken a break from work to raise a family or decided to get out of the city to do something they are more passionate about. You don’t need to worry about eligibility, we will take care of this for you, only putting forwards candidates that have the right to work in the UK and to take up your specific apprenticeship placement.
Recruitment experts
When recruiting for you, we ask for a job description, person specification and what in-work support you can offer. We then use a number of channels to find you great candidates, no matter their age or previous experience. We sift these candidates and shortlist you the best for you to set up interviews using our fast-track interview booking system.
Who pays the costs to train an apprentice?
If you employ apprentices directly (i.e. not through our flexi apprenticeship service) and you have a payroll of less than £3million per annum there is usually a cost of training apprentices if they are 22+. This ranges between £125 and £1,350 depending on the apprenticeship programme.
If you use our managed apprenticeship service, it is very unlikely you will have to pay any training fees. This is because we have great links with large businesses who transfer their unspent apprenticeship levy to us. Effectively, another business will pay for your apprentice’s training!
Levy payers
If your business has a payroll of more than £3million per annum and wants to use our managed apprenticeship service, we ask that you transfer levy to our apprenticeship account to train apprentices hosted with you.
When do I pay, and how often?
Just before you start hosting an apprentice with us, we require five weeks’ fees in advance. These fees are made up of the apprentice’s wages, any Employer NI and pension contributions and our weekly admin fee.
Once the apprentice has started, we make regular direct debit collections based on apprentice attendance and pay the apprentice every four weeks.
At the end of the placement, if there are any fees owing, we return these to you.
Why fees in advance?
We have a duty to pay apprentices on time. By taking fees in advance we can uphold this duty even if there are unexcepted banking issues.
What if I want to employ the apprentice directly?
If you’d rather employ an apprentice directly and not use the managed apprenticeship service at all, we can still help. We run a recruitment service alongside our managed apprenticeship service where we can recruit apprentices for you, find the right training provider for your needs and support on-boarding for a flat fee.
If you do use the managed apprenticeship service, we employ the apprentice on your behalf. This allows us to provide both the apprentice and your business with support and guidance during their development. We always look to transfer the apprentice into your employment (at no charge) once they have qualified. We refund the recruitment fee once they’ve been in post 26 weeks.
Transfers during training
If you’d like to transfer employment of an apprentice directly to your business whilst they are still on the apprenticeship, there is likely to be a small fee to pay as there are admin costs associated with a transfer. For further details, submit your interest and ask our team.
What support do we provide the apprentice?
An Apprenticeship Co-ordinator is assigned to every apprenticeship. They are the go-between for you, the apprentice and the apprenticeship provider. Their job is to make sure both the line manager and the apprentice are supported and the apprentice is progressing both at work and on their training programme.
The Apprenticeship Co-ordinator is on hand during the week for any adhoc quieries, to pick up sickness and lateness, support disciplinary or grievance issues and provide expert advice or a second opinion as required.
The Apprenticeship Co-ordinator will also conduct reviews with the line manager, the apprentice and the apprenticeship provider at various stages during the apprenticeship.
Where more in-depth support is required, we’re on hand to help apprentices to make the most of the opportunity you are giving them and take the burden off the line manager.
You can focus on the job
Our service is designed to take the stress of employing apprentices away from you. All we ask is that you give an apprentice work in a safe environment and support them to develop the skills they need to become competent in their chosen profession. If issues or questions arise, tell us so we can support you as early as possible.
Which job roles are eligible for Flexi-Job Apprenticeships?
Supplytrain is the only Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agency in the country approved to support businesses in all sectors and all parts of the country.
Whether you have an office-based role, are out at sea or even want to split an apprenticeship with a company abroad – we pride ourselves on listening to employers’ issues and coming up with solutions. We will go the extra mile to support employers to offer apprenticeships where the standard apprenticeship model isn’t working or signpost you to alternative support.
Contact us to start a conversation.
Collaboration?
If you work for a trade association, training provider or community group where the standard apprenticeship model isn’t working for your clients, we’d also love to hear from you. We believe that by working in collaboration we can help more people into skilled work.
We are a social enterprise that helps employers to create fairer routes into work.
Contact us
- Email: [email protected]
Call: 020 3855 6029
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