Most employers who come to Vocate have one of two questions: how much does it cost, and how disruptive is it? Those are the right questions. Here is an honest answer to both.
The basics
An apprenticeship is an employment contract, not a training course. Your apprentice is your employee. They work in your business, contribute to real work, and are paid a normal salary. The training happens alongside the job, online, in scheduled sessions that fit around your working week.
The programme lasts between 12 and 15 months depending on the level and subject, followed by an End-Point Assessment delivered by an independent organisation. When they pass, they receive a nationally recognised qualification.
Vocate manages the training side. You manage the employment. We work together on the rest.
What the day-to-day actually looks like
Your apprentice arrives on day one as a normal new starter. They have a job to do. The difference is that alongside that job, they are completing structured learning, typically a few hours a week of online content, one-to-one sessions with their tutor, and project work tied to what they are doing in the business.
There is no block release. They are not disappearing to college for a week at a time. The learning is built around your operations, not the other way around.
A Vocate tutor checks in regularly, with the apprentice and with you. If something is not working, we know about it early. If progress is strong, we push the programme further.
What it costs
If your payroll is under £3 million, the government currently covers 95% of training costs. You pay the remaining 5% to Vocate over the course of the programme. For more detail on funding routes and the August 2026 changes, see our funding guide.
If you pay the Apprenticeship Levy, the training cost comes out of your digital account. If you have unspent funds sitting there, an apprentice is one of the few ways to use them.
A typical Level 3 apprentice in marketing or ICT earns between £18,000 and £22,000 in the first year. Set against the output – live campaigns, IT support, content production – the unit economics work well for businesses that need to grow capability without a senior hire budget.
How Vocate handles recruitment
You do not advertise the role. We do it for you. Once we understand what you need, we run the search, screen applicants, assess their skills and attitude, and send you a shortlist of candidates who fit your business.
You interview, make an offer, and we handle the rest, levy registration, onboarding paperwork, funding setup. By the time your apprentice starts, everything is in place.
The honest trade-off
Apprentices need managing. They are not experienced hires and they will need guidance, especially in the first few months. The businesses that get the most out of Vocate programmes are the ones that treat their apprentice as a genuine member of the team, give them real work, real feedback, and space to develop.
If you do that, the retention numbers are strong. At three years, 77% of apprentices are still with their employer – compared to 70% of graduates, according to ISE data.
If you want to talk through whether an apprenticeship fits your business, contact us. We will give you a straight answer, not a sales pitch.
