A Simple Guide to Apprenticeships for SMEs: How They Work and Why They’re Worth It

Apprenticeships are not just for young new hires. They’re a funded route to upskilling your current team - often at just 5% of the cost. Flexible, structured, and designed around your business goals.

What is an apprenticeship?

It’s a structured training programme where an employee learns new skills while doing their job. They get tailored, challenge-based learning guided by industry pros - and you get a more capable, confident member of your team. It’s not classroom-based, it’s real-world.

Who can do an apprenticeship?

Anyone. They’re ideal for:

• Existing employees who want to step up into a new role or skillset
• New hires who need to build up to the role
• Career changers joining your team with transferable experience

At The Coders Guild, we regularly work with UK employers who’ve upskilled junior staff, mid-level team members and even senior hires using apprenticeships. It’s about the right learning at the right time.

How is it funded?

Apprenticeships are funded by the government. How much you get depends on your size:

• If you pay the Apprenticeship Levy (i.e., your wage bill is over £3m), you already have funding allocated - you just need to use it.
• If you don’t pay the levy fund, the government covers 95% of the cost. You only pay 5%.

That’s up to 100% funding for industry-led training that’s directly relevant to your business.

How long do they take?

For experienced team members, apprenticeships can be completed in as little as 8 months. Others typically take 13 to 18 months. We’ll help you find the right route based on the role and the learner’s experience.

What about the six hours 'Off The Job' per week?

That’s the minimum time apprentices need to spend on learning activities each week - but it’s not six hours away from the business. This isn’t a college day. There are no blockouts or time-outs. It’s mostly learning in the flow of work.

At every stage in a tech career, we’re constantly learning - new systems, new tools, new ways of thinking. That’s what this six hours is. It’s structured, yes, but it’s built around what the business is doing. Not separate from it.

So what does that look like in practice?

• Apprenticeship tasks that build new skills and help progress current work
• Peer learning and shadowing other team members
• Research and projects that stretch the apprentice and support the business

It’s all logged, all planned - and easily hits six hours a week without pulling anyone out of the day job.

We build this flexibly around what you need. No off-site days. No classrooms. Just smart, supported learning that happens where the real work is.

Why should SMEs consider apprenticeships?

Because they make business sense. Here’s why our partners choose them:

• Cost-effective: Funded apprenticeship training that costs your business little or nothing.
• Quick ROI: Your team applies what they learn right away - no theoretical fluff.
• Talent retention: Investing in your people shows you’re serious about their growth.
• Practical support: We handle the paperwork, the planning, and the onboarding. You just choose the right learner.

And if you’re growing an SME, we’ve got apprenticeships in software development, testing, agile project management, tech team leadership, data, content and more - all built by active working professionals.

Ready to find out how an apprenticeship could work in your business?

Let’s build a plan together.