Apprenticeships and Traineeships
What is the difference between an Apprenticeship and a Traineeship?
An Apprenticeship is the combination of work and study by mixing on-the-job training with classroom learning. A person will be employed to do a ‘real-job’ whilst working towards a qualification, usually for one day a week. A person can be employed as an apprentice for a number of years until they have completed a number of different levels of their qualification. Apprentices are paid Apprentice National Minimun Wage as a minimum.
Traineeships are designed to help people who would like to move into an apprenticeship or a full-time job. Unlike apprentices, trainees will have limited experience – the traineeship aims to provide the trainees with skills and experience to progress further into an apprenticeship or a full-time job. Traineeships usually last anything up to 6 months and can often be unpaid placements (this is the employers decision).