Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.
The Apprenticeship Pay Survey, 2016 was carried out by IFF Research on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and involved 9,422 telephone interviews with apprentices in Great Britain. Apprenticeships are a structured programme of training, consisting of paid employment and learning, which give people the opportunity to work for an employer, learn on the job, build up knowledge and skills, and gain recognised qualifications within a specific occupation or trade. Apprenticeships are administered by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) in England, Skills Development Scotland (SDS) in Scotland and the Welsh Government (WG) in Wales. The National Minimum Wage is the minimum pay per hour almost all workers in the UK are entitled to by law. As well as separate minimum rates for those aged under 18, 18-20 and 21 or over, there is a distinct National Minimum Wage rate for apprentices aged 16 to 18 and those aged 19 or over who are in their first year of the Apprenticeship (all other apprentices are entitled to the National Minimum Wage for their age). From 1 April 2016, the government introduced a new mandatory National Living Wage (NLW) for workers aged 25 and above, initially set at £7.20 an hour - 50p higher than the adult NMW rate of £6.70 which applies to those aged 21 to 24. Apprentices aged 25 and above are entitled to the NLW if they are in the second or later year of their apprenticeship. The main aim of this research was to provide an accurate, up-to-date picture of the pay of the apprentice population, both across Great Britain, and within England, Scotland and Wales, in order to assist with development and monitoring of Apprenticeship and National Minimum Wage policy. For example, evidence from the Apprenticeship Pay Survey contributes to the Low Pay Commission's recommendations to Government for the Apprenticeship minimum wage rate. Further information is available from the GOV.UK Apprenticeship Pay Survey, 2016 webpage. The Apprenticeship Pay Survey was also conducted in 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2014. Data for 2014 (see SN 7739) and 2016 are the only surveys currently available from the UK Data Service. This study (SN 8204) also includes a combined 2014 and 2016 data file.
Main Topics:
The research was conducted with Apprentices across Great Britain. Specifically, the survey sought to establish:the wages employers are paying apprenticesthe number of hours apprentices spend working and undertaking training, in order to establish their hourly wage ratesthe range of wage rates and differences by type of apprentice, for example by gender, age, framework, ethnicity, disability, level, number of years since starting the programme and prior employment status
Multi-stage stratified random sample
Telephone interview
