Taking up an apprenticeship can be daunting enough for any school or college leaver.
Imagine though what it’s like for someone who has just left or is still living in care; a young person who hasn’t got a supportive family to rely on when they first enter the world of work.
November is National Care Leavers’ Month, and as part of campaigning to raise awareness of issues in the care system, skills, training and employment sector leaders are being asked to consider the financial needs of care leaver learners
Speaking at the AELP (Association of Employment and Learning Provider) Autumn conference attended by Onefile, Kate Ridley Pepper, director of Work Based Skills at the Department for Work and Pensions, (DWP) challenged everyone in the room to make sure young people leaving care can access a £3,000 bursary if they do an apprenticeship.
Kate, a former educational researcher at the National Foundation for Educational Research, spent over a decade in the Department for Education in roles which included Head of Careers and Post-16 Participation.
Who is the bursary for?
The bursary is for apprentices who are care leavers or still in the care system and meet the apprenticeship eligibility criteria.
To be eligible they must:
How is the bursary paid?
The £3,000 bursary is paid by the DfE to the apprenticeship training provider for apprentices who started their apprenticeship on or after 1st August 2023. Payment is made in three £1,000 instalments during the first year of the apprenticeship, as long as the apprentice is still on the programme at 60, 120 and 300 days after their start date
The third instalment is paid earlier for apprentices who are on a foundation apprenticeship, or who are taking on a shorter programme, (such as where the published typical length of the apprenticeship standard is less than 12 months) and they started their apprenticeship after 1st August 2025.
Training providers must pass each payment on to the apprentice within 30 days of receiving it.
Apprentices who started their apprenticeship up to and including 31st July 2023 get a single bursary payment of £1,000.
Additional funding for care leavers
As well as the bursary, employers and training providers can access other separate payments for apprentices aged from 19 to 24 who are care leavers.
Receiving this additional funding could alert employers to an apprentice’s care leaver status, though, so training providers should check first that the learners understand this and get their consent.
Where a learner does not consent to their employer knowing they’re a care leaver, the provider must record the Learning Delivery Monitoring code 362 ‘Apprentice care leavers’ in the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). This will prevent the employer payment from being generated while not stopping the bursary and training provider funding from being received.
How Onefile can help
Onefile AELP Autumn Conference delegates were interested to hear about the government’s drive to ensure all eligible care leavers have access to bursary funding.
As the leading learner management platform, we want to assist everyone involved in apprenticeship training delivery, making the whole process so much smoother.
It’s good to know young people who haven’t had the same life chances as their peers are getting additional help as they navigate the next stage in their lives.
If you’re an employer or training provider with care leavers on your books, talk to us today about how we can help you manage all aspects of their apprenticeship.