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Date updated: 8/07/2022

The City of London Corporation Apprenticeship Programme

The City of London Corporation provides a free apprenticeship placement service to support businesses in employing young people starting their careers. This service gives candidates a first experience of the workplace whilst boosting employer performance.

The programme was created initially to support apprenticeships within the City Corporation. It soon became clear that this experience could assist firms in our supply chain and across the City of London. We now work with recognised names in banking, insurance, property and many other sectors.

Leading employers and talented potential apprentices are attracted to us by:

  • the Square Mile's excellent reputation
  • the comprehensive and cost-free service we offer
  • the high standards we adhere to.

Contact us

For more information about our apprenticeship programme, you can:

An apprenticeship provides a person with a flying start in their career while offering you the following

  • A highly-tailored approach to developing your skills-base
  • A cost-effective way to recruit fresh talent
  • Enthusiastic new team members with a fresh perspective
  • Loyal and committed employees in the long term
  • A feel-good factor amongst current staff

We provide the following services free of charge:

  • Advertising your vacancies
  • Screening candidates (both CVs and interviews)
  • Training the apprentices (free for 16-18 year olds, 50% subsidy for 19-24 year olds)
  • Assessing performance
  • Certificating apprentices at the end of training

The nature of the City Corporation, as well as its prestige and history, enable us to offer more:

  • A superb pool of candidates attracted by our reputation
  • Exclusive City of London Corporation events for both employers and apprentices
  • An annual graduation ceremony in Mansion House
  • Free employability and workplace skills training
  • An apprentice support network

Below are some of the questions prospective employers most commonly ask about apprenticeships. If you don’t see the answer you need please email the Apprenticeships Team

There are a number of elements to each apprenticeship, officially known as a framework. Each apprenticeship framework has three main strands

  • Competence based element (usually an NVQ)
  • Technical skills and knowledge
  • Transferable skills

These strands are sometimes accompanied by additional qualifications to give the most relevant skills and knowledge required for the job.

The City of LondonCorporation provides a free service advertising your apprenticeship and screening candidates (CVs and initial interviews). There are no training costs for 16-18 year olds and half the cost of training 19-24 year olds is subsidised. There is an additional £1500 grant available to many employers.

Besides this the employer is expected to pay the apprentice's salary. The national minimum wage for apprentices is around £107 per week however we recommend paying between £150-200 per week. This higher amount ensures that the best candidates apply for your position and provides a more realistic living wage throughout the apprenticeship.​

The reputation of the City Corporation speaks volumes and we receive applications from great employers and candidates as a direct result. Our driving passion is to ensure that you as an employer receive the apprentice you need and that the apprentice receives a valuable first step in their career.

Going beyond the basics, we excel at finding the right candidates, training them, assessing them, and a great deal more. Throughout the year we offer free networking events, a support group of peers for apprentices, drop-in employability and skills training sessions. All of this comes together in a prestigious Graduation Ceremony in the Mansion House – an event apprentices are likely to remember for the rest of their careers.​

Training is classroom-based with on-going assessment being carried out in the workplace to ensure that apprentices are applying their learning. The time taken for classroom training varies across frameworks however as an example a year-long apprenticeship includes one day training every two weeks totalling 22 sessions.

The City of London Corporation currently offers apprenticeships at intermediate and advanced level in a wide range of frameworks including Business Administration, Customer Service, Payroll, Revenues and taxation, Surveying, Housing, and many more.

We always welcome training ideas and joint initiatives, so do contact us if you would like to discuss these in greater detail.

Our apprenticeship standards include:

  • Accountancy
  • Animal Care
  • Business Administration
  • Butchery
  • Civil Engineering
  • Customer Service
  • Digital Marketing
  • Event Management
  • Horticulture
  • Human Resources
  • Transport Planning
  • and more
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