We have a lot of enquiries via our Social Media channels from Indian students asking about the apprenticeship process within the UK. We have put this guide together to help young people based in India to explore UK based apprenticeships and the things you will need to consider to apply.
Where to find opportunities
Within the UK, you can find apprenticeship vacancies in a range of different places. These include directly on the employer's website as well as on job boards. The Not Going To University opportunity search is an example of a job board. Another one would be the government apprenticeship search tool. Job boards show lots of different opportunities from different employers in one place.
There is no job board in the UK where you will see all opportunities from all employers, that’s why it is important to create an account on each site to maximise your chances. You can create your NGTU account here.
How to apply for opportunities
Each employer will have a slightly different process but it is highly likely that this will be an online application form/submission of your CV. Employers will ask different questions as part of their application process, these questions will help them to see if you are a good fit for the job role that you are applying for.
On some job advertisements, employers will give the number of UCAS points you need rather than the A-Level grade. In order to calculate your UCAS points you need to:
Degree apprenticeship programmes are very competitive, so if you do not have the academic requirements needed for the role, it is likely that you will not be invited to interview as there will be lots of candidates who do meet the entry requirements.
What visa requirements do you need to apply
We are asked about this a lot and, as we are not immigration experts, it is not something that we are able to give advice on. Here is the guidance from the UK Government about coming to the UK and where you can get support for your visa.
The only piece of advice that we will give is to ensure you are clear with the employer you are applying to about your visa status. Do not get all the way through the application process before telling them that you do not have eligibility to work in the UK.
Will UK employers discriminate against applicants from other countries
In a word, no. In the UK, it is against the law to discriminate against someone because of:
You are able to apply to all the same vacancies as a British Citizen. However, be mindful that your race and religion is different to your visa status. A UK employer cannot employ you without you having the right to work in the UK.
We hope you have found this information useful and wish you the best of luck in your apprenticeship search. We will keep this blog post up to date with questions should any more be frequently asked via our social media channels.
