The £2,000 foundation apprenticeship incentive
A new payment for employers taking on a foundation apprentice, with the first instalments landing in January 2027.
Foundation apprenticeships are the shorter programmes, around eight months, introduced in April 2026 as a route into a full apprenticeship. From August 2026 employers taking one on can claim up to £2,000.
It applies to apprentices aged 16 to 21, or under 25 where they have an education, health and care plan, care experience, or are a prisoner or prison leaver. The payment goes to the employer through the training provider, and is not taken from a levy account.
The structure is different from the other payments, and worth understanding before you plan around it. It comes in three instalments: at day 90, at day 242, and a final one when the apprentice progresses onto their next apprenticeship. That last instalment is conditional on progression actually happening, so it is not money you can count on at the point of hiring.
The earliest payments land in January 2027, because of the day-90 rule applied to the first eligible starts.
It stacks with the other support available. A foundation apprentice can also attract the £1,000 additional payment where they are 16 to 18 or meet the other criteria, and training is already fully funded for under-25s at non-levy employers.