Legal Apprenticeships will be available from September 2016. Some firms have already decided that they will be offering Legal Apprenticeships as a way of training future lawyers; others have decided that they are not appropriate. Many firms, however, are grappling with what a Legal Apprenticeship is, what it involves, how it differs from training contracts and periods of recognised training, in order to decide whether it is – or is not – something which would be of benefit to the business, particularly if a firm is going to be subject to the apprenticeship levy which will be imposed from April 2017on all businesses with a pay bill of effectively more than £3 million. Is it worth continuing to recruit trainees? Should the firm offer apprenticeships to recoup some of the levy?
These are all considerations the mini-consultation is intended to address for the particular firm, so that a firm can decide whether Legal Apprenticeships are something it wishes to offer.
If you are interested in finding out more about a mini-consultation on Legal Apprenticeships, then please click here to get in touch.