Apprentice vs Kickstarter

There are two major schemes to get people into the workplace and receiving training – Apprenticeships and the Kickstart scheme. They are designed to achieve different things, target different groups of people, and have different criteria. So, we will look at them side by side, and play ‘spot the difference’.

Apprenticeships can be for anyone aged 16+, and can last from 1-5 years, being focussed on specific skills and long-term development. They have been around in one form or another since the Middle Ages!

The Kickstart scheme was designed in 2020 to create new jobs for 16-to-24-year-olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long-term unemployment. It is designed to provide general employability training, and short-term work. It lasts 6 months. When Kickstart was first introduced in September 2020, there was a requirement for employers to create a minimum of 30 jobs (or act as a co-operative in order to do that). This has been changed, (Jan 2021) removing that threshold, and allowing employers to sign up direct, or via a Kickstart Gateway. These are approved organisations which can support employers through the scheme BUT if you have any other employees on payroll, these other organisations are not allowed to run a separate payroll for your Kickstart people. Make sure this is understood if you use an agency.