Apprenticeships

UAL is a London Living Wage employer. The salary for each apprenticeship will be clearly stated in the job advert as a single annual figure.

If the apprenticeship is part-time, the salary may be shown as pro rata. This means your actual pay will be adjusted to reflect the number of hours you work compared with a full-time role. For example, if the full-time salary is £30,000 and you work half the full-time hours, your actual salary would be £15,000 per year.

Once you have successfully completed your probation, you will normally receive an annual incremental pay increase in line with UAL’s pay policies.

UAL offers a wide range of staff benefits, all of which you will be eligible to access as an apprentice.

Depending on your role and grade, you will receive 31–34 days of paid annual leave, plus bank holidays, 2 additional days of paid volunteering leave, a generous employer pension contribution, and sick leave. If you work part-time, your annual leave and other leave entitlements will be pro rata, which means they will be adjusted to reflect the number of hours you work.

Together, these benefits are worth roughly an additional 39% of your base salary.

You will also have access to a wide range of staff discounts, including savings on IT software, travel, food and drink, and major lifestyle brands. As an apprentice, you may also be eligible for discounted Oyster fares. You can find more information on our staff benefits page.

UAL will also cover the full cost of your apprenticeship training, which can be worth between £3,000 and £27,000, depending on the apprenticeship programme.

Typically, as a full-time employed UAL Apprentice, you will have a 35-hour working week. Of those 35 hours, approximately 6 per week will be spent on learning and development activities and working towards your apprenticeship qualification. This is called ‘Off-the-job Training,’ completed within your working hours, you will be focused on the learning and development necessary for the completion of your qualification. In this ‘Off-the-Job’ time, with plenty of support, you will complete a programme of training, delivered by one of our selected training partners.

If you are employed part time and undertaking an apprenticeship, your training time will be pro rata-ed. All other details remain the same. The exact schedule of your programme will be determined when you enrol.

You will be fully supported throughout your apprenticeship to ensure you are able to do your best work. We will work with you and your training provider to provide any reasonable adjustments needed to help you fully access and succeed in your apprenticeship.

Your Line Manager will act as your first point of contact for day-to-day work queries and will work with you and the training provider to ensure that you are supported with a development plan. Your Workplace Mentor will be there to support the job role side of the apprenticeship, and you will also have an Apprenticeship Coach to ensure you get any learning support you need, as well as support with assessments and submissions.

You will also join a network of UAL apprentices who can share their knowledge and experience of working and studying. The Apprenticeship team is also here to support you.

UAL is a Growth and Skills levy payer. This means that we can fund apprentice training fees at no cost to you. However, for us to access this funding, you will need to meet the eligibility criteria. The funding is supplied by the Government, so it is their eligibility criteria that we need to abide by.

The Government funding rules for apprenticeships specify who is eligible. You will need to provide evidence to demonstrate your eligibility to both UAL and the training provider should you be successful in your application.

• You must already have the right to work in the UK for the duration of the apprenticeship contract (the length of the contract will be listed on the Job Description).
• You must have been ordinarily resident in the UK for the last 3 years.

UK Nationals:

If you do not meet this 3-year residency criterion but you are a UK National, and you:

• Have resided temporarily outside the UK for the purposes of Education, employment, or gap year.
• Are a member of the British Armed Forces, MoD Personnel, or civil crown servants and had a posting outside the UK.
• Have been ordinarily resident in the UK or the British Overseas Territories, or the Crown Dependencies (Channel Islands and Isle of Man) for at least the previous 3 years on the first day of the apprenticeship.

You will still be able to apply.

Non-UK nationals:

If you are not a UK National there are some exclusions and exemptions to the Government funding criteria that may apply to you. We encourage you to check Annex A of the Government Apprenticeship funding rules to make sure you are eligible before you start your application.

If you require specific advice about your eligibility, please contact the email address listed on the job advert.

There is no upper age limit, but you must be over 16 years of age to start an apprenticeship. We will accept applications from you if you are 15 years old, as long as you turn 16 before the apprenticeship employment start date.

Apprenticeship roles at UAL are offered on a fixed-term basis. While permanent employment cannot be guaranteed, successful completion of the apprenticeship is expected to place you in a good position to apply for or progress into any suitable opportunities that may arise.

Each apprenticeship is linked to an apprenticeship standard, which will be named in the job advert.

An apprenticeship standard sets out the knowledge, skills and behaviours you will develop to become competent in a particular occupation. Your role at UAL gives you the opportunity to develop and apply these skills in the workplace, alongside structured learning with your training provider. Some apprenticeships also include a specific professional or academic qualification. The qualification and level will be clearly explained in the job advert.

We recommend looking up the apprenticeship standard before applying so that you understand what you will be learning and the career that the apprenticeship is designed to prepare you for.

There are three types of apprenticeship qualification available:

• Intermediate: Level 2 (GCSE)
• Advanced: Level 3 (A-Level)
• Higher: Level 4-6 (Certificate of Higher Education through to Degree)

An apprenticeship could be a great choice if you want to build a career in a particular area while learning and gaining practical experience at the same time.

It means carrying out a real job, contributing to your team and developing professionally, while also committing time and effort to the learning required for your apprenticeship.

Before applying, think about the occupation and apprenticeship standard described in the advert. Does the subject genuinely interest you? Can you see the skills you will develop supporting your longer-term career plans? Are you motivated to complete a qualification or structured programme of learning alongside your day-to-day role?

An apprenticeship is more than an opportunity to continue studying: it is work-based training for a particular occupation and career pathway. We are particularly interested in candidates who can explain why they want to develop in the area covered by the apprenticeship.

This video will tell you more about what it means to be a UAL Apprentice, and help you decide whether it is right for you: [VIDEO LINK]

• Applying for roles – UAL Jobs
• Recruitment Process – UAL Jobs

Yes! We want to understand why this particular apprenticeship makes sense for you.

Before applying, research the apprenticeship standard named in the advert. Think about the knowledge and skills you would develop and how these connect with the career you would like to build.

In your application, try to explain:

• Why this role? What interests you about the work you would be doing and the contribution you could make to UAL?
• Why this apprenticeship? What interests you about the apprenticeship standard and the learning involved?
• Why now? Why is completing an apprenticeship in this area the right next step for you?
• Where could it take you? How will the skills, experience and qualification support your longer-term career?
• What will you bring? Use examples from work, education, volunteering, projects or your wider experience to demonstrate the skills and qualities described in the advert.

You don’t need to already know everything — learning is the point of an apprenticeship. What we do want to see is genuine interest, thought and motivation.

Rather than simply telling us that you would like to work at UAL or within the creative industries, use your application to show us why you are interested in this role, this area of learning and the career it could help you build.

Take some time to reflect before you write. A clear, considered application that explains your motivation in your own words will help us understand why the apprenticeship is right for you.