For Schools & MATs
Whether you're new to apprenticeships or looking to optimise your levy, we're here to help your school thrive.
Getting Started with Apprenticeships
From first contact to programme completion — we are with you every step of the way.
Contact Us
Get in touch for a free, no-obligation conversation with our education specialists.
Identify Learning Opportunity
We work with you to identify the right staff development opportunities within your school.
Desired CPD Outcomes
Together we define clear CPD outcomes aligned to your school improvement priorities.
Choose Apprenticeship Programme
Select the most suitable apprenticeship programme from our education-exclusive portfolio.
Match with Best in Class Training Provider
We independently match your learner to the highest-quality, best-fit training provider.
Onboarding Process Begins
We manage the full onboarding journey; from paperwork to provider handover.
Contact Us
Get in touch for a free, no-obligation conversation with our education specialists.
Identify Learning Opportunity
We work with you to identify the right staff development opportunities within your school.
Desired CPD Outcomes
Together we define clear CPD outcomes aligned to your school improvement priorities.
Choose Apprenticeship Programme
Select the most suitable apprenticeship programme from our education-exclusive portfolio.
Match with Best in Class Training Provider
We independently match your learner to the highest-quality, best-fit training provider.
Onboarding Process Begins
We manage the full onboarding journey; from paperwork to provider handover.
Staff Upskilling & CPD
Apprenticeships provide a robust framework for continuous professional development, allowing schools to close internal skills gaps. Staff gain accredited qualifications while schools benefit from improved retention and expertise. This investment directly enhances the student learning environment by ensuring educators and support staff remain at the cutting edge.
- New Skills for Support Staff: Apprenticeships provide new skills for support staff, redressing a balance and acknowledging that this audience have not always had the same opportunity for professional development that teachers have.
- Cost-Effective CPD: Utilises existing levy funds to provide high-level qualifications without extra budget strain.
- Staff Retention: Demonstrates commitment to career progression, increasing employee loyalty and morale.
- Filling Specialist Gaps: Tailors training to address specific shortages in SEND, IT, or leadership.
- Student Impact: Better-trained staff create a more supportive and effective learning environment for pupils.
Recruiting an Apprentice
Recruiting apprentices allows schools to grow their own talent, filling vital vacancies while providing young people with professional pathways and bridging local skills gaps.
Talent Pipeline
Develops a sustainable flow of loyal, school-aligned professionals.
Budget Efficiency
Reduces recruitment fees while filling essential support and administrative roles.
Fresh Perspectives
Brings new energy and modern digital skills into the school.
Funding Your Programme
Maximise your budget by using the Apprenticeship Levy or 75% government co-investment to fund high-quality training and professional development for your entire workforce.
Levy Payers
- Your Funds: Reclaim for CPD, funds expire after 12 months.
- No Training Costs: Training is fully covered by your digital account funds.
- Levy Transfers: Local partners can transfer up to 50% of their funds.
- Strategic Reinvestment: Converts a mandatory cost into a high-value recruitment tool.
- Simple Management: Easy digital tracking of training spends and provider payments.
Non-Levy Payers
- Government Subsidy: The government pays 75% of all training costs.
- Low Financial Risk: High-quality professional development for a small monthly contribution.
- Levy Transfers: Local partners can transfer up to 50% of their funds.
- Support: Benefit from the same elite training standards as larger trusts.
- Budget Control: Predictable, low-cost investment for long-term staffing solutions.
A4Ed National Alumni Apprenticeship Programme
"Leave as learners. Return as professionals." A pioneering programme that helps secondary schools, trusts and local authorities recruit their own Year 11 and Year 13 leavers into funded apprenticeships — as teaching assistants, AI and digital specialists, ICT technicians and more.
Instead of advertising to strangers, schools invite suitable leavers back as apprentices — earning, learning and building a career in a setting where they already belong. "Our pupils can leave our school as learners and return as professionals."
Download the Alumni Programme Brochure- Trusted Recruitment: Hire candidates you have already known and supported for years.
- OFSTED Benchmarking: Document clear "positive destinations" and continued education for school leavers.
- Cost-Effective Staffing: Implement an annual recruitment strategy with funded training and qualifications included.
- Community Leadership: Boost your local reputation by actively supporting youth employment and development.
- Bridging Skills Gaps: Fill departmental vacancies with committed talent who already love your school.
77%
of secondary school leaders find it difficult to recruit teaching assistants — more than find it hard to recruit teachers (71%).
NFER Teacher Voice, autumn 2025
1 in 5
support staff left the school system between 2023/24 and 2024/25 — the highest exit rate since the data began in 2011/12.
NFER School Support Staff Workforce report, 2026
981,000
young people aged 16–24 were not in education, employment or training (NEET) in April–June 2026 — 13% of the age group.
ONS, August 2026
65%
of teachers in state-funded secondary schools report a shortage of teaching assistants at their school.
Royal Society of Chemistry, Science Teaching Survey 2025
What Your School Gains
The Alumni Programme turns relationships built over five to seven years into a planned, repeatable recruitment pipeline — moving you from reactive vacancy-filling to growing your own workforce.
Trusted Recruitment
Appoint young people your staff have known for years — their attendance, character, reliability and values are already understood.
Lower-Risk Hiring
CIPD finds 41% of employers see new recruits resign within 12 weeks. Knowing a candidate well takes the gamble out of an unknown hire.
Funded Training
Training is paid from levy funds or, for under-25s at non-levy employers, 100% government funded from August 2026.
Positive Destinations
Evidence clear progression into employment and training for leavers — strong material for Ofsted and your careers programme.
Hard-to-Fill Roles, Filled
Build a steady pipeline into teaching assistant, SEND, IT and digital roles — where vacancies are hardest to fill.
Community Leadership
Show families that leaving school opens doors and strengthen your reputation as a local employer of young people.
Pathways Matched to Real Interests
Three high-demand routes for school leavers, each built around skills schools have already seen them show.
Level 3
Teaching Assistant
Ideal For
Leavers who have mentored younger pupils, helped in lessons or shown patience and care — from Year 11 or Year 13.
In School They
Support learning in class and small groups, SEND provision, behaviour and wellbeing, alongside teachers.
Level 4 · New
AI & Automation Practitioner
Ideal For
Year 13 leavers with Computing, Maths or digital interests who enjoy solving practical problems.
In School They
Find where AI and automation can save staff time, build low-code workflows and promote safe, ethical, data-protected AI use.
Level 3
IT & ICT Support
Ideal For
Year 11 or Year 13 leavers who were digital leaders or the go-to helper with technology.
In School They
Support devices, networks, accounts and classroom technology, help staff and pupils, and keep systems secure.
And more pathways to explore: Specialist Teaching Assistant (Level 5) · Business Administration · Digital Marketing · Data Analysis · Social Wellbeing · Sport Coach · Catering
Alumni vs External Recruitment
How recruiting your own leavers compares with advertising an entry-level post on the open market.
| External Entry-Level Hire | A4Ed Alumni Apprentice | |
|---|---|---|
| Finding candidates | Advertise to unknown applicants, then screen and shortlist from scratch. | Shortlist from leavers staff already know, with interest built through school channels. |
| Time to hire | ~4.9–5.1 weeks from application to offer on average, before advertising time and notice periods. | Timetabled into the school year, with offers made before leavers finish — ready for September. |
| Recruitment cost | £6,125 average cost of filling a vacancy (CIPD); agency fees commonly add 15%+ of salary. | No agency or advertising spend; A4Ed supplies every campaign and interview material. |
| Training cost | Induction and any qualification funded from the school budget. | Apprenticeship training funded from levy, or 100% for under-25s at non-levy employers. |
| Incentives | None. | £1,000 per 16–18 apprentice; up to £2,000 for non-levy employers hiring 16–24s from 1 Oct 2026; no employer NI for apprentices under 25. |
| Early-leaver risk | 41% of employers report new recruits resigning within 12 weeks (CIPD). | Character, attendance and values known from years in school. |
| Induction | New to the site, culture, systems and pupils. | Knows the setting; induction focuses on the professional role and boundaries. |
Safer recruitment checks, including an enhanced DBS check and references, apply to every appointment. Time and cost figures are national, cross-sector averages; school costs vary. Funding and incentive eligibility depends on employer levy status and apprentice age.
Ready to Build Your Alumni Workforce?
Start with one apprentice or build an annual cohort across your trust or local authority. Everything is provided by A4Ed — website and social content, parent briefings, interview materials, onboarding and provider matching.
