ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½

There is a tendency to associate the term 'apprenticeship' with training for younger people who are new to the workplace. While this remains an important activity at Imperial, we also offer a suite of apprenticeships for established staff.

An apprenticeship is a nationally recognised vocational qualification, designed to build skills and knowledge to support your work role. It typically lasts for 12 months or more, and a learner spends around a day a week on development related to their programme. This might include attending lectures, 1-1 sessions with a tutor, undertaking assignments and applying new learning in the workplace. An accredited training provider will deliver the course, which will be aligned to an approved .

From Autumn 2026, we will be offering programmes to support data literacy, AI adoption and project management.  

Apprenticeship training and assessment costs are funded centrally through the Growth and Skills Levy, an initiative designed to increase large employers' investment in skills and training. Imperial pays a substantial Growth and Skills Levy, which we can draw on to fund training and assessment for apprentices, whether new entrants or existing employees. Learning and Talent manages Imperial's Growth and Skills Levy on behalf of the university. 

The UK Government’s are extensive and can be complicated. The Learning and Talent team will check eligibility when you apply for a programme. In general, to be eligible, learners should:

• Be in a role that will allow you to meet the learning objectives of the programme (i.e. the apprenticeship needs to be relevant to your job).
• Have approval from your line manager.
• Be ready to commit to the minimum study requirement (approximately one day a week on average, in work time) and have agreed with your manager that this can be balanced with operational demands.
• Have enough time remaining on your contract of employment to complete the programme in full.
• Have the right to work in the UK for the full duration of your programme and an eligible residency status (please refer to in the Apprenticeship Funding Rules for further information).
• Not be receiving any other direct / indirect funding from the Department for Education (e.g. student finance).
• Training providers may also specify additional requirements.

From Autumn 2026, the following apprenticeship programmes will be available to Imperial staff:

• Data Academy
• AI Academy
• Project Manager Programme

The UK Government no longer funds leadership and management apprenticeships through the Growth and Skills levy. Imperial’s final leadership and management cohorts launched in the Summer of 2026. Staff wishing to build their management skills should explore the extensive programme of internal provision on Imperial’s Management Development webpages. 

At Imperial, apprenticeships for established staff are organised on a cohort basis, with new programmes being added over time. We do not support individuals to undertake ad-hoc apprenticeship programmes outside of this offer. Apprenticeships are time-consuming and complex to set up, administer and quality-assure, and we have found that completion rates are poor when individuals are not in a cohort with a trusted training partner. The cohort model allows us to support more staff, to strategically-align our offer and to ensure that learners have a good experience and successfully complete.