Kickstart your career with an apprenticeship in Hackney.
In Hackney, we are proud to recruit candidates on their potential, regardless of their background or academic achievements. Within the Council, the types of apprenticeships are vast with apprentices working in lots of different areas, for example, Housing, ICT, Trades, Business Administration, Youth Work, and Finance. We also work with external employers and they also offer a variety of apprenticeships across a large range of sectors, ranging from small businesses, and charities to large corporate organisations.
Apprenticeships are offered at all levels, which are equivalent to educational levels. These range from Level 2, equivalent to GCSE, up to Level 7 equivalent to a Masters degree.
We will invite you to register with our Hackney Works service, to provide you with support during your search for an apprenticeship. If you need additional support, our friendly employability teams can provide this for you by offering feedback and signposting to any additional training and work experience opportunities that may be helpful.
Check out our apprenticeship blog to hear from our apprentices in their own words.
What we offer
Get the work experience you need, learn new skills and earn a salary at the same time. It doesn’t matter if you are a school, college or university leaver looking for your first role, someone returning to the workforce after a career break or redundancy, or you wish to retrain.
An apprenticeship is a full-time or part-time job with at least 6 hours of the working week spent studying. Apprenticeships last from one to five years, depending on the qualification you’re taking.
All of our apprenticeship vacancies offer:
- Pay will be a minimum of the London Living Wage or equivalent, with many opportunities offering a higher starting salary and good benefits.
- Quality training provision with highly rated Apprenticeship Training Providers
- Additional support if needed
Who can apply for a Hackney Apprenticeship
To apply for any of the apprenticeship opportunities offered by Hackney Council or our Partner employers, at least one of the following must apply to you:
- you currently live in Hackney
- you currently attend a Hackney education institution
- you previously went to secondary school/college in Hackney
- you currently receive or previously received Hackney Leaving Care services
You must also hold a UK or EEA passport or have permission from the UK government to live in the UK. You must also have been resident in the UK or another EEA country for at least the last three years.
We have no upper age limit for our programme. All apprenticeships require you to be 16 when you start, and some require you to be 18.
You may not be able to undertake an apprenticeship in a subject and level that you have already completed.
For many of our apprenticeships, you do not need any formal qualifications to apply. We may ask you to take a short English and Maths assessment to make sure you are at the right level for the apprenticeship qualification. This is a funding requirement, so you may be asked to undertake these assessments even if you hold a degree or other higher qualification.
If you would like to brush up on your Maths and English skills, or you would like to improve your chance of securing an apprenticeship, our Education service has some short courses that may be of interest.
What happens if I have a criminal record?
At Hackney, we support the rehabilitation of offenders and will not unfairly discriminate against any person with a conviction. If you do have a current or unspent criminal conviction you will be asked to declare this as part of your application. This will not stop you from being able to access the apprenticeship programme, however, applications will be looked at on a case-by-case basis to assess suitability for the job role.
If the role involves working with children or vulnerable adults you will also have to declare any spent and unspent convictions and be subject to a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check.
Nacro offers further information and support about how to disclose.
Want some support to find and apply for apprenticeships?
Our free Hackney Works service can help you with CV writing, interview technique and applications. We also give you exclusive access to apprenticeship opportunities with local employers.
Please note, this service is for people who live in Hackney.
Read our guidance for applicants for more information on the recruitment process.
The LIFT Programme
Hackney is a member of a three-year programme across Camden, Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets called LIFT that aims to help residents into good local jobs in the knowledge economy including tech, digital, sciences, and creative production, and to support businesses and start-ups in these sectors.
Home | LIFT (liftfutures.london)
More information
If you have any questions, you can contact the team at apprenticeships@hackney.gov.uk or use the links below.
For advice and guidance about apprenticeships, see:
National Apprenticeship Service
All about school leavers
For apprenticeships across England, use the find an apprenticeship service.
Page last reviewed: February 17, 2023