What Is an Apprenticeship Training Agency (ATA)?

Employer Guide • 8 September 2026 • 6 min read

Employer Guide • September 2026

If you have looked into apprenticeships for your organisation, you have probably come across the term Apprenticeship Training Agency, usually shortened to ATA. It describes a simple arrangement: a specialist organisation employs the apprentice, and your business hosts them and gives them real work to do. You get the apprentice and the skills; the agency carries the employment paperwork.

Encompass Select works as an ATA, so it is a question we are asked often. This guide explains how the model works in practice, how it has changed since the government register closed, what it costs, and how to decide whether it suits your organisation.

What an ATA does

In short, an ATA recruits, employs and arranges training for apprentices on behalf of other employers. The agency is the apprentice’s legal employer. It issues the contract of employment and the apprenticeship agreement, runs payroll, deducts income tax and National Insurance through PAYE, and handles the HR side of the job: absence, holidays, welfare and, if it ever comes to it, disciplinary matters.

The organisation where the apprentice works day to day is called the host employer. The host provides the job, a supervisor and the on-the-job learning, and pays the agency an agreed fee for the service.

There is a third party in every apprenticeship: the training provider. Apprenticeship training in England has to be delivered by a provider listed on the government’s Apprenticeship Provider and Assessment Register (APAR), and the apprentice finishes with an end-point assessment, usually carried out by an independent assessment organisation. An ATA can help you choose a provider and the right apprenticeship standard, but it does not replace them.

How the arrangement works day to day

Most ATA arrangements follow the same pattern from first conversation to completion.

Planning. The agency and the host agree the role, the apprenticeship standard and level, working hours, pay and a target start date.
Recruitment. The agency advertises the vacancy, sifts applications and arranges interviews. Hosts usually sit on the interview panel and make or approve the final choice.
Onboarding. The apprentice signs a contract with the agency, along with an apprenticeship agreement and a training plan agreed between the apprentice, the employer and the training provider.
The working week. The apprentice works at the host’s premises under a named supervisor and spends part of their paid time on off-the-job training. Since August 2025 the minimum length of an apprenticeship in England has been eight months, and minimum off-the-job training hours are now set for each standard rather than worked out as a percentage of working time.
Reviews. The agency keeps in regular contact with the apprentice, the supervisor and the training provider, so that small problems are picked up before they affect progress.
Completion. When the apprentice passes end-point assessment, many hosts offer them a permanent role on their own payroll. Others extend the arrangement or bring in a new apprentice.

Because the agency remains the employer throughout, the host does not need to add the apprentice to its own payroll or headcount while the programme runs.

ATAs, the old register and flexi-job agencies

For several years the government kept a Register of Apprenticeship Training Agencies. That register was closed and its guidance withdrawn in February 2022, when it was replaced by the Register of Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agencies. Flexi-job apprenticeship agencies also employ apprentices, but they place them with a series of host businesses, and the scheme was designed for sectors where short-term contracts are normal, such as construction, the creative industries and events. Applications to join that register closed on 31 May 2023, and responsibility for the guidance moved to the Department for Work and Pensions on 1 April 2026.

The closure of the old register did not end the ATA model. Organisations still recruit and employ apprentices on behalf of host employers. What changed is that there is no longer a separate government list for them, so the checks you make should focus on substance rather than labels:

Is the training delivered by a provider listed on APAR?
Is the agency the genuine employer, with a proper contract, payroll and HR support in place?
Is the fee clear, and does it separate wage costs from the management charge?
Who is responsible for safeguarding, health and safety, and the apprentice’s welfare while they are on your site?

If an agency claims a particular status or accreditation, ask to see the evidence and check it against the relevant list on GOV.UK.

Why employers use an ATA

The reasons we hear most often are practical ones.

Less administration. Contracts, payroll, apprenticeship paperwork and day-to-day HR questions sit with the agency.
Recruitment support. Finding the right apprentice takes time, especially for a first vacancy. An agency with recruitment experience can write the advert, screen applicants and support interviews.
Headcount flexibility. Some organisations, particularly in the public sector, work within headcount limits or recruitment controls. Hosting an apprentice employed by an agency can be a way to build skills within those limits.
A structured start. First-time apprenticeship employers are often unfamiliar with standards, providers and progress reviews. The agency brings that experience with it.
Continuity for the apprentice. If circumstances change at the host, the agency is still the employer and can work with everyone involved on what happens next.

Public bodies such as fire and rescue services have used the model to recruit apprentices in larger numbers, and you can read how that works on our Fire & Rescue Services page.

What it costs and how funding fits

An ATA charges the host a fee that covers the apprentice’s wages and employment costs, plus a management fee for the agency’s service. There is no standard national rate, so compare quotes carefully and ask exactly what is included. At Encompass Select we agree the management fee before any engagement starts, based on the service you actually need.

Wages must be at least the National Minimum Wage for apprentices, which has been £8.00 an hour since 1 April 2026 for apprentices under 19 or in the first year of their apprenticeship. Many employers pay more. Our guide to apprenticeship pay in 2026 sets out every rate by age.

Training is funded separately from wages, and funding follows the employer that holds the apprenticeship, so the details depend on how your arrangement is set up. For new starts from 1 August 2026, the government pays the full cost of training for apprentices aged 16 to 24, up to the funding band maximum, where the employer does not pay the levy or has used up its levy funds. Levy-paying employers can also transfer up to 50% of their annual levy funds to other employers, and some ATA arrangements use a transfer to cover training. Our Apprenticeship Levy guide covers the current rules in more detail.

There is also a saving on employment costs: employers pay no employer National Insurance contributions on an apprentice’s earnings up to £50,270 a year where the apprentice is under 25. Under an ATA model that relief sits with the legal employer and should be reflected in the charge to the host. Funding rules change regularly, so check GOV.UK, or ask us, before you rely on a particular route.

Is an ATA right for you?

An ATA tends to suit organisations that:

want to take on apprentices but do not have the HR or payroll capacity to manage them;
are recruiting several apprentices at once and want a single point of contact;
work under headcount controls but have a genuine skills need; or
are new to apprenticeships and want help choosing standards and training providers.

It may be less suitable if you already run a large apprenticeship programme with a dedicated team, or if you want the apprentice on your own payroll from the first day. In that case, employing directly and working with a good training provider may be simpler.

If you are weighing up the options, our guidance for employers explains how we work, and our page on how to hire an apprentice without the admin headache sets out the service step by step.

Thinking about hosting an apprentice?

Tell us about the role, your timescales and your budget, and we will explain how the ATA model would work for your organisation, including what we would handle and what you would keep.

Blog