As of April 2016, employers of apprentices under the age of 25 will no longer be required to pay secondary Class 1 National Insurance contributions (NIC) on earnings up to the Upper Earnings Limit (currently £50,000) for those employees.

This is a 13.8% saving on everything the apprentice earns over £8,788 a year for the employers of apprentices. An example of the savings for employers could be:

An employer recruits an apprentice who is under 25 and they encourage them on to an apprenticeship. If the employee is earning £18,000 per year, on employers national insurance rate of 13.8% (the first £8,788 earned is not subject to NIC) the £9,212 that is subject to NIC gives the employer a saving of £1,271 that they no longer need to pay, for the entire time the employee is on an apprenticeship and under 25. This also includes employees already on an apprenticeship, as long as they are still under 25.

Find out more about National Insurance contributions here.