An apprentice can be paid the apprentice rate (£8.00 per hour from 1 April 2026) if they are under 19, whatever year of the apprenticeship they’re in. They can also be paid it if they are 19 or over and still in the first year of their apprenticeship. An apprentice aged 19 or over who has finished their first year must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage for their age group (£10.85 for ages 18–20, £12.71 for 21 and over, from 1 April 2026). The year of the apprenticeship only matters once the apprentice is 19 or over. For example, an 18-year-old in their second year can still be paid £8.00. Before advising, always confirm the employee’s age and, if they are 19 or over, and whether they have finished their first year.

BrightPay doesn’t record an apprenticeship start date. It also doesn’t use the employee’s start date to work out which year of the apprenticeship they’re in. Instead, BrightPay treats an employee as an apprentice based on their NI category letter. An apprentice under 25 should be on NI category H. While an employee is on category H, BrightPay doesn’t check their pay against the age-band minimum wage, so it won’t show a minimum wage warning. When the employee reaches 25, BrightPay prompts the user to change them to category A. If an apprentice is on category M (under 21) instead of H, BrightPay checks their pay against the standard 18–20 rate and flags the apprentice rate as too low. It is down to the user to change the NI category from H to M or A when they have finished their apprenticeship under age 25.

If BrightPay is flagging an apprentice’s hourly rate as incorrect, first check which NI category the employee is on. If they are on category M and are a genuine apprentice under 25, you will need to change the NI category to H. This is the correct category for an apprentice, and it will stop the minimum wage warning.

Because category H turns off the minimum wage check, BrightPay won’t alert the user when an apprentice reaches age 19 or over finishes their first year and needs a higher rate. This has to be done manually. The user will have to note when each apprentice aged 19 or over will finish their first year, and to update the hourly rate to the correct minimum wage for their age from that date.

Whilst there is no alert or warning for an employee finishing their first year apprenticeship, you can set up a custom leave type as a reminder and it will show on the employee / employer calendar. Note: you cannot book any other leave types on the same day, so it is recommended that once the date has passed, the apprentice custom leave type is removed from the calendar if any other leave needs to be added to that same date - ie annual leave, sick leave, etc