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Apprenticeships and benefits - Apprentices: Work-related requirements under Universal Credit

Read our guide to apprenticeships and benefits

Last reviewed 08 September 2023

Apprentices: Work-related requirements under Universal Credit

If you are getting Universal Credit you will be asked to agree a claimant commitment.

If you are doing an apprenticeship for more than 30 hours a week, you shouldn’t be asked to do any work-related activity. This means you won’t need to look for more work or have meetings at the Jobcentre.

If you have childcare or caring responsibilities or an illness or disability that would make it hard for you to work 30 hours, you might not have to do any work-related activity even if your apprenticeship is less than 30 hours per week.

You can read more about the different work-related activity groups in our Universal Credit guide.

If you are doing an apprenticeship for less than 30 hours a week and you aren’t in any of the groups that are allowed to work fewer hours, you might be asked by your work coach to do work-related activity. You should try to negotiate with your work coach to explain that your apprenticeship will help you to find more and better work in the future.

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