Apprenticeship Application Tracker
Apprenticeships are real jobs with training attached, and they are hired like jobs: a vacancy, a form, tests, an interview, sometimes a full assessment day. Track each one from the day you find it, because some employers stop taking applications before the advertised closing date.
Most people applying for apprenticeships are fitting it around something else: exams, college or sixth form, a part-time job, or a first job they want to move on from. That is when vacancies go missing. You spot one on a Tuesday, plan to apply at the weekend, and by Saturday it has gone, or the online test invitation sits unread in an inbox you rarely check.
The process also varies far more than it does for graduate schemes. A large employer recruiting degree apprentices may run online tests, a recorded video interview and an assessment day before a final interview. A small firm taking on one trainee electrician or chef may want a form, a phone call and a trial shift. Knowing which kind of process each vacancy uses tells you what to prepare and roughly how long you will be waiting.
This guide covers where vacancies are listed in the UK, the US and Australia, the stages most apprenticeship processes use, what changes between degree and trade apprenticeships, what to write down for each vacancy, and how to handle early closing dates and several applications at once.
Where apprenticeship vacancies are listed
Each country has its own national service, and none of them lists everything. Use the national service to find vacancies, then check employer careers sites and local job boards for the ones it misses.
United Kingdom
In England, the GOV.UK Find an apprenticeship service lists vacancies across sectors and levels, and UCAS lists apprenticeships alongside its university search. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own vacancy services.
Large employers also advertise on their own careers sites, and some recruit only there, so check the employers you most want directly.
United States
A registered apprenticeship is one approved by the US Department of Labor or a state apprenticeship agency. Apprenticeship.gov has an apprenticeship job finder for searching openings by occupation and location.
Many trade programmes, including union-sponsored ones, take applications through their own sites. Some open only at set times of year and rank applicants after an aptitude test and an interview.
Australia
Australian Apprenticeships is the government programme covering apprenticeships and traineeships. Apprenticeship Connect Australia providers help people find and start an apprenticeship, and group training organisations employ apprentices and place them with host businesses.
Some larger employers run a yearly intake with a fixed closing date through their own careers sites.
How an apprenticeship application usually runs
The full sequence below is what a large employer tends to use. Smaller employers skip stages, most often the tests, the video interview and the assessment day, and go from form to interview.
- 1
Finding the vacancy
Vacancy services, employer careers sites, college and training provider job boards, careers advisers. Save the advert itself, not just the link: adverts are often taken down once a vacancy closes, and you will want the wording when you prepare for interview.
- 2
The application form
Usually your details, qualifications or predicted grades, and a few questions about why you want this apprenticeship and this employer. Some ask for a CV or resume instead. With little work history to compare, the motivation answers carry a lot of weight.
- 3
Online tests
Larger employers often send aptitude tests: numerical, verbal or logical reasoning, a situational judgement test, or game-based assessments. Smaller employers and some trade programmes use a basic maths and English check instead, or no test at all.
The main test types explained - 4
A video interview, at some employers
A recorded one-way interview: a question appears on screen and you answer to camera, with no one on the other end. It is mostly used by large employers sifting a lot of applicants.
How to pass a video interview - 5
The assessment day
A group exercise, a short presentation or written task, sometimes a practical task, often with an interview on the same day. Degree apprenticeship programmes at large employers can look a lot like a graduate assessment centre.
What happens at an apprenticeship assessment day - 6
The interview
Usually with the manager you would work for, sometimes with someone from the training provider. Expect questions on why this field, what you know about the employer, and examples from school, part-time work, sport or hobbies.
Apprenticeship interview questions - 7
The offer
Offers are often conditional, for example on exam results or pre-employment checks. Write down the conditions, the start date and the date you need to reply by.
Degree apprenticeships vs trade and level 3
In England, apprenticeships are grouped by level: intermediate (level 2), advanced (level 3), higher (levels 4 and 5) and degree (levels 6 and 7). Other countries organise them differently, but the same split between longer professional programmes and trade programmes shows up almost everywhere, and it changes how you should track them.
Degree and higher apprenticeships
- Who applies
- Mostly school and college leavers with A levels or equivalent, plus some career changers. Many applicants are weighing them against a university place.
- When they recruit
- Many large employers recruit on a timeline close to their graduate schemes, often opening in the autumn or winter for a start the following year.
- The process
- Often the full sequence: online tests, a video interview, an assessment day and a final interview.
- What to track hardest
- Test deadlines, which tend to arrive within days of applying, and the gap between a conditional offer and your results. If a university application is running too, keep both sets of deadlines in one place.
Trade, intermediate and advanced apprenticeships
- Who applies
- School leavers, and adults of any age moving into a trade or a new field.
- When they recruit
- More often all year round, whenever an employer needs someone. Some colleges and larger employers run a yearly intake tied to the college year.
- The process
- Shorter: a form or CV, sometimes a maths and English assessment or an aptitude test, an interview, and sometimes a practical task or trial day.
- What to track hardest
- The vacancy itself. A small employer may fill the place quickly, so the date you applied and the date you last followed up matter more than any test deadline.
What to record for each vacancy
Write these down when you apply, not when the next email arrives. A spreadsheet with these columns works; so does the CogniPrep tracker, which holds the employer, role, stage and dates for you.
- Employer and training provider
- The employer hires you; a college or training provider usually delivers the off-the-job learning. Some vacancies are posted by the provider on the employer’s behalf, so note who you are actually dealing with.
- Vacancy title and level
- One employer can advertise several apprenticeships at different levels, each with its own process and closing date.
- Where you found it, and a copy of the advert
- Paste the advert text somewhere you control. The duties and the employer’s wording are your best interview preparation, and the listing may disappear.
- Closing date, and any early-close warning
- Record the date and copy any line saying the employer may close the vacancy once it has enough applications.
- Date applied and reference number
- The reference is what you quote if you contact the employer, and the date tells you when it is reasonable to follow up.
- Next step and its deadline
- Online tests due by, video interview due by, assessment day date and place. Once you have applied, this date matters more than the closing date.
- Which test, and who sent it
- The invitation usually names the test or the company behind it. Note it so you practise the right format rather than a generic one.
- Pay, location, start date and travel
- These differ a lot between apprenticeships. Note them while you are applying, so comparing offers later takes minutes.
- A contact name
- Who to email with a question, and whether they work for the employer or the provider.
The test name is the field people skip and later regret. If an invitation does not say plainly who made the test, the login page or the email sender usually does: how to tell which assessment provider sent your test.
Closing dates that come early
Apprenticeship closing dates catch people out in two ways: the published date can be weeks away when you first see the advert, and some vacancies close before that date anyway.
Read the advert for an early close
Some employers say they may close a vacancy once enough applications arrive. Treat any advert carrying that line as if it closes this week, whatever date it shows.
Set your own date before theirs
Give yourself a target a few days ahead of the published closing date. The buffer absorbs a form that takes longer than expected or a question you need to ask first.
Draft the common answers once
Why this apprenticeship, why this field, a time you worked with others, a time you learned something new. Write them properly once and adapt them, so a new vacancy takes an evening rather than a week.
Watch the next deadline, not the last one
Test invitations often carry their own deadline, sometimes only a few days away. The moment one arrives, it becomes the date that matters for that application.
In the CogniPrep tracker, add the closing date as an Application deadline. You get a reminder email three days before and another the day before, sent during the day in that date’s time zone. A date added at short notice skips straight to the final reminder.
Keep every vacancy and closing date in one place
CogniPrep’s application tracker is free. Add a vacancy in four short steps, get reminder emails before each date, see it all in your own calendar, and get a practice plan for the stage you are at.
Running several applications at once
Applying for more than one apprenticeship is normal and sensible. Well-known employers can attract far more applicants than they have places, and a small employer may fill its place before you hear back from anyone else.
Expect replies from strangers
Test invitations and interview emails often come from a testing platform or a recruitment system rather than the employer’s own address. Check your junk or spam folder while applications are open.
Sort by what is due, not by employer
A vacancy with tests and an assessment day needs preparation time; one that goes straight to interview needs a quick reply. Ordering your list by the next date shows which ones need you this week.
Close what has finished
Mark each application as an offer, unsuccessful or withdrawn once you know. Keep the record: if you reapply to that employer next year, you will want to know how far you got.
Withdraw promptly after accepting
Once you accept an offer, let the other employers know, so their places can go to someone else. Keep your notes until you have actually started, in case the start date moves.
Adding an apprenticeship to the tracker
- 1
The company
Search the directory of employers, or type any name. A local firm or a training provider that is not listed is fine.
- 2
The role
Use the vacancy title and add the level if there is one, so two vacancies at the same employer stay separate.
- 3
Where you are up to
Researching, Applied, Online tests, Video interview, Assessment centre or Final interview. Not every employer uses every stage, so pick the one you have reached and skip the rest.
- 4
An optional date
Usually the closing date. Add the test deadline, the assessment day and the interview as they arrive, up to 12 dates for each application.
Once it is in, each application gets a prep plan for the stage ahead. Before the tests, that means practice for the assessment providers the employer is known to use, where CogniPrep’s employer directory has them, or for the one your invitation names. Before an interview, it is a practice video interview; before an assessment day, the six assessment centre exercise formats. Tasks tick themselves off when you complete that practice, so the plan only shows what you have actually done.
Frequently asked questions
How many apprenticeships should I apply for?
There is no fixed number. Apply to enough that one rejection does not leave you with nothing, and stop adding more when you no longer have time to tailor each form. A tracker makes that point easy to see, because the list of things due this week starts to grow faster than you can clear it.
When do degree apprenticeship applications open?
Many large employers open in the autumn or winter for a start the following year, much like their graduate schemes, but dates vary by employer and some places fill before the advertised close. Check each employer’s careers site and record the date as soon as you find it.
Do apprenticeship applications include online tests?
Many larger employers use them, especially for degree and higher apprenticeships: numerical, verbal or logical reasoning, situational judgement or game-based tests. Smaller employers often skip them. The invitation usually names the test, which tells you what to practise.
Can I apply for apprenticeships and university at the same time?
Yes, and plenty of people do. Apprenticeship applications usually go to the employer or through a vacancy service, separately from a university application, so you can hold both and compare what you are offered. Keep both sets of deadlines in one list so neither slips.
What should I do if I hear nothing back?
Some employers only contact candidates they are taking forward. If the advert gave a timeline, wait until it has passed, then send one short email quoting the vacancy reference. If there is still no reply, mark the application closed and put the time into the next one.
Is the CogniPrep application tracker free?
Yes. The tracker comes with a free CogniPrep account, with no paywall on adding applications, dates, reminders or the calendar feed. Some of the practice it points you to, such as provider-specific test games and the full assessment centre library, needs a one-time unlock.
Prepare for the next stage
Apprenticeship interview questions
What apprenticeship interviewers ask, and answers built from school, part-time work and hobbies.
The apprenticeship assessment day
The exercises you are likely to meet on the day, and what assessors are looking for.
Mock interview practice
An early careers track built for apprenticeships: five behavioural questions recorded to camera, with AI feedback.
Online test practice
Numerical, verbal, logical and situational judgement tests, explained and practised.