Key takeaways
- The finding. 252 of 1,286 Level 2 vacancies (19.6%) require grade 4 in both subjects as essential. Only 12 explicitly accept functional skills. A further 125 require passes at a lower or unspecified grade.
- The rule. Apprentices without Level 2 English and maths must achieve them before end-point assessment, not before starting. Since February 2025, for apprentices aged 19 and over at the start, the employer decides whether it is required at all.
- The cost to employers. A third of 16-year-olds do not get grade 4 in both subjects; this summer's resits passed 15.3% in maths. A grade 4 filter on a Level 2 role removes most of the people the role was designed for.
- Why it happens. Copied job templates, HR defaults written for graduate schemes, and a belief that the provider needs the grades. The provider does not.
- The fix. Change "essential" to "desirable or achieved during the apprenticeship", state that functional skills are accepted, and let the provider run the initial assessment.
A Level 2 apprenticeship is the entry level. It exists for the school leaver without a full set of GCSEs, the 19-year-old who has been out of education for two years, the adult moving into a first skilled role. When an advert for one of those roles says grade 4 English and maths is essential, it has filtered out most of the people it was meant for, in the same month Alan Milburn is telling government that apprenticeships have drifted away from young people and the levy may need to go. The employers doing it are not villains. Most do not know the rule.
252 / 1,286
Level 2 vacancies requiring grade 4 in both English and maths as "essential", 18 September 2026
FE Week analysis of Find an Apprenticeship
12
Of those adverts that explicitly said functional skills or an equivalent would be accepted
FE Week analysis
15.3%
Pass rate in this summer's GCSE maths resits, from 219,135 entries
JCQ, via FE Week, August 2026
What the rule actually says
The requirement is in the apprenticeship funding rules and in every standard's page on Skills England. For a Level 2 apprenticeship, an apprentice who does not already hold Level 1 English and maths must achieve them, and take the test for Level 2, before end-point assessment. For Level 3 and above, Level 2 must be achieved before EPA. In both cases the word is "before end-point assessment", not "before starting". The provider delivers the functional skills alongside the apprenticeship; that is what the funding for it is for.
Since February 2025 there is a second layer. For apprentices aged 19 or over at the start of the apprenticeship, the employer can decide that the English and maths requirement does not apply. That is a choice the employer makes, for that person, on the basis of what the job needs. For 16 to 18 year olds the requirement stands, but it is still achieved during the programme, not at the door. We set this out in detail after this summer's resit results.
Grade 4 GCSEs are never an entry requirement for an apprenticeship. They are an exit requirement for under-19s, and for over-19s they are your call. An advert that says otherwise is the employer's choice, and usually an accidental one.
Why the barrier goes up
| Cause | What it looks like | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Copied template | The advert was cloned from a graduate scheme, an admin vacancy or last year's Level 3 role, and "5 GCSEs at grade 4 including English and maths" came with it. | Delete the line. For a Level 2 role, replace with "no formal qualifications required; English and maths supported during the apprenticeship". |
| HR default | The applicant tracking system has a minimum-qualification field and someone filled it in. | Set it to none, or to "desirable". Screen on the job, not the field. |
| Belief that the provider needs it | "The training provider will need them to have the GCSEs." | They will not. Ask the provider to confirm in writing that functional skills are delivered on programme and that a 19+ exemption is available. |
| Fear of the maths | The role genuinely involves numeracy and the manager is nervous. | Let the provider run the initial assessment. It measures where the person actually is, which a four-year-old GCSE grade does not. |
| Volume management | Too many applicants; GCSEs are a quick filter. | Filter on something the job needs. A grade 4 filter removes a third of school leavers at random relative to whether they can do the work. |
What it costs the employer who does it
Around a third of 16-year-olds do not achieve grade 4 in both English and maths first time. Of those who resit, this summer 15.3% passed maths and 19.8% passed English. A grade 4 filter on a Level 2 vacancy therefore excludes, at a rough estimate, a third of the school-leaver pool and the large majority of the 17 to 19 year olds who are most likely to be looking for exactly this kind of role. It also excludes older applicants whose GCSEs are twenty years old or from another country. For an employer who then reports that they cannot find apprentices, the barrier is self-inflicted.
Milburn's review, the £2,000 hiring payment for non-levy employers taking on 16 to 24 year olds from October, and the government's stated intent to pivot the levy to young people all reward employers who recruit young people without a full set of GCSEs. An advert that screens them out is walking away from the most-subsidised hire in the system. Our hiring payment explainer covers eligibility.
What to change in your next advert
Rewrite the qualifications line
Do: "No formal qualifications required. If you do not yet have English and maths at Level 2, you will be supported to achieve them during the apprenticeship. Functional skills qualifications are accepted."
Why: it is accurate, it widens the pool, and it signals to a nervous 17-year-old that this is for them.
Say what the job actually needs
Do: if the role needs someone comfortable with numbers, say so in plain English and let the initial assessment test it.
Why: "comfortable working with figures" screens for the skill; "grade 4 maths" screens for a Thursday in June several years ago.
Use the 19+ exemption deliberately
Do: for applicants aged 19 or over, decide per role whether Level 2 English and maths is needed for the job, and record the decision.
Why: it is your call since February 2025. Making it consciously means you neither exclude someone unnecessarily nor waive something the job requires.
Ask your provider two questions
Do: "Do you deliver functional skills on programme, and what is your functional skills achievement rate?"
Why: a provider that is good at this makes the barrier unnecessary. One that is not will quietly prefer applicants who already have the grades, which is how the advert got written in the first place.
Check the adverts already live
Do: search your own vacancies on Find an Apprenticeship for "grade 4" and "GCSE".
Why: FE Week found 252 of these in a single day. Some of them are yours.
How we handle it
Initial assessment first, then the plan. Never the GCSE grade.
Every TESS apprentice sits an initial assessment in English and maths before the programme starts, whatever grades they arrive with. That tells us and the employer where the person actually is, and we build the functional skills support into the programme from there. For apprentices aged 19 and over we discuss the exemption with the employer at sign-up rather than leaving it to be discovered at gateway. Our entry-level routes are the Data Technician Level 3, the Data-Driven Team Leader Level 3 and HR Support Level 3, and the same approach applies to every programme up to the AI & Automation Practitioner Level 4.
Send us the advert. We will tell you which lines are excluding people the funding rules never meant to exclude, and give you the replacement wording. Ten minutes, no obligation, and it is the cheapest recruitment fix you will make this year.
Send us your advert →The honest summary
- The finding: one in five Level 2 adverts requires grade 4 GCSEs as essential; only 12 of 1,286 mention functional skills.
- The rule: English and maths are achieved before end-point assessment, not before starting; for 19+ the employer decides.
- The cost: a third of school leavers and most resitters screened out of the roles designed for them.
- The fix: rewrite the qualifications line, describe the skill not the grade, use the 19+ exemption deliberately, ask your provider about functional skills.
Frequently asked questions.
Do apprentices need GCSE English and maths to start an apprenticeship?
No. The funding rules require apprentices without the relevant level of English and maths to achieve it before end-point assessment, not before starting. For a Level 2 apprenticeship that means Level 1 functional skills plus attempting the Level 2 test; for Level 3 and above it means Level 2. The provider delivers this during the programme. Since February 2025, for apprentices aged 19 or over at the start, the employer can decide the requirement does not apply.
What did FE Week find?
On 18 September 2026 FE Week analysed all 1,286 Level 2 apprenticeship vacancies on the government's Find an Apprenticeship service. 252, almost one in five, listed grade 4 or higher in both English and maths as an essential entry requirement. Only 12 of those said functional skills or an equivalent would be accepted. A further 125 required passes in both subjects at a lower or unspecified grade.
Are functional skills equivalent to GCSEs for apprenticeships?
For apprenticeship purposes, yes. Functional Skills Level 2 in English and maths meets the Level 2 requirement for apprenticeships at Level 3 and above, and Level 1 meets the requirement for Level 2 apprenticeships. They are the qualifications the funding system expects providers to deliver to apprentices who do not hold GCSEs at grade 4. An employer advert that says functional skills are not accepted is applying a stricter rule than the apprenticeship itself.
What should the qualifications line on a Level 2 apprenticeship advert say?
Something like: "No formal qualifications required. If you do not yet have English and maths at Level 2, you will be supported to achieve them during the apprenticeship. Functional skills qualifications are accepted." If the job needs a specific skill, describe the skill in plain English rather than asking for a GCSE grade as a proxy, and let the provider's initial assessment test it.
Why does this matter more now?
Because the whole direction of policy is towards young people without full qualifications. Alan Milburn's review is expected to recommend refocusing the levy on young people; a 2,000 pound hiring payment for non-levy employers recruiting 16 to 24 year olds starts in October; foundation apprenticeships exist specifically for this group; and the number of 16 to 24 year olds not in education, employment or training has passed a million. An employer whose adverts screen out young people without grade 4 GCSEs is opting out of the most-supported hire in the system.
How does TESS Group handle English and maths for apprentices?
Every apprentice sits an initial assessment in English and maths before starting, regardless of the grades they hold, and functional skills support is built into the programme from that baseline. For apprentices aged 19 and over, the exemption is discussed with the employer at sign-up. GCSE grades are never used as an entry filter for any TESS programme.
Sources: FE Week, GCSE barrier blocks access to entry-level apprenticeships, Shane Chowen, 24 September 2026 (analysis of Find an Apprenticeship vacancies on 18 September); GCSE resit figures from JCQ as reported by FE Week and covered in our August post; English and maths requirements from the apprenticeship funding rules 2026 to 2027 and the February 2025 change for apprentices aged 19 and over. The estimate that around a third of 16-year-olds do not achieve grade 4 in both subjects is approximate and varies by year. TESS Group delivers apprenticeships and has a commercial interest in employers recruiting apprentices.