For law firms and in-house legal teams considering apprenticeships, the conversation often starts with a simple question:
Is it cheaper to train an apprentice or hire someone who is already qualified?
Whilst the comparison is understandable, it does not reflect the full picture. Apprenticeships extend far beyond entry-level recruitment with well-defined pathways that enable legal teams to build, deploy and retain capability.
To assess the real return of an apprenticeship, law firms need to understand the capability they require and evaluate the apprenticeship route against the other options available.
Developing teams: What are the options?
Any manager looking to increase their team’s capability has a number of options to choose from. Each has their own costs, risks and potential return.
- Recruiting an experienced or qualified professional: Hiring an experienced fee earner, paralegal or business support professional brings the benefit of someone who is immediately productive – but incurs recruitment and onboarding costs, as well as a higher salary and risk of cultural misalignment.
- Sponsoring commercial training: Supporting an existing employee to complete a course and exams (e.g. SQE) offers greater flexibility in terms of scheduled study time but comes with commercial cost.
- Internal development and informal progression: Developing existing employees through in-house training courses that are not formally accredited can reduce training costs but doesn’t allow for qualification as a fee earner and can be limited in workplace impact.
- Doing nothing: No costs are incurred but the required capability is not developed, leading to reduced billing capacity, skills gaps and can result in poor retention and more substantial consequences further down the road.
An alternative option: Apprenticeship pathways in legal services
Apprenticeships are designed to be another option for those looking to develop their teams. In legal services, apprenticeships can support several points across the talent pipeline:
- Developing new entrants through an Administration Assistant, Business Administrator or Paralegal Apprenticeship
- Progressing experienced paralegals or graduates with the Chartered Legal Executive or Solicitor Apprenticeship.
A staged pathway creates checkpoints for both employer and apprentice, reducing risk while preserving progression opportunities for people who may not have entered through a traditional graduate route.
I didn’t realise the wider benefits apprenticeships would bring to the firm and how impactful they could be in supporting staff development, retention, motivation and long-term career progression. – Kerry Wistanley, Practice Manager and Senior Associate, Greenhalgh Kerr
Costs and benefits
A simple financial formula for ROI is:
A credible ROI assessment relating to apprenticeships should consider the full cost and value of developing legal capability, including:
| Costs | Benefits |
| Salary Onboarding Course/assessment fees Supervision time Off-the-job study time | Increases in output, productivity and billable work Avoided recruitment fees Released fee earner capacity Improved retention rates Financial incentives |
It’s also worth bearing in mind that not every benefit will appear as immediate revenue. An apprentice, for example, may create value by developing into a specialist that will save recruitment costs several years down the line.
Funding and the 2026 position
Funding is naturally an important part of ROI. The costs of an apprenticeship in comparison to alternative methods will depend on a number of factors:
- Whether your organisation pays the Apprenticeship Levy and has levy funds available
- The apprentice’s age at the start of training
- Funding for the Solicitor Apprenticeship is only available for those under 22
- At other levels, 100% government funding is available for non-levy payers for apprentices up to 25; with 95% funding for apprentices aged 25+
- Eligibility for financial incentives.
The funding and incentives available for apprenticeships, which aren’t available for commercial courses, must be balanced against the study time required. Employers can review our blog on the latest funding changes to ensure their calculations review the most recent funding rules.
The cost of inaction
The alternative to an apprenticeship is not always another training or recruitment route. In some cases, an organisation may leave a role unfilled, redistribute work or rely on existing employees to absorb additional responsibilities. This can avoid direct upfront costs but creates substantial longer-term costs to the organisation. The cost of inaction can include:
- Inadequate capacity: Work may be delayed, incomplete or reduced in quality
- Senior time spent on routine work: Fee earners, managers or other experienced employees may continue carrying out tasks that could otherwise be delegated
- Reduced productivity and service quality: Persistent pressure can cause delays, bottlenecks and inconsistent client service
- Recruitment and turnover pressure: Employees may leave to find progression elsewhere, creating further recruitment and onboarding costs
- Loss of organisational knowledge: When experienced staff leave or remain overloaded, knowledge of clients, systems and processes can be lost or insufficiently shared.
These impacts will depend on the employer and their circumstances. The point is to compare the proposed apprenticeship not only with alternative routes, but also with the likely consequences of not developing team capability at all.
A practical decision test
Before choosing an apprenticeship route, legal employers should ask:
- What capability is needed and how urgent is the requirement?
- What is our priority: speed, lower upfront cost or reduced risk?
- Which current employees could progress with the right structure and support?
- What are the options, taking into consideration both the employer’s and individual’s circumstances?
- Who will supervise and support them and how will this be facilitated?
- How will ROI be defined and reviewed?
Conclusion: Capability is the real return
Calculating the return on investment of an apprenticeship is not simply an exercise in comparing apprentice wages with experienced salaries.
To make an informed decision, legal employers must first clearly define the capability they need to develop. From there, they should assess the relevant routes by weighing total costs, study and off-the-job time commitments, funding position, supervisory demands, expected output and operational risks. It’s also important to agree from the outset how success will be measured over time.
Measurable value may take many forms, including productive matter work, reduced recruitment and agency fees, improved retention, internal progression, effective levy utilisation and stronger succession planning.
Ultimately, an apprenticeship is a worthwhile investment when it is the right route for delivering the specific capability the organisation requires. When aligned with well-defined operational needs and supported by dedicated mentoring, apprenticeships offer a strategic, sustainable mechanism for building capable, resilient legal teams.