Boosting apprenticeships: incentives that work

In 2024 and 2025, members of Cedefop Community of apprenticeship experts produced analyses on the use of financial and non-financial incentives for employers and learners in their countries. Cedefop’s 2025 publication Apprenticeships: incentives for employers and learners provides a collection of these analyses and sheds light on selected incentives in several EU countries.

The analyses do not provide a comprehensive mapping or account of all instruments in place in each country; instead, they focus on one or more significant incentives in the national context, taking into account current policy debates, gaps and priorities in the countries studied. This policy brief provides a synthesis and further analysis and reflections.