53 verified figures across 9 topics, each with its source. Plus the handful we could not verify properly, listed separately, because pretending otherwise would defeat the point.
Careers advice online has a habit of quoting numbers with no source and no date, which is how a bursary that was cut two years ago is still being promised to people planning their lives around it. This page exists so you can check our working rather than take our word for it.
Find the figure you care about, see where it comes from, then go and confirm it at the source before making a decision that depends on it. Government funding rules change at least annually, and several of the figures here changed in the last year alone.
| What | Published value | Source | Used on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apprentice minimum wage | £8.00 per hour from April 2026 | GOV.UK National Minimum Wage rates | Adult apprenticeships, Afford to retrain, Funding |
| Minimum wage, 21 and over | £12.71 per hour from April 2026 | GOV.UK National Minimum Wage rates | Adult apprenticeships, Afford to retrain, Funding |
| Apprenticeship starts, England 2024/25 | 353,500 | DfE apprenticeships statistics 2024/25 | Adult apprenticeships, Funding |
| Share of starts by under-19s | 21.2% | DfE apprenticeships statistics 2024/25 | Adult apprenticeships, Funding |
| Share of starts at Level 6 and 7 | 17.1% | DfE apprenticeships statistics 2024/25 | Adult apprenticeships, Funding |
| Upper age limit | None in England | GOV.UK apprenticeships guidance | Adult apprenticeships |
| English and maths requirement | Removed for apprentices aged 19+ from August 2026 | DfE Growth and Skills Levy guidance | Adult apprenticeships |
| Level 7 funding restriction | Limited to ages 16 to 21 from January 2026 | DfE funding rules | Adult apprenticeships |
| What | Published value | Source | Used on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum length | 16 weeks | GOV.UK Skills Bootcamps guidance | Skills Bootcamps, Afford to retrain, Funding |
| Interview guarantee | Guaranteed job interview for individual learners only | GOV.UK Skills Bootcamps guidance | Skills Bootcamps |
| Employer contribution | 10% small and medium employers, 30% large | GOV.UK Skills Bootcamps guidance | Skills Bootcamps |
| Eligibility | Adults 19 and over in England | GOV.UK Skills Bootcamps guidance | Skills Bootcamps |
| What | Published value | Source | Used on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings threshold | £25,750 (2025/26 funding rules) | GOV.UK Free Courses for Jobs guidance | Free Level 3, Funding |
| Who qualifies | 19+, no full Level 3, or unemployed, or under the threshold | GOV.UK Free Courses for Jobs guidance | Free Level 3 |
| Access to HE courses | Excluded from the scheme | GOV.UK Free Courses for Jobs guidance | Free Level 3, Access to HE |
| Universal Credit training | Full-time training up to 16 weeks while claiming, subject to work coach agreement | GOV.UK guidance | Free Level 3, Afford to retrain |
| What | Published value | Source | Used on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loan write-off | Full outstanding balance written off on completing a higher education course | Student Loans Company / QAA Access to HE factsheet | Access to HE, Nursing, NHS routes, Funding |
| Grade requirement for write-off | None. Completion is sufficient | Student Loans Company factsheet | Access to HE |
| Subject link requirement | None. The degree need not relate to the Access subject | Student Loans Company factsheet | Access to HE |
| Number of Access loans permitted | One per person, ever | Student Loans Company factsheet | Access to HE |
| Known administration issue | 2025 Ombudsman finding: around 4,000 write-offs missed through an SLC system error | Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, 2025 | Access to HE |
| Diploma structure | 60 credits, most graded at Level 3, carries UCAS tariff points | QAA Access to HE | Access to HE, Nursing |
| What | Published value | Source | Used on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band 2 | £25,272 | NHS Employers AfC pay scales 2026/27 | NHS pay bands, NHS routes |
| Band 3 | £25,760 to £27,476 | NHS Employers AfC pay scales 2026/27 | NHS pay bands, NHS routes, Afford to retrain |
| Band 4 | £28,392 to £31,157 | NHS Employers AfC pay scales 2026/27 | NHS pay bands, NHS routes |
| Band 5 starting | £32,073 | NHS Employers AfC pay scales 2026/27 | NHS pay bands, NHS routes, Nursing |
| High Cost Area Supplement | Inner London 20% (min £5,794, max £8,746), Outer 15%, Fringe 5% | NHS Employers HCAS rates 2026/27 | NHS pay bands, NHS routes |
| Effective from | 1 April 2026 | NHS Employers | NHS pay bands, NHS routes |
| What | Published value | Source | Used on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Training grant | £5,000 per academic year, not means-tested, not repaid | NHS Business Services Authority | Nursing, NHS routes, Afford to retrain, Funding |
| Specialist subject payment | £1,000 per year for hard-to-recruit fields | NHS Business Services Authority | Nursing, NHS routes, Afford to retrain |
| Parental support | £2,000 per year with a child under 15 | NHS Business Services Authority | Nursing, NHS routes, Afford to retrain |
| Who it applies to | University-route students only, not apprentices | NHS Business Services Authority | NHS routes |
| What | Published value | Source | Used on |
|---|---|---|---|
| GCSE requirement | English and maths at grade 4 (C) or above, or accepted equivalent | NHS Health Careers, university entry requirements | Nursing, NHS routes |
| Functional Skills Level 2 | Accepted by most universities but not all | University admissions criteria | Nursing |
| Nursing fields | Adult, children's, mental health, learning disability | Nursing and Midwifery Council | Nursing, NHS routes |
| Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship | Approximately 4 years, employed throughout | NHS Health Careers, IfATE standards | Nursing, NHS routes |
| Nursing associate apprenticeship | Approximately 2 years, then 16 to 18 month top-up to RN | NHS Health Careers, IfATE standards | Nursing, NHS routes |
| Postgraduate pre-registration | Approximately 2 years, open to graduates of any subject | NHS Health Careers | Nursing, NHS routes |
| What | Published value | Source | Used on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemistry, computing, maths, physics bursary | £29,000 tax-free | DfE ITT financial incentives 2026/27 | Teacher training, Funding |
| Chemistry, computing, physics scholarship | £31,000 | DfE ITT financial incentives 2026/27 | Teacher training, Funding |
| Maths scholarship | Withdrawn for 2026/27 | DfE ITT financial incentives 2026/27 | Teacher training, Funding |
| Languages, design and technology bursary | £20,000 (languages scholarship £22,000) | DfE ITT financial incentives 2026/27 | Teacher training, Funding |
| Biology and geography bursary | £5,000, reduced from £26,000 | DfE ITT financial incentives 2026/27 | Teacher training, Funding |
| English, art and design, music, RE | Bursary removed entirely for 2026/27 | DfE ITT financial incentives 2026/27 | Teacher training |
| FE teacher training bursaries | £31,000 key STEM, £15,000 SEND, £10,000 English | DfE 2026/27 announcement | Teacher training, Funding |
| Veterans undergraduate bursary | £40,000, conditions apply | DfE ITT bursaries funding manual | Teacher training, Funding |
| Degree requirement | 2:2 or above, or master's or PhD | DfE ITT bursaries funding manual | Teacher training |
| What | Published value | Source | Used on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of schemes | 17 | Civil Service Careers | Fast Stream |
| Degree requirement | 2:2 or higher in any subject, including degree apprenticeships | Civil Service Careers | Fast Stream |
| Applicants without a degree | Existing civil servants may apply without one | Civil Service Careers | Fast Stream |
| Schemes per application | Up to 3 | Civil Service Careers | Fast Stream |
| Age limit | None published in the eligibility criteria | Civil Service Careers | Fast Stream |
| Application window | Typically opens in October | Civil Service Careers | Fast Stream |
Everything above comes from government, NHS or public-body sources that publish a single authoritative figure. The numbers below do not have that. They come from self-reported salary aggregators and industry surveys that disagree with each other, and much of the retention research is published by companies that sell outsourced sales services, who have a commercial interest in emphasising how often in-house staff leave. We publish them as ranges, we flag them on the page itself, and you should treat them as rough orientation rather than fact.
| What | Published value | Source | Used on |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK SDR base salary | Roughly high twenties to low forties thousand, sources disagree substantially | Glassdoor, Payscale, RepVue (self-reported) | Tech sales |
| SDR median tenure | Commonly cited as 14 to 22 months | Industry surveys, several published by outsourced-sales vendors | Tech sales |
| SDR ramp time | Around 3 months to full productivity | Industry surveys | Tech sales |
It means someone read the current source and confirmed the figure, on the date shown. It does not mean the figure is permanent. Apprenticeship wage floors change each April, NHS pay bands change with the annual settlement, teacher training incentives are set per academic year and have been cut repeatedly, and adult skills funding thresholds are reviewed regularly.
Figures go out of date, sources get revised, and we will have missed things. If a number on this site does not match what you find at the source, we want to know so it can be corrected rather than left to mislead the next person.