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The OTJ Hours Changes at a Glance
From August 2025, the apprenticeship funding rules for Off-the-Job (OTJ) training changed significantly:
OTJ Training: Each apprenticeship standard will now have a defined minimum number of OTJ hours, decoupled from programme duration.
Transition Period: Between August and December 2025, transitional OTJ minimums apply, before final thresholds take effect in January 2026.
This creates a choice for employers:
Do you adopt the temporary transition hours, or go straight to the 2026 programme minimum?
Why We’re Aligning Early
At Cambridge Spark, we’ve taken the decision to move directly to the January 2026 thresholds for all new starts.
This approach gives employers:
Clarity and consistency: No mid-year shifts or adjustments - every cohort starts on the same footing.
Future-proof design: All programmes are built for the long term, with learning hours that will remain valid well beyond the transition.
Value in every hour: Where hours have reduced, we’ve adjusted planned hours without compromising quality. Where hours have increased, we’ve added more content that delivers tangible business outcomes.
In short, employers can be confident that their apprentices are getting the right learning, in the right way, from the start.
What We Heard From Employers
When we discussed the transition option with our partners, their feedback was clear:
Consistency matters – learners in the same organisation should receive the same level of training, not different versions depending on their start date.
Quality matters – reduced hours risk signalling “less content,” and that’s not the message employers want to send to their teams.
Impact matters – every learning hour should be meaningful, not temporary or filler.
This shaped our decision to align early, ensuring our programmes deliver sustainable value.
Key Questions to Ask Any Provider
If you’re reviewing apprenticeship provision for September starts onwards, it’s worth asking:
- Are your programmes aligned with the final 2026 OTJ thresholds, or just the temporary transition hours
- How are you ensuring consistency between different cohorts?
- If hours have changed, what has been added or removed – and how does that link to impact?
These questions can help ensure that your apprenticeships are set up for long-term success, not just short-term compliance.
Final Thoughts
The reforms are a chance to raise the standard of apprenticeships across the board. By moving straight to the new thresholds, we’re giving our partners confidence, clarity and programmes that are built to deliver real workplace outcomes.