Paid leave on an apprenticeship: how many days and when to take them

"Do I get the school holidays?" is by far the most common question from apprentices discovering their first contract. The answer is no — and here is what actually applies, as we summarise it on SuperAlternant.

Five weeks, like any employee

An apprentice accrues 2.5 working days of paid leave per month of actual work, that is 30 working days (five weeks) over a full year. No more and no less than their colleagues.

The training centre's holidays are not leave. In the weeks when the centre is closed and you are not on leave, you are expected at the company.

Who decides the dates

The employer sets the dates, as for any employee, taking account of the order of departures and the company's practices. You cannot book leave over your training weeks: those are owed to the training centre.

In practice your room for manoeuvre is on your company weeks — so ask early.

Additional revision leave

This is the entitlement most apprentices never hear about. An apprentice preparing for an exam is entitled, on request, to five additional working days of leave to revise, in the month preceding the exams.

This leave is paid, comes on top of paid leave, and the corresponding time is also devoted to classes where the training centre organises them. Ask for it in writing: it does not trigger itself.

Under-21s

If you are under 21 on 30 April, you may ask to take 30 working days of leave even if you have not worked long enough to accrue them all. The days not accrued are simply unpaid.