Founders and Coders
To receive government funding for this apprenticeship, you must meet specific residency criteria set by the Department for Education.
The three-year rule: You must have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least the previous three years before the apprenticeship starts. "Ordinarily resident" means living here as your normal, settled home; not visiting temporarily or staying for a specific short-term purpose.
Time spent living in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland counts towards the three years for some applicants.
If you are a UK or Irish citizen, it counts if you were living in the EEA or Switzerland by 31 December 2020, or had moved from there to the UK after 31 December 2017, and have lived in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK since then. The apprenticeship must start before 1 January 2028.
If you are an EEA or Swiss citizen, it counts if you hold pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.
If you've been in the UK on a student visa (Tier 4), that time does not count towards the three-year residency requirement. The DfE defines ordinary residence as having permission to live in the UK "not for educational purposes." This means that someone who completed a three-year degree on a student visa would not automatically become eligible for apprenticeship funding upon graduation.
If you've moved from a student visa to a Graduate visa, you may be eligible for funding, but only if you can demonstrate three years of qualifying residency. The Graduate visa itself counts towards residency (as it's a work visa, not a study visa), but the years spent on your student visa typically do not. This is an area where individual circumstances vary, and we assess eligibility on a case-by-case basis.
You must have the legal right to work in the UK for the entire duration of the apprenticeship, including the End Point Assessment period. Apprenticeships do not come with visa sponsorship. If your right to work expires before the programme ends, you would not be eligible to start.
You must spend at least half of your working hours in England for the length of the apprenticeship. The rule applies to remote and hybrid roles, so a UK employment contract does not meet it if you do the work from another country.
All training is in person at our campus in Old Street, London, one afternoon each week, so you need to be living in the UK when the programme starts.