How Learnerships Work in South Africa: What Employers Need to Know
A learnership is a structured South African workplace learning programme that combines formal learning with practical work experience and leads towards a nationally recognised qualification or part-qualification.
For employers, however, implementing a learnership involves more than enrolling someone on a course. You need to consider who will participate, whether learners are existing employees or new recruits, how workplace learning will be provided, what agreements are required, what learners must be paid and how the programme may contribute towards B-BBEE and available tax incentives.
Understanding these elements before implementation can help turn a learnership from a training exercise into a structured pathway for developing workplace capability.
What is a learnership?
A learnership combines structured education and training with practical experience in the workplace.
Unlike a conventional course, a learnership therefore requires the learner to develop and demonstrate competence in a working environment as part of the programme.
It typically involves three parties: the learner, the employer and the skills development provider. The learner undertakes the required learning and workplace experience, the employer provides the workplace component, and the provider delivers and supports the structured learning required by the programme.
South Africa’s Skills Development Act establishes learnerships as workplace-based learning programmes linked to qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework.
A useful way to think about a learnership is:
Structured learning + workplace experience + assessment → recognised occupational development
How do learnerships work?
From an employer’s perspective, a learnership generally moves through six stages:
1. Identify the skills need
Determine what capability the organisation needs to develop and identify an appropriate learning programme.
2. Select the learners
Decide whether the programme will develop existing employees, bring new entrants into the organisation, or involve both.
3. Select the appropriate provider
The skills development provider delivers and supports the structured learning component of the programme.
4. Put the required agreements in place
The learner, employer and provider enter into the prescribed workplace-based learning agreement. Where the learner was not previously employed, an employment contract is also required.
5. Register and implement the programme
The agreement is submitted to the relevant SETA and the learner begins the structured learning and workplace components.
6. Complete and assess the learning
The learner works towards the required outcomes and, where successful, the relevant qualification or part-qualification.
Under the current Workplace Based Learning Programme Agreement Regulations, the relevant SETA must receive the signed agreement within 30 working days of the learner signing it.
The important point is that a learnership is not simply a course with some workplace experience added afterwards. The workplace is part of the learning programme itself.
What is the difference between 18.1 and 18.2 learnerships?
One of the most important distinctions for employers is between 18.1 and 18.2 learners.
These terms come from section 18 of the Skills Development Act and essentially distinguish learners according to their employment status when the learnership agreement is entered into.
| 18.1 learner | 18.2 learner | |
|---|---|---|
| Employment status | Already employed by the employer | Not employed by the employer when entering the learnership |
| Employment contract | Existing employment relationship continues | Employer and learner enter into an employment contract |
| Typical use | Developing existing employees | Bringing unemployed learners into structured learning and workplace experience |
| After the learnership | Existing employment relationship continues | Learnership-related employment may end unless further employment is offered |
For an existing employee, entering a learnership does not replace the employee’s existing employment contract. Where the learner was not employed beforehand, the Skills Development Act requires an employment contract to be entered into for the learnership.
What 18.1 and 18.2 do not tell you
The distinction is important, but it does not describe every characteristic that may matter when employers select learners.
18.1 and 18.2 tell you about employment status.
Other factors can separately influence programme entry requirements, funding, tax treatment or B-BBEE recognition. These may include the learner’s existing qualifications and NQF level, disability status and demographic profile. Age may also be relevant where a particular funding or employment incentive has its own eligibility criteria.
Employers should therefore think beyond simply:
18.1 or 18.2?
A more useful sequence is:
Employment status → learner eligibility → skills need → programme fit → funding and B-BBEE implications
Who can participate in a learnership?
Learnerships can be implemented for both existing employees and people entering the organisation from unemployment, provided the learner meets the entry requirements of the relevant programme.
This is an important distinction from the criteria that might subsequently determine how the learner is recognised for B-BBEE, grant funding or another incentive.
For example, race, gender or disability may have implications for B-BBEE measurement, while a learner’s existing qualification or NQF level may affect programme eligibility or tax treatment.
In other words:
Eligibility for a learnership and recognition for a particular incentive are not necessarily the same thing.
Employers should establish both before selecting a learner cohort.
What is a learnership agreement?
A learnership requires a formal workplace-based learning agreement involving the learner, employer and provider.
Some older online guidance still refers to the historic Annexure 8 learnership agreement. The current framework is governed by the SETA Workplace Based Learning Programme Agreement Regulations, 2018, which prescribe the Workplace Based Learning Programme Agreement.
The agreement sets out the roles and obligations of the parties and must be submitted to the relevant SETA for registration.
This is not paperwork that should be reconstructed once training is already underway. Agreements, employment arrangements and registration requirements should form part of implementation planning from the outset.
What are an employer’s responsibilities during a learnership?
The employer does more than provide somewhere for the learner to work.
A learnership requires the workplace to support the learning outcomes of the programme. This means providing suitable workplace experience, supervision and mentoring, allowing learners to participate in required learning, maintaining appropriate records and working with the learner and provider to support progress.
That creates an important practical test before implementation:
Does the organisation have the workplace capacity to support the programme properly?
Training budget alone is not enough. Employers also need appropriate work exposure, supervisors or mentors and sufficient internal capacity to support learners throughout the programme.
How much is a learnership stipend in South Africa?
The word stipend is widely used, although South African legislation generally refers to a learner allowance.
For learners covered by the statutory learnership allowance schedule, the minimum amount depends on the NQF level and the number of credits already earned.
From 1 March 2026, the statutory minimum weekly allowances are:
| NQF level | 2026 minimum weekly allowance range* |
|---|---|
| Levels 1–2 | R455.00 – R909.94 |
| Level 3 | R455.00 – R1,402.87 |
| Level 4 | R455.00 – R2,047.41 |
| Levels 5–8 | R455.00 – R2,654.04 |
*The exact minimum depends on the number of credits already earned.
These are statutory minimum amounts rather than maximum allowances.
Employers should also distinguish these learnership allowances from the remuneration of an existing employee undertaking a learnership. Entering a learnership does not simply allow an employer to replace an 18.1 employee’s existing contractual remuneration with the minimum learnership allowance.
Because the statutory schedule can change, employers should confirm the current rates when budgeting for each intake.
What does a learnership cost an employer?
There is no single fixed cost for implementing a learnership.
Costs can include the learning provider, learner allowances or remuneration, assessment and administration, workplace supervision and the internal resources required to support workplace learning.
The eventual cost to the employer may also be affected by SETA discretionary grants and available tax deductions, depending on the programme and circumstances.
That means provider fees alone do not necessarily represent the true cost of a learnership.
A more useful calculation is:
Gross programme cost → available funding and incentives → net employer cost
Employers should establish the likely treatment of each component before implementation rather than assuming that funding or incentives will automatically be available.
Learnership vs internship vs apprenticeship: what is the difference?
Learnerships, internships and apprenticeships all involve workplace development, but they are not interchangeable.
| Programme | What distinguishes it |
|---|---|
| Learnership | Structured learning combined with workplace experience towards a recognised qualification or part-qualification |
| Apprenticeship | Structured workplace-based learning associated particularly with a listed trade and progression towards artisan competence |
| Internship | Workplace experience used to develop practical competence, meet programme requirements or improve employability |
| Occupational qualification | The formal qualification itself; workplace learning may form part of the route towards achieving it |
The correct intervention therefore depends on the outcome the organisation and learner need.
Rather than beginning with “Should we run a learnership?”, employers should first ask:
What capability are we trying to develop, and which learning pathway best develops it?
How do learnerships contribute to B-BBEE?
B-BBEE learnerships are not a separate category of learnership. The term is commonly used to describe learnerships implemented in a way that also contributes towards an employer’s B-BBEE Skills Development objectives.
Under the Generic Codes, Black people participating in learnerships, apprenticeships and internships contribute towards a specific Skills Development participation indicator carrying six weighting points against a target equivalent to 5% of employees.
The current Generic Code does not require this target to be divided into fixed employed and unemployed learner proportions. The mix of existing employees and unemployed entrants can therefore form part of the employer’s programme planning, subject to the applicable measurement requirements.
Learnerships may also contribute through absorption, where qualifying learners move into long-term employment following the programme.
Demographic representation, the applicable B-BBEE Code and appropriate supporting evidence can all affect how a programme is recognised.
When planning B-BBEE learnerships, employers should therefore consider programme suitability, learner selection and employment outcomes alongside potential scorecard recognition.
For a broader explanation of how the B-BBEE Skills Development scorecard, recognised expenditure, Learning Programme Matrix and other requirements work, see our employer guide.
The distinction between the two topics is useful:
B-BBEE Skills Development asks how the broader element works.
Learnership planning asks how one particular workplace-learning intervention can be implemented effectively within that framework.
What tax incentives are available for learnerships?
Qualifying employers may also be able to claim an additional tax deduction under section 12H of the Income Tax Act for registered learnership agreements.
It is important to describe this correctly:
Section 12H provides a deduction from taxable income, rather than a cash rebate paid to the employer.
The current section 12H incentive applies to qualifying learnership agreements entered into before 1 April 2027.
Qualifying employers may receive an annual allowance while the learnership is in force as well as an additional completion allowance where the learner successfully completes the programme.
The applicable deduction depends on factors including the learner’s existing NQF-level qualification and whether the learner has a qualifying disability.
Employers should therefore avoid treating a single headline tax amount as applicable to every learnership.
The useful planning sequence is:
Confirm eligibility → determine the applicable allowance → implement and retain evidence → claim correctly
SETA discretionary grant funding may also be available, but grant windows, funding levels and requirements differ between SETAs.
What happens when a learnership ends?
Successful completion should result in the learner achieving the qualification or part-qualification associated with the programme once the required assessment and certification processes have been completed.
For an 18.1 learner, the employee’s existing employment relationship is separate from the learnership and therefore does not simply end because the programme has been completed.
For an 18.2 learner, the employment relationship associated with the learnership may come to an end unless the learner is offered further employment.
This is where absorption becomes particularly important.
Within B-BBEE, absorption recognises qualifying employment outcomes following learning programmes. But employers can also think about absorption more broadly.
Where a learnership develops people for roles that the organisation genuinely needs, it can create a pathway from:
Learning → workplace competence → qualification → employment
That is a fundamentally stronger outcome than implementing a programme purely to generate short-term scorecard recognition.
What should employers consider before implementing a learnership?
Before selecting a provider or recruiting learners, employers should answer five questions.
1. What capability are we trying to build?
Start with the organisation’s actual skills requirement.
2. Who should we develop?
Decide whether existing employees, unemployed entrants or a combination of both are appropriate.
3. Can our workplace support the learning?
Confirm that the required practical exposure, supervision and mentoring can genuinely be provided.
4. What will implementation require?
Understand programme requirements, agreements, employment arrangements, SETA registration, learner allowances, costs, funding and evidence before commencement.
5. What should happen after completion?
Consider progression and potential absorption when designing the programme rather than only when learners reach the end.
This creates a useful employer framework:
Skills need → learner → programme → workplace → compliance → outcome
When these elements align, learnerships can do more than satisfy a training or B-BBEE requirement. They can develop recognised skills, build workplace capability and create structured pathways into employment.
Explore BESEC’s Skills Development Programmes →
* B-BBEE, tax, SETA funding and employment requirements can vary according to the employer, programme, applicable Code and individual circumstances. Employers should confirm the requirements relevant to their programme before implementation.