Commentary on Sections Schedule 9: Work: exceptions Effect
828.This paragraph deals with apprentices. It enables an employer to pay an apprentice who is not entitled to the national minimum wage (any apprentice who is under 19 or in the first year of his apprenticeship) less than an apprentice who is entitled to the national minimum wage (any apprentice who is 19 or over and not in the first year of his apprenticeship). Employers cannot rely on this exception, however, if they do not base their pay structure on the national minimum wage legislation.