Apprenticeship Funding

Visit the National Apprenticeship Service website for further details on using your apprenticeship Levy, what incentive payments are available for hiring a new apprentice, details on paying your apprentice and National Insurance contributions, and how to support small businesses by transferring your unused funds.

For more information about non-levy employers click here to visit the National Apprenticeship Service website. They can help with further details on how much it costs, what incentive payments are available for hiring a new apprentice, details on paying your apprentice and National Insurance contributions, and how to find a business to fund your apprenticeship costs.

All apprenticeships are arranged through the apprenticeship service. To use the apprenticeship service employers need to set up an account. You may find it helpful to watch this short YouTube video on registering an account on the apprenticeship service, or visit the government website for further details on how to register and use the apprenticeship service as an employer.

If you don’t already have an account, the University can help you to set this up.

When your account is set up, as an employer you’ll be able to:

• Add apprentice details to access and manage apprenticeship funding
• receive a transfer of apprenticeship funds where eligible
• advertise vacancies on find an apprenticeship
• choose an apprenticeship training course
• find a training provider
• select suitable end-point assessment organisations
• give feedback on apprenticeship training
• give training providers permission to carry out some tasks on your behalf

The Funding Rules document is a combination of rules and guidance in order to help you manage your apprenticeship in partnership with your chosen main provider. There are different funding rules for different apprenticeship start dates.

You must follow the funding rules that apply to each apprentice.

You can find details of all current and previous funding rules on the gov.uk site. You will always find the latest rules at the top of the page.

The government will fund all of the apprenticeship training costs, up to the funding band maximum for the apprenticeship, if the employer employs fewer than 50 people and the apprentice is either aged between 16 and 18 or aged between 19 and 24 and has an Education, Health and Care Plan, or has been in the care of their local authority.

All employers will receive an additional £1,000 payment towards the additional cost associated with training if, at the start of the apprenticeship, the apprentice is either aged between 16 and 18, or aged between 19 and 24, and has an Education, Health and Care Plan or has been in in care of their local authority.  Additional payments will be made as follows:

• 90 days after the apprentice starts, 50% will be paid if the apprentice is still undertaking their apprenticeship; and
• 365 days after the apprentice starts, the remaining 50% will be paid if the apprentice is still undertaking their apprenticeship.

Large employers that pay the apprenticeship levy can choose to transfer up to 25% of their levy funds each year to other businesses, to pay for their apprenticeship training and assessment.

Transferring levy funds is a way of supporting other businesses by deciding which sectors, skills or local areas you’d like to fund.

For example:

• You could support the engineering sector across England
• Fund digital apprenticeships in your local area
• Support any apprenticeships in a particular town or city.

Which businesses and apprenticeships you support with a transfer is your choice.

If you want to discover more, visit the gov guidance pages to see current rules.