HOW YOU CAN BENEFIT FROM APPRENTICESHIP FUNDING

 

There are many funding initiatives available to support employers with recruiting new staff or developing the skills and knowledge of existing staff.
 

With apprenticeships, the funding available to your organisation depends on whether your organisation pays the apprenticeship levy or not.
 

Apprenticeship levy paying employers

Employers with a wage bill of more than £3 million need to pay the apprenticeship levy. The levy requires all employers to pay 0.5% of any wage bill over £3 million into the government’s apprenticeship service, to pay for apprenticeship course fees.
 

Apprenticeship levy transfers

Do you have unused or surplus funds? You can now pass on up to 25% of your pot to fund training in smaller companies or those in your supply chain that may not have the resources to fund it themselves.
 

Non-apprenticeship levy payment employers

The fee that non-apprenticeship levy paying employers pay when they take on an apprentice was halved from 10% to 5% from 1st April 2019. This means that when you now recruit an apprentice, the government covers 95% of the training costs.
 

Less than 50 employees

If you are an employer with fewer than 50 employees, the government will pay the full cost of training apprentices aged 16-18.
 

£1000 incentive

All employers (levy and non-levy) taking on a 16-18 year old apprentice, or a 19-24 year old with a Local Authority Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan are entitled to a £1,000 incentive payment.
 

Funding in the care sector

If you’re an adult social care employer in England, you can claim contributions from the Workforce Development Fund (WDF) towards the cost of training and developing employees. The Fund comes from the Department of Health and Social Care and is disseminated by Skills for Care.
 

Regional grants

In a move to boost the number of high quality apprenticeship opportunities, a number of local authorities have additional funding initiatives to support businesses running an apprenticeship programme.
 

In 2019, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) introduced a new apprenticeship support package for SMEs, which includes grants of £3,000 per employer. The £3,000 #SeeDifferent Small-to-Medium Enterprise (SME) scheme will offer a £3,000 grant to employers to help with salary and training costs associated with an apprenticeship.
 

Local businesses in Cornwall can also apply for funds transferred from the Council’s Apprenticeship levy pot to cover apprenticeship training and assessment. The funds can be used to support new apprenticeship programmes or to upskill the existing workforce.
 

For more information on apprenticeship funding opportunities and regional grants available in other areas, please contact us on 0330 1000 610.