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Apprenticeship Funding

What is Apprenticeship Funding

Apprenticeship funding is available in England to employers via the Apprenticeship Levy (now transitioning into the Growth and Skills Levy). This levy was introduced by the UK government in 2017 and requires organisations with a pay bill of £3 million or over to pay a 0.5% levy on their total annual pay bill. The revenue raised from this levy goes into the funding of apprenticeships. 

Employers paying the levy can then access their levy funds to spend on any apprenticeship training they believe would benefit their business. The levy is also used to fund apprenticeship training courses for other employers looking to recruit apprentices. For instance, employers with a total annual pay bill of under £3 million are only required to pay 5% of the cost of their apprenticeship training, with the government funding the rest.

Contributions from the Government

The government has invested in a range of incentives that help to support employers to recruit apprentices, more information on which can be found here.

Apprenticeship Funding Bands

There are a range of different bands available. The respective upper limits for available funding currently range from £1,500 all the way up to £27,000. These bands are not impacted by the age or location of the learner, and training costs can be agreed between the employer and training provider (if the employer is not conducting the training).

Full information is provided from the government and is available directly from the Skills England apprenticeships page.

Accessing Funding

To access apprenticeship funding, employers are required to create an account with the Apprenticeship Service.  
  
Creating an account will allow employers to:

  • access and manage apprenticeship funding  
  • set up and approve apprentices  
  • advertise roles on the 'Find an apprenticeship' service  
  • approve training costs  
  • check payments to training providers  
  • give training providers permission to carry out some tasks on your behalf  
  • give feedback on apprenticeship training  

Employers can create an Apprenticeship Service account by visiting here.  

Apply to join the apprenticeship provider and assessment register (APAR) 

The apprenticeship provider and assessment register (APAR) is a record of organisations that are eligible to receive government funding to train apprentices.

Once your organisation is on the APAR, it will be eligible to receive government funding to train apprentices. 

Being on the APAR does not mean your organisation is recommended by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), so it cannot use its branding.

By applying to join the APAR, your organisation is agreeing to:

Join the APAR as an apprenticeship training provider

You can join the APAR as a training provider if you can show you are either:

  • an employer that pays the levy and wants to train your own workforce or apprentices (an employer-provider) 
  • a provider nominated by an employer that has shown evidence of a gap in the apprenticeship provision offer 
  • a provider in an area we want to grow or where we identify a capacity issue (you’ll apply directly  
  • or request an invitation to apply to join, depending on your level of regulation) 

Your organisation will not join the APAR until it has completed all post application tasks.