Apprenticeship Funding

How is the Apprenticeship funded?

Full government funding is available for an apprentice aged between 16-18 years old and where the employer employs less than 50 employees. Full funding is also available for apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have either been in care or has an education health care plan. An employer contribution fee will be required for:

• Non-levy paying employers recruiting an apprentice aged 19 or over
• Non-levy paying employers who employ more than 50 employees and recruit a 16-18 year old apprentice

Payment plans and schedules  can be discussed with our apprenticeship Account Managers prior to signing contracts. For more information about apprenticeship contribution fees please contact one of our Apprenticeship Advisers  on 01206 712727.

Financial Information and Support

Government support Employers are not required to pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions for an apprentice, if the apprentice:

• is under 25 years old
• is on an approved UK government apprenticeship standard or framework (these can differ depending on UK country)
• earns less than £967 a week (£50,270 a year)

Employers with fewer than 50 people working for them will be able to train 16-18-year-old apprentices without making a contribution towards the costs of training. The government will pay 100% of the training costs for these individuals.

Funding

The government will pay employers, no matter what size, £1,000 for each 16-18 year old apprentice they employ. Eligibility  All employers are eligible for a £1,000 payment for taking on an apprentice who is either:

• aged 16 to 18 years old
• under 25 and has an education, health and care plan or has been in the care of their local authority

This £1000 payment will be paid to your training provider and you will receive it from them. When you’ll get paid We’ll send the payment in 2 equal instalments for each apprentice. To be eligible, your apprentice must complete:

• 90 days of their apprenticeship for your first payment
• 365 days of their apprenticeship for your second payment

Once the apprenticeship information has been checked, we will process the payments. Payments will be made on the 14th working day of the month, it can take up to 3 days for the payments to reach your account. You can track when your payments are due to be paid on your view applications page. We cannot send any payments until we’ve received and verified the organisation and finance details. This could take up to 80 days. The apprenticeship levy The levy was introduced on 6 April 2017 and is charged at a rate of 0.5% of an employers’ pay bill, paid through PAYE on a monthly basis. Each employer has a levy allowance of £15,000, this is not a cash payment. It works in a similar way to the personal tax allowance and cannot be used to purchase apprenticeship training. The impact of the allowance means that fewer than 1.3% of UK employers, those with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million, are liable to pay the levy. Employers in England who pay the levy will be able to get out more than they pay in, through a 10% top-up to their online accounts. An employer’s pay bill is made up of the total amount of the employees’ earnings that are subject to Class 1 National Insurance contributions, such as: – wages – bonuses – commissions – pension contributions What about non-levy paying employers? Employers with a pay bill of less than £3 million a year will not need to pay the levy. At least 90% of non-levy paying employers’ apprenticeship training and assessment costs in England will be paid for by the government. The government will ask these employers to make a 5% contribution to the cost, paid directly to the provider, and the government covers the rest. This cost will be spread over the lifetime of the apprenticeship. The government is offering additional support to organisations with fewer than 50 employees* by paying 100% of training and assessment costs for their apprentices aged 16-18 and for those aged 19-24 formerly in care or with a local authority education, health and care plan.