The funding of apprenticeships is an often misunderstood topic. With businesses sometimes left confused and in the dark on how to access funds available for them to train and develop their workforce.
At Universal Skills Group we have extensive experience in helping companies not only train their teams, but also accessing the funding to make it possible.
This guide provides Large 'Levy' paying companies and Small Medium Enterprises and overview on what funding is available to them and how to access it.
COMPANIES WITH A PAYROLL OF OVER £3M
If you are a business with a payroll of over £3m, you are already paying into the apprenticeship Levy fund.
The Levy comprises of 0.5% of your total wage bill (not just over the £3m) and is paid each month via PAYE. In addition to this the government will also provide a 10% 'top-up' in addition to the monies you pay in.
A maximum of £15,000 can be accessed a year to be used for the funding of apprenticeships.
To access the funds you will need to set up a digital account. This is done via the gov.co.uk website. This platform allows you to: receive levy funds, manage apprentices, pay your training provider and stop or pause payments to your training provider.
ACCESS UP TO 95% FUNDING AS AN SME
As a small medium enterprise, you can access government funding that will pay for up to 95% of apprenticeship training.
This is known as the co-investment programme and allows non levy paying businesses to share the cost of an apprenticeship with the government. This is managed through the Digital Apprenticeship Service (DAS) online account, where you can recruit up to ten apprentices at any given time.
EXTRA INCENTIVES
Until January 2021 businesses hiring apprentices can claim an extra incentive. The government will pay employers an extra £2000 for hiring an apprentice aged 16 - 24 and £1500 for an apprentice aged 24 and over.
If you are interested in starting a Smart Meter apprenticeship programme, we have already helped some of the UK’s largest energy companies access funding and deliver training to their engineers. To find out how we can help you, contact our apprenticeship team to find out more.
