Everything you need to know about Apprenticeship funding for businesses

As a business, you are continuously looking to upskill your team to maximise efforts within their roles. This can include upskilling your team by putting them onto an Apprenticeship.

However, there are different funding requirements as to the type of business you are.

Let’s break down exactly how your business can tap into powerful funding opportunities to build a more capable, future-ready workforce.

In short, yes. Businesses will receive funding, which will depend on their status.

Attaining Apprenticeship courses for your team is a great way to maximise your talent and enhance their skillsets, all while working. But the cost of enrolling your team onto an Apprenticeship will differ, depending on if you are a Levy paying, or non-Levy paying business.

Levy payers relate to businesses who have an annual payroll over £3 million. These businesses will actively be paying into a levy pot. This means when you onboard an employee onto an Apprenticeship, you will take the money from your levy pot to pay for the course.

These are businesses who have an annual payroll below £3 million. The general rule is that 95% of the training costs are covered by the Government. There are also incentives for 16–18-year-old apprentices, please see below.

Working with our partners, we can access additional funding to help cover the 5%, this is known as a Levy Transfer and means larger businesses are able to help out the SME business community.

Employers are exempt from paying National Insurance contributions for any apprentice who are under 25 and earn under £50,270 annually.

Businesses could also receive an additional £1,000 to support any apprentice. This is in relation to the start of their Apprenticeship, in which they will be one of the following:

• Be 16-18 years old, or 15 years old if the apprentice’s 16^th birthday is between the last Friday of June & 31^st August
• Be 19-24 years old with an education, health & care (EHC) plan
• 19-24 years old and have been in care

This additional support can be spent on any employment related costs, ranging from travel, uniform or their salary.

When it comes to funding for businesses, there’s even more support available beyond the training costs, such as bursaries.

A bursary is for young apprentices who are in care or are care leavers. This includes:

• Foster Care
• Residential Care (such as a children’s home)
• Time in custody (such as a young offender institution)
• If the apprentice arrived alone in the UK to seek asylum before the age of 18

The bursary is tax-free and does not affect Universal Credit, making it a critical source of support for those who need it most.

To ensure eligible apprentices can receive their first payment swiftly, the training provider will need to make apprentices who are under 25 years old.