Apprenticeship training in England is funded by the government, either in full if you pay the Apprenticeship Levy or up to 95% if you have a total salary bill of less than £3 million each year.
Over £3 million salary bill
If you have a total salary bill of more than £3 million each year, you are required to pay a tax that equates to 0.5% of the total bill. This tax is called the apprenticeship levy.
The levy is used to create a funding account which you can use to cover the cost of apprenticeship training within your organisation – up to the maximum amount of funds allocated. The bigger your pay bill, the larger your levy account fund. Each apprenticeship you undertake will be funded up to the funding band maximum for the apprenticeship standard as agreed by the gover, and you have 24 months to use the fund allocated each year.
Less than £3 million salary bill
If you have an annual salary bill that is less that £3 million you are not required to the pay the levy.
The government will fund 95% of the cost of apprenticeship training, up to the funding band maximum, and you are required to contribute the remaining 5% (plus any difference if required).
From January 2020, all employers regardless of size can now access the government’s digital portal for arranging apprenticeships. Creating an account is quick and easy. Once you’re set up you can manage apprenticeships for your business with greater control and ownership over training providers such as us, as well as funding, payment and assessment organisations.
All apprenticeship standards have a funding band maximum. This is how much the government will pay for an apprenticeship.
Different standards have different band maximums depending on what the training involves.
If a training provider chooses to charge more for their apprenticeships than the funding band maximum, the employer is required to pay the difference.
All our of our apprenticeships are within the funding band maximum.