The Apprenticeship Levy

The Apprenticeship Levy is a U.K government initiative aimed at funding apprenticeship programmes.

It was introduced in April 2017 and requires all employers in the U.K with a payroll over a certain threshhold to invest in apprenticeships.

This is a great option for organisations looking to create learning and development programmes by utilising a fund they are already paying into.

The apprenticeship levy is set at 0.5% of an employers annual payroll if it exceeds £3 million per year.

If your annual payroll is less than £3 million per year, you are still able to utilise the Apprenticeship Levy by paying just 5% of the funding needed per individual.

The Apprenticeship Levy will cover 95% of the cost.

Currently, the Apprenticeship Levy is only available for apprenticeships working in England.

The common misconception is that apprenticeships are solely for school and college leavers.

There is no age cap or pay restriction.

Anyone can be an apprenticeship as long as there is a training need that can be met by the apprenticeship standard. In other words, not training people on things they are already good at!

Levy funds can only be used to pay for apprenticeship training and assessments with an approved training provider.

Levy funds cannot be used for recruitment, to pay participants’s wages or to ‘top up’ qualifications that are not recognised as part of the apprenticeship levy.

Whilst the programme can be tailored to meet your learning requirements, the structure of the programme must meet set government standards.

Any non-utilised apprenticeship levy will be reclaimed by the Exchequer 24 months after you have paid them.

Over £3.3 Billion in unspent Apprenticeship Levy was returned to the Treasury in the past 3 years!!