Apprenticeship Co-Investment
What is changing from April 2024?
- All Non-Levy paying (employers with less than a £3 million wage bill) must now contribute a minimum of 5% cash towards the cost of Apprenticeship Training.
- Any employer who employs a 16-21 year old apprentice, will not have to contribute the 5% cash contribution.
- Employers will receive a £1000 incentive for taking on a 16-18 year old apprentice (£500 at 3 months and £500 at 12 months).
- ALL new Apprenticeship starts must have 20% of their contracted hours off the job training outside of their normal role.
Update - March 2021
From 1st April 2021, changes will be made to the reservation of funds for employers who do not pay the Apprenticeship Levy. This change will enable employers to recruit additional apprentices and provide them with greater flexibility and reassurance when planning their apprenticeship programmes.
The ESFA will continue to monitor the number the number of reservations used by employers who do not pay the Apprenticeship Levy and keep this under review. Funds transferred from employers who pay the levy to other employers through the apprenticeship service are not included when measuring the number of reservations. Employers who do not pay the Apprenticeship Levy can reserve funds for training and assessment in the ‘finance’ section of their apprenticeship service account. They can also give training providers permission to do this on their behalf. Find Out More
The ESFA are extending the reservation period for employers who do not pay the Apprenticeship Levy from 3 to 6 months. This means that from 1 April 2021, these employers will be able to reserve funds up to 6 months before an apprenticeship is planned to start. This will give employers greater flexibility when planning their apprenticeship programmes and reassure them that funding for apprenticeships is available for a longer period. Find Out More
Why all the changes?
- To get employers to own the funding system
- To find out the key drivers of employer businesses and target growth
- To double the amount of funding for Apprenticeships from £1.5 billion to £3 billion using the Levy and Co-Investment
- To raise the standards of Apprenticeships
What are my responsibilities as an Employer?
The apprentice must:
- Be able to complete the Apprenticeship within the time they have available; if you know an individual is unable to complete the Apprenticeship in the time they have available, they must not be funded.
- Not be enrolled on another Apprenticeship at the same time as any new Apprenticeship they start.
- Not be asked to contribute financially to the direct cost of learning or assessment (this includes where an Apprentice leaves their programme early - you must not claim training or assessment costs back from ex-apprentices).
New Funding Bands
Every Apprenticeship will be placed in a funding band
- The upper limit of each funding band will cap the maximum price that the government will 'co-invest' towards, where an employer does not pay the levy.
Employers can negotiate the best price for the training they require
- If employers want to spend more than the funding band limit, using their own money, they will be free to do that.
- Funding bands do not have a lower limit.
What Alliance Learning will do?
- Continue to offer a free recruitment service
- Negotiate and offer schedule of payments for high funding bands
- Contribute to the delivery of high quality 20% off the job training
- Continue to use the latest technology - e-Portfolio, alternative assessment methods
- Engage with you as the employer to meet all your business and training development needs.
If your business is looking to take on an apprentice or would like further information about co-investment, then please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team on 01204 677888 or email info@alliancelearning.com and we will be more than happy to visit your company to discuss this further.