- Working in partnership with our employers to develop and implement an apprenticeship strategy that is aligned to their business objectives and core values
- Supporting key stakeholders within organisations, including senior management and people managers, to understand the benefits of apprenticeships
- Helping employers to attract the best people for their business through our recruitment service
- Supporting with the set up and management of your Apprenticeship Service account
- Providing a seamless, end-to-end service, meaning once your apprentices are on programme we will continue to work in partnership with you through to completion and beyond.
You can read more about how our apprenticeship standards work on our employers page and read case studies from some our employer partners on our testimonials page.
- For apprenticeship starts from May 2017, most apprenticeship funding comes from an employer levy set at 0.5% of UK payroll
- All employers receive an allowance of up to £15,000 to set against their annual contribution – this means that the first £3m of an organisation’s annual payroll is excluded from the levy
- Deductions are taken monthly through Pay As You Earn. The first payment was made in May 2017 by reference to employers’ April 2017 pay bills
- Employers then draw down their levy spend from a Apprenticeship Service account to fund the external costs of apprenticeship training
- If not used, the electronic funds expire after 12 months
- In calculating UK payroll, groups of companies under common ownership are treated as one
- All UK employers – public and private sector – are in scope but, at present, the levy can only be spent to support apprentices who work in England more than 50% of the time
- Employers’ NI contributions for apprentices aged under 25 have been abolished.
The Apprenticeship Levy refers to the UK government scheme whereby organisations with a payroll of more than £3 million contribute 0.5% of their payroll above that threshold into their levy pot. The funds in this pot can be used to fund apprenticeship training or they can be gifted to another business but if the electronic funds are not used within 12 months, they will expire.
Private companies and public sector organisations with a payroll of more than £3 million pay into the levy. It’s important to note that groups of companies with one ownership are treated as one entity. This means that the government will look at the payroll across the entire group in order to calculate whether or not levy payments are required.
The Apprenticeship Levy can be used to train new and existing staff. Levy payers can take on new talent to expand their workforce and bring fresh ideas and energy to the business. But they can also use the levy to upskill existing staff, in order to help them progress in their role, manage new responsibilities and become more efficient.
The Apprenticeship Levy can only be spend on the fundable aspects of apprenticeship training. It cannot be spent on other types of training, the apprentice’s wages, recruitment costs or any other type of costs associated with the business. For levy payers unable to use all of their electronic funds, they do have the option to gift these to another company or organisation, to support their corporate social responsibility policy and help their supply chain or local community.
The levy is paid to HMRC monthly through PAYE, alongside income tax and national insurance payments.
“Offering apprenticeships has led us, as a business, to build a strong reputation for investing in our staff and allowed us to attract and retain good quality staff in a competitive recruitment market.”
Jane Cordner
Head of HR and Operations
Blanchards Bailey
Latest news
Accounts Assistant: A Smarter Apprenticeship for Today’s Accounting Teams
A new Prime Minister… and a new direction for apprenticeship policy?
SME research report
Employer partners
