In this blog, we answer some of the key questions about the Apprenticeship Levy and how it can be accessed.
The Apprenticeship Levy is paid by employers with a wage bill of over £3 million, and goes towards the funding of Apprenticeships in England.
It’s like a tax that employers cannot opt out of, however they do have an option to use it.
The Apprenticeship Levy can solely be used towards the costs of apprenticeship training and assessment by an approved training provider, like Alpha Development. Apprentices can be new or existing employees, and there is no maximum age limit for someone to be part of an apprenticeship programme.
The levy can support businesses in closing skills gaps by upskilling and reskilling current employees whilst introducing new team members. You can find out more by watching our Maximising Your Apprenticeship Levy webinar recording.
There are two ways that businesses can access the funding; either through the Apprenticeship Levy, or by claiming back 95% of the cost through government funding. For businesses who pay the levy, the money is held in a Digital Apprenticeship Service account which can be used to fund the cost of training and developing apprentices.
For businesses that don’t pay the levy, the government will ‘co-invest’ in Apprenticeship training, so the business will make a 5% contribution to the cost of the training and the rest will be paid via co-investment.
For more advice on how to access your funds, contact us at [email protected].
Unused funds will expire after 24 months. Last year, £330 million of the levy went unspent (you can read more about this in our article: Could HR Professionals be Missing out on Training Funds?).
We work directly with businesses and organisations to deliver tailored apprenticeship programmes that are designed for the financial, professional and insurance sectors.
Before any training takes place, we will work with you to identify your business goals and values, and create an apprenticeship strategy that supports these.
You can find out more about our apprenticeship programme, AlphaQ, here: Apprenticeship training solutions, or arrange call with one of our apprenticeship experts by emailing [email protected].
