APPRENTICESHIP FUNDING

The cost of apprenticeship training depends on your organisation, whether you pay the Apprenticeship Levy and the age of the apprentice you recruit.

If you are an employer with a pay bill of more than £3 million each year, you will pay into the Apprenticeship Levy. This means you’ll have a dedicated apprenticeship levy fund that can be used to pay for apprenticeship training.

If you do not pay into the Apprenticeship Levy, or you’re recruiting outside of your available levy funds, government funding is available to help cover the cost of training.

From August 2026, apprenticeship training for apprentices aged 16 to 24 is fully funded for all employers, meaning there is no employer contribution towards training costs.

For apprentices aged 25 and over, employers that are not using Apprenticeship Levy funds contribute 5% towards training costs, with the government funding the remaining 95%.

Levy-paying employers will pay for apprenticeship training through their levy funds. If those funds have been exhausted, the Government will continue to fund apprenticeship training in full for apprentices aged 16 to 24. For apprentices aged 25 and over, the Government will fund 75% of apprenticeship training costs, with employers contributing the remaining 25%.

Our recruitment process is completely free! For employers, the only costs of hiring an apprentice are wages and training costs. Training costs depend on the size of your business, the age of the apprentice, and if government funding is available.

The cost of our programmes ranges from £11,000 – £18,000, however, government funding is available to significantly reduce or remove the cost of apprenticeship training.

For businesses that do not pay into the Apprenticeship Levy, the government will fund 100% of the cost of apprenticeship training for apprentices aged 16–24. For apprentices aged 25 and over, the government will fund 95% of the cost of training, with employers contributing the remaining 5%.

If you pay into the Apprenticeship Levy, the cost of the programme will be paid in monthly instalments using your levy funds. If you’ve exhausted your available levy funds, the government will fully fund the remaining cost of training for 16-24 year olds, while for apprentices aged 25 and over you’ll move onto the government’s co-investment model, contributing 25% of the cost of training, with the government funding the remaining 75%.

The current National Apprentice Minimum Wage is £8 an hour (as of April 2026), regardless of age. For apprentices aged 19 or over, this is raised to the National Minimum Wage for their age group after the first year of training.

We recommend paying more than the National Apprentice Minimum Wage, as a higher wage recognises the value that apprentices bring to an organisation, promotes loyalty and will boost job satisfaction.

If you are an employer with a pay bill of over £3 million each year, you will pay into the Apprenticeship Levy. This means you will have an apprenticeship levy fund that is already ringfenced for training costs.

For businesses that do not pay the Apprenticeship Levy, the Government will fund 100% of the cost of apprenticeship training for apprentices aged 16–24. For apprentices aged 25 and over, the Government will fund 95% of training costs, with employers contributing the remaining 5%.

For levy-paying employers, the cost of apprenticeship training will be deducted from your available funds. If these funds have been exhausted, the government will fully fund the remaining cost of training for apprentices aged 16-24. For apprentices aged 25 and over, the government will cover 75% of the cost of apprenticeship training, with employers contributing the remaining 25%.

From October 2026, eligible non-levy employers can also receive a £2,000 employer incentive payment when recruiting an apprentice aged 16–24.

For all employers, a £1,000 employer incentive payment is available when recruiting an apprentice aged 16–18. This also applies to apprentices aged 19–24 with an EHC plan from their local authority. Eligible non-levy employers recruiting a 16–18-year-old apprentice may qualify for both incentive payments, meaning they could receive up to £3,000 in government support.

Apprenticeships in England are funded through two primary routes: The Apprenticeship Levy and Government Co-Investment. The Apprenticeship Levy applies to large organisations, while Co-investment is available to SMEs.

Alongside these funding mechanisms, there are also a range of apprenticeship grants for employers who meet certain conditions.

If your business has a salary bill of less than £3 million, you will not contribute to the Apprenticeship Levy. Instead, you will be able to claim government co-investment towards the costs of apprenticeship training.

From August 2026, apprenticeship training for apprentices aged 16 to 24 is fully funded for all employers, meaning there is no employer contribution towards training costs.

If you’re recruiting an apprentice aged 25 or over, you’ll contribute 5% of the training costs, with the government funding the remaining 95%.

Eligible non-levy employers recruiting younger apprentices may also qualify for employer incentive payments of up to £3,000.

The majority of apprenticeship funding is administered via the digital Apprenticeship Service. This is a government-operated system where employers can register apprentices, apply for national funding schemes, and search for other employers with Levy Funds to share.

Many local councils or combined Authorities also offer grants for hiring apprentices, or run their own levy transfer schemes.

The Apprenticeship Levy is a ringfenced fund for large employers intended to encourage investment in apprenticeship training. If your organisation has an annual salary bill of over £3 million, you will pay into an Apprenticeship Levy fund.

Employers who pay the levy contribute 0.5% of their salary bill. The Apprenticeship Levy can be used to pay for training costs of new apprentices, or to enrol existing staff on professional development apprenticeships.

Your levy funds can be used to pay for apprenticeship training and assessment costs. However, this does not include other costs associated with apprenticeships such as wages, travel expenses or equipment!

You can use your Apprenticeship Levy funds to recruit new talent across your business, this is a cost-effective way to make sure you protect your organisation from skills gaps and a competitive candidate market.

Your levy funds can also be used to train and develop your current employees – from juniors up to senior management. Whether you have a team member who is looking to upskill and advance in their career, or looking to reskill and move into a different department – our team can help.

If you’re a business in England with an annual salary bill of over £3 million – then you will pay into the Apprenticeship Levy. If your company is part of a group under shared ownership, you’ll likely have one shared levy pot between all organisations in the group.

You can access your funds through your Digital Apprenticeship Service account. If you don’t have an account, you’ll need to create one prior to your apprentice being enrolled on their programme as it’s a mandatory requirement.

This online service will allow you to financially manage your apprenticeship programmes and help you to estimate your financial spend.

You can see funds appear in your digital account monthly, a few working days after you have confirmed your salary bill and levy contribution to HRMC for the previous month. You can then use the account to set up apprenticeships and authorise payments to training providers.

If you’ve used all of the funds in your Apprenticeship Levy account, you can still recruit apprentices through the government’s co-investment model.

From August 2026, once levy funds have been exhausted, the government will fully fund the remaining apprenticeship training costs for apprentices aged 16-24. For apprentices aged 25 and over, employers contribute 25% towards apprenticeship training costs, with the government funding the remaining 75%.

Yes. Apprenticeship Levy funds expire 12 months after they enter your levy account if they haven’t been used. Funds are spent on a first-in, first-out basis, including any government top-ups.

Because levy funds now expire more quickly than before, it’s important to plan your apprenticeship recruitment and training to make the most of your available budget. If you don’t use your levy funds before they expire, they cannot be reclaimed.

Yes, Levy transfers can be used to cover the costs of apprenticeship training, particularly for medium-sized businesses who do not always qualify for 100% funding support.

Yes, we can! If your organisation has Apprenticeship Levy funds due to expire, our team can help you transfer these funds and generate much-needed apprenticeship opportunities.

Please get in touch with our team to get the process started.

If you are taking on an apprentice who has previously been in care, there are some additional funds to be aware of.

Care leavers who go onto an apprenticeship programme could be eligible to receive a bursary of £1000.

Employers could also claim additional funding of £1000 if an apprentice is aged between 19 and 24 years old and has either an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, or has been in the care of their local authority.