Apprenticeship Funding Rules

Apprenticeship funding rules are dependent on whether you’re a levy or non-levy payer as levy payers will use their levy budget to pay for the training. A non-levy payer will have the training partially or fully funded by the government. We are based in England meaning that we are limited to only being able to receive funding from the Government if you are also based in England. If you’re a company based in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, then you will have to find a training provider based in the same country.

Have a read below to get a better understanding of the funding rules.

Non-Levy Payer Funding

As an employer that doesn’t pay the apprenticeship levy, you pay just 5% towards the cost of training an apprentice and the government will pay the rest. You will work with your training provider to set up and agree a payment schedule.

If you employ fewer than 50 employees, the government will pay 100% of the apprenticeship training costs up to the funding band maximum for apprentices aged:

• 16 to 18
• 19 to 24 with an education, health and care plan provided by their local authority or has been in the care of their local authority

Paying your apprentice

As an apprenticeship is a job you’re responsible for paying your apprentice for their normal working hours and any training they do as part of the apprenticeship.

You must pay them at least the National Minimum Wage rate depending on their age and the year of apprenticeship training they’re in. This is the minimum, but we always recommend paying more, as it will increase the number of applicants and increases employee retention as it shows you value them more.

The rates from April 2023 are: