Hiring an Apprentice


The Apprentice Levy

Any firm wanting to recruit an apprentice has to be registered with the scheme, even if not paying into it. But what is it?

The Apprentice Levy was introduced in April 2017. The Apprenticeship Levy will be a levy on UK employers to fund new apprenticeships.

In England, control of apprenticeship funding will be put in the hands of employers through the Digital Apprenticeship Service. The levy will be charged at a rate of 0.5% of an employer’s paybill. Each employer will receive an allowance of £15,000 to offset against their levy payment.

The levy will only be paid by businesses with annual paybills in excess of £3 million, and so less than 2% of UK employers will pay it.

It is expected that the levy will support productivity growth through the increase in training. It may have a near-term impact in reducing earnings growth, although by supporting increased productivity, it is expected that the levy will lead to increased profitability for businesses, and increased wages over the long-term.

A levy-paying employer can create an account on the apprenticeship service to receive levy funds for them to spend on apprenticeships, manage their apprentices, pay their training provider and stop or pause payments to their training provider.

Non-levy paying employers

Non-levy paying employers share the cost of training and assessing their apprentices with government – this is called ‘co-investment’. From May 2017, businesses pay 5% towards to the cost of apprenticeship training and government will pay the rest (95%), up to the funding band maximum.

A business will need to agree a payment schedule with the provider and pay them directly for the training. The provider must prove that they have paid their contributions as a condition of government paying its contribution.

If you have any questions, contact the Apprenticeship employer helpline at nationalhelpdesk@apprenticeships.gov.uk

Hiring an Apprentice

Hiring an apprentice can bring a wealth of benefits to an organisation from improved productivity to improvements to the quality of their product or services.

Read more >
former apprentices in Chesterfield

Former apprentices in Chesterfield

A number of the town’s business leaders and figureheads started their careers as former apprentices and are now making waves nationally

Read more >

Chesterfield Apprenticeship Ambassador Network

When a business becomes a Chesterfield Apprenticeship Ambassador they commit to helping to promote all aspects of apprenticeships.

Read more >

Keep up to date

Dont miss out on all the latest news, updates & special offers.

Signup to our newsletter