The Apprenticeship Levy

For new starts from 1 April 2024:

Employers who do not pay the levy, if at the start of their apprenticeship training the apprentice is aged between 16 and 21 years old (or 15 years of age if the apprentice’s 16th birthday is between the last Friday of June and 31 August).

Employers who do not pay the levy, if at the start of their apprenticeship training the apprentice is aged between 22 and 24 years old and has either an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan provided by their local authority and/or has been in the care of their local authority

Providers must not request any employer contribution towards the costs of an apprenticeship, up to the funding band maximum. However, if the total negotiated price is above the funding band maximum, then the employer is liable to pay in full the difference between these values.

Non-levy employers are required to contribute the 5% co-investment where apprentices do not fall into the categories above.

For apprenticeships commenced prior to 1 April 2024:

Employers with fewer than 50 people working for them are able to train, at no cost, apprentices aged 16-18 or aged 19-24 who have previously been in care or who have an Education, Health, and Care plan. These employers are not required to contribute the 5% co-investment; instead, the government will pay 100% of the training costs for these individuals up to the funding band maximum.

Only businesses with pay a bill over £3m contribute to the Apprenticeship Levy, but the scheme can benefit businesses large and small.  

Levy paying businesses can manage and find out more information about their levy funds online.

Levy paying employers access their funds through the online Apprenticeship Service. The funds in their accounts are available to spend on apprenticeship training in England. The amount of funding that an employer paying the Apprenticeship Levy can access is linked to the value of their levy contributions, the proportion of employees living in England plus a government top-up.

Funds will be taken in month – and available to spend in the following. All payments will be ‘one month in arrears’. Employers will receive a 10% top up to monthly funds entering their Apprenticeship Service account.

All funds that appear in the Apprenticeship Service accounts of employers who pay the levy expire 24 months after they appear in the account.

If you have used all funds available in your Apprenticeship Levy, the 5% contribution will apply for any existing and new apprentices, until sufficient funds are available within the levy account.

Levy paying employers will need:

An email address you have access to

The Government Gateway login for your organisation (or you can use the accounts office reference number and employer PAYE scheme reference number if your annual pay bill is less than £3 million)

Authority to add PAYE schemes to the account

Authority to accept the employer agreement on behalf of your organisation

A small employer who does not pay the Apprenticeship Levy can use the PAYE scheme reference number (also known as ERN number) and your account office reference number (AORN).

The Apprenticeship Levy programme began in April 2017, announced by the UK government as a way to help businesses deliver essential training and recruit new apprenticeship talent. Levy-paying businesses could originally transfer 10% of their funds to smaller businesses, but this was increased to 25% in 2019.

For levy paying employers:

The training provider (QA) will be paid the agreed cost of the apprenticeship, up to the funding band maximum via automated monthly instalments (throughout the duration of the practical period of the apprenticeship) by the DfE.

These monthly payments will total 80% of the agreed cost, with the final 20% being paid when the apprentice completes their end-point assessment.

Where co-investment is required, QA will invoice the employer directly.

As apprenticeship partner for employers across the UK, our team can support you through the whole journey of finding and recruiting an apprentice. 

Our team can help you to hire an apprentice, including support in identifying your skills gaps and the best apprenticeship programmes to fill those gaps. Talk to us today to find out more.