Employers
How The College Can Help You
Could your business use a £1,000 boost?
Any employers who hire a new apprentice aged 16-18 or 19 to 25 years who has an education, health and care (EHC) plan. will receive £1,000 per new hire.
Why choose to offer an apprenticeship?
- Apprentices add value to your business
- They improve your productivity and motivation
- You can expand and up-skill your workforce
- You can adapt their training according to the needs of your business
What is an apprenticeship
An apprenticeship is a genuine job and under all circumstances an apprentice will be employed from day one. Apprentices are aged 16 and over and there is no age limit to undertaking an apprenticeship. You can be a new or a current member of staff looking to upskill to undertake this programme. Apprenticeships combine practical training in a job with study. An apprentice will:
- Work alongside experienced staff
- Gain job-specific skills – earn a wage and get holiday pay
- Be given time for study related to their role (the equivalent of one day a week)
What are the benefits of the Apprenticeship scheme to my business?
Skills shortages and staff retention are still among the biggest risks to UK businesses. Apprenticeships can help businesses across all industries by offering a cost-effective route to attract fresh talent and to invest in workforce development. If you have trained staff with the right skills for the job, they can do a wider range of tasks and take on new responsibilities - this can help to reduce skill shortages, minimise staff turnover, improve your customer experience and increase productivity. Over 130,000 businesses across the UK currently offer Apprenticeship training to their employees, with 20% of employers hiring more Apprentices to help them through the tough economic climate. 96% of employers that take on an apprentice report benefits to their business and 70% of employers report higher productivity and improved quality of products / services.
What support do I need to provide to an Apprentice?
As a member of your workforce, the Apprentice will follow your normal HR policies and procedures and require access to the normal company induction and line management structures. They will be assigned to an Assessor from the college, who will usually meet with them once every 8 weeks during working hours, to review progress, coach and support the Apprentice and set new tasks for the month ahead, ensuring that they are making good progress against the required standards. It’s also important that your Apprentice receives regular feedback from their line manager, in order for them to improve and implement their skills effectively in the workplace.
Apprenticeship levels
All apprenticeships include elements of on the job and off the job training, leading to industry recognised standards or qualifications. All apprenticeships require an assessment at the end of the programme, called End Point Assessment, to assess the apprentice`s ability and competence in their job role.
Name | Level | Equivalent educational level |
Intermediate | 2 | 5 GCSE passes at grades A* to C |
Advanced | 3 | 2 A Level passes |
Higher | 4,5,6 and 7 | Foundation degree and above |
Degree | 6 and 7 |
Bachelor’s or master’s degree
Funding
Levy paying employers:
If you are a levy paying employer with a pay bill over £3 million each year the cost of the apprenticeship can be paid through your levy funds. If you go over your levy funding allocation at any point throughout the year you will be asked to pay the 5% contribution towards the amount you have gone over.
Non-Levy paying employers
If you do not pay the levy then the government will support you with 95% of the training fee’s meaning you only need to pay a 5% contribution towards the training fees along with the wages of the apprentice.
For all employers:
You also could be eligible for extra funding of £1,000 if:
You take on an apprentice aged between 16 and 18 years old (or 15 years of age if the apprentice’s 16th birthday is between the last Friday of June and 31 August);
You take on an apprentice aged between 19 and 24 years old and has either an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan provided by their local authority or has been in the care of their local authority
These payments will be paid as follows:
90 days after the apprentice is enrolled onto the apprenticeship programme, 50% will be paid if the apprentice is still undertaking their apprenticeship
365 days after the apprentice is enrolled onto the apprenticeship programme, the remaining 50% will be paid if the apprentice is still undertaking their apprenticeship.
Extra support for small employers
The government will fund all of the apprenticeship training costs, up to the maximum value of the funding band for the apprenticeship, for employers employing fewer than 50 people if, on the first day of their apprenticeship, the apprentice is:
Aged between 16 and 18 years old (or 15 years old if the apprentice’s 16th birthday is between the last Friday of June and 31 August); or
Aged between 19 and 24 years old and has either: an EHC plan provided by their local authority; or has been in the care of their local authority
Apprenticeship wages:
The national minimum wage (NMW) for apprentices is £4.81 per hour from April 2022. The apprentice NMW applies to apprentices aged under 19 or aged 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship. Apprentices aged 25 and over, and not in the first year of their apprenticeship, will be entitled to the National Minimum Wage. The rates change on 1 April every year.
Year | 23 and over | 21 to 22 | 18 to 20 | Under 18 | Apprentice |
April 2022 | £9.50 | £9.18 | £6.83 | £4.81 |
£4.81
Apprenticeship service account
All employers need to Register for an apprenticeship service account to access funds or pay for training. Employers will need to reserve funds in the ‘finance’ section of your apprenticeship service account before starting an apprentice. You can also give your training provider permission to reserve funds on your behalf.
What you’ll need to know:
which apprenticeship training course the apprentice will be doing
what month the apprenticeship training will start
Before the apprentice starts their training, you can change the apprenticeship start date and training course.
When you can use reserved funds
The reservation period for employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy is 3 months. This means funds can be reserved for 3 months before the apprenticeship is planned to start.
Employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy can make up to 10 reservations to fund new apprentice starts for during the financial year 2021 to 2022.
The apprenticeship service will continue to monitor the number of reservations used by employers and may pause funding reservations to ensure that the programme remains affordable.
Funds transferred from employers who pay the levy to other employers through the apprenticeship service are not included when counting the number of reservations.
Webinar on how to use the Apprenticeship service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnbyODRshvc&list=PLMNvQX_aIOuzq-Fow_ApX_AdtZTQbPiQp&index=3
Webinar on how to reserve funding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCJxL2ncIrg