Apprenticeship levy launched
11th April 2017

The Government this week launched its apprenticeship levy on big employers which will double the annual investment in apprenticeships in England to £2.5 billion by 2019 to 2020, compared with 2010 to 2011 levels.

The move means companies with fewer than 50 employees that take on apprentices aged between 16 and 18 will have 100% of their training costs paid for.

For other employers, but with a wage bill under £3million a year, the Government will pay 90% of the costs of training and assessing their apprentices.

This is on top of a range of support for apprentices who have additional needs, including around £60 million of funds towards training those from the poorest parts of England.

The levy will require all employers with an annual wage bill of over £3 million to pay 0.5% of it towards funding apprenticeships.

Skills Minister Robert Halfon said: “There has never been a more important time for Britain to invest in the skills of our people and businesses. To make Britain stronger and fairer, we need to make sure that everyone gets the chance to climb the ladder of opportunity to gain the education and skills they need to be successful in life.

“Our apprenticeship levy is a massive part of this. More than 90% of apprentices go into work or further training, and the quality on-the-job training on offer will make sure we have the people with the skills, knowledge and technical excellence to drive our country forward.

The introduction of the levy is the biggest shake-up of skills for a generation and further supports the government’s commitment to deliver 3 million apprenticeships by 2020 - there were a record 900,000 apprentices last year.”