The forthcoming changes to Apprenticeship funding means that large employers will soon have a new, ring fenced L&D budget; drawn down from the Apprenticeship levy.
The Apprenticeship reforms have brought the previously distinct worlds of ‘corporate L&D’ and Further Education into closer contact than they have ever been before. The new Apprenticeship standards will provide the flexibility to utilise industry specific qualifications, rather than, for example, NVQs. These standards, referred to as Trailblazers, provide the perfect mechanism to deliver the quality training that organisations require.
It is important to recognise that Apprenticeships can be used to support your whole business, not just young people at the start of their career; they can be used to upskill your existing staff as well as supporting new talent. Your existing programmes can also be transferred onto Apprenticeships, providing consistency across your organisation.
Key features:
The Levy applies to both public and private UK employers across all sectors with a payroll bill in excess of £3m a year.
It's set at a rate of 0.5% of the total payroll and is collected monthly via PAYE.
Utilising the levy to its full potential can have a positive impact across your organisation and support your business strategies and operations and now is an ideal time to review your L&D strategy to fully utilise the Apprenticeship Levy. We expect to see budgets become increasingly ring-fenced, centralised and strategic in the near future.
The introduction of the levy will however place additional administrative requirements on organisations, in terms of managing their levy fund and ensuring the correct data is provided to HMRC. Managing multiple training providers can be time consuming and require new tools and systems if programmes are to be successful.
A way of introducing successful Apprenticeship schemes is working with a provider who will not only take time to understand the unique training requirements of an organisation but also one who has access to network of experts providers and the tools in place to minimise the administrative impact.
To find out about the fully managed service provided by Kaplan alongside our expert partnerships please download our factsheet.
If you would like to discuss your levy requirements please email Apprenticeship expert richard.marsh@kaplan.co.uk.