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Apprenticeship Levy

The government is committed to increasing the quantity and quality of apprenticeships and has set a target of recruiting 3 million new start apprentices by 2020. The introduction of the apprenticeship levy in April 2017, is designed to support the achievement of this ambitious aim and to put employers at the centre of the apprenticeship system.

What is the Apprenticeship Levy?

The apprenticeship levy is a tax that all UK employers with an annual pay bill of over £3 million have to pay.  It is intended to cover the training costs of an apprenticeship.

The levy is set at 0.5% of an employer’s payroll, with a £15,000 allowance to offset the overall cost. See examples below:

  • Employer of 250 employees, each with a gross salary of £20k

    PAYROLL:    250 X £20,000 = £5,000,000 
    LEVY: 0.5% X £5,000,000 = £25,000 
    ALLOWANCE:     £25,000 - £15,000 = £10,000 annual levy payment
  • Employer of 100 employees, each with a gross salary of £20k

    PAYROLL:    100 X £20,000 = £2,000,000 
    LEVY: 0.5% X £2,000,000 = £10,000 
    ALLOWANCE:     £10,000 - £15,000 = £0 annual levy payment

Apprenticeship Levy Support from EAL

These are huge changes and may seem daunting, but EAL (which is part of the Enginuity Group) can support you every step of the way. Our experts can help you to get the best return on your levy investment by:

  • Providing information, advice and guidance
  • Delivering tailor-made consultancy
  • Creating high-quality apprenticeships
  • Turning your apprentices into valuable business assets
  • Providing an end-to-end managed service

  • Information, advice and guidance
    EAL and the wider Enginuity group has unrivalled sector experience and expertise. This means we are uniquely placed to share best practice from our knowledge of apprenticeship standards across the sector, make sure employers’ voices are heard when responding to government enquiries and act as the collective voice of engineering employers.

    To help you and your team to understand how the levy may impact on your business your can download our free factsheet and presentation resources.  You can also view our regular policy alerts to receive the latest apprenticeship intelligence, including information about any employer or stakeholder events we are running.
  • Tailor-made consultancy
    If you’d like one-to-one, tailor-made support with workforce planning and maximising your levy investment, from scoping to implementation - EAL can help. You’ll be given access to experts from across the Enginuity Group to help you consider where apprenticeship provision can support your talent pipeline across all parts and levels of your business.

    We can also support you to identify the right apprenticeship standards and ensure your apprentices are enrolled on the right programme and progress onto higher attainment, delivering for your business.
  • Creating High quality apprenticeships
    If you need to create a new high quality apprenticeship for your industry EAL and the wider Enginuity Group can help. Between us we’ve been “engineering” apprenticeships for over 60 years and can provide you with expert support every step of the way, from initial submission to implementation of the apprenticeship standard including:
    • Designing and developing the apprenticeship trailblazer standards
    • Providing technical expertise and secretariat services
    • Designing and delivery of assessments and qualifications
    • Offering external quality assurance of apprenticeship providers
  • Turning apprentices into valuable business assets
    With our unrivalled sector experience and expertise, EAL and the wider Enginuity Group can provide a seamless end-to-end solution to businesses. This includes:
    • Fully supporting the management of the recruitment process for the apprentice, leaving you to make the final decision, using first class systems and expert teams
    • Supporting and developing in-house training and assessor teams
    • Managing all the paperwork and providing practical help to access funding
    • Ensuring your apprentice is enrolled on the right programme and progresses onto higher attainment, delivering for your business
  • End-to-end managed service
    EAL and the wider Enginuity Group offer a unique end-to-end service. We’ll take care of everything for you, from organisational skills needs analysis to full apprenticeship programme implementation and on-going management – so you can concentrate on other business priorities. We can:
    • Deliver tailor-made consultancy to make the levy work for your business
    • Create the infrastructure on which your organisation’s apprenticeship programmes operate
    • Recruit and train your apprentices
    • Manage the administration of the levy for you via the digital voucher system
    • Broker the distribution of any unspent levy to your supply chain
    • Provide on-going support during the life of the apprenticeship

For Levy Support - Get in touch

EAL can work with you to help you understand the levy and its implications for your business. For more information contact our Customer Experience Team on +44 (0)1923 652400 or email [email protected]

Read Apprenticeship Levy FAQs

Download our Levy Resources

EAL Apprenticeship Standard Qualifications and Assessment Services

Did you know that competitions can count towards the 20% off the job training requirement for apprenticeship standards? Download our Guide

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