Apprenticeships in smaller businesses

If you are a smaller business not paying the Apprenticeship Levy we would strongly recommend you read up on the support and advice regarding how you can recruit and develop Apprentices as a part of your workforce.

As an employer with a payroll bill of less than £3m, you do not have to pay the apprenticeship levy. Instead, if you work with an approved provider, you can share the costs of training and assessing your apprentice with the government. Employers contribute 5% towards to the cost of apprenticeship training and government will pay the rest (95%), up to the funding band maximum.  The 5% contribution is not required for Apprentices who are 16-18 employed by an organisation with <50 employees. There is also no contribution required for care leavers or those with an Education Health Care plan aged between 19 and 24.

More information:

• All Party Parliamentary Group on Apprenticeships – Toolkit: helping SMEs hire more apprentices

• Find out more about developing apprenticeships: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/
• Find out how to register and use the apprenticeship service as an employer: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/manage-apprenticeship-funds

For more information on how your business can engage in the wider education and skills landscape visit: https://educationlandscape.org.uk/