Levy vs Non-Levy
What Does It Mean? Which One Are You? And Why Does It Matter?
Are you a levy payer?
If you are a levy payer, you will have an annual pay bill of over 3 million per annum. If you pay into a levy pot you will be able to pay for any apprenticeship using these funds.
The levy is there to fund apprenticeship training for all employers. Any unspent levy funds are used to support existing apprentices to complete their training and to pay for apprenticeship training for smaller employers.
The cost of the apprenticeship depends on the vocation that the apprentice is on. Your training provider will discuss these costs with you during the contract stage. The cost of the apprenticeship is then taken directly from your levy funds and transferred to the training provider.
Are you a non-levy payer?
If you are a non-levy paying employer, the Government will pay 95% of the cost of the actual apprentice this means you the employer only have to contribute 5%. The cost of this 5% will be dependant on the vocation that the apprentice is studying towards. Your training provider will discuss these costs with you during the contract stage.
If you employ fewer than 50 employees, the government will pay 100% of the apprenticeship training costs if the apprentice is aged 16 -18 or 19 -24 with an education, health and care plan provided by their local authority or has been in the care of their local authority.
Schools Under A Local Authority
Many schools will be under their local authority, which means they may be able to access the relevant authority’s Levy to fund the apprenticeship. The process changes from council to council, but most will have some form of procurement process before giving permission to recruit using the levy funds.
Why Does It Matter?
The initial process of recruiting an apprentice will change depending on whether you’re a levy or non-levy employer. For levy payers, things are straight forward and you can recruit at any time as long as you have enough funding left in your levy pot.
Non-levy employers will have to create an account with the Digital Apprenticeship Service (DAS) before recruiting an apprentice and assign a training provider (That’s us!). This is so the government funds can reach your provider and use them to deliver the apprenticeship. You can learn more about DAS here. Depending on the age of your apprentice, you may be required to pay 5% of the training costs which is normally completed via invoice.
Still Not Sure? Speak To An Expert
We have apprenticeship experts here at learningSkills who can answer any questions you may have, and also suggest which apprentices may benefit your business the best. Complete the contact form below or contact Oliver directly using the details provided.
Oliver Leach
Learning and Skills Apprenticeship Officer
oliverleach@gateshead.gov.uk
0191 433 8727