Apprenticeship Reforms

The government carried out a series of reforms to the apprenticeship system over the last few years with the intention of making sure that apprenticeships deliver the skills that employers want and the work opportunities that people need. This has led to the following reforms:

• The rewriting by employers of all apprenticeship 'frameworks' to new apprenticeship 'standards' updating the content of all apprenticeships, introducing grading and end point assessments. From 1 August 2020, all new apprenticeship learners must start on apprenticeship standards. All remaining frameworks will be withdrawn to new learners from 31 July 2020.
• The government introduced the Apprenticeship Levy in April 2017. This requires all employers with a pay bill over £3 million each year, to pay into the Levy and spend this money of apprenticeship training and assessment costs.
• For all employers who are not paying the levy, a new funding system that requires co-investment was introduced with the employer paying 5% of the price of the apprentice's training, with the government covering the remaining 95% of the cost. Companies with less than 50 employees recruiting apprentices aged 16-18 (or those aged 19-24 who have previously been in care or who have a Local Authority Education, Health and Care plan) are not required to contribute the 5% co-investment.
• All public sector organisations will be required to make sure that 2.3% of their workforce are apprentices from 2017/18.
• A new digital Apprenticeship Service has been introduced for employers. This is an online service that allows employers to choose and pay for apprenticeship training more easily.

The government's guidance for employers on the apprenticeship funding reforms is here, with further information about the apprenticeship service here. Government guidance about employing apprentices and how apprenticeship funding works is here.

Please contact the training providers listed on this site for further information or discussion about the reforms and the future impact that they might have. You can also find more information and search for training providers using the government's Find apprenticeship training website.