Levy transfers: what they are still good for
A mechanism worth revisiting rather than continuing on autopilot.
A levy-paying employer can transfer up to 50% of their annual funds to another business. With new funds now expiring after 12 months rather than 24, a transfer is one of the ways to use a balance that would otherwise be lost.
The 2026/27 rules confirmed that the transfer allowance covers apprenticeship units as well as full apprenticeships, which widens what a receiving employer can do with the money. Public sector employers receiving transfers fall outside subsidy control and do not need to complete a minimal financial assistance declaration.
The timings are unforgiving and worth restating. Once a transfer is approved by the sending employer, the receiving employer has six weeks to accept the funds or they lapse. Once accepted, they have three months to link them to an approved apprenticeship record. Miss either window and a fresh transfer has to be applied for.
The strategic picture has shifted, though. Many transfer programmes were built on the argument that smaller employers could not otherwise afford apprentices. Since August 2026 a non-levy employer pays nothing for an apprentice aged 16 to 24 and 5% for those aged 25 and over. For younger apprentices the transfer now adds relatively little.
What follows: transfers remain genuinely useful for apprentices aged 25 and over at smaller employers, for supply chain development, and for using funds that would otherwise expire. If your organisation reports levy transfer as a social value metric, check what you are actually claiming, because the underlying need has changed.