Apprenticeship funding compliance
What funding compliance actually requires in 2026/27, where providers and employers most often fall short, and how to check your position before an auditor does.
What compliance means here
Funding compliance means that for every apprentice you claim for, the evidence exists, it was collected at the right time, and it says what you say it says. It is not a judgement about training quality. An excellent programme with missing paperwork is non-compliant, and an auditor will treat it as such.
The test applied is straightforward: could someone who was not there reconstruct, from your records alone, that this apprentice was eligible, that the training happened, and that the price was right?
The six areas that carry most of the risk
Eligibility, meaning residency, age, employment status and prior qualifications, evidenced before the start date rather than after it. Off-the-job training, recorded against the published minimum for the specific standard. Prior learning, assessed for every apprentice and reflected in a reduced price where it applies.
Then the training plan, which must match what was actually delivered and be signed by all three parties. Subcontracting, which must be declared and managed. And the funding claim itself, which must reconcile to the individualised learner record.
Doing a check yourself
Take ten apprentices at random across different standards and start dates. For each, try to produce the eligibility evidence, the signed training plan, the off-the-job record against the published minimum, and the prior learning assessment. Time how long it takes.
If you cannot find all four for eight of the ten within an hour, you have a compliance problem rather than a filing problem, and it is better to know now.
Common questions
Who is responsible for funding compliance?
The provider makes the claim and carries the liability, but the employer holds much of the underlying evidence, particularly around employment and the apprentice's time to train. Both need to be able to produce it.
How far back can funding be recovered?
Auditors typically sample the current and preceding funding years, but a systemic issue can prompt a wider review going back further.
Does poor compliance affect Ofsted?
Indirectly. Ofsted does not audit funding, but weak record keeping around off-the-job training and training plans tends to show up in the quality of education judgement as well.
What has changed recently
Live from the feed. This guide is kept in step with these.
Changed Sixteen apprenticeship standards lose funding 1 September 2026Track this yourself
Skills Radar follows every change to the funding rules, the standards register and T-Levels, with what changed, what it changed from, and what follows. Free to read.