Apprenticeship funding rules for employers
What the 2026/27 rules require of employers: the agreement, time to train, wages, evidence you must hold, and what changed with the Growth and Skills Levy.
Your responsibilities
Employ the apprentice on a contract covering at least the minimum duration. Pay at least the apprentice minimum wage, and the appropriate national minimum wage once they pass the relevant thresholds. Sign an apprenticeship agreement and a training plan. Give the apprentice the time to train within paid working hours and protect it.
That last one is where employers most often fall short, and it is not a technicality. Off-the-job training that did not happen cannot be evidenced, and funding follows the evidence.
What changed for you this year
If you pay the levy, funds now expire after twelve months rather than twenty-four, and the ten per cent top-up has gone. Money not spent is lost. If you do not pay the levy, apprentices aged 16 to 24 are now fully funded with no co-investment.
A hiring payment of £2,000 is available for smaller employers taking on apprentices aged 16 to 24 from October 2026.
What you need to hold
The apprenticeship agreement, the contract of employment, and evidence that the apprentice had and used their training time. Your provider will need access to all of it, and an auditor may ask you directly.
Common questions
How many hours a week must an apprentice spend training?
There is no weekly figure any more. Each standard has a published minimum number of off-the-job hours for the whole apprenticeship, and the planned delivery must meet it.
Can we use the levy to pay apprentice wages?
No. Levy funds pay for training and assessment only. Wages, travel and equipment are the employer's cost.
What happens to unspent levy funds?
They expire twelve months after entering the account and cannot be recovered. Unspent is lost rather than banked.
What has changed recently
Live from the feed. This guide is kept in step with these.
Changed Growth and Skills Levy replaces the Apprenticeship Levy 1 August 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.