Skills Radar

Apprenticeship funding rules for training providers

What providers must do under the 2026/27 rules: eligibility checks, training plans, off-the-job records, subcontracting, and the claim itself.

Checked against current guidance September 2026 · about 7 minutes to read

Where your liability sits

You make the funding claim, so you carry the liability for it. That includes evidence the employer holds: if they cannot produce it, the recovery still comes from you. Build your processes on that assumption rather than on trust.

Every apprentice needs eligibility established and evidenced before the start, a signed training plan, off-the-job delivery recorded against the published minimum for their standard, prior learning assessed individually, and progress reviews at least every twelve weeks.

Pricing

The price must reflect what is actually delivered, within the funding band, reduced for recognised prior learning. Pricing every apprentice at the band maximum regardless of prior learning is a pattern auditors look for specifically.

Subcontracting

Subcontracted delivery must be declared, managed and evidenced. The rules limit what can be subcontracted and require you to demonstrate oversight of quality and of the funding flowing through. Undeclared subcontracting is treated seriously.

Data

Your records and the individualised learner record have to reconcile. Where they do not, the difference is the first thing an auditor pulls at, and it is usually a symptom rather than a clerical slip.

Common questions

What proportion of delivery can be subcontracted?

There are limits and reporting thresholds set out in the rules, and exceeding them requires justification and oversight evidence. Check the current version, since this has tightened in recent years.

Can we claim for an apprentice who leaves early?

You can claim for the training actually delivered up to the withdrawal, provided the withdrawal is recorded correctly and on time.

Track 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.

See what has changed Browse the 2026/27 rules

Related guides

Subcontracting under the apprenticeship funding rules

What the rules require when delivery is subcontracted: declaration, oversight, funding flow, and why undeclared arrangements are treated so seriously.

Apprenticeship funding audit

How a funding audit works, what auditors sample and ask for, what triggers a review, and what happens when evidence cannot be produced.

Apprenticeship funding evidence requirements

The evidence that must exist for every apprentice, when it has to be collected, what auditors accept, and the records that get rejected at audit.

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.

Part of Apprenticeship funding rules 2026 to 2027, our complete guide to the 2026/27 rules.