Apprenticeship Funding and the Apprenticeship Levy

In 2017, the UK Government introduced the Apprenticeship Levy, a new PAYE (Pay As You Earn) tax to support career development and the creation of new jobs. It is applicable to any organisation with a paybill of over £3million.

Each month as part of the payroll cycle, our Levy funds will enter the QMUL Digital Apprenticeship Account and will only be accessible to use to fund apprenticeship training as long as we meet certain criteria within the apprenticeship funding Rules. Funds expire two years after entry if not spent.

As an employer of over 4,000 staff, QMUL makes an annual contribution of around £1.1million which we have available to spend.

What can the Apprenticeship Levy be spent on?

The Apprenticeship Levy funds can only be spent on accredited apprenticeship training which is delivered by approved training providers. There are over 600 possible apprenticeship ‘standards’ (training programmes) which exist and each one will be allocated a specific funding band. The Apprenticeship Levy can be used to fund these apprenticeship standards up to the funding band.

A link to the available apprenticeship standards can be found here.

Apprenticeship funding can range from £3000 to £27,000 – all of which will be paid for by the Apprenticeship Levy!

How can we use the Apprenticeship Levy to invest in our Queen Mary workforce and future organisational planning?

As a result of the Government’s apprenticeship reforms, apprenticeships have been fundamentally redesigned with the abolition of the age cap, central to their new purpose as a mechanism for continuing professional development. Apprenticeships will continue to serve as an entry route for some professions but they have now taken on a wider significance in the training landscape as means to upskill or retrain existing staff.

As such, an apprentice can now be any member of staff, junior or senior, who is enrolled on an accredited apprenticeship standard.

These changes have increased the quality of apprenticeships and led to the inclusion of professional qualifications and undergraduate and postgraduate study options.

Apprenticeships can be used to:

• Support the Career Development of current Queen Mary staff.
• Support inclusive recruitment into new jobs at a range of levels.
• Support hard to recruit or retain posts by offering a training package and addressing skills gaps.
• Transfer up to 25% of our levy to agreed organisations to be used in the same way as above.
• Support the Technicians Commitment, Civic University Agreement and the 2030 Strategy.

What can’t we use the Apprenticeship Levy to fund?

The Apprenticeship Levy cannot be used for any other costs associated with the apprenticeship training, for example, salary costs, travel expenses, or membership of professional bodies. These will need to be allocated from the local departmental budget if relevant.

Who manages the Apprenticeship Levy for Queen Mary?

The Staff Apprenticeship Lead will manage the Queen Mary Apprenticeship Levy and payments via a digital apprenticeship service.