Benefits of Apprenticeships
By taking on a Degree Apprentice an employer will gain an employee who is undertaking training directly relevant to their role. It allows the apprentice to convert theory into practice immediately to meet business needs and close skills gaps.
In addition to filling skills gaps, taking on an apprentice will allow you to:
- Improve your productivity
- A high return on investment
- Improve your company image
- Create a talent pipeline across your organisation
- Raise staff morale
- Reduce staff turnover
- Increase your diversity
- Upskill existing staff
- Develop high calibre staff
More information about the findings of the 2018-19 Apprenticeshps Evaluation can be found within the Employers Research Report on the GOV.UK website.
Funding Options
Degree Apprenticeships come at a minimal cost to employers. Employers fund apprentices via the apprenticeship levy, whereby companies with a staff payroll over £3 million make a contribution of 0.5% of their payroll, paid into their Digital Account through the Apprenticeship Service.
For employers who do not contribute towards the levy, there are other funding methods available such as a transfer of levy funds from another organisation or reserving funds direct with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). You will still need to set up an account with the Apprenticeship Service to access this funding.
Please see the Apprenticeship Service for information on how to create an account if you have not done so already.
Additional funding is also available for employers with fewer than 50 employees if the apprentice is 18 years old, a 19-24-year-old care-leaver or is 19-24 years of age and has a Local Authority Education, Health and Care plan. State Aid rules will apply.
For further guidance on funding options for all employers, please see the Employing an Apprentice, Get Funding page.
Specific guidance for the School Workforce
For School Workforce employers, you may pay the levy through a Governing Body or Local Authority. Please see the below guidance on who will fund the apprenticeship:
- For voluntary-aided and foundation schools the governing body is the employer. If the governing body has a pay bill over £3m it will need to pay the levy and fund the apprenticeship through their own Digital Account.
- For Community and voluntary-controlled schools the local authority is the employer, and so is responsible for payment of the apprenticeship levy for schools and is under their control. Each local authority with a pay bill over £3m will pay the levy. Your local authority should have already let you know how much levy you have available each year.
- For academies, including free schools and academies in multi-academy trusts (MATs), the trust is generally the employer of all the academies’ staff. If the trust’s pay bill is more than £3m then it will need to pay the levy and fund the apprenticeship through the trust’s Digital Account.
- If your school does not pay the levy either on its own or as part of a larger employer group, you will need to secure non-levy funding.
Company Allowance
All levy paying employers can use the funds in their Digital Account to fund apprenticeship training topped up with an additional 10% by the government. From April 2021, levy paying employers are able to pledge up to 25% of their digital allowance via the Apprenticeship Service as levy transfer funding to support smaller employers within the same field. Non-levy employers can apply for the pledged funding in order to fund apprenticeship training.
Incentive Payments
There are incentive payments for hiring an apprentice. For more information please gov.uk.
There is also a government service where an employer can hire an apprentice that has been made redundant. You can apply for an incentive payment when using this service.
Is My Company Eligible?
If the company already runs a training scheme, it does not make them ineligible to take on Degree Apprentices. Instead, such companies can work with higher education institutions to align these with the requirements of the apprenticeship and build the future of their workforce.
More information is available for education and skills apprenticeships and apprenticeship funding.
What Apprenticeships are Currently Available?
For details of all Apprenticeship Courses available at the University of Chester please see our course list.
Why Work with Us?
Our courses are co-designed with employers to ensure that apprentice graduates gain the skills they need to thrive in a competitive industry. We provide you with a dedicated team who are able to assist in account management, recruitment support and pastoral care.