Apprenticeship funding for employers

BEST provides funding for intermediate and advanced apprentices, to assist in the payment of training fees.

Financial support for academic year 2011/12 in England:

• 16 - 18 age group apprentices will be fully funded - no employer charge for training*
• 19- 24 age group apprentices will be co-funded on a national rate - employers charged £670 per college term (x3 = £2,010 per year) any discipline/any region
• 25+ age group  apprentices will be co-funded on a national rate - employers charged £800 per college term (x3 = £2,400 per year) any discipline/any region

 *Please note, 16 - 18 is only fully funded where an apprentice is in learning for a complete year. Where an apprentice leaves the programme early without completing a full academic year, the employer will be re-charged all training fees.

Financial support for academic year 2011/12 in Wales:

• All Apprentices - employers charged £800 per academic year any discipline
• Flexible Learners (existing workers) - employers charged £400 per qualification

Financial support for academic year 2011/12 in Scotland DOWNLOAD PDF

The funding provided by BEST is made available by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). At BEST Scotland, Modern Apprenticeships are funded by Skills Development Scotland.

For further information, please contact us on 01628 607 800 and we will be happy to assist you.

BEST does not set the rates of pay offered to an apprentice. It is up to you, the employer, to agree a level of pay. We do, however, recommend that employers have a step rate of pay based on milestone qualification achievements. The B&ES (formerly known as HVCA) can provide guidelines on rates of pay, if required.

Apprenticeship Minimum Wage

From 1st October' 2011 you must make sure all your apprentices are being paid at least £2.60 per hour. For all of the time they are on their Apprenticeship. This includes time working plus the time spent training.

Apprentices aged 19 or over who have already spent a year on their Apprenticeship must be paid atleast the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate appropriate to their age.

You must ensure that any existing apprentices employed on a government funded Apprenticeship continue to receive a wage of at least £95 a week for the remainder of  their training or until they are eligible for the age of the NMW. Please see the following link for any further question you might have regarding the Apprenticeship Wage : http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/employment-matters/rights/nmw/apprenticeship

BEST is funded from income derived from the SFA’s/SDS's and does not charge employers or apprentices for the services it offers.