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

Financial support for academic year 2012/13 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 £690 per college term (x3 = £2,070 per year) any discipline/any region
• 25+ age group apprentices will be co-funded on a national rate - employers charged £824 per college term (x3 = £2,472 per year) any discipline/any region
• All level 3 apprenticeships will be run as BEST Professional Apprenticeships and include at no extra cost first year student membership of their professional institute and a final year management module.

Apprenticeship Grant for Employers (AGE 16-24):

• Employers will be paid the full amount of £1,500 13 weeks after the apprentice starts
• The scheme is available for businesses with up to 1000 employees
• The number of grants a single employer can claim is increased to 10 (ie 10x £1,500)
• An employer will be eligible for AGE if they have not employed an apprentice in the last 12 months.

These grants are now available through BEST on a first come first serve basis and are effective immediately.

For those employers who have not recruited apprentices in the last year the Apprenticeship grant of £1,500 per apprentice will be added to:

• 16-18 age apprentices will be fully funded for training throughout their apprenticeship
• 19-24 age apprentices will be co-funded with employer training costs of £2,070pa match funded throughout the apprenticeship

See www.bestlicensetopractice.com for details.
*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 2012/13 in Wales:

• All Apprentices - employers charged £850 per academic year any discipline
• Flexible Learners (existing workers) - employers charged £400 per qualification

Financial support for academic year 2013/14 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  2012 you must make sure all your apprentices are being paid at least £2.65 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 pay must be in line with National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate.

For hourly paid operatives employed under the terms of the H&V Operative National Agreement, however the rates for Modern Apprentices are split into three pay bands as follows:

Junior - £ 5.64
Intermediate - £ 8.00
Senior - £10.31

The latest information concerning the National Minimum Wage is available at https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates