Apprenticeships and Funding
What Apprenticeships are offered?
The new Apprenticeship Standards provide an excellent opportunity to add real value to the training received by your staff, funded through the Apprenticeship scheme.
We offer the following apprenticeships:
- Accounts/Finance Assistant Apprenticeship (incl. AAT Level 2)
- Assistant Accountant Apprenticeship (incl. AAT Level 3)
- Professional Accounting Technician Apprenticeship (incl. AAT Level 4)
- Accountancy / Taxation Professional Apprenticeship (Level 7) (ACA)
How is the Apprenticeship Delivered? What Training is Provided?
Apprentices are provided with a detailed learning plan and programme of study, covering both their exam units and the Apprenticeship knowledge, skills and behaviours elements.
This is a blended programme of learning.
Our AAT learning materials comprise on-line interactive presentations with voice-overs, transcripts, quizzes and tons of practice activities. They are supplemented by traditional study manuals where necessary.
Their personal tutor will arrange a weekly Teams catch up with them to run through any issues arising from their studies during the previous week, provide one-to-one support on anything they “don’t get” in their studies and plan their studies for the coming week, ensuring they are complying with the “off the job training requirements” – see below. In addition, apprentices can liaise directly with their tutor during the week, e.g. to submit a progress test for marking and feedback.
Although the majority of our apprentices are spread across the country and study remotely, we run tutor supported sessions at our venues in Exeter, Falmouth, Plymouth and Taunton. Some of our apprentices attend every week for the whole day, some for half a day, and some as and when they need to.
Exams are only sat when the apprentice has evidenced that they are “ready” by way of successful submission of their practice assessments to us.
Our ACA Level 7 programme is underpinned by taught courses in the South West and the provision of the ICAEW on-line study manuals. Their personal tutor is available to support them throughout. The courses are timetabled to sit one exam at each of the March, June and September sittings.
Your Apprenticeship Journey
How does Apprenticeship Funding work?
This depends on whether you are a Levy payer or an SME, non-levy payer.
Levy payers
Non-levy payers
The Apprenticeship Levy applies to employers with payroll costs of more than £3 Million p.a.
These employers will pay a levy of ½% on the excess over £3 million via the PAYE system into a digital apprenticeship account. This is calculated on a monthly basis.
They can then use this to contribute to any apprenticeship training purchased. If not used, these funds will “expire” and so there is therefore a clear incentive to employ apprentices. “Use it or lose it.”
Funds paid into the levy pot before 1st August 2026 expire if not used within 24 months.
Funds paid in after 1st August 2026 expire after 12 months.
Please note that w.e.f. 1st January 2026, anyone aged 22 or over is not eligible for Level 7 apprenticeship funding.
If the levy paid into your Apprenticeship Service account has been fully utilised a percentage of the additional training cost is covered by a contribution from the government.
For apprentice starts before 1st August 2026, this is 95%.
For apprentice starts after this, the percentage is only 75%.
If the apprentice is aged 16-18 at the start of the apprenticeship, the employer receives an incentive of £1,000, payable half after 3 months employment and half after 12 months.
The employer contribution to the course fees are currently limited to 5% – therefore either £350, £600, £600 or £1,050 for Levels 2, 3, 4 and 7 respectively.
We ask that this be paid either up-front or spread over 10 monthly payments.
However:
For apprentice starts before 1st August 2026, if aged 16-21, there is no employer contribution – i.e. 0%
From 1st August 2026, this 0% is extended to apprentice starts aged 16-24.
As above, If the apprentice is aged 16-18 at the start of the apprenticeship, the employer receives an incentive of £1,000, payable half after 3 months employment and half after 12 months.
In addition, for SMEs / non-levy payers starting an apprentice from 1st October 2026, provided they were employed on/after 1st July 2026, an employment incentive of £2,000 will be paid (in 2 instalments).
For all employers
Don’t forget that Employers NIC is not payable on apprentices aged under 25.
As part of the Government’s Youth Guarantee, a new Youth Jobs Grant of £3,000 is being introduced for hiring 18-24 year olds who have been on Universal Credit for the past 6 months.
The funding aspect of training an apprentice can be a little daunting so do please contact us on 01392 435349 or [email protected].
You can also estimate the cost to you of an apprentice by using our pricing calculator.
A key requirement of the apprenticeship agreement (and the funding rules) is the provision of sufficient off the job training (otjt) to enable apprentices the time to acquire the knowledge skills and behaviours set out in the Apprenticeship Standards.
There are 2 elements to this which are Quantity and Quality.
This used to be 20% of paid working time. It was then changed to 6 hours per week. However, since the introduction of accelerated apprenticeships on the 1st August 2025 and the reduction of the minimum duration of an apprenticeship from 12 months to 8 months, a fixed requirement of otjt hours has been established for each level.
When you take on a new member of staff, practically everything they do will be new to them as they will be developing new knowledge, skills or behaviours. This should therefore be recorded as “off the job training” (o.t.j.t.) on our training logs. A high proportion of their total o.t.j.t might therefore be achieved in their first 3 or 4 months in the office and/or after moving departments or taking on a different role.
We will work closely with you and your apprentices to draft an outline plan of how this o.t.j.t. will be achieved over the period of the Apprenticeship. An added benefit of getting apprentices to record this “in office” o.t.j.t. is that they will better recognise that they have learned new skills and behaviours in the office and will value this more. This is, of course, the traditional training route in the profession – when one took one’s Articles and most learning was performed in the office.
If you would like to discuss the application of the rules to your own situation, do please let us know and we will get back to you. Please call 01392 435349 or email [email protected].