The apprenticeship levy was introduced in the 2015 Budget. In a bid to reach its goal of 3 million apprentices, the government had announced it would be putting an apprenticeship levy in place in 2017. A government document published on 21 April 2016 details how the levy, which comes into force in April 2017, will work. All employers operating in the UK, with a pay bill over £3 million (€3.8 million) each year, will have to make an investment in apprenticeships. The levy will be charged at a rate of 0.5% of companies’ annual pay bills. The levy is expected to bring the government funds of some £3 billion (€3.8 billion) for the period 2019/2020 that will be solely directed at funding apprenticeships.
The Business Minister put a Guidance document online outlining the details of the levy and that also explains the conditions for qualifying as an official apprentice. The apprentice must have a real job, and can be an existing employee or a new hire. Apprentices must work towards achieving approved apprenticeship standards, be in training for at least 12 months, and spend at least 20% of their time on off-the-job training. Further details will be made public in June and a final draft will be av
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