Four changes in this week’s apprenticeship announcements

  1. Extra 20 per cent of funding band limit for 16-18 year-olds (in addition to the £1,000 provider and £1,000 employer incentive)

  2. £60m of "additional support in areas of disadvantage"
    When the SFA published funding proposals in August, it quietly excluded the current disadvantage uplift. This pays up to 32 per cent more funding for apprentices living in the most deprived areas (as per the Index of Multiple Deprivation).

  3. Expiry of funds in digital accounts extended from 18 to 24 months
    The proposal was that levy funding would ‘sun-set’ after 18 months. In other words, an employer would lose access to a monthly fund if it was not used within 18 months.

  4. Softening of new provider register rules and back-peddling on subcontracting
    The SFA has also today published a guide to the new Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers. This was intended to be more rigorous that the existing SFA provider register, which will continue for non-apprenticeship provision. However, the final proposals appear to have been significantly watered down.