Apprenticeship funding bands outcome report
The funding outcomes report:
- confirms the latest decisions made by the Department for Education on apprenticeship funding bands from October 2023 onwards
- includes the funding outcomes for both new and revised apprenticeships
- shows the percentage of change between final funding bands (revisions only)
Allocating funding to apprenticeships
Each apprenticeship is allocated to one of 30 funding bands, which range from £1,500 to £27,000.
Each funding band sets the maximum amount of digital funds an employer (who pays the levy) can use towards an individual apprenticeship.
The funding band also sets the maximum price that government will ‘co-invest’ towards an individual apprenticeship, where an employer does not pay the levy or has insufficient digital funds and is eligible for extra government support.
IFATE recommends funding bands to the Secretary of State for Education, who makes the final decision on the band maximum assigned to each apprenticeship.
Prior to the current funding model, we made funding band recommendations using a quotes-based methodology. This was retired in November 2022.
Changes to funding bands
IFATE review apprenticeship standards periodically to ensure they continue to meet employers’ needs. When an apprenticeship is updated, the funding band may also need to be reviewed by IfATE to ensure it reflects the cost of delivery and assessment.
IfATE may also review a funding band in other circumstances, such as lower than expected starts.
When IfATE reviews a funding band, we consider the presented evidence in each case in line with our published guidance. This means that revised funding bands can increase, decrease or stay the same.
More information is set out in our published change process.
Frequency of publication
We will update the report on a six weekly basis. Due to the timescales of our approvals processes, this may mean some updates include more data than others and there may be a slight data lag.
IfATE strives for greater transparency and so the summary table sets out (for revisions) the percentage changes to individual funding bands. However, simple comparisons between different apprenticeships should be avoided. Funding band calculations are based on the evidence of typical eligible costs for each apprenticeship and in some cases, the percentage change will vary considerably depending on the unique circumstances and features of each case. To find out more about what’s changed during revisions, please go to the individual apprenticeship webpage where you can use version control to see the changes in detail.
Enquiries relating to the delivery of apprenticeships should be directed to the Education and Skills Funding Agency.
Please email us if you have any suggestions to how we can improve this report.
Published 16 January 2024
Last updated 4 April 2024
(SG, AG)