Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to offer apprenticeships.

Apprenticeships can support small and medium sized employers (SMEs) to improve their skills base, boost productivity and develop a pipeline of future talent.

To support non-levy paying employers, usually SMEs, to offer apprenticeships, the government pays the full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21 years-old, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 years-old who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care. For all other apprentices, employers who do not pay the levy are required to co-invest 5% towards apprentice training costs.

Employers of all sizes can also benefit from £1,000 payments when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18 years-old, or apprentices aged 19 to 24 years-old who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care. This is in recognition of the additional support that younger apprentices may require when entering employment. Employers can choose how they spend these payments.

Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 where they earn less than £967 a week (£50,270 a year).

Employers that need help with employing an apprentice, including accessing funding, can access the employer support GOV.UK page, which is available here: https://help.employersupport.apprenticeships.gov.uk/hc/en-gb.

The apprenticeship ambassador network is a group of employers and former and current apprentices. Around 35%of the employers are SMEs. Their remit is to inspire greater numbers of employers and individuals to connect with apprenticeships.