Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate has been made of the total cost to all schools of the apprenticeship levy since the introduction of that policy.

The amount that will be charged to community and voluntary controlled maintained schools’ budgets in respect of the apprenticeship levy will depend on the extent to which local authorities pass the cost through to schools where they employ the staff. The cost of this to schools will depend on the extent to which they make use of their contributions for training apprentices.

The apprenticeship levy will support schools to train up and develop new and existing staff as apprentices, an integral part of this government’s wider plans to improve productivity and provide opportunities for people of all backgrounds and all ages to enter the workplace. Existing members of staff can be designated as apprentices: they do not have to be newly employed.

We will be working to create new apprenticeship opportunities for schools, so that they can make optimal use of the levy. We are also working with local authorities (LAs) to ensure schools, where the LA is the employer, get easy access to the LA’s levy pot.

We have published a guide for schools on how the levy will apply to them, and how schools can make use of it. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/598603/Schools__guide_to_apprenticeship_reforms.pdf