Government funding and Co-investment

The Government's apprenticeship funding website provides information for employers on registering for an apprenticeship service account on the Digital Apprenticeship Service (DAS).

You will also find support on the Government’s apprenticeship pages, detailing how to reserve funding and add an apprentice to your account, along with general information on managing your DAS throughout your apprentice's programme.

The Digital Apprenticeship Service (DAS) can be accessed on the Government’s apprenticeship pages.

If you would like us to support you in managing your DAS, you can give the University of Exeter - delegate access. This will enable us to action the loading, pausing and stopping of apprentices, which you will then confirm at each stage. You will find more information on the Government’s apprenticeship pages.

*We endeavour to keep the information on our Degree Apprenticeship webpages up-to-date and correct. However, our programmes, the apprenticeship levy and apprenticeship rules and regulations, are subject to regular review and development by external bodies such as the Department for Education, the Education Skills and Funding Agency and the Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education. Changes will be made to the webpages as soon as is practicable. 

The Apprenticeship Levy was introduced by the UK government in April 2017 to fund apprenticeships across the UK.

All employers with a pay bill of over £3 million will automatically pay the 0.5 per cent Apprenticeship Levy to the Government.

Employers with a pay bill of less than £3 million will not pay the Apprenticeship Levy but are still eligible for Government funding to access Higher Level and degree apprenticeships. The Government will fund at least 95% of the training costs, with additional incentives available if certain criteria are met.

The levy can be used to fund an apprenticeship with the University of Exeter.

For full and up-to-date information about how businesses take on apprentices, please check the Government's webpages.

If you are a levy-paying business:

• All levy funds are managed through the apprenticeship service and they are held digitally and managed via your online account
• If you are a levy-paying employer your levy must be declared through the PAYE process, apprenticeship funds will then enter your account monthly
• The Government adds 10 per cent to each monthly payment so businesses gain on each contribution

For further information about making your Apprenticeship Levy payments, and how to use them, see the Government's information guide for employers.

Employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy share the cost of training and assessing their apprentices with the Government. This is called ‘co-investment’. You pay 5 per cent towards the cost of apprenticeship training and the Government will pay the rest (95 per cent) up to the funding band maximum.

If you are a non-levy paying business and employ fewer than 50 people, and you recruit a 16-18 year old or a 19-24 year old with an education health and care plan, you may be able to claim 100 per cent Government funding.

Please check the ESFA funding pages for more information.

Levy funds expire 24 months after they enter your digital account unless you spend them on apprenticeship training.

If you have unused apprenticeship funds you can transfer them to another employer using the apprenticeship service. You can transfer a maximum of 25% of your annual levy funds.

Additional payments are available as extra funding to help with any extra costs of training specific groups of apprentices. The different types of additional payments are the 16 to 18 payment, the eligible 19 to 24 payment, learning support and the care leaver’s bursary which is payable direct to the apprentice.

For further information about additional payments please see the current Apprenticeship funding rules and guidance for employers.

We endeavour to keep the information on our Degree Apprenticeship webpages up-to-date and correct. However, our programmes, the apprenticeship levy and apprenticeship rules and regulations, are subject to regular review and development by external bodies such as the Department for Education, the Education Skills and Funding Agency and the Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education. Changes will be made to the webpages as soon as is practicable.