Organisations with an annual wage bill of more than £3 million will pay into the apprenticeship levy, which will fund the apprentice through the programme. Smaller 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’.
For new apprenticeships starting on or after 1 April 2019, you will pay 5% towards the cost of apprenticeship training. The government will pay the rest (95%) up to the funding band maximum.
All apprenticeships that started before 1 April 2019 will continue at the previous co-investment rate of 10% - further information can be found here
As the employer, you play a vital role in ensuring the success of the apprentice, for example by providing on-the-job training which can include practical demonstrations, instruction by experienced workers, shadowing, reading, e-learning, and mentoring. You will need to ensure the apprentice has access to a suitable qualified mentor within your organisation.
To run an in-company programme, you must have at least ten procurement apprentices to train at once. For organisations with fewer than ten procurement apprentices, there are open/syndicated programmes that are currently run virtually and apprentice intakes are bi-monthly.
Apprentices can be new or current employees. CIPS Business Study Centre programme is only open to apprentices over the age of 18, with a grade C (grade 4 to 9) or above at GCSE or an equivalent level 2 qualification in English and Maths. The apprentice must not have studied procurement at level 4 or above before.