Grants for hiring and training staff

The main public money for hiring and training staff in England is apprenticeship funding. Since 1 August 2026 the government pays all training costs for apprentices aged 16 to 24, and employers can receive extra payments of £1,000 and up to £2,000 for taking them on.

Start a funding searchFind what fits

How apprenticeship funding works in England

Apprenticeship training in England is paid for through the apprenticeship levy and government funding. An employer whose annual pay bill is over £3 million pays the levy at 0.5% of that pay bill, less an allowance of £15,000 a year. Connected companies count their pay bills together and share one allowance. The levy is collected through payroll by HM Revenue & Customs.

The money a levy payer can spend arrives in its apprenticeship service account each month, worked out from the levy paid and the share of the pay bill going to employees who live in England. Funds that enter the account from August 2026 expire after 12 months if they are not used. You can transfer up to 50% of your annual funds to another employer, such as a supplier or a smaller business in your area.

The government calls the reformed system the growth and skills levy. Since 1 August 2026 levy funds pay for apprenticeships, foundation apprenticeships and apprenticeship units, which are shorter courses in a part of an apprenticeship standard. Level 7 apprenticeships, at master’s degree level, have been funded since 1 January 2026 only for apprentices who start before the age of 22, or before 25 if they have an education, health and care plan or have been in care.

What the levy costs a larger employer

Illustrative example

A company group with a combined annual pay bill of £4 million, all in England.

Annual pay bill
£4,000,000
Levy at 0.5%
£20,000
Less the levy allowance
−£15,000
Apprenticeship levy for the year
£5,000
The £5,000 comes back into the group’s apprenticeship service account to spend on training, and expires after 12 months if it is not used.

Who pays for apprenticeship training

Employer that does not pay the levyLevy payer whose funds have run out
Apprentice aged 16 to 24Government pays all training and assessment costs up to the funding band maximumGovernment pays all training and assessment costs up to the funding band maximum, for starts from 1 August 2026
Apprentice aged 25 or overEmployer pays 5%, government 95%Employer pays 25%, government 75%
Extra payment for an apprentice aged 16 to 18£1,000£1,000
Hiring payment for an apprentice aged 16 to 24Up to £2,000, paid in two instalments, for practical periods starting from 1 October 2026Not available
The £1,000 payment also applies to apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an education, health and care plan or have been in care. Figures from the Department for Education’s apprenticeship funding guidance, updated 29 July 2026, and the funding rules for August 2026 to July 2027.
A dockworker securing containers on a ship at Felixstowe

Foundation apprenticeships and apprenticeship units

Foundation apprenticeships are shorter entry-level programmes for young people starting out in a sector. The government’s guidance says employers can receive up to £2,000 for one, paid in instalments, and the funding rules confirm that the hiring payment for employers outside the levy applies to foundation apprenticeships.

Apprenticeship units started in April 2026. They let you train an existing employee in a specific part of an apprenticeship standard without a full apprenticeship, and levy payers can fund them from their account. Where a levy payer has run out of funds, the government pays 75% of the eligible cost of a unit starting on or after 1 August 2026.

A training provider on the government’s register of apprenticeship providers delivers the training and claims the government’s share. The extra payments for employers go through the apprenticeship service, and the funding rules set out when each instalment is paid and what happens if the apprentice leaves early.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Skills policy is devolved, so the English funding rules, the hiring payment and the foundation apprenticeship payment apply to England only. The levy itself is a UK-wide tax: an employer in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland with a pay bill over £3 million pays it in the same way, but only the share relating to employees living in England reaches an apprenticeship service account.

In Scotland, Skills Development Scotland funds Modern Apprenticeships and Graduate Apprenticeships. In Wales, Medr, the commission for tertiary education and research, funds apprenticeships. In Northern Ireland the Department for the Economy runs ApprenticeshipsNI. Each sets its own rates by age and sector, so ask the body for your nation before you budget for a new starter.

Other hiring and training grants are local and come and go. Councils and growth hubs run schemes for particular sectors or areas, and our grant finder lists the central government ones open today. Swoop’s platform also matches businesses with grants. Where a training programme is part of a larger investment, the grant schemes on England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can count training costs toward a project.

Before you take on an apprentice

Choose the standard

Each apprenticeship standard has a funding band, which caps the training and assessment costs the government will pay toward. Costs above the band are yours.

Choose the provider

The training provider agrees the price with you, delivers the off-the-job training and arranges the end-point assessment.

Check the payments

Confirm the apprentice’s age at the start of training, whether you pay the levy and the start date, because each decides which payments you receive.

Questions people ask

Do I have to pay for apprenticeship training?

In England, not for an apprentice aged 16 to 24: since 1 August 2026 the government pays all training and assessment costs up to the funding band maximum, including for levy payers whose funds have run out. For an apprentice aged 25 or over, an employer outside the levy pays 5% and a levy payer out of funds pays 25%.

What grant do I get for hiring an apprentice?

In England, employers receive £1,000 for an apprentice aged 16 to 18, or aged 19 to 24 with an education, health and care plan or care experience. Employers that do not pay the levy can also receive a hiring payment of up to £2,000 for apprentices aged 16 to 24 whose practical period starts from 1 October 2026.

Who pays the apprenticeship levy?

Employers with an annual pay bill over £3 million. The levy is 0.5% of the pay bill, less a £15,000 annual allowance that connected companies share. It is paid through payroll to HM Revenue & Customs and comes back as funds in the apprenticeship service account.

What is the growth and skills levy?

The government’s name for the reformed apprenticeship levy. Since 1 August 2026 levy funds in England can pay for apprenticeships, foundation apprenticeships and apprenticeship units, and funds entering an account from that date expire after 12 months.

Can I get funding to train existing staff?

In England, an existing employee can start an apprenticeship, with the same funding rules by age as a new recruit. Apprenticeship units, introduced in April 2026, fund training in one part of an apprenticeship standard. A levy payer pays from its account, and once those funds run out the government pays 75% of the eligible cost of a unit.

Finance is subject to status and to the lender’s terms. A personal guarantee makes you liable for the company’s debt if it does not repay, and it can be enforced against your own assets, including your home. Nothing here is a personal recommendation.

Grants

Business grants in England

Central government, mayoral authorities, councils and growth hubs, and where to look.

Read more →

How do business grants work?

Match funding, claims paid in arrears, subsidy control, clawback and tax.

Read more →

Working capital finance

How the trading cycle ties up cash, and which short-term finance fits each gap.

Read more →

Start-up business funding

Your own money, Start Up Loans, angels, grants and asset finance for a business in its first years.

Read more →
All business funding

Start a funding search

Start a funding search

Funding searches run on Swoop’s platform. Swoop Finance Limited is a credit broker and not a lender, and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 936513). Buzz Accounting Ltd introduces businesses to Swoop and may receive a fee from Swoop when funding is arranged. Business funding is separate from the financial advice Equity & General Financial Services Limited gives through this website. Finance is subject to status, and a lender may ask a director for a personal guarantee.

Cover for a personal guarantee

If a lender asks you to guarantee the company’s borrowing, our advisers can advise on life cover for that debt.

Request a meeting