What are apprenticeship standards funding bands?

How much funding do you get for apprenticeships? 

Apprenticeship funding bands include training and assessment costs for the entire programme duration. Each apprenticeship is allocated to one of 30 funding bands which range from £2.5K to £27K. There’s an upper limit to each funding band, which sets the maximum amount of digital funds a levy-paying employer can use towards an individual apprenticeship.

This upper limit also sets the maximum price that the government will ‘co-invest’ towards an individual apprenticeship (where an employer doesn’t pay the levy or has insufficient digital funds). Government guidance on individual funding bands can be found here.

What is ‘maximum funding’ for apprenticeships?

All apprenticeship standards have a funding limit which the government is prepared to contribute to. It’s also the maximum an employer can spend on a specific apprenticeship programme.

If the costs of training go over the maximum for the funding band, employers will need to pay the difference (for example, if you want to include an additional certification alongside an apprenticeship).

Funding bands are allocated based on apprenticeships with similar characteristics, same route, level and durations. There bands are subject to funding reviews too, so it’s worth checking current funding bands. 

Apprenticeship levy funding bands

At Lifetime, we do not charge over any maximum funding bands. However, some of our higher-level programmes allow employers to invest in additional certificates alongside the apprenticeship if they wish.

All our prices include the End-point assessment cost if you choose to go with our partner EPA organisation, Innovate Awarding. Otherwise, we can support manage your funding with alternative EPAOs. We work with you to navigate funding rules and budget your levy spending using our levy calculator tool, so you can stay within complete control of your levy funds.

Have more questions on funding rules? Get your specific questions answered by getting in touch with our experts.