Applications for the new apprenticeship incentive grant are now open.
The grant is available to all apprentices with a start date between 1st April and 30th September 2021. It is also available to apprentices that have a practical training start date between 1st April and 30th November 2021.
What is the incentive grant?
With the new apprentice incentive grant, employers will receive £3,000 per new apprentice. The apprentices can be of any age.
This payment is in addition to the £1,000 employers already receive for hiring an apprentice:
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- Aged 16 to 18 years old
- Under 25 with an education, health and care plan, or who has been in the care of their local authority
To receive the full payment, the apprenticeship must last for at least one year.
Unlike apprenticeship levy funds, you can spend this grant on anything that supports your organisation’s costs; e.g. your apprentice’s travel costs or their salary. You do not have to pay it back.
To claim these funds, you must apply by 30th November 2021.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) will make the payment in two equal installments per apprentice. The first payment will be made after an apprentice completes 90 days of their apprenticeship; the second after 365 days.
How do I apply for the incentive grant?
The first step to applying for the incentive grant is to register on the Government’s Apprenticeship Service. If this is new to you, check out our step-by-step guide to this process.
Once you have registered, you will need to add your apprentice’s details to your Apprenticeship Service account.
Before you start, you will need your:
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- Apprentice’s start date
- Company’s legal name, registered address, and contact details
- Companies House number (if you have one)
- VAT number (if you have one)
- Remittance email address
- Finance Director (or financial lead’s) contact details
- Bank account details
You can then begin your application for the grant under the “Finances” section of your account.
Click the link “Your hire a new apprentice payments” to get started. Under this section, you can both make new grant applications and view your existing applications.
When you make a new payment application you will be asked to confirm that your apprentices are eligible. You will then select which apprentices you want to receive the grant for from the list of apprentices you have added to your account. You can apply for multiple apprentices at one time.
You will then need to confirm each apprentice’s start date. Once this is complete, you need to read and agree to the declaration in order to complete your application.
If your banking information is not complete, you can add this at the next stage. However, you can also leave this step for completion at a later date. This will not affect your apprentice incentive grant application, but it may delay your receipt of payment.
Besides our services as an EPAO, Instructus Skills is a pan-sector skills body and the UK’s largest apprenticeship certification authority.
If you have any questions about applying for the apprentice incentive grant or any other part of the process, contact us today for impartial advice.
