Apprenticeships for Employers

At Furness College our aim is simple – to support business growth and prosperity through high-quality apprenticeships.

We benefit from a wealth of experience in the area and our expert apprenticeship advisers will work with you to identify and fulfil all your training needs.

We do the hard work for you, matching the right apprentice to the right role.

Apprenticeships explained

An apprenticeship is a genuine job with an accompanying assessment and skills development programme. It is a way for individuals to earn while they learn, gaining valuable skills and knowledge in a specific job role.

In addition to building a business’s skills base, apprenticeships are particularly effective as a form of training, because an apprentice is making a contribution to the workplace while they are learning.

The benefits of hiring an apprentice

Hiring an apprentice is a productive and cost-effective way for you to grow talent and develop a motivated, skilled and qualified workforce.

And with recent government reforms to the way apprenticeships are delivered and funded, they are more aligned to employers’ needs than ever before with a wider range of occupational standards covering virtually every profession.

How are apprenticeships funded?

Apprenticeships are funded in one of two ways:

For businesses whose pay bill is over £3 million

Apprenticeship training is funded through the Growth and Skills Levy which replaced the Apprenticeship Levy in April 2026.

For business whose pay bill is less than £3 million

Apprenticeship training is funded by a contribution of at least 95% from the government rising to 100% in some cases.

Could your business benefit from an extra £8,000?

Employ a young person as an apprentice and you could receive this help as well as getting 100% of their apprenticeship training costs covered. The table below indicates what attracts these additional incentives.

Payment	Age eligibility
£1,000 additional payment for hiring apprentices	16-18 (and under 25 with an EHCP or care leavers
£2,000 foundation apprenticeship incentive	16-21 (and under 25 with an EHCP, care leavers or prisoners and prison leavers
£2,000 apprenticeship hiring payment for non-levy employers	16-24 (new employees)
£3,000 Youth Jobs Grant	18 to 24, if apprentice has been unemployed ad on universal credit for 6 months or more

For more information, contact a member of the Business Development Team:

T: 01229 825017
E: info@furness.ac.uk