Ninety Per Cent of the Work, Thirty Per Cent of the Money: The Apprenticeship Units Launch

5 hours ago
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Skills England published the funding rates for all ten apprenticeship units on 21 April, and the earliest starts are 28 April [FE Week]. That's less than a week away. Colleges and training providers that haven't yet looked at the payment model in detail should do it now.

Thirty per cent at the milestone. Seventy on completion.

Here's the structure. Providers receive 30% of a unit's funding rate when a learner completes 30% of their planned hours. The remaining 70% only arrives once they've finished all hours and passed a skills test. Deliver 90% of a programme and have a learner drop out? You get 30% of the total.

For a welding unit at £2,100, that's £630. For modular building assembly at £3,200, it's £960. Training providers are already calling the model "not a winning formula". There's a second clause worth flagging: the government can withdraw any unit with four weeks' notice while keeping affordability "under review". Colleges building curriculum around solar PV or battery manufacturing units have very little runway to adapt if that happens. Whether the risk is manageable depends on planned cohort size and realistic drop-out rates. But going in without modelling that first would be a mistake.

The ten units and what they pay

The full list: permanent modular building assembly (£3,200, 140 hours), welding (£2,100, 90 hours), mechanical fitting and assembly (£1,650, 70 hours), electrical fitting and assembly (£1,650, 70 hours), battery manufacturing (£1,650, 70 hours), EV charging point installation (£950, 35 hours), solar PV installation (£950, 35 hours), and three AI leadership units at £750 each for 30 hours [FE Week]. All target employed adults aged 19 and over whose employers have identified specific upskilling needs. Career changers don't qualify.

The levy is tightening too, from August

From 1 August, levy funds expire after 12 months instead of 24. The 10% government top-up ends. And when levy funds run out, employer co-investment rises to 25%, with government covering 75% [DfE]. A 50% rule also applies: employers can direct up to half their annual levy to units, but at least half must remain available for full apprenticeship programmes.

Employers sitting on unspent levy balances now have a shorter window to commit them. College employer engagement teams should be having this conversation before August, not after.

Two things worth checking today

The DfE issued Adult Skills Fund allocations for 2026-27 through the MYESF portal on 22 April, alongside advanced learner loan facilities and bursaries for the coming year [GOV.UK]. Around 76% of the £1.44bn fund flows through strategic authorities, up from 67% in 2025-26. If your college is in a devolved area, the route to your allocation is via your strategic authority, not the DfE directly.

And today is the deadline for HMRC to apply for permission to appeal the Colchester Institute VAT ruling to the Supreme Court [FE Week]. Finance teams at the 20-30 colleges with pending VAT reclaim positions will want to watch for any announcement today.