TRAINING & EDUCATION
There are currently six different levels of apprenticeship, allowing for a ‘tailor-made’ pathway for candidates looking for the right specialty and starting point for their entry into care. This can range from Level 2 Adult Care Worker to Healthcare Practitioner roles at Level 5.
At Qube Learning, we run a Skills-Scan analysis for applicants (whether that’s a teenage trainee or a care worker with 20 years’ experience) to ensure that they are placed onto the correct programme of learning, a process which has previously delivered improved engagement and retention between care providers and their apprentices and workers.
In the care sector particularly, a strong commitment to training is central to recruitment and retainment aims and it’s important to communicate that there is an entire career path – an apprenticeship in care can lead to a long and rewarding career for those who want it. The apprenticeship programme can progress on to further qualifications, and later, positions to run care homes or steps into teaching and training.
DEMYSTIFYING THE APPRENTICESHIP LEVY
The bottom line for care providers is that they can tap into excess Apprenticeship Levy funds to support their own apprentices. The full 100% of the apprenticeship costs can be covered with a Levy transfer.
Let’s break it down. The Apprenticeship Levy is a savings pot for apprenticeship training costs and for employers with a pay bill of over £3m per annum it is charged at a rate of 0.5%. But for non-
levy paying employers, the funding is still there to access, with the government paying out 95% of the costs of an apprenticeship.
For many large companies it can be difficult to spend all the funds they have put aside for apprenticeships, and aſter 24 months any unused levy funds expire and return to the government. To give you an idea of scale, FE Week revealed in October 2022 that over £2bn had been returned since the levy launched in 2017.
To avoid the Apprenticeship Levy funds of large companies ‘expiring’, employers who pay the levy can transfer the money to smaller businesses who don’t pay the levy – such as a care provider. The only requirement is that the money must be spent, as the name of the levy suggests, solely on apprenticeships training and assessments.
It’s that simple. This is a great opportunity for smaller care companies, who can take advantage of the transfer as a ‘giſt’, to upskill and grow small workforces from Level 2 or GCSE upwards, at low expense. In economic terms this is called ‘a redistributive tax,’ and it’s one which a care business could benefit from enormously in terms of boosting recruitment, growing the workforce, and saving money.
Training providers like Qube Learning specialise in different areas so look for one that covers both your geographical location and type of care sector apprenticeship the business needs.
Remember, apprenticeships don’t just apply to young people – care providers can also look to maximise the experience already held within the business. The Apprenticeship Levy funds can be used to develop both a current and future workforce of leaders and managers, so these training options can be a valuable retainment tool too, alongside recruitment.
There has never been a more critical point for care providers to tap into the availability of training opportunities and government funding. Apprenticeships can help attract new people to what can be a successful and rewarding career at a time when we need more care workers than ever before.
www.qube-learning.co.uk/levytransfers twitter.com/TomorrowsCare - 33 -
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