Employers

FW Solutions work with you to create an advert for your vacancy. This is placed on the Government ‘Find an Apprenticeship’ website and FW Solutions’ website free of charge. Vacancies are also regularly posted on our social media platforms and sent to local school’s careers departments.

We telephone interview all applicants to filter out the best match to your vacancy. We then set up formal interviews on your behalf at times suitable for you, either in person or by video conference.

We regularly receive CVs for candidates looking for a suitable apprenticeship position so we will also use this database of learners to make sure we find you the best possible match.

Once you have chosen a successful applicant you follow your own organisation’s recruitment procedure.

During this time, FW Solutions will arrange a curriculum meeting to plan and agree the Off the Job training that your apprentice will undertake.

All organisations will receive an incentive for employing an apprentice aged 16-18. This £1000 incentive is paid to you in two instalments after the apprentice has been in learning for 3 and 12 months. This incentive is also paid for some groups of apprentices up to the age of 24, for example if they have an Education, Health and Care Plan. Please discuss these incentive payments and your eligibility with the Employer Engagement Team.

Incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice are available for any organisation, no matter the size or the sector.

Employers can make up to 10 new reservations

Employers can reserve funding three months before an apprentice’s expected start date and have a further two months after the planned reservation month to start their apprentice. If no commitment is made on the apprenticeship service by then, the reservation will expire.

Funds transferred from employers who pay the levy to other employers through the apprenticeship service are not included when measuring the number of reservations.

Employers who do not pay the Apprenticeship Levy can reserve funds for training and assessment in the ‘finance’ section of their apprenticeship service account. They can also give training providers permission to do this on their behalf.

FIND OUT MORE

To access the Government incentives for hiring an apprentice, you must claim them through your Apprenticeship Service account. You can request an invitation to join from the Employer Engagement Team or follow this guidance.

Employers will hold a contract with FW Solutions and access funding through the service.

Employers should reserve their funding on the service at least four weeks in advance of the apprentice start date.

Employers can delegate permissions to us, your Training Provider, to administer your accounts once the initial set up is complete.

The FW Solutions Team will support you to:

1. Create an account
2. Add PAYE
3. Accept the FW Solutions/employer agreement
4. Reserve and manage your funding for apprentices
5. Link the funding to FW Solutions
6. Let us do the rest!

You can also advertise for apprentices on this service should you wish to.

The Apprenticeship Levy is a UK tax on employers which can be used to fund apprenticeship training. In the current tax year, it is payable by all employers with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million at a rate of 0.5% of their total pay bill. It underpins the Government’s growth and reform programme to significantly increase the quantity and quality of apprenticeships.

• Levy paying employers access their funds through the online Apprenticeship Service. The funds in their accounts are available to spend on apprenticeship training in England. For more advice and information visit.

• The Levy is there to fund apprenticeship training for all employers. Any unspent Levy funds are returned to the Treasury and used to support existing apprentices to complete their training and to pay for apprenticeship training for smaller employers.

• The Government understands that employers need flexibility and they have extended the amount of time employers have to spend their levy funds from 18 to 24 months. Levy paying employers can now also transfer up to 25% of their Levy funds to other employers. Click here for further information and guidance on why you should transfer your levy funds.

Apprenticeships can be funded by a levy paying employer transferring up to 25% of their unused levy to a different employer.

Transferred funds are used to pay for 100% of the training and assessment costs of the apprenticeship up to the funding band maximum.

Transferred funds cover the cost of the whole duration of the apprenticeship.

You need an apprenticeship service account to apply for a transfer to fund an apprenticeship for your business.

If you do not have an apprenticeship service account you can read the guidance on setting one up.

Before logging into your account and starting the process you need to:

• know which apprenticeship standard your apprentices will be undertaking
• know how many apprentices you need funding for
• know the location of where your apprentice will be working from
• know the expected apprentice start date

Transfers must be made within the financial year which ends March 2022.

You can apply for multiple apprentices within one application if they are doing the same apprenticeship. If your apprentices are doing different apprenticeships you need multiple applications.

Once you have applied for a transfer you can see the status of your application in your apprenticeship service account.

Your application is shared directly with the employer. They will review and confirm if they have accepted your application.

If your application is rejected you can apply for another transfer or get funding via reservation

Click here for the full guidance.

The free LEP Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Service was launched in November 2019 to ensure that as many businesses across the Leeds City Region have the opportunity to offer apprenticeships.

The Apprenticeship Service (AS) is an online portal where you manage your apprentices, payments to training providers and apprenticeship levy.
You can register for an account at: https://bit.ly/31ZMKS0
The Apprenticeship Service Account Helpline is open from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday.
Call: 08000 150 600 or email: helpdesk@manageapprenticeships.service.gov.uk

The Transfer Process 

1. The Apprenticeship Levy paying company pledges an agreed amount of Apprenticeship Levy funding they are willing to transfer for use by local businesses and provides any specific requirements for use of their Levy contribution eg geography, target group, sector.  
2. The LEP will then facilitate introductions between the Apprenticeship Levy paying business and a training provider, on a first come, first served basis. This will also be based on the date of entry of the apprenticeship(s) onto the Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Register.  
3. Where a business is looking for support in funding an apprentice, the LEP will ask the training provider to which they are matched with to contact us on their behalf. This is due to the training provider being the businesses main point of support when dealing with an Apprenticeship Levy Transfer and will have the knowledge and expertise to support with the use of the apprenticeship service. 
4.  When a match is identified, the Apprenticeship Levy paying business will be contacted to provide details of the proposed receiving business, the type of apprenticeship and the costs associated.  
5. Once the Apprenticeship Levy paying business agrees to the Apprenticeship Levy transfer, the training provider is notified and an introduction meeting is arranged in which further discussions can be made to complete the Apprenticeship Levy transfer.  
6. When the transfer takes place, both the levy paying business and the training provider will use the apprenticeship service to complete the transfer. 

• Employers have 24 months to use their funds once they enter their Apprenticeship Service account, after this point, their funds will expire and be returned to the Treasury. The funds expire to encourage Levy paying employers to invest in high-quality training and assessment and to prevent levy payers from accruing very large balances. However, any unspent levy funds within each financial year are then used to support existing apprentices to complete their training, pay for apprenticeship training for smaller employers and additional payments to support apprentices.

If you are a Local Authority school then please contact your Workforce Development unit. If you are a school academy independent from your Local Authority, please speak to your school Business Advisor about how to access the Levy funds for your school. Click here for the Government guide on apprenticeships for the school workforce.