Here at YHA, we have shared our apprenticeship funding pot to save an apprenticeship opportunity in another organisation.
We have generously transferred £15,000 from our Apprenticeship Levy fund to enable a Coventry tech company to keep a Level 4 Data Apprenticeship opportunity open.
The transfer was arranged by Baltic Apprenticeships, a specialist provider of Digital, IT and Tech apprenticeship programmes. Levy transfers can be used to cover the costs of apprenticeship training, particularly for medium sized businesses who do not qualify for 100% funding.
The Apprenticeship Levy is a specially ringfenced training fund that all employers with an annual salary bill of over £3m automatically pay into. It was introduced by the government in 2017 as a way to encourage large organisations to invest in apprenticeships. In 2020, the Apprenticeship Levy enabled over 219,000 apprenticeship starts.
We made our donation after a previous funding source fell through, and the business Coventry tech company was faced with the prospect of cancelling the apprenticeship.
Dawn Holden, Recruitment and Training Manager here at YHA said: “We have personally seen huge benefits from our investments in apprenticeship training. Whether this is recruiting for new members of staff or upskilling our team, the results have been phenomenal. One of our impact priorities as part of our 10-year strategy which was launched at the start of 2020 was to develop life skills and employability through several opportunities one of which are Apprenticeships. We also recognised that due to the unusual year we have had that funds were due to expire, so when Baltic called asking for our help, we jumped at the chance to give another organisation the opportunity to realise the benefits of apprenticeship training. We found the process to transfer the funds extremely easy and are proud to be supporting another organisation and apprentice.”
Shelby Cooper, Account Relationship Manager at Baltic Apprenticeships said: “The generosity of YHA has been second to none. For me, the fact that they donated £15,000 to change the future of an apprentice is incredible. If they hadn’t have stepped in, the story could have been very different. I really hope they realise how amazing they are – and how much the receiving organisation appreciate their kindness. Employers like YHA are one of the many reasons I love my job.”
The funding kindly provided will go towards training a Level 4 Data Analyst Apprentice. A Level 4 apprenticeship is equivalent to a foundation degree and consists of a detailed 18-month technical training development programme, carried out in the workplace. Data is a skill for which demand has soared within the UK tech sector, where jobs have grown by 36% since the spring lockdown peak.
