Small and medium-sized companies who have been thinking about taking on an apprentice – perhaps for the first time - are being offered a new grant to transform those thoughts into reality.
The new Apprenticeship Grants for Employers (AGE) are available to SMEs with fewer than 250 employees. Worth £1,500 the wage grants will help eligible employers offer young people aged between 16 and 24 an apprenticeship.
The funding is in addition to the training costs of the apprenticeship framework which are met in full for young people aged 16 to 18 and fifty per cent for those aged 19 to 24.
The funding will start from 1 April, but is also available for employers who have taken on a young person from 1 February. It will finish in March 2013.
Companies can apply for funding for up to three new apprentices, but they must be able to prove that they would not have taken on the apprentice without the additional incentive and that they have not taken on an apprentice in the past three years.
The facts...
- Eligible for companies with less than 250 employees
- Grant worth £1500 for an apprentice
- Additionally the apprenticeship training cost is met in full for young people aged 16 to 18
- 50% of training cost is met for 19 to 24 year olds
- Funding starts from 1 April and finishes in March 2013
For more information, contact the National Apprenticeship Service on 08000 150 600
Article taken from - www.warwickshire.ac.uk/for_employers/employer_news/new_funding_for_smes.aspx
