FAQs

Apprenticeship levy-paying employers can transfer a maximum amount of 50% of their annual funds. They can make transfers from their apprenticeship account to as many employers as they choose. This can be used to support the training costs of apprentices and cannot be used for any other type of training or payroll costs associated with those apprentices.

At the moment you cannot do this. The levy transfer will mirror the way you pay for your own internal apprenticeships if you have any. This means you will transfer your levy in monthly payments as the apprentices you are supporting via transfer go through their programmes. An example of this could be: You have £15,000 available to transfer and you decide to support the care sector. You could support 5 adult care worker apprenticeships which cost £4000 each and are delivered over 12 months. Therefore this would be reasonably straight forward as 80% of your £20,000 would be split over the 12 months as they go through the training, with the remainder (20%) payment at the end when the apprentices go through assessment. Where apprentices are in learning for more than 12 months these payments are taken across different tax years. For the majority of apprenticeships this will be the case. The site has a team of people to support you with more detail around this and emailing info@cooplevyshare.co.uk will allow someone to get in touch to give you support.

If you are a levy donor and you are looking into the possibility of transferring some of your levy, you can use this free site to look at opportunities that smaller businesses have written looking for support. By registering as a transferring organisation and indicating what sort of opportunities you would like to see, you will be shown a host of options you can consider. You are under no contractual obligation, or commitment to support any of these opportunities if you register, but you will be able to see what is out there, allowing you to make informed decisions.

By registering for free on this site, you can create an opportunity which will be shown to levy donors who are also registered on the site. This will mean that your requirements are given maximum exposure to potential donors. It is important to point out that we cannot guarantee a levy transfer match will take place as it is down to levy donor choice, posting an opportunity on the site will certainly raise the likelihood of finding a donor.

Yes. The site works on an algorithm that matches the preferences of levy donors with the information contained in the opportunities businesses looking for a transfer create. Without capturing this information during the registration process the site cannot function as it should.

Upon registration you will receive an email to let you know the team are processing your registration, and you will also receive a diversity stencil which needs to be completed for the apprentices you are seeking support for before approval can be given. When your registration is approved you will receive an email informing you that your registration has been approved.

The Co-op has a specific ambition to close the gap in apprenticeships for individuals from underrepresented groups. Obtaining diversity data enables us to measure the impact of Co-op Levy Share in tackling this underrepresentation. The information provided should be anonymous and is used purely for statistical purposes.

The site is designed to be used by Levy donors to match with employers who they may be able to support with a levy transfer. As a training provider you can support your employers with information about how the service works and assist them with writing their opportunity. Should they require help creating their apprenticeship digital account on the government portal it is expected a training provider would also assist with this process.

Yes - when the donating employer links to the receiving employer through the Apprenticeship Service (AS) to enable the transfer it will display the name of the donating employer and both parties must accept the connection on the AS

No it is free to use for either a receiving or donating employer

Receiving employers are required to pay their apprentices at least national living wage regardless of age which was set at £11.44 per hour in April 2024

Once matches are made, the two parties can decide what, if any, joint PR they would like to work together on. In terms of collaborative PR for the service itself, there may be opportunities further down the line.

When you register you are asked how much you wish to share. (This could be up to the maximum 50% of your previous year’s levy payments). This allows Co-op Levy Share to calculate a theoretical total funding pot available for transfers. It is important to note that no transfers take place through the portal as it is purely a vehicle to highlight potential matches. Transfers still need to be set up using your Apprenticeship Service account and will take place when the receiving employer and the donating employers are connected. Payments are transferred on a monthly basis for the duration of the apprenticeship you are supporting. The Apprenticeship Service does not have the functionality to allow it to default the pledge amount to unspent levy about to be lost.

We would recommend connecting with the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network which will provide networking and opportunities to share good practice. https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/apprenticeship-ambassador-network

Upon registration you will receive an email to let you know the team are processing your registration. When your registration is approved you will receive an email informing you that you can now start to post opportunities on the site.

We have been working closely with the Department for Education when designing this service. The main differences with Co-op Levy Share are that you have a team of people behind the scenes to support you with coordination and communication between all parties involved in the transfer. Co-op Levy Share also has a specific objective to raise participation in underrepresented groups, which is not currently possible with the Pledge, Search and Match system. Employers can work with as many or as few services as they would like.

The apprenticeship/s you are supporting will be funded in their entirety by your transfer. Whilst the apprentice/s are on their programme the cost of the apprenticeship/s will be taken on a monthly basis. Therefore, in order to make the connection with the receiving employer, your pledge value must be at least the value that the receiving employer is asking for.

There is no maximum threshold to use Co-op Levy Share, however, as each donation must fund at least the cost of the lowest value apprenticeship, the minimum pledge value is £3500.

When the connection is made between the two Apprenticeship Service accounts, this allows the receiving employer, working with their training provider to create a cohort. This cohort will contain all the information mentioned in the question and will be sent to the donating employer for final approval. Throughout the process of the transfer the team at Co-op Levy Share will be on hand to ensure that everything goes smoothly.

Within the AS there are some forecasting tools and it is advisable to be aware of your own organisation’s apprenticeship spend commitment before pledging to Co-op Levy Share. The team will be able to support you with this

This is correct and there are some new apprenticeship standards where the end point assessment organisations are still coming online. The Co-op Levy Share team are on hand to support all parties involved in the transfer and this includes training providers if required.

In most cases a receiving employer will have a training provider in place and Co-op Levy Share, which is an impartial service, simply shows the training provider that the receiving employer is going to use for the training which allows Levy donors to make an informed decision.

Co-op Levy Share presents donating employers with opportunities that have been created by employers looking to receive a transfer. This digital service is based on a well established regional service

Yes. The site does not match opportunities on pledge amount so you will see opportunities based on the choices you specify as you register your account. These can be changed at any time in line with your strategic objectives.

Co-op Levy Share is designed for businesses to use to match with each other to share levy. Therefore the receiving employers will need to work with training providers and/or use the government’s apprenticeship vacancy service (https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship) to recruit any new apprentices.

When a receiving employer posts an opportunity, some checks are carried out by the support team behind the site before it can go live on the site. However, when a donating employer is interested in an opportunity further questions can be posed to the receiving organisation through the Levy Share team or via the private messaging service within the site. All this information can be gathered before any decision on transfer is made by the donating employer.

Levy transfers can only pay for apprenticeship training costs. Therefore the small companies would need to work with a training provider to establish what apprenticeship training they require before a donating organisation can arrange a levy transfer to cover the cost of that apprenticeship training.

The service launched on the 6/5/21 and at time of writing (11/4/24) there are currently over 500 businesses that wish to receive funds

This is a difficult question to answer as theoretically the answer could be yes, however prior to 1 April 2024 this figure was only 25% and was increased to 50%. At this time I know of no plans to change this decision

This is really based on timing as it is usually the first donating organisation to start the enquiry around transfer that completes that transfer. In some cases where there is more than one donating organisation interested in the opportunity the receiving business makes the final decision.

We would recommend connecting with the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network which will provide networking and opportunities to share good practice across the wider apprenticeship agenda. https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/apprenticeship-ambassador-network

Yes most definitely as this an underrepresented group.

Yes this would be perfect, and would certainly help to close the ‘opportunity gap’

This really can vary as the service is a matching service and so works on the basis that donating organisations will be shown opportunities of the type they have said they would like to support. Some matches can be made very quickly with the transfer being arranged within 24 hours of the receiving employer posting an opportunity. There are some cases where an opportunity is posted that is not of interest to any of the registered donors in which case unfortunately it doesn’t find a match.

What is a levy transfer?

Can I just transfer 50% of my levy in one lump sum?

How will this site help me with apprenticeship levy transfer if I am looking to donate some of my unspent levy?.

How will this site help me if I need a levy transfer for my apprentice/s?

Do I need to register to see or create opportunities?

I have just registered and want to create my opportunity to be shown to potential levy donors, what happens next?

Why do we need to complete the diversity stencil?

I am a training provider. Can I use the site to see opportunities that have been created by employers looking for a donation?

Will the receiving organisation know which organisation is the donating employer for their apprentice(s)

Does it cost an organisation to register to access the Co-op Levy Share?

What is the minimum wage rate required for apprentices to be funded using Co-op Levy Share?

Is there any collaborative PR planned to raise awareness of this initiative that pledging companies should be aware of or can contribute to?

On the Apprenticeship Service, do we need to specify an amount each time we want to support a cohort of apprentices, or is there an option to select a default of using unspent levy that is about to be lost?

If we sign up, will there also be advice on how we as employers can better use our levy for developing our own teams?

I have just registered to be a receiving employer. What happens next?

What are the benefits of using this service compared to the government site?

Do we have to fund an entire apprenticeship or just choose to pay over an amount of levy share?

Is there a minimum/maximum threshold for donating organisations for pledges?

How does donating work within the funding rules? Do the transferor and transferee need to agree the standard, total negotiated price and volume of apprentices? Do we need direct contact between transferor and transferee to facilitate that transfer in AS?

Do pledging organisations need to prepare forecasts so that they know exactly how much levy they have available to share?

As not all apprenticeship standards have an End Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO) attached, is it worth restricting the service to those standards that do have an EPAO in place?

A problem with the levy transfers for businesses has been finding an organisation that is in a position to take on an apprentice. Why do you think this service will succeed where the existing levy fund doesn’t?

Can you search for opportunities before committing the pledge amount so you know what amount to pledge?

How do apprentices find the opportunities? Is that through the Co-op site or directly with employers?

How are the companies presenting opportunities checked? What are the minimum requirements? Modern slavery, code of conduct, race charter etc?

I will be looking into the Co-op site for more information, but was wondering how it works in practice with small companies that do not have training providers? Can we just make donations?

How many businesses have signed up that wish to receive funds so far?

Is there a chance that the 50% amount we can donate will be reduced by the government at any point?

If more than one company wants to donate to a specific organisation, how does the service decide which one provides the financial support?

Can we create a network of donating employers to share good practice and maximise the impact of the service?

Does this scheme extend to apprentices with disabilities?

As a large employer, we want to transfer some of our levy to some of our partner charities linked to our social mobility plan. If we were to use your matching service, could we encourage our partner charities to sign up and not only benefit from our levy but potentially other employers?

What is the timescale an employer can expect to wait until receiving a response, and hopefully confirmation of levy share on their request via the service