Apprenticeship levy funding
Community and voluntary controlled schools
Community and voluntary controlled (C/VC) schools can access apprenticeship funding through Devon County Council’s (DCC) apprenticeship levy as DCC is the employer for these schools.
If you are from a C/VC school and are interested in an apprenticeship, or have a member of staff who is, please review the guide to apprenticeships for the schools workforce and contact the DCC Apprenticeship Team (apprenticeships@devon.gov.uk) for further information and support.
Foundation and voluntary aided schools
Foundation and voluntary aided (F/VA) schools can also access apprenticeship funding through the DCC apprenticeship levy.
Up until recently, F/VA Schools have been unable to access apprenticeship funding due to changes made by the Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to the Digital Apprenticeship Service Account which impacted organisations within a pooled PAYE scheme.
The apprenticeship funding rules changed on 31 October 2023 enabling councils to use some of their own levy funds to fund apprenticeships in other organisations that are part of their pooled PAYE schemes. F/VA schools affected by the pooled PAYE issue will now be able to access apprenticeship funding through the DCC apprenticeship levy.
If you would like to utilise apprenticeships within your F/VA school, you must contact the DCC Apprenticeship Team (apprenticeships@devon.gov.uk or call 01392 383000 and ask for “apprenticeships”) in the first instance to request access to funding. This must be done prior to contacting training providers. The Apprenticeship Team will confirm if funding is available and provide further guidance on the process.
Please note, at present DCC levy funds are available for all non-levy paying F/VA schools to utilise for any apprenticeships. Levy funds are finite, so we will review the process for F/VA schools twice yearly (April and October). If any changes to the process are made, these will be communicated via this webpage.