The Science Industry Partnership – an employer-led membership alliance representing the UK’s science industries – has added its support to urgent calls for the government to reconsider removing vital funding from the highest level of apprenticeships.

The government has indicated that it plans to prevent employers from using the Apprenticeship Levy to fund apprenticeships at Level 7. All employers with a turnover of more than £3 million are pay 0.5 per cent of their annual wage bill for the Levy, which is set to be replaced by the new Growth and Skills Levy.

Part of the Levy funds apprenticeships in employers of all sizes – many of whom believe there should be greater flexibility around how they spend the money, including Level 7 apprenticeships.

More than 600 NHS trusts, local authorities, trade bodies and employers of all sizes have written to the Chancellor to raise their concerns about plans to defund Level 7 apprenticeships.

Chair of the Science Industry Partnership, Professor Malcolm Skingle, said: “The science industries are a high-growth sector, but we need government to work with us and make it easier, not harder, for us to develop the skills we need.

“As an industry, we must be able to direct the funds we pay through the apprenticeship levy in the way which best supports growth in our sector.

“Level 7 apprenticeships are an important part of that picture and are central to many organisations’ recruitment, retention and upskilling strategies for employees at all levels.

“Defunding these important qualifications without thoroughly consulting the employers who best understand the country’s skills needs is a serious misstep.”

The joint letter to the Chancellor has been coordinated by the University Alliance. For more information, see here: https://www.unialliance.ac.uk/2024/12/12/employers-raise-the-alarm-over-plans-to-cut-funding-for-the-highest-level-apprenticeships/