Budget 2025: What You Need to Know About Apprenticeships

Budget 2025: What You Need to Know About Apprenticeships

Much of the press coverage of last month’s budget focused on the perception that the Government was returning to the public “cap in hand” to bolster public finances. In doing so, some of the details around skills, apprenticeships, and employer funding were easy to overlook. Here’s our take:

Youth Guarantee
The Youth Guarantee has been allocated £820 million, including £425 million of new funding. The scheme offers a six-month paid placement for 18–21-year-olds who have been on Universal Credit for at least six months.

Our Take:
As highlighted by many in our sector, the funding would cover just over 1 in 10 young people who are not in education, employment, or training (NEETs): there are currently approximately one million in this category.

Nonetheless, the support for young people and, crucially, for the employers who hire them, could translate into more meaningful jobs. In our experience with the public sector in London, employers are keen to take on young people in the community but face challenges related to the higher costs of training and integration. This funding could be a welcome boost, particularly if it is paired with government-funded apprenticeships at the end of the six-month period, giving employers an incentive to invest in these individuals long-term.

Apprenticeships
There are several notable changes:

  • Programme Budget Increase: An extra £725 million will be added over the next three years, approximately £242 million per year.
  • No More Levy Top-Ups: The 10% uplift for levy-paying employers introduced in 2017 will be removed.
  • Levy Funds Expire Sooner: From 1 April 2026, levy funds will expire after 12 months instead of 24.
  • Levy-Payer Co-Investment Rises: Once a levy payer exhausts their account, co-investment will move to a 75:25 split, meaning employers will contribute more.
  • Fully Funded Apprenticeships for SMEs (under 25s): SMEs can now access full funding for apprentices aged 25 and under, up from under 22.
  • Streamlining Apprenticeship Standards: In line with previous announcements on the Growth and Skills Levy, some standards can be simplified into modular units.

Our Take:
A trend we’ve observed, particularly in the public sector, is that underspent levy funds have created a culture where levy-paying employers are willing to transfer funds to smaller organisations (for example, an NHS Trust transferring to a GP practice).

With the introduction of the Growth and Skills Levy and the option for organisations to spend 50% of their levy on modular courses, a concern for smaller organisations is whether levy transfers will become less available. Larger employers may be less willing to transfer funds if they believe they can now spend the levy on programmes that better meet their needs.

This risk may be compounded by two factors:

  1. The removal of the top-up effectively reduces spending power.
  2. Levy-paying employers will have to contribute 25% of costs once their levy account is exhausted.

It appears the Government is aware of these potential implications and is balancing them with funding incentives for apprentices under 25 and reductions in the time large employers can hold levy funds.

While the focus on young apprentices and the message of urgency is welcome, the complexity of apprenticeship funding and levy transfer processes remains. These new initiatives may inadvertently make larger employers more cautious about transferring funds, potentially limiting the impact of the reforms.

Conclusion

The budget brings meaningful investment and some promising steps, particularly for young people and SMEs. However, the reforms also introduce new pressures for larger levy-paying employers, which may affect how widely levy funds circulate through the system. As ever, the impact will depend on how these changes play out in practice and whether employers feel confident navigating a landscape that continues to shift. For now, the message is clear: opportunities are growing, but so are the decisions employers need to make to use their funding effectively.

The Importance of Quality in Delivering Apprenticeship Programmes

Apprenticeships stand as pillars of opportunity in today’s workforce, offering a blend of practical learning and hands-on experience that enriches both individuals and industries. At the heart of successful apprenticeship programmes lies a commitment to quality.

Applying Skill Development

Quality apprenticeship programmes integrate theory and practice, ensuring apprentices gain relevant and applicable skills.
Quality in apprenticeship programmes begins with meticulous curriculum design and effective teaching methodologies. These programmes are crafted to blend theoretical knowledge with practical application, equipping apprentices with skills that are immediately applicable in real-world scenarios. This structured approach not only accelerates learning but also enhances retention and mastery of skills, laying a solid foundation for long-term career success.

Meeting Required Standards

Collaborating with experts ensures apprentices are trained to meet current and future demands.
Processes evolve rapidly, driven by technological advancements and changing market demands. A high-quality apprenticeship programme is designed in collaboration with experts to ensure alignment with current standards and practices. By staying attuned to the needs, these programmes produce apprentices who are qualified and competent as well as being adaptable to emerging trends.

Applying a Culture of Excellence

High-quality programmes cultivate professionalism, collaboration, and innovation, preparing apprentices for workplace success.
Beyond technical skills, quality apprenticeship programmes emphasise professional conduct, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities. Apprentices learn in environments that promote collaboration and innovation, mirroring the dynamics of real workplace settings. This holistic approach applies a culture of excellence where apprentices strive to meet and exceed expectations.

Enhancing Employer/Manager Engagement

Strong employer involvement provides apprentices with valuable mentorship and tailored opportunities for growth.
Employers play a pivotal role in the success of apprenticeship programmes. A commitment to quality ensures that apprentices are placed in supportive work environments where they can apply their skills under the mentorship of experienced professionals. This engagement is mutually beneficial; employers gain access to a pipeline of talented individuals who are trained according to their specific needs, while apprentices receive invaluable guidance and opportunities for career advancement.

Upholding Accountability and Evaluation

Continuous quality assurance ensures apprenticeship programmes adapt and maintain high standards.
Quality assurance mechanisms are integral to the delivery of apprenticeship programmes, ensuring that standards are consistently met and maintained. Regular assessments, feedback loops, and continuous improvement initiatives allow programmes to adapt to evolving challenges and opportunities. This commitment to accountability not only enhances the credibility of apprenticeship offerings but also builds confidence in stakeholders, including learners, employers, and awarding bodies.

Prioritising quality in apprenticeship programmes unlocks potential for individuals, institutions, businesses and society as a whole.
In conclusion, the importance of quality in delivering apprenticeship programmes cannot be overstated. From fostering skill development and meeting the required standards to nurturing a culture of excellence and driving socioeconomic development, quality ensures that apprenticeships fulfil their promise as pathways to success for individuals and institutions. By prioritising quality, stakeholders can collectively control the transformative power of apprenticeships, creating a future workforce that is skilled, adaptable, and prepared to tackle the challenges of tomorrow. 

Workforce Planning in Health and Care: How Apprenticeships can help

Workforce planning is one of those things in life that could appear to be the answer to all your problems, or a nightmare errand that you can’t get out of. And like many similar things in life, it is probably placed somewhere in the middle, with the potential to swing either way depending on how it is done.

Careful workforce planning is particularly relevant to health and care sector, which is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by technological advancements, policy shifts, and evolving patient needs, including the fact that people are living longer (not complaining!) resulting in increased dependency and demand on the health and care sector.

Health and care organisations must take an innovative approach to workforce planning to adapt to these changes: they need new skills, enhanced capabilities, and innovative approaches to make sure they continue to deliver the best care for their service users. This requires careful planning of workforce, ensuring staff are equipped with the necessary expertise to meet current and future challenges.

My organisation, Community Matters, has been supporting health and care organisations for the last 15 years. We have seen some very effective, structured workforce planning being undertaken, as well as those that are done just as a tick-box exercise. A structured approach to workforce planning should not increase the demand on managing an organisation; on the contrary, it should help managers save time.

Navigating workforce planning: where to start (and finish!)

Workforce planning should not be a task that is included in a manager’s job description. It should be a continuous process, involving the whole organisation. Employees at all levels hold valuable insights into the organisation’s operations, challenges, and service delivery needs. Therefore, engaging the workforce in the planning process helps develop with a comprehensive and practical workforce strategy that aligns with real-world demands.

The process begins with defining the workforce plan: what is the problem you are trying to solve, why do you need a workforce plan, what is the scope of the workforce plan?  This should lead to mapping the service change and defining what your vision is. Within this you should understand and define what your current position is and where you want to get to. What options do you have, what are the benefits, are there any changes or events that may impact on your plan or the service?

The next step is to map the new service and define what its workforce requirements are. Some organisations, understandably, try and fit this to their existing workforce: using the roles that are already there, with the competencies and skills that already exist. Some others prefer, and have the flexibility to, start on a blank piece of paper by looking at the skills needed to deliver the changed service, what roles can be created with the required skill-set and the types and numbers of staff that can fulfil these roles. This could include an activity analysis – it sounds boring but is actually a very good opportunity to engage your team into an interesting conversation about specific activities that are part of the service delivery process. This should look at the types of activity, what the demand for each activity is likely to be, what the competencies to deliver each of the activities are, and which roles (existing roles but don’t shy away from defining new roles or new ways of working) have these competencies.

So, you know where you want to get to, what you need to change, and who you need to deliver. Next step is to see if who you need to deliver the new changed service are available. You may want to think about the age profile and turnover of certain roles within your organisation, what skills your staff currently have and cost of retraining, redeployment and/or recruitment activities. Apprenticeships are a valuable tool in workforce planning, offering a structured way to upskills employees and attract new talent. They can help you grow your own workforce and skillset with perfect alignment to your organisations’ needs, with costs associated with the training and development being paid for you.

The next step is to capture all this intelligence in an action plan. Developing an action plan to address these issues and implementing a system for continuous monitoring and adjustment ensures that the workforce remains adaptable and prepared for the future. You may want to consider engaging an apprenticeship provider who understands your sector when you are developing your action plan as they could help you identify how your aspirations can be delivered using ready-made standards to create a fit-for-purpose workforce.

Apprenticeships: developing your own workforce that stays with you for longer

Apprenticeships provide a sustainable way for health and care organisations to develop their workforce. By offering structured, on-the-job training combined with formal learning, apprenticeships help employees acquire the right skills, knowledge, and values that align with organisational priorities. Some apprenticeship providers, like Community Matters, engage employers in defining what additional modules could be added to the apprenticeship standard that may benefit their apprentices to fit better with the organisational requirements. Investing in apprenticeships boosts employee retention, ensuring a skilled and committed workforce. Additionally, apprenticeships are centrally funded by the government, reducing the financial burden on employers. With recent changes to apprenticeship funding rules, functional skills are no longer a mandatory requirement, making apprenticeships even more accessible.

In a rapidly evolving sector, workforce planning must be a continuous and collaborative effort. Apprenticeships offer a strategic solution for developing a skilled and dedicated workforce, helping organisations adapt to change while improving retention and service quality. Health and care organisations who incorporate apprenticeships into workforce planning will not only future-proof their workforce but also enhance service quality and staff retention. Now is the time to make apprenticeships a key part of your workforce strategy.

HSJ Finalist Workforce Initiative of the Year

We’re honoured to be shortlisted for Workforce Initiative of the Year at this year’s HSJ Awards — one of the most prestigious recognitions in healthcare.
This nomination celebrates the Community and Maternity Champions Project, delivered in partnership with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster City Council. Through this initiative, we’ve not only achieved meaningful improvements in community health but also supported local apprenticeships, workforce development, and empowered individual careers.
Huge thanks to everyone involved — we can’t wait to celebrate this achievement in November!

https://lnkd.in/enQk-i9e

NHS 10-Year Health Plan and what it means for Apprenticeships

28 August 2025

Last month saw the release of the Government’s 10-Year NHS Health Plan – setting out how the health service will modernise to meet the needs of a changing population. While many of the details were already in the public domain – following outline plans, the Autumn Statement, spending reviews, and recent announcements on NHS England and ICB reforms – the document brings them together under one ambitious vision.

WHAT DO WE NOW KNOW?

As anticipated, the plan is anchored around three radical transformations:

  • From hospital to community
  • From analogue to digital
  • From sickness to prevention

In parallel, the restructuring of NHS England and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) will give local systems more power to shape priorities, with greater flexibility over funding and service delivery. However, this new autonomy comes with clear conditions. Trusts and systems will face:

STRICTER FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE

A mandated 2% year-on-year productivity improvement target will be enforced.

INCREASED ACCOUNTABILITY

Organisations that fail to deliver may face statutory interventions, while high performers could gain greater freedoms and financial rewards.

WORKFORCE REFORM

Although a comprehensive workforce strategy is due later this year, the plan outlines key priorities:

  • A focus on inclusive leadership, staff wellbeing, and ongoing development
  • Expanded roles for non-clinical staff, particularly in prevention, digital enablement, and system navigation
  • A commitment to “grow the NHS from within”

INVESTMENT AND FUNDING

The NHS has been provided with significant investment to support these reforms. The Autumn Statement pledged an additional £22.6 billion for day-to-day Department of Health and Social Care spending over the next two years – the largest real-terms increase since 2010.

In addition, the 2025 spending review confirmed a long-term uplift: NHS day-to-day funding will rise by £29 billion annually by 2028‑29, representing a real-terms annual growth of 3%.

Beyond core budgets, transformation-specific investment includes:

  • A £3.4 billion capital investment package
  • A new £1 billion NHS Productivity and Innovation Fund
  • A mandate for NHS organisations to reserve at least 3% of annual budgets for transformation

This investment is also front-loaded – enabling near-term progress and improvements, while long-term structural reform takes root.

WHAT PART CAN APPRENTICESHIPS PLAY IN THIS TRANSFORMATION?

Apprenticeships are already a key component of the NHS’s workforce strategy, and their role looks set to expand. The plan makes multiple explicit references to apprenticeships, including:

  • A renewed commitment to increasing apprenticeship numbers across both clinical and non-clinical roles – notably, the creation of 2,000 additional nursing apprenticeships over the next three years
  • A role for apprenticeships in reducing international recruitment by “growing our own” – providing accessible career routes within local communities

APPRENTICESHIPS SUPPORTING THE THREE TRANSFORMATIONS

1. FROM HOSPITAL TO COMMUNITY

Shifting services into more personalised, community-based care requires a new set of skills and roles. Apprenticeship standards like Community Health and Wellbeing Worker can support the development of roles such as Social Prescribers, Care Navigators, and Health Coaches. Within this, we also recognise the importance of the Integrated Neighbourhood Teams agenda, and how crucial these roles are in ensuring a seamless patient experience across different services that will start to work as a virtual team at a neighbourhood level.

Meanwhile, Healthcare Support Worker and Adult Care Worker apprenticeships can aid the expansion of social care into homes, high streets, and community hubs.

2. FROM ANALOGUE TO DIGITAL

A digital NHS needs a data-literate workforce. Apprenticeships like Data Technician and Data Analyst build technical capabilities, while generalist routes such as Business Administrator and Administration Assistant can be tailored to include NHS-specific digital pathways – covering systems like EMIS, Accurx, and emerging platforms.

3. FROM SICKNESS TO PREVENTION

Prevention requires a workforce trained to spot early warning signs, educate patients, and connect people to community assets. This shift is the culmination of the other two transformations – moving the NHS from reactive to proactive care. Proactive and preventative care requires a good understanding of the individual as a whole, including the wider determinants of health and wellbeing. As with shift 1, roles such as Care Coordinator, Care Navigator and Social Prescribing Link Worker are uniquely positioned to identify wider issues patients and service users may be experiencing, and help the planning and execution of preventative care.

Delivering changes across all three areas requires strategic planning, change management, and financial oversight. The plan places renewed emphasis on leadership – and apprenticeships such as Team Leader and Operational Manager offer practical, accredited ways to build those capabilities from within the system.

A VISION THAT REQUIRES URGENCY

The 10-Year Plan presents a bold and necessary vision. The new Labour Government has described the NHS they’ve inherited as “broken”, stating that “the status quo is no longer an option.” Progress must be faster and more sustained than in previous reform efforts.

Apprenticeships can help drive that progress – enabling inclusive recruitment, local workforce growth, and the development of critical, system-wide skills.