A YouGov survey, commissioned by Pearson Business School, has found that the majority of UK businesses are unaware of recent changes intended to improve the apprenticeship levy and suggests that much more needs to be done to engage with businesses to communicate these changes more effectively. The recent changes increased the amount of levy funds which employers could share with other employers from 10% to 25% and cut the co-investment rate non-levy paying firms needed to contribute from 10% to 5%. The poll of more than 1000 employers found that 82% were unaware of the first change and 81% unaware of the cut to the co-investment rate. However, the survey also found more than half of businesses (53%) said they could be encouraged to take on more apprentices if there was greater flexibility on apprenticeship funding or more information on accessing funding.
