Hannah Hockley

From April 2026, the Growth and Skills Levy is expected to replace the current Apprenticeship Levy. Not everything has been finalised yet, but enough has been confirmed to give a clearer picture of how levy funding is likely to work in practice.

The latest Budget has brought a few apprenticeship announcements, and while some of the headlines look encouraging, the reality for employers is more mixed.

There’s a lot of noise right now about how many apprentices we need in the UK. Targets are being set. Big numbers are being thrown around. And once again, the focus seems to be on recruitment. How do we get more young people in? How do we fill the gap? How do we make the numbers look better? But here’s the thing. Recruitment isn’t the problem. Retention is. In construction, for example, almost half of apprentices drop out before completing their programme. That’s a huge waste of time, money...