The current Apprenticeship Levy restricts employers to spending funds only on full apprenticeship standards. While apprenticeships remain essential, many businesses have struggled with the lack of flexibility, especially when they need shorter, targeted training in areas like digital transformation, AI, data, or leadership.
The Growth and Skills Levy, expected to take effect from April 2026, is designed to address these challenges by allowing employers to use their levy funds for a wider range of training that supports productivity, innovation, and economic growth. Early policy signals point to a system that will:
This marks a major shift toward a more modern, responsive skills system.
More flexibility in how training is funded
Businesses will be able to invest levy funds in a broader set of programmes, including shorter, modular, or specialist training. This allows employers to respond quickly to skills gaps, technological change, and operational needs.
Stronger alignment with digital transformation
The UK’s digital skills gap continues to widen. The Growth and Skills Levy is expected to prioritise training that supports AI adoption, automation, data literacy, and digital leadership. This aligns directly with the capabilities employers need to remain competitive.
Better support for leadership and management development
The new levy will likely allow employers to fund targeted leadership programmes, enabling them to strengthen management capability without committing to long apprenticeships unless they choose to.
A clearer return on investment
With more choice and more relevant training options, employers will be able to invest in skills that directly impact productivity, efficiency, and growth.
Velocity Academy is uniquely positioned to help employers navigate this shift. Our programmes already blend long‑form apprenticeship standards with short, intensive training options, and the Growth and Skills Levy will allow us to expand this even further.
We work with employers to map their workforce needs against digital, data, and management capabilities. Under the new levy, this will include helping organisations:
Our Level 4 AI and Automation Practitioner apprenticeship is a flagship example of how employers can build deep, job‑ready capability. Learners gain practical skills in:
This programme creates AI‑native professionals who can automate processes, improve productivity, and support digital transformation from within.
To support the new levy’s flexibility, Velocity Academy will also offer short apprenticeship units, including a focused AI Leadership unit. This will help managers and decision‑makers understand:
These shorter units will be fully fundable under the Growth and Skills Levy, giving employers a fast, accessible way to build leadership capability without committing to a full apprenticeship.
The Growth and Skills Levy represents a major opportunity for employers to rethink how they invest in people. Instead of choosing between long apprenticeships or unfunded short courses, businesses will be able to build blended learning pathways that match their strategy, pace, and priorities.
Velocity Academy will support this shift by offering:
This combination gives employers the flexibility they have been asking for and ensures that training delivers measurable impact.
To keep up to date with the constant changes in funded training policy, contact Velocity Academy today and one of our expert advisors on apprenticeship funding will be able to give you insights into the recent changes and provide case scenarios to better align your future training needs.
I have loved every part of my Marketing apprenticeship with Velocity Academy. Paired with hands on experience at JCB, a leading construction and agricultural equipment manufacture and the outmatched guidance from the Velocity team, I achieved a distinction for this course.
We have chosen to continue, and expand, our partnership with Velocity Academy due to outstanding working relationship we’ve built together. From the very beginning, Velocity have shown exceptional flexibility in accommodating our evolving requirements, often going above and beyond to tailor their delivery to our operational needs, always putting the wellbeing of the learners first. Velocity Academy have delivered consistent quality in both teaching and customer services (namely Lee and Emma) making them a trusted partner in delivering apprenticeships to our employees.
My experience with Graham at Velocity Academy has been nothing short of exceptional. His professionalism, expertise, and commitment to finding the right apprentices have been very impressive.
Once the candidates were selected, the transition to getting them on board was remarkably quick and seamless. Graham efficiently handled all the necessary paperwork and administrative tasks, making the onboarding process hassle-free.
I would recommend their services to anyone in search of apprentices who will make a positive impact on their business. Our apprentices are excelling in their roles and continuously developing their skills.
Velocity Academy sourced a fantastic Apprentice Developer on our behalf and we couldn’t have been happier with the service. Regular check-ins, guidance and support from the start and genuine care were put into the recruitment process from Velocity, which meant they came up trumps with a cracking candidate. They have been outstanding. Thanks Velocity!
