Under the current eligibility rules, the grant will continue to operate for the rest of the 2014/15 financial year and additional funding has been approved to support demand within this period. This will be used for apprentices with start dates up to 31 December 2014.
A new AGE 16 to 24 programme will begin from January 2015 focusing on small businesses (those with fewer than 50 employees).
Under the new eligibility rules, employers will be able to draw down a maximum of five grants of £1,500.
How AGE 16 to 24 works
The National Apprenticeship Service will provide AGE 16 to 24 to eligible employers, in respect of qualifying apprentices, with an individual value of £1,500. Employers can currently be paid ten grants in total during the lifetime of the initiative. Under the new grant (for starts from January 2015) this will change to a maximum of five grants.
Age 16 to 24 currently targets employers with less than 1,000 employees, who are new to Apprenticeships or who have not enrolled a new recruit or existing employee on an apprenticeship programme in the previous 12 months. From January 2015, the grant will support employers with 50 or less employees. As before, these employers will not have enrolled an employee on the apprenticeship programme in the previous 12 month period.