CSA Apprenticeship Update: Autumn Budget 2025 - What it means for Members

Harvey Watson is Director of Learning and Development, CSA 

Leveraging apprenticeship reforms can help you, as CSA members, build capability, boost compliance, and manage emerging skill gaps in areas like operations, consumer duty, and dealing with the most vulnerable in society.  

So how does the budget affect Apprenticeships and what are the key changes and updates for members?

For Non-Levy paying employers – we know most of our members are non-levy payers so we wanted to highlight the changes relevant to you, and as part of this remind you that apprenticeship schemes have ZERO training cost, low administration requirements (we do it for you!), and are a great pathway to build early career talent. 

-Fully funded apprenticeships for under 25s
From April 2026, training and assessment for apprentices aged 16–25 will be 100% government-funded, no co-investment needed.

-Employer NI savings
SMEs employing apprentices under 25 also save on employer National Insurance contributions, offering further payroll relief.


For Levy-Paying Employers – for our levy paying members, after reviewing the changes, we want to encourage you to scale up pipeline flow and align apprenticeship starts with levy availability. This will help to close operational skills gaps before funds expire. 

-End of 10% government top-up
Employers will now only receive exactly what they pay in, reducing their training budget by ~10%.

-Levy funds expire after 12 months
Unused levy funds will no longer roll over for 24 months—strict “use it or lose it” policy requires quicker planning. 

-Increased post-levy co-investment
Once levy funds are depleted, the government contribution drops from 95% to 75%, raising the employer's share from 5% to 25%.

-Modular training (“Apprenticeship Units”) from April 2026
Short, targeted modules in high-demand skills like digital and compliance can improve agility and reduce training inertia.

For more information on how you can utilise the apprenticeship levy for both non levy payers and levy payers, please get in touch – harvey.watson@csa-uk.com.