Join the Co-op Levy Share Scheme and support the early years workforce
Change lives – at no cost – by using your unused apprenticeship levy to help other organisations cover their training costs.
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1. Register
If your business has an annual pay bill exceeding £3 million then you are obliged to contribute 0.5% of your payroll to apprenticeship training. These funds can be used to pay for apprenticeship training and assessments for your staff, but if not fully used they are returned to HMRC. The Co-op Levy Share enables you to pledge up to 50% of unspent levy to support the early years workforce.
The Co-op has created an online matching service to pledge unspent levy funds and share them in a targeted way to support the provision of apprenticeships for underrepresented groups, removing some of the administrative burden and cost.
By pledging, you’ll help develop skilled, passionate early years professionals and strengthen the early years workforce where it’s needed most.
Sign up and pledge on The Co-op Levy Share webssite.
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2. Get matched
From health visitors to play therapists, midwives to nursery workers, and family support workers to early years teachers, there are a wide variety of careers working with children and families.
The Co-op Levy Share Scheme will match your pledge with suitable Early Years apprenticeship opportunities. You’ll be contacted when a match is found and be able to approve all opportunities.
Check out the Donating Employer Toolkit.
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3. Support
By helping to develop the capacity and skills of the early years workforce we can help more children to have fair opportunity to reach their full potential, and together create a happier and healthier society.
Your donated Apprenticeship levy will be used for training and assessment costs, supporting apprenticeships from level 2 to 7, for any age.
Case Study: The Business Taskforce
The Royal Foundation Business Taskforce, led by The Co-op Group, have committed £5m over 5 years towards early years apprentices. There are already members of the early childhood workforce around the UK benefiting from this pledge and being upskilled to better support babies and young children.
“Without the support of the Co-op Apprenticeship Levy, I wouldn’t have been able to gain the Level 3 qualification to be able to progress my career in the Early Years Sector. The funding has given me the chance to develop my skills and knowledge.”
Kitty A, Bovan Creek Nursery
Why this matters
It is in businesses’ interest to address the early childhood education and care challenge that many of their employees are facing, by acknowledging the important role it plays in their employees’ lives and considering any support they can provide.
Improve early childhood education and careRelated actions
