Glossary
Co-investment
Last updated
Part of our topic guides on Government-Funded Data & AI Training and Data & AI Apprenticeships.
Co-investment is the slice of an apprenticeship's training cost that an employer pays out of pocket when government funding doesn't cover it in full. For most employers, that slice is 5% of the price: the government pays the other 95%. However, the exact split depends on whether you pay the levy, and the age of the apprentice.
Why it matters
Co-investment is the reason cost shouldn't be the thing that stops an employer starting an apprenticeship. On the rates below, a full, five-figure data or AI apprenticeship typically costs an employer only a small fraction of its real value, and for many under-25 hires, nothing at all. We'd rather employers spend that headroom deciding whether the ROLE genuinely needs the training (checking it against the standard's actual knowledge, skills and behaviours, not just a job title) than ruling themselves out on price before they've looked. In our experience, the funding rarely turns out to be the real obstacle; capability and fit are.
How it works
Any apprenticeship start you plan now lands in the 2026-27 funding year (starts from 1 August 2026), so these are the rates to plan against:
- Non-levy employer, apprentice aged 16 to 24 at the start of the apprenticeship: £0, free to the employer. Government funds 100%.
- Non-levy employer, apprentice aged 25 and over: government pays 95%, you pay 5%, the standard co-investment split.
- Levy-paying employer whose levy funds have run out: government pays 75%, you pay 25% of the training cost. This rate applies whatever the apprentice's age: there's no age carve-out on it.
("Non-levy employer" means your annual pay bill is under £3 million: the threshold that determines whether you pay the levy at all, never a headcount test.)
Before 1 August 2026, the rules run slightly differently: non-levy employers and levy payers with insufficient funds both pay 5% (government 95%), and full funding (100%/0%) applies to apprentices aged 16 to 21, plus those aged 22 to 24 with an EHC plan or leaving care.
Either way, an employer that doesn't pay the levy isn't shut out: co-investment and levy transfer (where a larger employer shares up to 50% of its unused levy funds) both give non-levy employers a route to full or near-full funding. Apprenticeship funding rules now sit with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), with standards maintained by Skills England.