Apprenticeship levy calculator

Put in your annual pay bill. We will tell you whether you pay the apprenticeship levy, what it costs you a month, and what you have to spend on training — or, if you are below the threshold, what government covers and what you contribute.

Free, no account, and nothing you type is saved — the figures live in this page's address and nowhere else, so you can share a result by sharing the link.

Questions people ask about the levy

What is the apprenticeship levy?
A charge on the pay bill of larger UK employers, collected through PAYE and set aside to pay for apprenticeship training. Employers below the threshold do not pay it, and are funded a different way — government covers most of the cost of training and the employer contributes the rest.
What counts as my annual pay bill?
Total employee earnings subject to Class 1 secondary National Insurance contributions. That is wages, bonuses, commission and pension payments that attract NICs — not benefits in kind, and not payments to someone genuinely self-employed. Your payroll software will have the figure.
What is the government top-up?
Government adds a further share to whatever levy funds enter your apprenticeship service account, so there is more in the account than you paid in. The calculator shows the current addition, and where that figure comes from, beside the result.
Do levy funds expire?
Yes. Funds that enter your account are available for a fixed number of months and then lapse, oldest first. The calculator tells you how long the current rules allow. It is the single most expensive thing employers miss, which is why we show it beside the balance rather than in a footnote.
I am under the threshold. Do I still get funding?
Yes. Government pays the large majority of the cost of training up to the funding band for the standard you choose, and you pay the remainder. Enter a funding band above and the calculator splits it into the two figures in pounds. Some apprentices are funded in full depending on their age and your headcount, which this estimate does not try to guess at.
Does this cover Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
The levy itself is UK-wide, but what you can spend it on is devolved, and this tool models the English system. If you employ people across the UK your funds are split by where they live, and the English share is the part this estimate applies to.
Can I rely on these figures?
Treat them as indicative. The calculation is a straightforward one, but your own circumstances — connected companies sharing one allowance, a pay bill that moves through the year, apprentices in more than one nation — change the answer. Check with your accountant or payroll provider before you commit to anything.

Where the numbers come from

Every rate, allowance and percentage on this page is read from our API at the moment you ask, together with the source it came from and the date it took effect — both shown beside your result. Nothing is written into the page itself, so when the figures change this calculator changes with them rather than a release later.

If you would rather have this tracked for you than work it out again next year, create a free employer account — or read more about skills funding.

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