How the funding works

The course is three government AI units, fully funded by the government. Levy payers’ funds are used first. Sign in to your apprenticeship service account and look at your balance: there are two answers, and both end with the course being funded.

• You pay the levy and there are funds in the account. The course comes out of that balance. Nothing else is payable and there is nothing else to do.
• You do not pay the levy, so there is no balance. That is normal. The government funds the course in full through a reservation, which Creative Process Digital makes for you before the start.

You will never get an unexpected bill

We check your account position before agreeing a cohort, and we tell you in writing before any claim that would draw a contribution from you. The government pays the provider directly, part-way through and on completion. Any co-investment is set per person by Creative Process Digital and shows on that person’s page; the amounts are in section 4 of your employer agreement.

Nobody is turned away over this. If your account is empty, or has less in it than the claim needs, there are two routes.

Route one: co-investment

The government pays most of it and a levy payer pays a small capped share. It only applies to a levy payer whose balance falls short in the month we claim, and only for someone aged 25 or over; for someone aged 19 to 24 the government covers all of the rest. If you do not pay the levy, co-investment does not apply to you: your course is reserved and funded in full.

Route two: a levy transfer from another business

Large levy payers can give away up to half of their annual levy funds to any other employer, and unspent funds expire after 12 months. Any employer can receive a transfer, whether or not it pays the levy itself, and transfers do cover these AI units. A transfer covers the course in full, so nothing comes from you and there is no co-investment.

• Open your apprenticeship service account first. A transfer cannot be sent or received without it, and you will need your account ID.
• If you have a company in mind (a customer, a supplier, a parent company, a client), ask them. They connect with you in their own account using your account ID.
• If you do not, browse the public pledges and apply to one that fits.
• Tell us you are doing it. Creative Process Digital helps both sides get it right and makes sure the people are added in the right order.

A transfer takes longer to arrange than the other routes. Start early; a reservation or co-investment can run in the meantime.