CITB Grant & Funding Information
Posted on September 9, 2019
Last week, our team met with local CITB Adviser, Sharon Brown, who explained the full benefits of registering with CITB. This included all the different types of grants and funding they offer and how to access it, even if you’re business is small enough that you don’t qualify to pay the levy.
About the CITB Levy
The CITB Levy is applicable to construction organisations engaged wholly or mainly in construction industry activities, with a PAYE bill of over £80,000. The funds collected via the Levy are used to support construction employers to make sure the industry has the skilled workforce it needs.
It is dedicated to ensuring the construction workforce has the right skills for now and the future, based around their three strategic priorities; careers, standards and qualifications, training and development.
In order to access grants and funding, you must become CITB registered, whether or not you pay a Levy, and how much you pay, depends on your PAYE bill.
- PAYE less than £80,000 = zero Levy
- PAYE £80,000 – £400,000 = 50% Levy
- PAYE more than £400,000 = 100% Levy
Click here to read more about how the CITB Levy is calculated.
Different Types of Grants
Short Course Grants
These are for any construction specific courses that last between 3 hours and 30 days. For a full list of grant eligible courses click here. Many of the courses Courtley offer are grant-eligible, look for the grant-eligible icon on course pages or ask a member of the team.
The grants for short courses work on a tier basis:
- Tier 1 = £30
- Tier 2 = £70
- Tier 3 = £120
For refresher courses, the grant available is 50% the tier level of the original full-length course. For example, SMSTS is at tier 3 (£120) so for the refresher course you can get a £60 grant on completion of the course.
As an ATO (Accredited Training Organisation), Courtley will apply for your grant upon successful completion of training; all you have to do is provide your Levy Registration Number.
Short-period Qualification Grants
CITB pay for the achievement of approved short-period qualifications (courses that last up to a year) in core construction skills. This includes qualifications such as NVQ and NEBOSH.
You can claim £600 for each achievement with a maximum of 4 achievements at each level per individual.
Long-period Qualification Grants
These are for courses which last for more than a year. CITB grants are for attending and achieving the approved, higher level qualifications that are focused on core construction skills needed in the industry. This includes Higher National Certificates and Diplomas (HNCs and HNDs), as well as degrees and post-graduate qualifications.
Currently, the attendance grant rate for each year is £1,125 and on completion of the course, the achievement grant rate is £1,875.
Apprenticeship Grants
The amount you can claim for apprenticeship grants has recently gone up!
- Level 2 apprenticeships can claim up to £8,500 over the 2 years.
- Level 3 apprenticeships can claim up to £11,000 over the 3 years.
- These grants are on top of any funding you may receive from the government!
Skills & Training Fund
The skills and training fund provides assistance for micro and small construction companies to develop a stronger skills base.
Funding is available for employers with up to 99 directly employed staff on the payroll. The amount they can get funded is as follows:
- 1 – 49 directly employed staff = £5,000
- 30 – 74 directly employed staff = £7,500
- 75 – 99 directly employed staff = £10,000
The funding is only available for courses which are grant eligible, however, with the funding plus the grant, the total cost of the course is paid for!
Employers can only apply for this once every 12 months and must have a plan for the upcoming year of the training required.
For more information and to complete your funding application, click here.
Or, if you’d prefer to discuss your funding options with one of our team members, give us a call on 0151 545 0497.