Funding in Wales
Explore funding for training in Wales options available to support Welsh employers including Apprenticeships, Personal Learning Accounts and Flexible Skills Funding.
The Political Context
Skills and training are a cornerstone of the Welsh Government’s economic strategy. With a devolved responsibility for education, Wales has established its own distinct funding system, separate from the UK’s Apprenticeship Levy model used in England. The political focus is on creating a more prosperous, green, and equal Wales by investing in its workforce. Key priorities include closing skills gaps in priority sectors such as digital, engineering, and green energy, as well as supporting individuals to retrain and upskill throughout their lives. This has led to the creation of a flexible, interconnected system of funding for training in Wales, including support programs tailored to businesses and individuals.
Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships are a long-term investment in an employee and are great for boosting retention and supporting employees to upskill for new and emerging roles within your business.
Apprenticeships in Wales are available at levels 2 – 6 and are fully-funded for employers, regardless of levy paying status.
In Wales, apprenticeship funding is allocated through the Barnett Formula, and managed by Medr (the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research), an arms-length body of Welsh Government.
Read more about what Apprenticeship funding in Wales, including employer and learner eligibility and incentives available for hiring an apprentice.
Skills Bootcamps
Skills Bootcamps are flexible, short-term training courses designed to fast-track individuals into new jobs in high-demand sectors. They can support employers to upskill existing staff for higher level or emerging roles within their organisation.
Skills Bootcamps differ from Apprenticeships and other types of funded training in England due to their flexibility. The Skills Bootcamp curriculum is led by employers and does not need to contain a regulated qualification, allowing it to be more flexible and targeted to employer needs.
Skills Bootcamps are funded on a discretionary basis by Local and Combined Authorities in Wales. Learn more about the Skills Bootcamps offered at iungo Solutions and how employers can engage.
Flexible Skills Programme
The Flexible Skills Programe is a specific support package for employers to maximise their L&D budgets and upskill their workforce for current and emerging technologies.
- What it is: The Flexible Skills Programme is a co-funding grant. The Welsh Government will contribute 50% towards the cost of training for your workforce, with a maximum grant of £50,000 per application.
- How it Works: The Flexible Skills Programme is employer-led. The business identifies its skills gaps, finds a suitable training provider, and applies to the Welsh Government for the co-funding. The grant is flexible enough to support tailored and bespoke training provision.
- Priority Sectors: While open to many businesses, the programme is particularly focused on supporting training in priority areas such as manufacturing, digital, and green skills to boost business productivity and competitiveness. Leadership, Digital and Green Skills training can be funded for any type of business.
Don’t settle for a rigid qualification. Work with us to design a bespoke digital training programme to upskill your workforce with 50% funding from the Flexible Skills Programme.
Almost all of our training courses are eligible for Flexible Skills funding. See our full list catalogue of training courses for further information.
Personal Learning Accounts (PLA)
Personal Learning Accounts (PLAs) are designed to help working professionals to gain new skills and qualifications.
- What it’s for: A PLA provides fully-funded, flexible, and part-time accredited courses to help individuals upskill or retrain. The aim is to support career progression or a change of career into sectors with skills shortages.
- Who is Eligible: To be eligible, you must be aged 19 or over, live in Wales, and be in employment (or self-employed).
- Salary Cap: The funding is primarily targeted at those earning under a certain threshold (£34,303). However, this salary cap is waived for most of our courses which are in high-demand sectors like Digital and Green Skills.
PLA is a great option for your business if you want to help your employees to earn accredited in-demand certifications such as those available from Microsoft, Cisco, AWS or the Council for Lean Six Sigma. Many of our Vendor Certification courses are eligible for PLA funding. See our full list of upcoming courses for more information.
ReAct+
The ReAct+ programe is a specific support package for individuals who are facing or have recently experienced redundancy and those that have recently been released from prison or are serving a community sentence.
- What it is: ReAct Plus offers a tailored package of support to help people get back into employment. This includes a vocational training grant of up to £1,500 to fund new skills development and a £4,000 wage subsidy for their new employer.
- Additional Support: The program can also provide funding to cover childcare costs while training and extra support for travel or accommodation.
- Who is Eligible: The scheme is available to individuals aged 20 or over, living in Wales, who are under a formal notice of redundancy, have been made redundant in the last 6 to 12 months, or are an ex-offender or an offender serving a community sentence.
Engaging with ReAct+ as an employer could help you to tap into hidden talent pools with £4,000 in financial support available to onboard and upskill your new employee. Almost all of our training courses are eligible for ReAct+ funding. See our full list of upcoming courses for more information.
Talk to us
We’re here to support you with all your upskilling needs, from apprenticeships to bespoke training. Contact us to see how we can help.