An executive agency, sponsored by the Department for Education.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department for Education. The ESFA brings together the existing responsibilities of the Education Funding Agency (EFA) and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), creating a single funding agency accountable for funding education and skills for children, young people and adults.
The ESFA is responsible for distributing funding for state education in England, managing apprenticeships and overseeing the delivery of further education and skills training. It ensures that public funds are used effectively to support high-quality learning and training provision across the country.
Span Training & Development Ltd holds a direct contract with the ESFA for the delivery of apprenticeship programmes. This contract enables us to receive government funding to deliver high-quality training to learners across our programme areas, including hairdressing, business management and learner mentor awards.
We are committed to meeting all ESFA requirements and funding rules, ensuring that our training provision is compliant, effective and delivers value for money.
The ESFA provides funding for apprenticeships through two main routes. Levy-paying employers (those with an annual pay bill over three million pounds) use their Apprenticeship Levy to fund training. Non-levy paying employers benefit from government co-investment, where the government pays 95% of the training cost and the employer contributes 5%. Additional funding and incentives may be available for employers hiring younger apprentices or those with additional learning needs.
The ESFA publishes detailed funding rules and guidance that all training providers must follow. These regulations cover eligibility criteria for learners and employers, the structure and duration of apprenticeship programmes, data reporting requirements and quality standards. Span Training ensures full compliance with these regulations through robust internal quality assurance processes and regular monitoring.
The ESFA provides a range of services to support training providers, employers and learners. These include the Apprenticeship Service, which enables employers to manage and pay for apprenticeship training; the National Apprenticeship Service, which promotes apprenticeships and helps match learners with employers; and a range of data and information services that support the sector.
If you have questions about how apprenticeship funding works or whether you are eligible for government-funded training, get in touch with our team.