The FDM Apprenticeship Programme

FDM is an approved Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agency. We are officially recognised by the UK’s Department for Education.

As a Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agency, we employ and manage apprentices ourselves and place them on site with “host” employers like you.

This model provides additional support for employers looking to boost their business with apprentices, making it easier to find and develop talent or scale-up existing in-house programmes with additional resource.

Since 2017, all employers with a wage bill of more than £3 million per year must pay 0.5% of their payroll each month as a levy tax.

Included in this is an allowance of £15,000 that reduces the total amount an employer must pay.

For example, if an employer has a wage bill of £10 million, their annual fee would be:

£10 million x 0.5% – £15,000 = £35,000

The levy tax is deducted monthly by HMRC, giving you a regular training allowance which you can access (“draw down”) to cover the training fees of any apprentices you employ as part of the Government’s Apprenticeships scheme.

However, any unused levy taxes are returned to the Treasury after 12 months.

If you pay the levy tax, you can access funds for apprenticeship training via the Online Apprenticeship Service. You will need to set up an employer account first.

If you don’t pay the levy tax as your wage bill is below £3 million per year, you can create an account to receive potential funding.

Many businesses report barriers to hiring apprentices. At FDM, we’ve designed an easy and low-risk service, making it possible for more businesses to benefit from apprenticeships:

1. De-risked service: Apprentices are FDM employees and will remain so throughout their time on site with you. As such, we absorb the risk of hiring, training, and placing them. In the unlikely instance that something isn’t working or a project comes to a premature end, we’ll cover everything without reputational damage to you.
2. Complete coverage: FDM provides recruitment, vetting, and onboarding of apprentices. We also manage their end-to-end experience, including university liaison, skills coaching, HR support, salaries, mentoring, and career development. As a result, you can focus solely on their working environment.
3. Flexibility: Business plans change. With FDM, you can host as many apprentices as you need, scaling the number up or down depending on your requirements.
4. Speed: We’re already accredited and ready to work with apprentices; there’s no need for programme development on your side.
5. Convert-to-perm model: At the end of the programme, you have the option to internalise apprentices and make them permanent members of your staff. This way, you’ll retain the skills and knowledge they’ve learnt within your business.

You can transfer up to 50% of your Levy to any company, including FDM.

A transfer allows you to “draw down” your Levy without directly employing apprentices. Instead, you can become a FDM “host employer”.

In doing so, you’ll be supporting apprenticeship programmes more widely without having to employ apprentices directly.

As FDM can only use the Levy to pay for apprentices’ training fees, the daily rate you pay FDM will not be impacted by any Levy transfers.

We offer two apprenticeship routes: Digital Technology Solutions and Project Management.

Each three-year apprenticeship is fully funded by FDM and includes degree-level study.

Additionally, every apprentice will upskill further in the FDM Skills Lab. Here, apprentices develop through continuous coaching, personalised 1-to-1 mentoring, and hands-on project experience.