When levy employers create a pledge to transfer apprenticeship funding, auto approval will now review any applications received. If there is an application that meets 100% of their criteria, then auto approval will approve that application for funding immediately. Matches are approved in date order, with the earliest application being approved first.
Here is what levy employers need to know about auto approvals:
- How to delay auto approval – if they don’t want an application to be immediately auto approved, they will have the option to delay auto approval for 6 weeks. If delayed, they must review applications and approve or decline within 6 weeks of receiving them, or they will be auto approved at that time. When they create a pledge, they will be asked the following:
“Approve or delay applications for 100% match”
- Approve immediately, no delay
- I want to do my own checks: I understand I have up to 6 weeks to complete them
- Which pledges are affected – these changes will only affect new pledges set up from 23 August 2023. Any existing pledges created before this date will not be affected by auto approval; those levy employers will be contacted separately to ensure they review their existing applications.
- What happens if there is no 100% match – if auto approval doesn’t find a 100% match, the application will not be auto approved. Levy employers will need to manually review the applications and approve or decline them in a timely manner.
- What happens when their pledge funds run out – no further applications will be auto approved once their pledge has insufficient funds.
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