AI training for UK SMEs.
100% funded. Free for your business.
No Levy account. No 5% co-investment. No catch. SMEs under £3m paybill get the Level 5 AI Apprenticeship Units 100% government-funded — £750 per unit per learner, paid in full by the government. The same Skills England AI Leadership pathway the FTSE 250 are doing, free for you.
For a 5-person team, all three AI Units
- Total course value: 5 × £2,250 = £11,250
- Government pays: £11,250 (100%)
- You pay: £0
- Outcome per learner: AI Strategy on a Page, Governance Framework, 90-Day Transformation Plan, all sponsor-signed
No Levy paperwork. No co-investment. Government covers it all.
COSWORTH
Anfield Sports
Plus 100+ UK SMEs
No Levy account needed. No co-investment. Here is the actual mechanism.
If your annual paybill is under £3m, you are a "non-levy" employer in the eyes of the apprenticeship system. The government covers your AI Apprenticeship Units in full — not 95%, not 99%. One hundred per cent.
You enrol your learner
We do the paperwork. You sign an Apprenticeship Service Agreement (a 3-page form). No upfront payment, no deposit.
Learner attends the cohort
30 guided learning hours per unit, delivered live online over 4 weeks or as a 4-day intensive sprint.
Government pays us directly
The Education & Skills Funding Agency pays TESS the £750 per unit. You never see an invoice.
Your learner walks away with a sponsor-signed deliverable
AI Strategy on a Page, Governance Framework or 90-Day Transformation Plan — depending on the unit they took.
The three Level 5 AI Units, all 100% funded for SMEs.
Each unit is a 30-hour Skills England Apprenticeship Unit at Level 5. £750 per learner per unit, £2,250 for the full pathway. Take one, two, or all three.
AI Strategy & Opportunity
Set the AI direction your organisation actually follows. Walk away with your AI Strategy on a Page, signed off by your sponsor.
AI Adoption, Procurement & Governance
The responsible-AI build-out. Walk away with your Governance Framework, Risk Register and Vendor Selection Guide.
AI Delivery & Transformation
Move AI from pilot to programme. Walk away with your 90-Day Transformation Plan, Pilot Charter and Workforce Impact Assessment.
If they make decisions, they are eligible.
The Level 5 AI Apprenticeship Units are for any employee in a leadership role, broadly defined: SME founders, heads of function, managers, senior individual contributors, the named AI champion. Funding rules do not distinguish between job titles — only between Levy and non-Levy employer status.
Common SME questions, answered.
Is it actually free? Where is the catch?
Yes, actually free for SMEs. The catch (such as it is): the funding comes from the apprenticeship budget the government collects from Levy-paying employers (£3m+ paybill). They cannot use all of it, so unused Levy is redistributed to SMEs as 100%-funded apprenticeships and units. You are not paying. Another employer's Levy is.
Do I need an Apprenticeship Service account?
Technically yes, but it takes about 20 minutes to set up and we walk you through it on the discovery call. It is the mechanism the government uses to disburse the £750 to TESS. It costs you nothing.
What is the minimum number of learners?
One. There is no minimum cohort size for the open cohort — your learner joins a cohort with leaders from other UK employers. For a closed cohort (just your team, customised) the minimum is 8.
How quickly can we start?
Open cohorts run monthly. From discovery call to learner start date, typically 2–3 weeks (the funding paperwork is the main wait).
Can the learner do the unit alongside their day job?
Yes — the 4-week format (1 day per week for 4 weeks) is designed exactly for this. The 4-day intensive sprint is the alternative for people who prefer a single block.
What if my paybill is over £3m?
Then you are a Levy payer and your AI Units are drawn from your Levy account — still £0 to your bottom line, just paid from a different government pot.
Are the AI Apprenticeship Units the same thing as a full AI apprenticeship?
No. Units are 30-hour modular Level 5 short courses (AU0009/10/11), 100% funded for SMEs. Full apprenticeships (e.g. our AI & Automation Practitioner L4) are 12–18 month programmes, also funded but at 95% for non-Levy SMEs with a 5% co-investment. Different products, different rules. See the funding-clarity guide.
What evidence do I need that we're an SME?
Self-declared at sign-up. The criteria are: annual paybill under £3m, fewer than 250 employees, and registered in the UK. We will walk you through the form.
Ready to put your team through an AI Apprenticeship Unit?
Book a 20-minute funding call. We will tell you exactly what your team is eligible for and how to enrol. No obligation, no follow-up calls unless you ask.