Practice managers are being asked to share their experience of apprenticeships to help NHS Employers give feedback to the Government and shape future guidance.
NHS Employers has launched a survey to gather practical insight into how NHS organisations are using, or planning to use, the growth and skills levy, formerly known as the apprenticeship levy.
GP practices have been able to access apprenticeship funding through levy transfers, where larger employers share unused levy funds – a tax they pay to cover the cost of apprenticeships – to support training in another organisation.
The survey follows apprenticeship reforms announced in last year’s Autumn Budget, which NHS Employers said will affect NHS organisations.
NHS Employers said the survey findings would help identify common challenges and shape practical support to help employers make better use of apprenticeships.
The survey will:
• build a national picture of how apprenticeships are being used across different NHS organisations
• understand the barriers employers face in spending levy funds effectively, particularly following recent levy funding changes
• help shape future guidance, policy positions and practical support for the NHS workforce.
NHS Employers said responses would help it ‘provide feedback to government on the impact of recently announced reforms to the apprenticeship system’.
It said that apprenticeships continued to play an important role in developing the NHS workforce, supporting recruitment, progression and widening participation.
‘As national policy and funding arrangements continue to evolve, it is essential that NHS employers’ experiences and concerns are clearly understood and represented,’ said NHS Employers.
Last year, Management in Practice reported how an apprenticeship scheme for practice managers was set up in Lincolnshire in a bid to stave off a recruitment crisis and stem an ‘exodus of managers’.
The programme has so far seen more than 20 practice managers undertake a 21-month-long training course to achieve a level 5 operations manager apprenticeship qualification awarded by the Institute of Leadership and Management.
The NHS Employers survey is open to anyone involved in managing apprenticeships in the NHS and closes on Friday 29 May 2026.
Practice managers can complete the NHS Employers survey here.
