Shaun Wadsworth Elaborates on Floorlayer Apprenticeship Funding Increase

From the beginning of August 2024, the flooring industry in England began to benefit from a significant increase in the floorlayer apprenticeship standard, with the Department for Education (DfE) having raised the current funding band per apprentice from £13,000 to £17,000.

This increase is a major step in increasing skilled labour within our sector and represents nearly two years of challenging work and lobbying by the Contract Flooring Association (CFA), its members and wider stakeholders, who’ve all been advocating for better support for training and skills development in the industry for a long time.

After recognising the need for additional training provision in England to address skills shortages in the flooring sector, the CFA formed a working group in 2022 composed of employers, training providers and wider stakeholders. Their primary goal was to update the previous apprenticeship standard and address the gap between the actual costs of delivering quality apprenticeship training and the funding that was available at the time.

Through the support and guidance of Nicola Jordan, senior product manager at the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) and the dedicated working group chaired by CFA and FITA council member Alan Gayle (AG Flooring), the group were able to completely review the apprenticeship standard against current industry expectation, refine apprenticeship assessment method and present a compelling case to DfE that their previous £13,000 funding cap was insufficient to cover the full costs of training a floorlayer and therefore should be increased.

The increase in funding to £17,000 per apprentice I believe will significantly improve the quality and accessibility of training available to future floorlayers. For employers, this change is an important reminder of the value of engaging with apprenticeship schemes.

With more funding available, it opens the door for additional provision in areas of England currently not serviced and existing training providers can now bolster their programmes, ensuring apprenticeships are well equipped with the skills and experience necessary to meet industry demands upon completion.

For the wider sector, this funding boost has the potential to transform the quality and number of skilled floorlayers entering the industry helping to combat the long-faced challenges related to skills shortages and an ageing workforce, all of which were highlighted in previous articles and through CFA campaigns such as Future Fitters.

CFA intend to use this increase as a springboard to approach new training providers not currently delivering floorlaying, in a bid to ensure employers see a greater return on their investment by cutting the need to send their apprentices long distances to receive formal training. The increase in funding will help level the playing field between flooring and other trades within construction, many of which have already benefited from higher apprenticeship funding.

By ensuring the floorlayer apprenticeship is properly funded, the sector can continue to grow, innovate and attract new talent and I feel the CFA’s successful campaign to raise the apprenticeship funding cap marks a turning point for the flooring sector. This achievement underlines the importance of engaging with structured training and apprenticeship schemes to secure the future of the industry.

By investing in the next generation of floorlayers, our sector can look forward to a more skilled, dynamic and sustainable future.

For employers and stakeholders in the flooring sector, now is the time to capitalise on this opportunity, engage with training providers and your trade association, and invest in apprenticeships that will help future-proof your business.

It’s vital to highlight and thank the working group members that committed the time and effort from their own busy schedules to support the CFA in this project, and without whom this would have been a much more complicated task. Thanks to Alan Gayle (AG Flooring Ltd), Louise Walters (Designer Contracts), Carl Harper (Westcotes Flooring), Rachael Pemberton-Baghurst (Designer Contracts), Dean Bisby (Floortrain), David Russell (CP Assessments), Steve Hattersley (Construction EPA), John Sanderson (Chief Assessments), Matthew Bourne (FloorSkills) and Michael Bell (Derwentside College).

For all the information regarding apprenticeships, training locations, funding and recruitment there is no better place to start than by reading the Contract Flooring Industry Training Guide, free to download and available to anyone.

Finally, if you’re a CFA member and have any questions, or need assistance with developing a wider training strategy or plan, I’m always available to support and assist. Call 0115 950 6836, email shaun@fita.co.uk or visit www.fita.co.uk for more information.