Skills & Growth Levy 2026: What Changes for SME Builders

Two training-funding changes hit UK construction in 2026: from January 2026 the CITB grant scheme stopped funding most short-duration courses (those move to the new Employer Networks model), and from April 2026 the Apprenticeship Levy has been replaced by the Skills & Growth Levy, which has broader eligibility for non-apprenticeship training. For SME builders running between two and twenty live programmes, the net effect is a structural change in where training pounds come from. Get it wrong and the apprentice pipeline that was barely-funded already becomes unfunded; get it right and you unlock training spend you weren't using.

What changed on 1 January 2026 — CITB grant scope

From 1 January 2026, most short-duration training (the bulk of CSCS-card-renewal courses, refreshers, manual handling, working-at-height single-day courses) is no longer funded through the standard CITB grant scheme. CITB has moved that spend into Employer Networks — regional groups co-funding training collectively. First Aid training is no longer CITB-funded at all. Level 2+ construction apprenticeships remain inside the standard grant scheme. The FMB's January 2026 explainer summarises the practical implications for builders, and the CITB's published funding-changes page is the canonical source.

What changed on 6 April 2026 — Skills & Growth Levy

The Apprenticeship Levy (0.5% on UK employer payroll over £3m) became the Skills & Growth Levy on 6 April 2026. The headline structural change: SGL funding can be used for non-apprenticeship training in approved frameworks, not only apprenticeship standards. Construction News' December 2025 long-read described it as 'finally, the flexible skills system construction has been asking for'. The detail will continue to settle through 2026, but two things are clear today: SGL eligibility for non-apprenticeship training is broader, and large construction companies still pay both Skills & Growth Levy and CITB Levy — the so-called 'double levy' that the FMB has been pushing to consolidate has not yet been resolved.

What this means for an SME builder running 12-50 staff

1. Audit your 2026 training spend pattern

Walk through your 2024 and 2025 training spend by category: apprenticeship enrolments, short-course refreshers (CSCS, MEWP, working-at-height), professional development (estimating, Site Manager Safety Training Scheme), First Aid. Identify what was CITB-grant-supported and what wasn't. The post-January 2026 grant exposure for short-course refreshers is the gap to plan for.

2. Join an Employer Network for short-course funding

CITB's Employer Networks are the new home for short-course funding. SMEs that join a regional network access pooled funding for refreshers and renewals. The network model also means your training admin scales: one bulk booking, one invoice, one set of records. If your CSCS-card refresher diary in 2026 totalled 25–60 staff days, this is the cheapest way to keep funding it.

3. Lock down apprenticeship enrolments early

Level 2+ apprenticeships remain CITB-grant-funded. Intake dates vary by college and training provider and typically open well ahead of each academic term, so check with your local college or CITB Employer Network for the next enrolment window and lock down your apprentice intake plan early rather than leaving it to the last minute. The CITB grant is still material — typically £7,500–£22,500 per apprentice across a 2–4 year programme, depending on level and trade.

4. Use SGL for non-apprenticeship training that mattered but never qualified before

The Skills & Growth Levy's broader eligibility opens funding for things SMEs were paying for out-of-pocket: SMSTS/SSSTS courses, NEBOSH Construction Certificate, technical estimating courses, BIM Level 2 training, contract management certifications, MMC-specific training. If you weren't using your full Apprenticeship Levy allocation under the old rules — and most SMEs weren't — the SGL doubles the opportunity to recover spend already going out the door.

5. Check whether the unified CITB+ECITB body affects you

The Government has signalled an intention to consult on combining CITB with the ECITB into a single body covering both construction and engineering construction. Watch for the consultation paper through 2026. SMEs operating across both sectors (e.g. mechanical sub-contractors on industrial sites) will see administrative simplification first.

“Construction has spent fifteen years asking for a flexible skills system. Whether the Skills & Growth Levy delivers that depends almost entirely on whether SMEs claim against it — and most apprenticeship-levy spend went unclaimed.”

What sole-trader contractors should know

If you're a sole trader on PAYE through a labour-supply agency, none of this changes your direct tax position. What does change is the ease with which the agency can bookmark you for refresher training. Agencies that join Employer Networks can pull together regional CSCS, MEWP and working-at-height refresher days at the new pooled rates, often delivered in one Saturday across multiple operatives. If you're hearing 'we'll book your refresher when it comes up' rather than 'we'll bulk-book a regional refresher day', that's a missed opportunity for the agency.

What SME builders should do now

How Kirk Group manages training across our PAYE workforce

Kirk Group runs a single PAYE labour pool across construction, electrical, plumbing and project trades. We hold every operative's CSCS, JIB and Gas Safe registrations centrally, schedule refresher days regionally (rather than per-operative), and bulk-book training through the new Employer Network model. SME builder clients get the benefit: every operative we place arrives with current cards, current refreshers and a clean compliance record — no chasing renewal dates, no last-minute pulls because someone's CSCS expired on the wrong week. As the SGL settles through 2026, we'll be using the broader eligibility to expand non-apprenticeship training across our pool, so the operative population our clients see is more highly-credentialled year on year.