As part of post-school learning and skills reform, the Scottish Government wants to simplify funding for universities, colleges and apprenticeships, as well as student support such as bursaries, loans and tuition fees.
At the moment, funding for post-school learning is from Skills Development Scotland (SDS), the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS), and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).
However, in December 2023, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Graeme Dey, announced that this will be streamlined to help enhance support for young people in Scotland.
Following the launch of consultation, two options for change are now being considered. The first would see all student support funding delivered through SAAS, including responsibility for further education student support which currently rests with colleges and SFC. Responsibility for national training programmes, including apprenticeships, would move to SFC and away from SDS.
In the second option, the SFC would become the single funding body responsible for student support funding, as well as funding for all national training programmes, including apprenticeships - creating a single funding body for post-school education, research and skills.
Mr Dey said: "More than £3 billion a year is invested across Scotland's post-school system. This enables around 500,000 people in any given year to pursue opportunities at colleges and universities, with free tuition benefiting 120,000 students.
"Over the past decade the funding system has become increasingly fragmented with multiple bodies involved in different aspects of provision.
"We are facing the most challenging public spending climate since devolution, and it is vital that investment delivers the greatest impact to support learners. To do that, we must reduce complexities and the options being set out today are an important step towards this."
Scottish ministers will make a final decision once they have analysed all the evidence collected through the consultation and through the working groups set up to look at costs and deliverability.
They intend to legislate so that the law in Scotland is changed before the end of this Parliamentary session in March 2026.
Since the UK government brought in the apprenticeship levy in 2017, all Scottish employers with a pay bill over £3 million have had to contribute 0.5% of their annual bill into the levy.
In England, employers can log in to their Apprenticeship Service account to access their funds and spend them on apprenticeship training, but in Scotland, where power is devolved, the Scottish government can decide how Scottish levy money is used.
This means that instead of being transferred back to each employer, the levy funds are collected nationally. They are then distributed to levy-paying employers via Skills Development Scotland where they can then be used for a range of training initiatives - not just on Foundation, Modern and Graduate apprenticeships.
As you can see, Scottish apprenticeship funding is currently quite different from the English system - and it's set to undergo more change. We'll keep you posted on the outcome of the consultation and what reform will mean for funding delivery and allocation.
In the meantime, to find out more about Scottish apprenticeships - from bidding to quality to loans - download your A-Z of Scottish apprenticeships.