A total of £71.4m was allocated through apprenticeship grants, helping more than 30,000 learners and over 10,000 construction businesses—the majority being small and micro firms—take on and train new apprentices.

Another £58m was distributed via other core CITB funding streams, including:

• £20m for Qualification Grants,
• £30.5m for Short Course Grants,
• and £7.7m through the Travel to Train scheme, which offsets transport and accommodation costs for apprentices needing to travel to training providers. This helped support over 3,500 learners and 1,300 employers, improving access to training and supporting a more diverse workforce.

CITB’s New Entrant Support Team (NEST) also made major strides last year, nearly doubling the number of apprenticeship starts it facilitated, with over 4,000 new recruits supported. NEST offers hands-on recruitment support to help SMEs bring apprentices into the industry and is set to double in size in the coming year.

Meanwhile, Employer Networks, which provide tailored training and funding directly to employers, expanded rapidly in their second full year, reaching over 50,000 learners, a significant jump from 11,468 the previous year.

The latest grant figures follow the launch of CITB’s Strategic Plan 2025–29, which commits over £860m to help address industry skills gaps by supporting training, employer engagement, and new talent pipelines.

Adrian Beckingham, strategy and policy director at CITB, said: “The strength of our grant schemes and the uptake from small businesses show just how essential this support is. It’s encouraging to see apprenticeship grant take-up exceed targets by 14%, and with 90% of recipients being small or micro firms, it reinforces our commitment to backing the lifeblood of our industry.

“Our NEST and Employer Network programmes are accelerating the pace of industry training. If you’re looking to hire or become an apprentice, now is the time to engage with CITB.”