Kickstart Scheme Grant
If you’re an employer looking to create job placements for young people, you can apply for funding as part of the Kickstart Scheme.
How the scheme works
The Kickstart Scheme provides funding to create new job placements for 16 to 24 year olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long term unemployment. Employers of all sizes can apply for funding which covers:
- 100% of the National Minimum Wage (or the National Living Wage depending on the age of the participant) for 25 hours per week for a total of 6 months
- associated employer National Insurance contributions
- employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions
Employers can spread the start date of the job placements up until the end of December 2021.
Further funding is available to provide support so that young people on the scheme can get a job in the future.
How to apply
You can apply for a Kickstart Scheme grant by either:
- applying online yourself
- applying through a Kickstart gateway who is already working with the Kickstart Scheme
You do not need to apply again if you’ve already successfully applied for a Kickstart Scheme grant.
What is a Kickstart gateway?
A Kickstart gateway already has a Kickstart Scheme grant agreement with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). They can add employers and job placements to this grant agreement.
A Kickstart gateway can be any type of organisation, such as a local authority, charity or trade body.
Kickstart gateways will:
- gather information about the job placements you’d like to offer
- share this information with DWP on your behalf
- pay the funding to you (for example the young person’s salary)
They may also offer employability support to the young people in the job placement.
Find a Kickstart gateway at https://secure.dwp.gov.uk/find-a-kickstart-gateway.
What you’ll get
£1,500 per job placement
You’ll get £1,500 funding per job placement. This should be spent on setup costs and supporting the young person to develop their employability skills.
For example:
- training and employability support (provided by you, a Kickstart gateway or another provider)
- IT equipment and software
- uniform or Personal Protective Equipment
Kickstart Scheme wages and related costs
The funding covers:
- 100% of the National Minimum Wage (or the National Living Wage depending on the age of the participant) for 25 hours per week for a total of 6 months
- associated employer National Insurance contributions
- employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions
Employers can pay a higher wage and for more hours but the funding will not cover this.
What the Kickstart gateway will get
Kickstart gateways will get £360 for each job placement to cover admin costs. They may have to pay VAT on this amount depending on their individual circumstances.
If they do not pay VAT, £60 from this payment will be paid to you by the Kickstart gateway (in addition to the £1,500 funding) to further support the young person.
Job placement criteria
The job placements created with Kickstart Scheme funding must be new jobs. They must not:
- replace existing or planned vacancies
- cause existing employees, apprentices or contractors to lose work or reduce their working hours
The job placements must:
- be a minimum of 25 hours per week, for 6 months
- pay at least the National Minimum Wage or the National Living Wage for the employee’s age group
- only require basic training
For each job placement you must help the young person become more employable. This could include:
- looking for long-term work, including career advice and setting goals
- support with curriculum vitae (CV) and interview preparations
- developing their skills in the workplace
The young person may be able to move to another employment scheme when they’ve finished their 6-month Kickstart Scheme job placement.
What you need to provide
You will need:
- your Companies House reference number, Charity Commission number or Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator number, if you have one
- your organisation address and contact details
- details of the job placements and their location
DWP performs due diligence checks on all employers and Kickstart gateways using the Cabinet Office Spotlight tool.
Tell the DWP or your Kickstart gateway how your job placements are new and created just for the scheme.
The job placements must not:
- replace existing or planned vacancies
- cause existing employees, apprentices or contractors to lose work or reduce their working hours
Tell the DWP or your Kickstart gateway:
- how many employees you have
- about changes to your workforce in the last 6 months and why (for example redundancies and changes to hours worked by existing staff)
- the number of people affected by changes to your workforce in the last 6 months
- about the kinds of roles, functions and average salary of those who were made redundant or who had their hours reduced in the last 6 months
- if you would be able to create these job placements without Kickstart Scheme funding and what funding source you would use
- what recruitment you have completed, started or paused in the last 6 months, including how similar these vacancies are or were to the roles you are creating for the Kickstart Scheme
- if the job placements will be similar to existing or planned roles or the roles previously done by those made redundant or with fewer working hours, why you are using Kickstart Scheme funding to create similar roles
- if you’ve engaged with any relevant trade unions and any advice the unions have given
How you will support young people to become more employable
Tell the DWP or your Kickstart gateway:
- what support will be offered (for example helping them with writing their CV and preparing for an interview)
- when you will provide this support (for example halfway through their job placement or towards the end)
- how many hours it will take
- who will provide the support (for example you may already have a pre-existing relationship with training providers)
- how you will monitor this support
- how the young person can provide feedback during their job placement and afterwards, and how this will be acted on
You get £1,500 funding per job placement for setup costs and support. If you someone else helps you do some of this, you’ll have to agree how you will share this money.
How you will get the funding
If you apply online, DWP will send the funding directly to you.
If you apply through a Kickstart gateway, DWP will send the funding to them. The Kickstart gateway will be responsible for sending the funding to you.
£1,500 per job placement
If you apply directly, the £1,500 funding for setup costs will be paid when you tell the DWP that the young person has started the job placement.
If you apply through a Kickstart gateway, you need to tell them when the young person starts their job placement. They can then send you the £1,500 funding once they’ve received it from DWP.
If a Kickstart gateway or another provider does some of the job placement setup or employability support for you, you can use the £1,500 funding to cover this.
Kickstart Scheme wages and related costs
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will use information from HMRC to check that the young person is still employed. The grant funding to pay the young person’s salary will be paid in monthly arrears when we know they are:
- enrolled on your payroll
- being paid through Pay As You Earn (PAYE)
You can pay a higher wage and for more hours but the funding will not cover this.
Funding schedule
The schedule shows when the funding will be sent to either:
- you if you applied directly
- your gateway (they will then need to pass the funding on to you)
Funding type | When we usually process the funding | When you’ll usually receive the funding |
Setup costs | After you or your gateway has told DWP the young person has started | Up to 11 working days after it’s been processed |
First wage payment | 6 weeks after the start date | Up to 11 working days after it’s been processed |
All other wage payments | 4 weeks after the previous wage payment | Up to 11 working days after it’s been processed |
Getting the young people into the job placements
Kickstart Scheme job placements are only available for Universal Credit claimants aged 16 to 24 who are referred to you by DWP.
If your application is successful:
- You or your Kickstart gateway will give DWP job descriptions that work coaches at Jobcentre Plus will use to match candidates to the job placements.
- You or your Kickstart gateway will receive a notification email each time a young person is referred to the job placement (‘referrals’).
- Referred candidates may choose to apply for the job placement.
- You’ll then be able to interview the candidates who have applied.
- You or your Kickstart gateway will tell DWP when the young person has started so we can process the funding.
Funding will only be given if a young person is hired using the Kickstart Scheme process.
After a job placement ends you can get another Kickstart Scheme young person to start another job placement.
If a young person leaves the job placement early
You must tell DWP as soon as possible if a young person either:
- leaves their job placement before the end of the 6-month period
- needs to temporarily leave their job placement (for example for special leave or coronavirus-related restrictions)
If a young person leaves their job placement early, the next scheduled wage payment from DWP will be the last you receive for them.
DWP may be able to extend the funding period if the young person has to temporarily stop working.
How to apply
You can apply for a Kickstart Scheme grant by either:
- applying online yourself
- applying through a Kickstart gateway who is already working with the Kickstart Scheme
Apply online
You will need to provide information about the job placements during the application.
Public sector organisations and exempt charities should enter ‘0’ when asked for a Companies House or Charity Commission number.