The CITB NVQ achievement grant is paid to a CITB registered employer each time one of their workers completes an approved qualification such as a construction NVQ. It is paid per learner, per qualification, with higher rates for higher levels, and it sits alongside any funding that covered the NVQ itself. You need a current levy return and your CITB registration number to claim.
Right, this one is worth a few minutes of your time.
If your firm is registered with CITB, every worker you get through an NVQ triggers a grant. Not a loan, not a discount. A payment into the business.
And yet most of the small firms we speak to have never claimed one, because nobody told them it was there or the form looked like hard work.
So here is the achievement grant explained properly, updated for 2026, with the steps and a worked example.
CITB runs a grants scheme funded by the levy. Within it there are a few types of grant: attendance grants for short courses, grants for plant and other tickets, and achievement grants, paid when a learner completes an approved qualification.
The achievement grant is the one that matters for NVQs. When a worker on your books completes an approved construction NVQ and the certificate is issued, your firm becomes eligible for a grant at the rate set for that level of qualification.
CITB sometimes calls it the qualification grant, and you will see both names used. Same thing.
There is also a short qualification grant for shorter approved qualifications, and a separate short duration grant for course attendance, which is how supervisor courses like SSSTS and SMSTS are supported. We have covered those in what is an SMSTS qualification and do you need an NVQ.
The grant is paid per learner, per qualification achieved. The amount is banded by level: a Level 2 NVQ attracts one rate, a Level 3 a higher one, and Level 6 and 7 management NVQs higher again.
We are deliberately not printing the figures. CITB reviews the rates each grant year and publishes the current table on its website, and a number in a blog post goes stale fast. Look up the current rate for the level you are claiming, or ask us and we will tell you what applies today.
What we can say is that for a small firm putting a handful of workers through NVQs, the grants across a year are a meaningful sum, and for some firms they can exceed what was paid in levy.
Self-employed sole traders with nobody working for them are generally outside the scheme, because grants are paid to employers. If that is you, there are other funding routes, and we cover them in NVQ funding support.
This is easier than people expect, because we do most of it with you.
Two things catch firms out. Claims have a time limit from the achievement date, so do not sit on them. And the claim has to be made by the employer, not the training provider, so someone in your office needs to own it.
Say you run a roofing firm with eight on the books. Three of your roofers have been with you five years and are still on green labourer cards because nobody ever got round to the paperwork. Your foreman runs the gang every day but holds a Blue card, not Gold.
You enrol the three roofers on a Level 2 roofing NVQ and the foreman on a Level 3 supervision NVQ, and you give us your CITB number at the start.
Six months later, all four have achieved. Your firm claims four achievement grants: three at the Level 2 rate and one at the Level 3 rate. The NVQs themselves may have been funded through a regional route, in which case the grants land on top. Your team now holds three Blue cards and a Gold, and the next prequalification questionnaire is a lot easier to fill in.
That is the pattern. The grant is not the reason to do the NVQ. The qualification is. But it means the firm is paid for doing the right thing.
The achievement grant is separate from whatever funded the NVQ in the first place. DMR works with GMCA, the GLA, Greater Lincolnshire and DESNZ, and many of the NVQs we deliver are funded through those routes for eligible workers.
So the question for most firms is not one or the other. It is both. Check your eligibility for funding for the NVQ itself, and claim the achievement grant when the worker completes. Our CITB NVQ grants guide lists which of our NVQs attract a grant, and how employers can cover funding for NVQs puts the whole picture together.
If your firm pays the levy and has workers who could be qualified, you are owed a grant you are not claiming. Ring us on 01942 673047 or send us your details, and we will tell you who on your team is ready for an NVQ, whether it is funded, and exactly what to do to claim the grant when they achieve. We have done this since 2013 and there is no hard sell.
It is a grant paid by CITB to a registered employer when one of their workers completes an approved qualification, such as a construction NVQ. It is paid per learner, per qualification, and the rate depends on the level achieved. CITB also calls it the qualification grant. It is separate from any funding that paid for the NVQ itself, so both can apply.
CITB grants are paid to registered employers, so a sole trader with nobody working for them is generally outside the scheme. If you are self-employed but paid under CIS by a registered contractor, that contractor may be able to claim for your qualification. Either way, there are other funding routes for the NVQ itself, so check your eligibility for funding with us.
Yes. SSSTS and SMSTS are supported through CITB’s short duration grant for course attendance rather than the achievement grant for qualifications. They are safety courses, not competence qualifications, so they sit alongside an NVQ rather than replacing it. A supervisor needs the Level 3 NVQ for a Gold CSCS card, and the firm can claim the achievement grant for that.
Give your training provider your CITB registration number at enrolment so the learner is linked to your firm. When the certificate is issued, the achievement is either reported to CITB automatically or you submit a claim through your CITB online account. Make sure your levy return is up to date and claim within CITB’s time limit from the achievement date.
Sometimes. Yes, in effect. Every qualification grant goes through CITB Online Services, where you enter the learner details and upload the certificate, and nothing is paid without that application. We tell every employer which applies to their learner and help with the entry, so you are not left guessing.
