Update on new Annual Fee, minimum spend and price review

City & Guilds and ILM revised pricing will start to be available in Walled Garden from July 2024 – understand the revised plan.

06 June 2024

In March 2024 we announced that we will be introducing a new Annual Fee, a price increase from September 2024, and that we will be reducing our minimum spend threshold for our City & Guilds customers.

With significant flux in the economy, we know stability matters for our customers. This is why we have decided that from September 2024 we will reduce the minimum spend threshold for City & Guilds customers in the UK from £5,000 down to £2,500. We will also sustain the minimum spend threshold in the UK for our ILM customers at £2,500. This means ILM customers will not have the minimum spend threshold increased to £5,000 as previously advised.

The introduction of a new Annual Fee in the UK will now be postponed until September 2025.

Summary of revised charges in the UK:

Fee type	Amount	Date of implementation
Minimum Spend Threshold City & Guilds and ILM	Reducing from £5000 to £2500	From September 2024
Annual Fee	To be confirmed	From September 2025

Annual Pricing Review

Our annual price review always considers a wide range of factors, and we have had to make some difficult decisions about the products and services we provide in an increasingly regulated environment. We are experiencing increasing costs in delivering our products and services, including qualifications and end-point assessments.

With economic challenges forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility, an upcoming general election, and the impact of England’s Department for Education (DfE) post-16 technical qualification education reform the education sector is operating in an uncertain economic landscape.

As a result, from September 2024, some of our price increases will be above the rate of core inflation and some below. Some prices will remain unchanged.

Revised prices will start to be made available from July, and all revised pricing will be available in Walled Garden, our secure administration platform, from the beginning of August 2024.

The City & Guilds and ILM UK Centre Charges document and ILM Guide to Fees document will be updated August 2024.

What is City & Guilds spending money on?

As we work in a highly regulated industry, it is essential for us to monitor and maintain the highest levels of quality delivery. Our fees, charges and minimum spend threshold ensure that we preserve the integrity of our products and services. Every year we significantly invest in improving our existing products and services alongside developing new ones.

Our pricing also allows us to invest in our charitable purpose and the fulfilment of our Royal Charter which are central to our organisation – we are not driven by profits and shareholders, so you can be confident our prices are fair, competitive and continue to represent excellent value. A percentage of the money our customers spend with us is reinvested back into the work of our Foundation, and for every £1 the Foundation spends it drives £5 of social value in the causes we support.

We have always prided ourselves on the high level of customer support we provide at every stage of the training process from planning to delivery, which is why we invest in our customer support teams to provide expert advice and guidance. It is important to us that our customers are delivering successfully to the benefit of learners. That is why our teams are on hand to resolve queries, help navigate the changes in the skills landscape across a range of sectors, run face-to-face meetings, networking events and webinars to support throughout the year at no additional cost.

By taking this approach, we can:

Continue to provide one of the widest sets of sector portfolios with an exceptional range of choice, whether that is for apprenticeships, or other qualifications
Continue to invest in our products and services and evolve skills solutions for the future
Continue to invest in our charitable purpose

To understand how careful we are with how we spend and invest, you can see our social impact report and annual report.