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The Government is proposing a new funding model to help it reach its investment target of 拢2.5bn in apprenticeship training by 2020.

The apprenticeship levy aims to help people gain high-quality skills and experience and assist employers in building a skilled workforce.

Around 98% of employers in England are too small to pay the levy and the Government is proposing that it pays 90% of the costs of training apprentices in these cases.

Extra support, worth £2,000 per trainee, will also be offered to employers they take on 16-18-year-old apprentices.

Businesses with under 50 employees will have all the training costs paid if they take on young apprentices.

The Government is inviting employers to have their say on the proposals and submit all views by 5 September.

Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Robert Halfon said it was an important opportunity for employers and employees.

"Our businesses can only grow and compete on the world stage if they have the right people, with the right skills," he said.

"The apprenticeship levy will help create millions of opportunities for individuals and employers.

"This will give our young people the chance they deserve in life and to build a highly-skilled workforce that the UK needs."

But the head of the CBI, Carolyn Fairbairn, said the levy was "too narrowly defined" and warned it could create an environment of quantity over quality.

"It covers only one type of training and employers can only reclaim off-the-job costs," she said.

"As a result, valuable forms of training risk being cut back, with quantity put ahead of quality."

The CBI wants to delay the start date, currently scheduled for April 2017, to give firms more time to prepare.

"It would be a great mistake to rush ahead before a viable scheme is ready," Ms Fairbairn added.

The apprenticeship programme, launched in 2010, has already helped boost UK business and given 2.9 million people access to learn new skills.