Heat Training Grant

Funded heat pump training courses

The Heat Training Grant is a funding scheme for heating engineers set up by the UK Government's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Through this scheme, registered training providers, such as the Grant UK Training Academy in Swindon, can access up to £1000 of funding to cover the cost of one heat pump installation course and one heat pump system design course per eligible installer. If you are interested in this scheme, we always recommend contacting the Grant Training Team to check that funding is available at the time of the course.

Grant UK's Training Academy offers funded spaces on the OFTEC OFT21-504A – ASHP Installation, Commissioning, and Servicing of Air Source Heat Pumps and the OFTEC OFT21-504D - Design of Heat Pump Systems qualification courses. The course fees for these qualifications are covered by the Heat Training Grant funding, subject to the individual meeting the scheme's eligibility requirements, although any eligible installer will still need to pay the VAT on the course fees.

Who is eligible for this heat pump training grant?

The Heat Training Grant is not available to everyone – you need to be eligible for it. Provided below is a summary of the eligibility requirements for the Heat Training Grant:

• The applicant must work in England to be eligible for this funding.

• The applicant must work for a business of 250 employees or less, or be a sole trader, or is unemployed.

• The applicant, or the business they work for, must be certified by a competent persons scheme (e.g. APHC, BESCA, Blue Flame Certification, Gas Safe Register, Certsure/NICEIC, HETAS, NAPIT, OFTEC or Stroma).

• The applicant, or the business they work for, must not have received more than £315,000 in government subsidies over the past 3 years.

• The applicant must not have received the Heat Training Grant funding for any other heat pump course (an installer is only entitled to be funded for one heat pump course under this current scheme).

Additional requirements

In addition to the funding eligibility requirements, all applicants for the OFTEC21-504A and OFT21-504D qualifications must meet all the pre-requisites as specified by OFTEC which includes holding a nationally recognised qualification and/or registration in a trade associated with heating and plumbing (or provide written evidence of ‘on the job’ heating installation/maintenance experience for not less than least two years).

OFT21-504A Applicants must also hold both the WRAS and HWSS (unvented) qualifications (please note, no funding is available under this scheme for either of these two pre-requisite courses).

Please note that if the applicant is eligible, funding is available for either the OFTEC21-504A qualification, or both the OFTEC21-504A and OFT21-504D qualifications taken together. However, funding for the OFT21-504D qualification only is not available.

If you are unsure whether you meet the criteria, our Training Team will be happy to help. Get in touch to find out whether you are eligible.

What is the purpose of the Heat Training Grant?

The aim of the Heat Training Grant is to provide funding to installers who undertake heat pump training to ensure that there is a skilled workforce to install low carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps. The Government has set targets for heat pump installations over the coming years and to achieve these, the number of trained heat pump installers needs to increase. The Heat Training Grant should make training courses more affordable, equipping installers with the knowledge to confidently work with low temperature heating systems and to fulfil the standards set by competent persons schemes.

How to apply for a Heat Training Grant

• Ensure you fulfil all the eligibility criteria as outlined above

• Contact the Grant UK Training Academy via 01380 736920 or email training@grantuk.com

You can read more about the OFTEC OFT21-504A: Installation, commissioning and servicing of Air Source Heat Pumps Qualification Course and OFTEC OFT21-504D: Heat Pump System Design Qualification Course here. Funded spaces are limited so please contact our Training Team if you are interested in registering your details for funded training courses.