The survey found that 39% of respondents were unaware of how the apprenticeship levy operated, while half (51%) did not understand how the funding reforms work above or below the £3m pay bill threshold.

The apprenticeship levy, first announced at Summer Budget 2015, will be charged at a rate of 0.5% of an employer’s pay bill. Employers will receive an annual allowance of £15,000 to offset against their levy payment and this means that employers not subject to the rules around connection will only pay the levy if their pay bill exceeds £3m in a given year.

Nearly a 30% of those polled reported that they will fall under the scope of the levy, but only a quarter (26%) expect to recover all or more of their levy payment, suggesting that for many businesses, it will feel like a tax.

In addition only 11% said the reforms will increase their recruitment of apprentices, while just 5% of businesses said they will have a positive impact on their wider training budget.

Marcus Mason, head of education and skills at the BCC, said: ‘The government needs to ensure that businesses understand how they could benefit from the reforms, because if it just feels like yet another tax then then the policy will have failed. Devolved administrations also need to provide a guarantee that the money raised is ring-fenced and kept for training.

‘The government should allow businesses to use the levy funding to support other high-quality workplace training or there is a risk of displacing other valid forms of training. Fundamentally, treating apprenticeships as a numbers game would benefit neither businesses nor apprentices themselves.’

The BCC survey of 1,600 business leaders across the UK was conducted in association with Middlesex University.