Every Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) holds a discretionary grant budget. Employers can access a share of it by hosting accredited learnerships — structured occupational programmes that combine classroom facilitation with workplace experience, registered against QCTO-accredited qualifications.
What the funding typically covers
Discretionary grant funding is tied to the delivery of PIVOTAL programmes — professional, vocational, technical and academic learning that leads to a registered qualification. Depending on the SETA and the programme, grant funding contributes towards learner allowances, facilitation, materials and assessment. In parallel, employers may qualify for the Section 12H learnership tax allowance through SARS, and learnership completion contributes to B-BBEE skills development recognition.
Why employers struggle to access it alone
- Grant applications require accurate Workplace Skills Plans and Annual Training Reports submitted in the SETA window
- Hosting requires compliant documentation: learner agreements, POPIA-compliant onboarding, verified identity records
- Facilitation and Portfolio of Evidence management must run against QCTO-accredited qualifications across the correct SETA
- High-volume intakes need real delivery capacity — venues, facilitators and administration
How a delivery partner removes the friction
A skills-development partner like Usured Academy carries the programme mechanics on the employer's behalf: sourcing and screening learners, running POPIA-compliant onboarding, facilitating against accredited qualifications, managing Portfolio of Evidence completion and reporting to the SETA. The employer provides workplace exposure and receives the funding, tax and B-BBEE benefits — without building a training administration function.
Usured has places for 5,000 learners in training. In September 2026, the group inducted 1,000 learners across KwaZulu-Natal and Cape Town in a single week, spanning five separate employer programmes.