On 27th May 2025, the government announced that from January 2026, higher-level apprenticeship funding to be capped to under 22’s, so only those aged between 16-21 will be able to qualify for level 7 apprenticeships, which are equivalent to a master’s degree. When these changes take effect an employer will have to pay the full training costs for their employees over the age of 22 who are undertaking training at this level.
These measures are backed by a record breaking £3 billion apprenticeship budget, aiming to create more training opportunities for younger people and to address skills shortages in key sectors by targeting the funding towards training at lower levels. Overall, it is proposed that there will be 120,000 new training opportunities as a result of these changes for young people.
The government is promising an additional 30,000 apprenticeship starts during this parliament and 45,000 additional training places to upskill the domestic workforce, which will be funded by a 32% increase in the Immigration Skills Charge, which was published in Parliament’s ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration System’ white paper on 12th May 2025.
Level 7 apprenticeships are used by people training in roles, including accountants, tax advisors and solicitors. They also form a large part of some NHS advanced training, such as for advanced clinical practitioners. According to the Department for Education, the number of higher-level apprenticeships has more than doubled in the last five years, with 24% of funded courses being at levels 6 and 7 in the financial year of 2023/24, compared with only 11% in 2019/20.
Employers should plan for these changes now and consider whether any of their apprentices will be impacted by these changes.
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