Level 7 funding withdrawn for new starters aged 22 and over
Master's-level apprenticeships are now a young person's route, with two narrow exceptions.
From 1 January 2026, government funding for new starts on Level 7 apprenticeships was withdrawn for anyone aged 22 or over. Level 7 remains funded for apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for those aged 22 to 24 who have an Education, Health and Care plan or have been in local authority care.
What it changed from: Level 7 was open to any eligible apprentice regardless of age, and had become one of the fastest-growing parts of the system. Senior Leader, Solicitor, Accountancy and Taxation Professional and Advanced Clinical Practitioner programmes were widely used by employers to develop existing senior staff.
Apprentices who started before January 2026 continue to be funded through to completion, so this is a restriction on new starts only.
The 2026/27 funding rules removed the transitional language around this change, which matters more than it sounds. It signals the restriction is now the settled baseline rather than a temporary measure that might be revisited.
What follows: employers who used Level 7 to develop mid-career and senior staff have lost that funding route almost entirely and must either self-fund, use the wider Growth and Skills Levy flexibilities for shorter training, or redirect development spend. Providers with Level 7 portfolios have seen a demand cliff. There was a visible surge in Level 7 starts in late 2025 as employers enrolled ahead of the deadline, which contributed to the budget pressure now driving further streamlining decisions.