Ministers have been accused of hypocrisy after government departments rushed to enrol civil servants onto level 7 apprenticeships just before public funding was switched off.
Analysis by FE Week shows dozens of level 7 apprenticeship contracts were secured for close to 200 civil servants in the months before January’s funding deadline for learners aged 22 and over. Most were for the controversial senior leader standard.
The cuts were introduced to ease pressure on England’s strained apprenticeships budget and to redirect funding towards younger learners. But the data reveals that departments across government – including those responsible for the policy – made significant use of the subsidy.
The Department for Work and Pensions, which oversees apprenticeships policy, enrolled around 20 staff onto the level 7 senior leadership apprenticeship in November.
And in an apparent case of departmental confusion, it awarded a five-year £2.1 million contract for level 3 team leader and level 5 operations manager apprenticeships – two of 16 standards earmarked for defunding this week – with teaching starting in December. Internal decisions to scale back management apprenticeships were being signalled at the time.
The DWP declined to explain the rationale for the contract awards, or provide the ages of the level 7 apprentices it enrolled shortly before funding was withdrawn.
A government spokesperson said: “Level 7 standards were available to all employers until the point they were defunded for learners aged 22 and over. Government departments are subject to the same rules.”
Sector leaders questioned the “contradictory” move from the government as it proved ministers and officials deemed the defunded apprenticeships as valuable and appropriate.
Rush hour
The rush to secure level 7 apprenticeships followed the Department for Education’s announcement in May that public funding would be withdrawn for learners aged 22 and over from January.
Starts on level 7 apprenticeships spiked nationally last year as employers raced to beat the deadline. It heaped further pressure on England’s apprenticeship budget. Maximum funding available for the two most popular level 7 standards, senior leader and accountancy professional, was £14,000 and £21,000, respectively.
To avoid another cost spike, officials have capped starts for providers offering the 16 standards earmarked for defunding this week.
FE Week analysis indicates at least nine government departments were part of the level 7 spike. Between the initial announcement and the funding cut-off, around two-thirds of level 7 contracts were commissioned in the final quarter of 2025.
The most significant late activity came from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which secured nearly two-thirds of its 16 contracts – covering at least 87 learners – during the last quarter of 2025.
The Department for Education had consistently commissioned level 7 apprenticeships since 2021. Last year, it issued eight procurement notices spanning areas such as AI, systems thinking and senior leadership, with five programmes launching in the final two months before the funding deadline.
Meanwhile, the Department for Work and Pensions, which assumed responsibility for apprenticeships in September, enrolled around 20 employees onto the level 7 senior leadership standard in November.
Caught in a contradiction trap
Apprenticeship leaders said this behaviour from government departments was “entirely predictable”.
“Whenever a funding cliff edge is introduced, you’re likely to see both public and private-sector employers act in a fairly rational way to secure access to that type of provision through government funding,” said Mandy Crawford-Lee, chief executive of University Vocational Awards Council.
“I’m a bit cross if I’m honest. This is just a stupid policy and history will not be kind.”
Ben Rowland, CEO of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said the defunding policy was being driven by artificial financial pressure, not a lack of demand or value.
“Employers, including Whitehall itself, are clearly signalling that these apprenticeships deliver real impact,” he said.
“This leaves the system caught in its own contradictions, with government restricting funding while continuing to rely on these programmes for its own workforce.”
Crawford-Lee added: “If they are deemed valuable enough for central government to utilise, there is a legitimate question now to be asked why they should no longer attract public investment more broadly.”
The Chartered Management Institute has found nearly half (49 per cent) of management apprentices work in the public sector, including health, defence and education.
Petra Wilton, policy director at the CMI, told FE Week that the large take-up of management and leadership level 7 standards by public sector employers gave civil servants a career path into professional management.
She added: “The loss of levy funding for these courses will have an impact on not only the quality of leadership in our public services, but ultimately on the services they provide to taxpayers.”
See the full contract list here.
Amazing value for money for the public purse to be letting tenders for 1 – 2 learners
The number of civil servants wanting to drink at the Level 7 last chance saloon would be a small number compared with the queue of other public sector workers from the NHS and local authorities doing the same!
As senior managers in these services, what else would they want to do for the entire length of these apprenticeships with their 20% day a week off work away from their normal duties!
This saloon should never have been open to apprentices. The “vested interests” commenting above should if they want open a new saloon where public sector workers can go after work not instead of work !
totally agree