Practicality and impact are the words of the moment, as the Government seeks to ensure home-grown talent can build the knowledge, skills and behaviours that will carry them through successful careers, and become the workforce that will help the economy innovate and grow.
The Government has reinforced support for Level 3 (Team Leader) and Level 5 (Operations Manager) apprenticeship programmes in England, signalling a strong intent to expand access to in-employment training and clear career progression at these critical levels.
For smaller organisations, it’s also good news: the Government has expanded full funding options for SMEs, meaning that up to 100% of apprenticeship training costs can now be covered for non-Levy payers. This is a significant shift that opens doors for more employers to invest in the development of their people without financial strain.
We call leadership apprenticeships an opportunity because if you’re not using your Levy funds, you’re losing them – literally. These funds expire and default to the Government if they remain unused for 24 months. For many employers, even in a challenging and unpredictable economy, this means thousands of pounds in L&D or training budget are quietly slipping away, unspent and unrecovered.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that within this renewed focus on Level 3 and 5 apprenticeships came a funding cut for Level 7 programmes, highlighting the potential vulnerability of future policy support for higher levels of leadership training.
Don’t let your leadership pipeline run dry or your available funding go to waste—now is the time to take full advantage.
- Equip your team leaders and supervisors with essential, practical management skills
- Develop future-ready middle managers with the strategic and operational confidence to lead effectively
- Embed coaching, communication, and performance management into the everyday rhythm of work
- Access CMI Certificate qualifications as an added value within the programme
- Choose face-to-face delivery, virtual delivery, or a blended model that suits your team’s needs
Whether you’re looking to develop one or two managers through our popular open programmes or roll out a tailored, organisation-wide solution that aligns with your specific context and challenges, we’re here to help. Let us support you every step of the way to seize the leadership apprenticeship opportunity in the smartest, most strategic way possible.
To help you explore our programmes in more depth – and have all your questions answered in real time – we run informative online Q&A sessions at least once a month (often every two weeks). Click here or on the graphic below to go to the ‘News & Events’ section of our website and click the ‘Events’ toggle at the top of the page.
