What Has Changed?
If you have been following the AI Leadership apprenticeship unit since it was first announced in March 2026, you will know it as AU0002: a single Level 5 unit covering AI strategy, governance, and organisational transformation. That unit has now been withdrawn by Skills England.
In its place, Skills England has approved three new units that split the original scope into distinct, focused areas of AI leadership. This is not a reduction in what is available. It is an expansion. Where employers previously had access to one unit with a single funding allocation, they now have three units, each individually funded and each targeting a specific domain of AI leadership capability.
“When we first saw the restructure, our immediate reaction was that this is a better model. AU0002 tried to cover strategy, governance, and transformation in a single unit. Now employers can target exactly the skills their leaders need, and the combined funding has increased significantly. This is Skills England listening to providers and getting the structure right.”
The Three New Units at a Glance
AI Strategy & Opportunity
How to identify where AI creates value and build a strategy around it. Covers opportunity assessment, business case development, and strategic planning.
£750 funded View on Skills England →AI Adoption, Procurement & Governance
How to buy, govern, and manage AI responsibly. Covers procurement frameworks, risk management, ethical governance, and compliance.
£750 funded View on Skills England →AI Delivery & Organisational Transformation
How to lead AI implementation and manage the human side of change. Covers delivery planning, workforce transformation, and measuring impact.
£750 funded View on Skills England →All three units sit at Level 5, require a minimum of 30 guided learning hours each, and are approved for delivery from 28 April 2026. They share the same eligibility criteria as the original AU0002: designed for senior leaders, with no End-Point Assessment. For SMEs (pay bill under £3 million), each unit is 100% government funded with no employer contribution. Levy-paying employers draw from their Growth and Skills Levy account. View the TESS AI Leadership Pathway programme page (closed-cohort delivery, 8 weeks for the full pathway) for full details on how we deliver all three units.
AU0002 vs the New Three-Unit Pathway
| AU0002 (Withdrawn) | AU0009 + AU0010 + AU0011 | |
|---|---|---|
| Units | 1 | 3 (stackable) |
| Level | Level 5 | Level 5 (all three) |
| Total Funding | Single allocation | Up to £2,250 |
| Min. Learning Hours | 30 hours | 90 hours (30 per unit) |
| Flexibility | All or nothing | Pick 1, 2, or all 3 |
| Assessment | No EPA | No EPA |
| Available From | Was 28 April 2026 | 28 April 2026 |
The Bigger Picture: 10 Apprenticeship Units Now Available
The AI leadership units are part of a broader expansion. Skills England has now approved 10 apprenticeship units across multiple sectors, up from the 8 originally announced. Here is the full picture:
| Unit | Sector | Funding | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent Modular Building Assembly | Construction | £3,200 | 140 |
| Welding | Manufacturing | £2,100 | 90 |
| Mechanical Fitting & Assembly | Manufacturing | £1,650 | 70 |
| Electrical Fitting & Assembly | Manufacturing | £1,650 | 70 |
| Battery Manufacturing | Manufacturing | £1,650 | 70 |
| EV Charging Installation & Maintenance | Green Energy | £950 | 35 |
| Solar PV Installation & Maintenance | Green Energy | £950 | 35 |
| AI Strategy & Opportunity (AU0009) | AI Leadership | £750 | 30 |
| AI Adoption, Procurement & Governance (AU0010) | AI Leadership | £750 | 30 |
| AI Delivery & Organisational Transformation (AU0011) | AI Leadership | £750 | 30 |
Source: FE Week, April 2026. The three AI Leadership units are the only digital/strategic units in the first wave.
How Funding Payment Works
Unlike full apprenticeships where funding draws down monthly over 12–24 months, apprenticeship unit funding is paid in two milestones:
Amounts shown per unit (£750). Full pathway: £675 at milestone 1, £1,575 at completion.
Eligibility Checklist
What This Means for Employers
The practical impact for employers is overwhelmingly positive. Here is what changes:
More targeted development. If your leadership team already understands AI strategy but needs help with governance and procurement, you can enrol them on AU0010 alone. You no longer have to commit to the full breadth of AU0002 when only part of it is relevant.
More funding per learner. Three units at £750 each means up to £2,250 of funded development per learner. For SMEs, that is £2,250 of 100% government-funded training at zero cost. Levy payers draw from their account, making this one of the most efficient uses of levy funds available for senior leaders.
Phased rollout. Employers can stagger the units over time. Start with AI Strategy (AU0009), follow up with Governance (AU0010) a few weeks later, and complete with Transformation (AU0011). This makes it easier to fit around senior leaders’ schedules.
Clearer recognition. Each unit produces a distinct, nationally recognised credential. A leader who completes all three holds three verified qualifications rather than one broad one.
How TESS Group Is Responding
We have been preparing for this transition since the restructure was signalled by Skills England. Our response has three parts:
1. We are applying for delivery approval for all three units. We expect approval in time for our planned 28 April 2026 launch date. Our existing curriculum, which already covered six modules across strategy, governance, and transformation, maps directly to the three new units with minimal re-segmentation.
2. We are launching the TESS AI Leadership Pathway. Rather than treating the three units as separate products, we are packaging them as a single cohesive pathway with three stackable sprints. Employers can enrol learners on one, two, or all three, and the pathway is designed so each sprint builds on the last.
Sprint 2: Governance (AU0010) – procurement frameworks, ethical governance, risk management, compliance architecture.
Sprint 3: Transformation (AU0011) – delivery planning, workforce change management, impact measurement, scaling AI.
3. We are updating all existing content. Our landing page, blog guides, and programme descriptions are being updated this week to reflect the new unit structure. Bookmark this page for the latest information.
“When we designed the curriculum for AU0002, we structured it around strategy, governance, and transformation as distinct learning blocks. The three-unit split from Skills England mirrors that design. We are not starting from scratch; we are mapping what we had already built to a structure that gives employers more flexibility and more funding.”
Where This Fits in the TESS AI Skills Portfolio
The AI Leadership Pathway sits at the top of our organisation-wide AI skills model. It connects to everything below it:
- Level 3: Data-Driven Team Leader builds data confidence in frontline managers (13 months, 3 qualifications).
- Level 4: AI & Automation Practitioner (or the 8-month Accelerated route) develops hands-on AI builders (15–18 months, up to 5 qualifications, Microsoft or Google edition).
- Level 4: AI for People Leaders and AI for Operations Leaders bridge management and AI capability.
- Level 5: AI Leadership Pathway (AU0009 + AU0010 + AU0011) gives senior leaders the strategic layer: where to deploy AI, how to govern it, and how to lead the transformation.
- Level 6: AI & ML Fellowship develops deep technical specialists (degree-equivalent, TensorFlow, PyTorch).
When your leadership team completes the AI Leadership Pathway and returns with a strategy, they land in an organisation where practitioners at Level 4 can execute it, team leaders at Level 3 can support it, and technical specialists at Level 6 can build the advanced systems it demands. That is the TESS difference: AI skills at every level, from a single provider, with a connected curriculum.
Find the right fit in 3 minutes
Whichever side of this you're on, L&D leader scoping a cohort, or senior leader thinking about your own development, we built two interactive tools that take three minutes and give you a tailored read with no email required.
Employer fit assessment
7 questions diagnosing where your org is in its AI journey. Tells you which units fit and whether a closed-cohort pathway is right.
Learner unit picker
6 role-based questions for the individual leader. Tells you which unit lines up with your role and where your gap is.
Why closed cohort, not open intakes
The TESS pathway runs as a closed cohort for a single employer, typically 8 to 15 senior leaders learning together. We deliberately don't run open mixed-employer intakes for these units. Three reasons:
- Shared business context. Peers from the same organisation can have the actually-useful conversations, about your specific AI rollout, your data, your customers, that don't happen across NDA boundaries.
- One transformation plan. Closed cohorts produce a single shared outcome: a strategy, governance framework, and rollout plan that the same room of leaders has signed off together. Open cohorts produce separate individual portfolios.
- Vocabulary alignment. 12 leaders in 12 different cohorts come back with 12 different definitions of “AI strategy”. Closed cohort fixes that on day one.
The full closed-cohort rollout playbook covers the 8-week sequence, week-by-week milestones, and the five preconditions for it to land.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was AU0002 withdrawn?
Skills England restructured the single broad unit into three focused units. Each new unit targets a specific domain of AI leadership: strategy, governance, and transformation. This gives employers more granular control over which skills they develop and increases the total funding available per learner.
Do employers need to enrol learners on all three units?
No. Each unit is standalone and can be completed independently. Employers can choose one, two, or all three depending on what their leaders need. TESS Group recommends the full pathway for maximum impact, but there is no obligation to do all three.
Is the funding still 100% for SMEs?
Yes. Non-levy-paying employers (those with an annual pay bill under £3 million) receive 100% government funding for each unit. Levy-paying employers draw from their Growth and Skills Levy account. Either way, there is no out-of-pocket cost for the learner or employer.
What happens to existing AU0002 content and guides?
We are updating all our content to reflect the new three-unit structure. Our unit picker guide and the AI Leadership Pathway page covers each unit in full detail, including content, eligibility, funding, and delivery.
Can this count towards a full apprenticeship later?
Apprenticeship units are designed with portability in mind. While the formal credit transfer framework is still being developed by Skills England, completing any or all of the three AI Leadership units provides a strong foundation for leaders who later enrol on a full Level 5 or Level 6 programme.
When can we start?
AU0009, AU0010, and AU0011 are approved for delivery from 28 April 2026. TESS Group expects to begin enrolling learners from late April 2026 once our delivery applications are confirmed. Book a Free Discovery Call to register your interest.
Ready to Explore the New AI Leadership Pathway?
Whether you want to start with one unit or enrol your leadership team across all three, the first step is a free, no-obligation discovery call. We will map the new units to your organisation’s specific needs.