Your Action Plan Before Apprenticeship Defunding Hits
The Team Leader apprenticeship had over 12,600 starts last year alone. It and 15 other standards lose funding from September 2026. Here is exactly what to do in the months you have left.
Why this matters more than the headlines suggest
When 16 apprenticeship standards were confirmed for defunding earlier this month, the initial reaction from most employers was "we'll just wait for the replacements." That's a risky strategy.
The Team Leader Level 3 is the most popular apprenticeship in the country, with 12,670 starts in the 2024-25 academic year across 450 training providers. The Operations Manager Level 5 is another of the most widely used leadership development routes in UK businesses. When these disappear, there will be a gap before any new standards are designed, approved, and ready for delivery.
During that gap, your people either develop through another route, or they don't develop at all. The levy funds you're paying won't stop — they'll just expire unused.
The five affected TESS programmes
| Programme | Level | Duration | Funding | Enrol By |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Leader | L3 | 15 months | £5,000 | June 2026 |
| Operations Manager | L5 | 17 months | £9,000 | June 2026 |
| Coaching Professional | L5 | 14 months | £5,000 | June 2026 |
| Improvement Practitioner | L4 | 15-18 months | £6,000 | June 2026 |
| Improvement Leader | L6 | 18 months | £15,000 | June 2026 |
The "Enrol By" date of June 2026 is our realistic deadline, not the official one. Learners need to be registered and on-programme before 1 September 2026, but the administrative process of identifying learners, completing eligibility checks, and getting contracts signed typically takes 6 to 8 weeks. If you start that process in July, you are cutting it very fine.
Your six-step action plan
Audit your team today
Pull together a list of everyone who would benefit from a leadership qualification, coaching skills, or process improvement expertise. Think about the people you've been meaning to develop but haven't got round to yet. First-time managers, team leads without formal qualifications, high performers ready for the next step.
Time needed: 1 hour with your HR lead or line managers.
Check your levy balance
Log in to your Apprenticeship Service account and check what you have available. Levy funds expire after 24 months. If you are sitting on an unspent pot, this is your last realistic opportunity to use it on these programmes before both the levy pot and the funding window close.
Non-levy employers: you can still access these programmes through co-investment, where you pay just 5% of the training cost and the government covers the other 95%.
Time needed: 10 minutes online.
Prioritise by impact
You may not be able to enrol everyone before the deadline. Focus on the roles where formal development will have the most immediate impact. Common high-priority groups include:
- New managers who were promoted based on technical skills but haven't had management training
- Team leaders responsible for performance, absence, or wellbeing conversations
- Operational managers driving efficiency in customer-facing or production teams
- Anyone leading change or improvement projects
Get learners nominated by May
Once you know who you want to enrol, send us their names and job roles. We handle the eligibility checks, prior learning assessments, and paperwork. The earlier you start, the more flexibility you have over start dates and cohort groupings.
Our target: Learner nominations confirmed by end of May. On-programme by mid-June at the latest.
Plan for the gap
After September 2026, these specific standards will no longer be available through levy funding. Replacement standards are expected but there is no confirmed date for when they will be ready. Based on past experience, the trailblazer consultation, drafting, and approval process typically takes 12 to 18 months.
In the meantime, consider which of your remaining levy-funded options can fill the gap. TESS Group offers a range of programmes that will continue to be fully funded, including AI and data apprenticeships that complement leadership development.
Talk to us
We can walk you through the options, help you work out which programmes are right for your people, and get the enrolment process moving. We have done this hundreds of times and we handle the administrative burden so you can focus on choosing the right people.
What happens to learners already on programme?
If your staff are already enrolled and on-programme before 1 September 2026, they will be allowed to complete their apprenticeship in full. The defunding only applies to new starts after the deadline. There is no impact on current learners.
Programmes that are not affected
The defunding is targeted at specific standards. The vast majority of apprenticeship programmes remain fully funded. At TESS Group, the following programmes are unaffected and continue as normal:
- AI and Data apprenticeships — AI for Business (L4), Data Analyst (L4), Data Technician (L3), Digital Support Technician (L3)
- HR and People — CIPD Level 3, CIPD Level 5, HR Support (L3), L&D Practitioner (L3), People Professional (L5)
- Content and Marketing — Content Creator (L3), Multi-Channel Marketer (L3)
- Business and Projects — Business Analyst (L4), Associate Project Manager (L4), Business Administrator (L3)
- Senior Leadership — Senior Leader (L7), Senior People Professional (L7)
- Short courses — AI Prompting Accelerator, Coaching Culture, Mate to Manager, and 13 more
If you have broader development needs beyond the five affected standards, there is almost certainly a funded route available. Our Programme Finder tool can help you match roles to the right apprenticeship.
The real cost of waiting
The government frames this as redirecting levy funding towards areas of greatest economic need, focusing on younger learners and technical skills. Whether you agree with that rationale or not, the practical effect is the same: from September, these five programmes will either need to be self-funded or they simply won't happen.
For a Team Leader L3 programme, that means finding £5,000 per learner from your own budget instead of using levy funds. For an Operations Manager L5, it is £9,000. For an Improvement Leader L6, £15,000. Multiply that by the number of people on your list, and the cost of not acting before the deadline becomes very clear.
Get your team enrolled before the deadline
We are actively enrolling on all five affected programmes. Contact us today and we will help you identify the right people and get them started.