You've identified a high-potential senior leader. They're ready for the next level — strategic thinking, enterprise-wide P&L responsibility, maybe a board role. The question is: how do you develop them in a way that serves both their career and your organisation's immediate needs?
That's where the CMI Level 7 Senior Leader apprenticeship comes in. Over 24 months, your leader will tackle a live strategic challenge, gain Chartered Manager recognition, and develop the financial acumen and transformational leadership skills you need them to have. And it's 100% levy-funded.
This guide is for you — the board member, CEO, or executive sponsor. It's designed to help you understand the programme, set realistic expectations, and shape it so it delivers real value to your organisation.
Why Executive Sponsorship Is Critical at Level 7
Level 3 and Level 5 apprenticeships are important. But Level 7 is different. At this level, your senior leader isn't just developing competence — they're being prepared to influence strategic direction, manage significant P&L, and lead organisational transformation.
That means success depends on more than a good apprenticeship programme. It depends on you.
Specifically:
- The strategic project must matter. Your leader will spend months developing a business proposal that addresses a real challenge. If it's peripheral, the learning is diluted. If it's central to strategy, the value — both for them and for you — is substantial.
- You need to protect their time. 12-15 hours per week off-the-job is significant. Some weeks, it'll conflict with operational urgency. Your sponsorship means making the call that development time is non-negotiable.
- Board visibility matters. When your senior leader knows the board is genuinely interested in their development and in their strategic proposal, the effort changes. It's no longer a tick-box exercise.
Level 7 Sponsorship ≠ Delegation
You don't hand this to HR and step back. The best Level 7 outcomes come when the sponsor is actively involved: clarity on the strategic project, milestone check-ins, and genuine interest in how their thinking is evolving. This is an investment in succession planning and leadership bench strength.
What Your Senior Leader Will Develop — Phase by Phase
The 24-month programme is structured in five phases. Here's what to expect:
Phase 1: Strategic Foundations (Months 1-6)
Your leader develops enhanced strategic thinking and governance frameworks. They'll start questioning assumptions constructively, understand how different functions interconnect, and gain clarity on how strategic intent cascades through the organisation.
You'll notice: Sharper questions in board meetings. A more systems-level view of problems.
Phase 2: Financial Stewardship (Months 7-12)
This is where financial confidence shifts. They move from functional P&L to enterprise-level financial strategy — cash flow dynamics, capital allocation, risk, investment decisions. Real fluency with your finance leadership.
You'll notice: They challenge assumptions about cost and investment with more rigour. They see the full picture.
Phase 3: Transformational Leadership (Months 13-18)
Leading change is different from managing it. They develop the frameworks and confidence to champion transformation — stakeholder navigation, change communication, building momentum. Not theory; grounded in their live strategic project.
You'll notice: More authority in their approach to complex change. Better ability to carry people.
Phase 4 & 5: Advanced Practice & EPA (Months 19-24+)
Consolidation and assessment. They refine their strategic proposal, gather evidence of impact, and prepare for End-Point Assessment. The EPA includes a professional discussion and their strategic business proposal — this is the capstone.
You'll notice: A fully formed strategic recommendation. A leader ready for the next level of responsibility.
How We Work With You: The TESS Partnership Model
This isn't a "we deliver content, you support the apprentice" model. TESS treats you as a partner in the development.
- Pre-programme sponsor briefing: We meet with you and your senior leader to understand your strategic priorities, shape the project scope, and set the right expectations.
- Regular alignment meetings: Quarterly touchpoints to ensure the programme is tracking against organisational needs and to surface any challenges early.
- Executive 1-to-1 coaching: Your senior leader gets coaching from our Level 5 Coaching Professional qualified team. This is peer-to-peer, not top-down — space for strategic reflection and challenge that's separate from line management.
- Milestone visibility: You'll see progress through milestone assessments and portfolio evidence. This isn't opaque — you understand what they're developing.
We've also run this programme with enough employers that we know what works. Strong organisational alignment beats isolated individual development every time.
The Strategic Business Proposal: The Centrepiece of Level 7
Here's the engine of the programme: your senior leader will develop a detailed strategic business proposal that addresses a real challenge in your organisation.
This isn't a training exercise. It's part of the End-Point Assessment. And if it's scoped right, it delivers genuine value to your business.
What Makes a Strong Strategic Project
- Board-level significance. It addresses something that matters strategically. Market entry. Operational transformation. Succession planning. Financial restructuring. Not a nice-to-have; something the board cares about.
- Clear scope. Ambitious, but achievable within the 24-month window. Your leader needs real access to data, stakeholders, and decision-makers to develop it properly.
- Organisational stake. The proposal should be shaped so that implementing it (or key elements of it) genuinely benefits the business. Your senior leader knows you're serious about considering their recommendations.
- Milestone clarity. Breaking the project into phases helps your leader manage complexity and shows measurable progress through the programme.
Don't Under-scope the Project
A common trap: keeping the project small to "ensure success." In fact, ambitious projects drive deeper learning. Your senior leader stretches more, engages stakeholders more, and develops more robust thinking. Start ambitious and adjust if needed — don't start safe.
Examples of Strategic Projects We've Seen
- A manufacturing business leader developed a proposal to enter a new geographic market, including market analysis, entry strategy, and investment case.
- A financial services director shaped a digital transformation roadmap, including change impact, investment sequencing, and organisational capability requirements.
- A healthcare operations leader designed a service expansion model, including financial modelling, stakeholder engagement, and implementation plan.
- A retail executive developed a supply chain sustainability strategy with cost-benefit analysis and stakeholder alignment.
The common thread: they solve real problems your organisation cares about.
Coaching at the Executive Level: Different From Earlier Apprenticeships
If you've had level 3 or level 5 apprentices, you know coaching is part of the offer. At level 7, it's different.
Our coaches work peer-to-peer with your senior leader, not top-down. The conversations are different:
- Strategic reflection. Working through complex decisions, stakeholder dynamics, trade-offs. Not "do this better," but "what does success look like here, and what's in your way?"
- External networks. Our coaches have broad networks. We connect your leader to peers in other organisations, different sectors, who are facing similar challenges.
- Protecting development time. Sometimes this means pushing back on the pressure to drop development time when operational crises hit. Your leader grows more if they're not constantly firefighting.
- Challenge at board level. Our coaches will challenge your senior leader's thinking in ways their line manager might not. This is valuable. Different perspective, no power dynamic.
Chartered Manager Recognition: What It Means
Upon successful completion of the CMI Level 7 and EPA, your leader is eligible for Chartered Manager status with the Chartered Management Institute.
What does that mean in practice?
- Professional recognition. Chartered status is a mark of rigorous competence. It matters in your sector and externally.
- Succession planning signal. When you're developing board candidates or C-suite leaders, Chartered status is a visible marker of serious development investment.
- Organisational capability. If you're building a leadership bench, having Chartered Managers is a differentiator — clients, partners, and talent see it.
- Continued development pathway. Chartered status comes with access to CMI networks, resources, and continuing professional development.
The Funding Question: What Changed in January 2026
Government-funded Level 7 apprenticeships are now only available for:
- Apprentices aged 16-21 at the start of their apprenticeship
- OR under 25 with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan
- OR currently in, or formerly in, local authority care
If your senior leader is 21+ and doesn't fall into the exceptions: You'll need to discuss co-investment options with TESS Group. We're transparent about this and can help structure the investment conversation.
This change is significant. If you're considering Level 7 for an experienced senior leader (likely, given the level), funding is no longer automatic. But it's still a strong investment case: 24 months of focused development, delivery of a strategic proposal, and board-level capability building.
The key is to have the conversation early with TESS Group so there are no surprises.
Setting Realistic Expectations
- Time is real. 12-15 hours per week is significant. Some organisations build this into a structured development day. Others distribute it. Either way, it's protected time.
- The strategic project takes iteration. Your leader will develop the proposal, get feedback, refine. That's normal. The EPA assessor will challenge them on thinking and evidence.
- Coaching works best when your senior leader is open to it. Not everyone embraces executive coaching immediately. The good ones do. Make sure your candidate is genuinely committed.
- Change isn't instant. At month 6, you'll see shifts in how they think about strategy. At month 12, financial confidence will be visibly stronger. By month 18-20, you'll see a more developed strategic voice. This is a journey.
Frequently Asked Questions
12-15 hours per week off-the-job training. This is allocated time for taught content, coaching, and portfolio development. The apprentice combines this with their strategic project work, typically scheduled across structured days or blocks. The exact schedule is flexible and can be tailored to your organisation's needs.
The programme is designed to be 100% levy-funded. However, from 1 January 2026, funding eligibility changed. Level 7 apprenticeships are only government-funded for apprentices aged 16-21 at start, or under 25 with an Education, Health and Care plan, or currently/formerly in local authority care. Those who started before 1 January 2026 remain fully funded. For apprentices outside these criteria, discuss co-investment options with TESS Group.
Absolutely. The strategic project should address a real challenge in your organisation. TESS works with you at the start to scope it so it has genuine board-level significance and delivers value to the business. This is the centrepiece of the Level 7 EPA and should be ambitious. Examples include market entry strategies, digital transformation roadmaps, supply chain redesigns, or organisational restructuring proposals.
The on-programme phase is 24 months. The EPA (End-Point Assessment) typically follows, adding around 4 months. If extra time is needed due to organisational circumstances or complex strategic work, this is managed with TESS Group. Extensions are sometimes valuable for deeper development, especially if the strategic project is particularly ambitious.
TESS provides sponsor briefing sessions at the start and key milestones, regular strategic alignment meetings (typically quarterly), and access to our coaching expertise. Our L5-qualified coaching team works peer-to-peer with your executive, and we help protect development time from operational demands. You're not passive; you're a partner in the development.
Ready to Develop Your Next Generation of Leaders?
The Level 7 Senior Leader Apprenticeship is designed for ambitious, high-potential executives ready to step into board roles or C-suite responsibility. If you've identified a senior leader ready for this level of development, let's talk about how to shape the programme to fit your strategic priorities.
Discuss Level 7 Development