On 25 March 2026, Marks & Spencer announced it has rolled out 11,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licences to employees across its business — from head office to stores. The retailer is betting big on AI to streamline operations, boost productivity, and give its people the tools to work smarter. It's one of the largest enterprise Copilot deployments in UK retail.
The story was widely covered, and the message to other employers is clear: Copilot adoption isn't coming — it's here. The organisations pulling ahead are the ones investing in training alongside the technology, not after it.
The Licence Trap: 11,000 Seats, but Who Knows How to Use Them?
Here's what most organisations discover after a large-scale Copilot deployment: buying the licences is the easy part. The hard part is getting people to use them effectively. Without structured training, adoption follows a painfully predictable curve — early enthusiasm from a small group, confusion from the majority, and within three months, most licences sitting unused.
This isn't a technology problem. It's a skills problem. And it's exactly the kind of problem that a workshop or webinar cannot solve, because real AI adoption requires sustained, contextualised learning embedded in the flow of work.
How TESS Group's AI Apprenticeship Includes Copilot Training
TESS Group's Level 4 AI & Automation Practitioner apprenticeship doesn't just mention Copilot in passing — it weaves Microsoft 365 Copilot throughout the entire 18-month programme. Apprentices learn to use Copilot as a practical tool within their actual job role, covering:
- Copilot in Word — drafting reports, policies, proposals, and communications in minutes rather than hours
- Copilot in Excel — analysing data, creating formulas, generating charts, and spotting trends without writing code
- Copilot in Teams — summarising meetings, extracting action items, and drafting follow-up communications automatically
- Copilot in Outlook — triaging inboxes, summarising email threads, and drafting responses at scale
- Copilot in PowerPoint — building polished presentations from text briefs in a fraction of the time
- Prompt engineering — crafting precise, context-rich prompts that consistently produce useful outputs
- Workflow automation — connecting Copilot with Power Automate to build end-to-end automated processes
The critical difference from a short course: every skill is taught in the context of the apprentice's actual role. An operations manager learns to use Copilot for process mapping. A finance lead learns it for forecasting. An HR professional learns it for workforce analysis. The training isn't theoretical — it's applied from day one.
The Microsoft AB-730 Certification
TESS Group's AI apprenticeship includes the Microsoft AI Business Professional (AB-730) certification as one of up to five industry qualifications apprentices earn during the programme. This is a Microsoft-recognised credential that specifically covers AI tools including Copilot across the Microsoft 365 suite.
This means your people don't just learn to click buttons in Copilot — they earn a recognised Microsoft credential that proves they understand how to apply AI strategically. For organisations with Microsoft partnership status, having certified AI practitioners strengthens your partnership standing and signals digital maturity to clients.
Five Qualifications, Not Just One
The Microsoft AB-730 is one piece of a broader package. Apprentices on the Level 4 programme can earn up to five qualifications:
- Microsoft AB-730 — AI Business Professional (covers Copilot and AI tools)
- BCS Foundation Certificate in AI — a chartered institute credential in artificial intelligence
- NCFE Level 3 in AI Prompt Mastery — advanced prompt engineering skills
- NCFE Level 3 in Data — practical data literacy and analysis
- NCFE Level 3 in Cyber Security — security awareness in an AI-driven workplace
No other UK apprenticeship provider offers this breadth of certification within a single programme. Your people come out the other side with a comprehensive AI skill set backed by recognised industry credentials.
Fully Funded Through Your Levy
The entire programme — including all five certifications, 18 months of coaching, and the end-point assessment — is fully funded through the Apprenticeship Levy. If you're a levy-paying employer, you're already paying this money every month. Using it for AI training that includes Microsoft certification is one of the highest-ROI deployments of your levy available right now.
For non-levy employers, the government covers 95% of costs. The apprentice pays nothing either way.
What This Means for Your Organisation
The M&S rollout is a signal, not an outlier. Enterprise adoption of Microsoft Copilot is accelerating across every sector. The question facing L&D and HR leaders right now isn't whether your people need AI skills — it's how you're going to build those skills sustainably, at scale, without burning through your training budget on one-off workshops that don't stick.
An apprenticeship solves that. It provides 18 months of structured learning, real workplace application, Microsoft certification, and ongoing coaching support — all funded through your existing levy.
Explore all AI programmes: Compare all of our AI apprenticeships — from Level 3 to Level 6, for every department. View AI Apprenticeships →
Explore Our AI Apprenticeships
Ready to bring AI skills into your organisation? Our fully levy-funded AI programmes combine hands-on tools with recognised qualifications:
Make Your Copilot Licences Count
TESS Group's Level 4 AI apprenticeship includes Microsoft Copilot training and AB-730 certification. Levy-funded. No coding required. Monthly starts.
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