ICAEW Chief Executive Alan Vallance has, together with his counterparts at CIPFA and ACCA, raised concerns over proposals to remove Apprenticeship Levy funding for Level 7 qualifications.

The Apprenticeship Levy is paid by employers with an annual wage bill of more than £3m at a rate of 0.5% of their bill. In announcing the plans last September, the Department for Education suggested that Level 7 apprenticeships – which are the equivalent of a Masters’ degree – were “often” accessed by older or well-qualified individuals who fell outside of the intended recipients for levy funding. 

This suggestion has been rejected by ICAEW, which has seen the number of school leavers entering accountancy double since the introduction of the levy in 2017. In 2022/23, there were 9,600 Level 7 accounting and taxation starts, with 79% of ICAEW apprentices aged 24 or under. 

ICAEW has repeatedly warned of the potential harm that such a move could do to the government’s plans for growth, arguing that access to skills is a critical component of growth.

In an open letter published on 28 April 2025, Vallance, together with CEO of CIPFA Owen Mapley and Maggie McGhee, Executive Director at ACCA, argue that: “Level 7 apprenticeships are exactly the kind of qualifications that businesses and public sector organisations need, and on which the UK's foreign direct investment depends.

“In solving one problem the Education Secretary is in danger of undermining her government’s wider objective for growth, as well as hitting jobs and the aspirations of ambitious young people.” 

However, the bodies agree that apprenticeship funding should not be for “existing highly skilled people” and suggest that the government could explore the option of restricting level 7 levy funding to under-25s. 

Such an approach could address the department’s concerns over ensuring the best targeting of levy funding, while retaining an important route for school leavers to enter key professions.