Architecture apprenticeships under threat as Level 7 funding withdrawn for over-21s

The government will withdraw public funding for most Level 7 apprenticeships in England from January 2026, ending support for architectural apprenticeship students aged 22 and over. The decision is expected to have significant implications for access and progression within the profession, as the master’s-level qualification forms a core part of the route to registration.

Level 7 apprenticeships have been seen as a key way to open up access and support more diverse routes to registration, aligning with the Architects Registration Board’s wider reforms to architectural education and entry into the profession.

From next year, only apprentices who begin their Level 7 programme aged 21 or younger will remain eligible for levy-funded training. All others, including the majority of architectural candidates who start their final-stage training after turning 21, will be required to self-fund or find employer support to continue.

“There is an element of class war in this – that architecture is a middle-class profession and its trainees can pay for themselves. But this is a self-fulfilling prophecy,” said Timothy Brittain-Catlin, professor of architecture and course leader for the MSt in Architecture (Degree Apprenticeship) at the University of Cambridge. “Widening participation is a long-term project and we were making a breakthrough.”

Level 7 apprenticeships have been promoted as a way to diversify the profession by offering salaried, workplace-based alternatives to the traditional university route. The change could reduce the viability of this pathway for students from lower-income backgrounds or those entering architecture later in life.

“It now appears that a Labour government – a Labour government, to coin a phrase – wants to close down the fairest route into the profession and at the same time deprive many unqualified but experienced people already working in architecture from reaching their potential,” Brittain-Catlin said. “And it does this at the same time as announcing that infrastructure and building are a priority.”

Figures from the department for education show that uptake of Level 7 apprenticeships by under-22s is low. In the 2023–24 academic year, just 2 percent of Level 7 starts were by under-19s and fewer than 35 percent by those under 25.

“It’s clear that the department for education never thought through the implications of this,” said Brittain-Catlin. “Apprentices are tax-paying, productive members of their practices. Trained-up post-Part 1s will now be sent back to university and will have to take out student and maintenance loans. Who profits from this?”

He added that architecture schools would need to devise alternative part-time models, but warned of delays. “There will now be a hiatus because it can’t take less than two years to start a new course from scratch, and we all have the extremely complex, and still rather vague, new ARB form of prescription to apply for at exactly the same time.”

The decision comes despite ongoing skills shortages in construction and the built environment. In December, RIBA, RTPI, RICS and CIOB jointly warned that removing funding from Level 7 apprenticeships would limit the sector’s capacity to meet housing and net-zero targets, while narrowing access to professional careers in the wider industry.

An ARB spokesperson issued the following statement: “Last year ARB wrote to ministers in the Department for Education and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to express our concerns about the impact the proposed changes to the funding of apprenticeships would have on the architect’s profession.Ultimately, apprenticeship funding is a matter for government, and we wanted to ensure our advice was considered.

“We advised that our research has demonstrated that the cost and length of training are significant barriers to becoming an architect, particularly to those students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Our education reforms have the potential to reduce the very lengthy time it takes to qualify as an architect, and apprenticeships offer an important alternative route to potential architects who may be unable to afford the traditional route through academia.

“Last week, we invited tenders for a research project to help ARB evaluate whether our education reforms are improving access to the profession. We will continue to share our data and research with government.”

As part of its wider skills package, the government has announced a £3.075 billion apprenticeship budget for 2025–26, alongside a programme of new foundation apprenticeships targeted at 16 to 21-year-olds. These lower-level routes are intended to boost entry into sectors including construction and engineering.

The Department for Education has also allocated £136 million for Skills Bootcamps in priority sectors next year, with a further £100 million to expand construction-specific provision over four years. In addition, £14 million in adult skills funding will be devolved to local mayors to support around 5,000 new training places in construction, and ten Technical Excellence Colleges specialising in construction are due to open in September 2025.

“A skilled workforce is the key to steering the economy forward, and today we’re backing the next generation by giving young people more opportunities to learn a trade, earn a wage and achieve and thrive,” said education secretary Bridget Phillipson.