Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the impact of changes to Level 7 apprenticeship funding on skills shortages in the automotive industry.

This Government is investing in young people’s futures and reversing the sharp decline in apprenticeship starts amongst young people – which have fallen by 40% over the last decade.

Since January 2026, the government no longer funds level 7 apprenticeships, equivalent to master’s degree level, except for young apprentices under the age of 22, and those under 25 who are care leavers or have an Education, Health and Care Plan. This enables more funding to be directed towards apprenticeships for those entering the labour market and will help apprenticeship opportunities to be rebalanced towards young people.

This decision was informed by a range of evidence, including Skills England’s analysis of official apprenticeship statistics and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. Skills England’s evidence suggested there was unlikely to be a significant or unavoidable fall in the supply of these skills in the long term, post-defunding.

Employers in the automotive industry can continue to benefit from a range of apprenticeship standards on offer including Level 2 Autocare technician, Level 3 Automotive glazing technician and Level 4 Vehicle damage assessor.