CILEX calls for retention of Level 7 apprenticeship funding warning disadvantaged learners at risk

27 May 2025

CILEX (the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) has expressed deep concern over the possibility of removing funding for Level 7 apprenticeships, a move it warns threatens to undermine decades of progress in widening participation in higher-level learning and professional development.

CILEX cautions that making exemptions solely relating to age disadvantages those with other protected characteristics.

Level 7 apprenticeships, which include CILEX students studying the CILEX Professional Qualification (CPQ), have been a vital route for individuals from underrepresented backgrounds to access advanced education and legal training while earning a wage. This is particularly true of those who have diverse ethnic heritage, women (especially those returning to work and with caring responsibilities) and individuals from lower-income families.

The possibility of removing Level 7 apprenticeships for women, those from ethnic minorities and those from a lower-income background is, CILEX says, devastating.

CILEX urges the government not to close off a crucial pathway to legal roles for those who have faced systemic barriers in education and employment, with Level 7 apprenticeships retained for legal practitioners who need this option the most.

None of those currently on the Level 7 CILEX Apprenticeship, the majority of whom are women, would benefit from the 16-21 exemption.

Recent data shows that Level 7 apprenticeships have been instrumental in improving social mobility, enabling learners without financial means to gain qualifications equivalent to a Master’s degree without incurring student debt. CILEX warns the decision to remove funding will effectively shut the door on this opportunity for many, reinforcing inequality in sectors where diversity is already lacking.

CILEX president, Yanthé Richardson says: “Access to justice and good law are always going to be improved when there is genuine diversity in the profession. Locking out routes to qualification for those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds and those with protected characteristics can surely never be a good decision. Ensuring apprenticeship routes remain inclusive and equitable is vital.

“We urge the Department for Education and government ministers to protect Level 7 apprenticeship funding, or at the very least, ring-fence funding for those most at risk of exclusion. Removing this support now would undo years of progress in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession.”

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ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Louise Eckersley, Black Letter Communications on 0203 567 1208 or email at [email protected]

Kerry Jack, Black Letter Communications on 07525 756 599 or email at [email protected]

Notes to editors:

CILEX (The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) is one of the three main professional bodies covering the legal profession in England and Wales. The approximately 18,000 -strong membership is made up of CILEX Lawyers, Chartered Legal Executives, paralegals and other legal professionals.

CILEX pioneered the non-university route into law and recently launched the CILEX Professional Qualification (CPQ), a new approach to on-the-job training that marries legal knowledge with the practical skills, behaviours and commercial awareness needed by lawyers in the 2020s.

The CPQ is a progressive qualification framework that creates a workforce of specialist legal professionals, providing a career ladder from Paralegal through to Advanced Paralegal and ultimately full qualification as a CILEX Lawyer. CILEX Lawyers can become partners in law firms, coroners, judges or advocates in open court.

CILEX members come from more diverse backgrounds than other parts of the legal profession:

• 76% of its lawyers are women
• 16% are from ethnic minority backgrounds
  • 8% are Asian or Asian British
  • 5% are Black or Black British
  • 3% are from a mixed ethnic background
• 77% attended state schools
• 63% come from families where neither parent attended university
• Only 3% of its members have a parent who is a lawyer.

CILEX members are regulated through an independent body, CILEx Regulation. It is the only regulator covering paralegals.