The Labour government has unveiled a sweeping change to England’s apprenticeship system — and while ministers are hailing it as a win for youth employment, the reality is far bleaker: a blow to public services, a setback for social mobility, and another sign that Starmer’s party is drifting ever further to the right.

From next year, only those aged 21 and under will qualify for funded postgraduate (Level 7) apprenticeships, under plans confirmed by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.

That means anyone older — including thousands of adults retraining for professional roles — will be shut out unless their employer picks up the bill.

And the costs aren’t small.

These advanced apprenticeships are often used to train district nurses, advanced health practitioners, accountants, and legal professionals — all vital to the functioning of both the public sector and private enterprise.

But most employers, already stretched by wage inflation and high National Insurance bills, won’t be rushing to plug the funding gap.

As a result, experts warn, the NHS and other key services face a growing crisis in skilled recruitment — one made worse by a government that claims to be investing in the workforce of the future.

Even the Conservatives, who created the apprenticeship levy system in 2017, are sounding the alarm. Neil O’Brien, Tory shadow education minister, branded the plan “a disaster” that will “do damage to public services, particularly the NHS.”

When the Tories are defending professional training and Labour is cutting it, something has gone badly wrong.

Employers squeezed, but promised little

The government says the reforms will create 120,000 more training places for young people and retrainers, funded in part by an increase in the immigration skills charge paid by firms hiring from overseas.

But while Labour is demanding more from employers, it’s offering little in return.

Most apprenticeships last years and require sustained investment.

With no guarantee of funded progression routes, employers will be left with a choice: pay out of pocket, or scale back training altogether.

Neither option benefits the economy — or young people hoping to build long-term careers.

And let’s be clear: businesses already feel under siege, between staffing shortages, wage demands, and red tape.

This move may only worsen the mood — and reduce the number of high-level apprenticeship opportunities available at all.

Pulling up the ladder — for adults, and the working class

But perhaps the most damning aspect of the plan is its impact on social mobility.

Level 7 apprenticeships have been a lifeline for thousands of people from working-class backgrounds — including many who never went to university — to enter skilled professions and public service roles.

Now, that path is closing.

If you’re over 21 and trying to climb the career ladder through work-based learning, you’re on your own.

Labour isn’t just shifting priorities — it’s pulling up the ladder entirely

That’s not investment in skills.

That’s exclusion by age and class.

Instead of expanding opportunity, Labour is repeating the mistakes of austerity-era thinking: target the young with flashy headline numbers, while gutting the systems that support adult learners, career switchers, and the very people public services rely on.

A rightward drift in plain sight

This is the latest in a series of policy choices that suggest Labour under Starmer is increasingly comfortable abandoning its traditional role as the champion of working people.

From refusing to scrap the two-child benefit cap, to walking away from free school meals, to now undermining routes into professional careers, the party is adopting the posture — and priorities — of the centre-right.

Phillipson claimed this week that “when we invest in skills for young people, we invest in a stronger economic future.”

But that future looks narrower, meaner, and more exclusive than the one Labour used to fight for.

If the party once known for building ladders of opportunity is now busy burning them, then – as This Site has asked repeatedly in the past – who exactly is this new Labour for?