The morning after the Autumn Budget often brings more questions than answers, particularly for legal employers who are only weeks away from the most significant change to the funding system for solicitor training in over a decade. With age-based restrictions for Level 7 solicitor apprenticeships coming into effect on 1 January 2026, and the Growth & Skills Levy due to reshape workforce training later in the spring, firms woke up today needing clarity on how these shifts affect their people and their training plans.
To help unpack the headlines from the facts, here is a summary of the key announcements, along with potential implications for legal employers and the steps firms should prioritise before the end of the year.
1. Key Announcements From the Budget
Solicitor Apprenticeships
The future of solicitor apprenticeship funding has been closely watched, given the scheduled changes for January 2026. The Budget confirmed the Government’s latest position.
Update:
The Government reiterated its intention to introduce age-based restrictions for Level 7 solicitor apprenticeships from 1 January 2026, although final guidance and implementation details have not yet been published.
What this means:
This will shape which groups can access a funded route into the profession in 2026. Many firms will now be considering how to support paralegals, career-changers and other staff who fall outside the funded age band, and whether firm-funded SQE pathways should be expanded as part of their early-careers strategy.
Growth & Skills Levy
The transition to the Growth & Skills Levy is expected to play a central role in how employers invest in skills, particularly around digital capability and AI literacy. The Budget provided the latest update on the rollout.
Update:
The Budget included new details on the Growth & Skills Levy, including reference to the previously stated £725m allocation and reiterated plans for more modular apprenticeship options, expected to take shape from 2026.
What this means:
Following this announcement firms can expect a move toward shorter, more modular training programmes. This is likely to support capability-building in areas such as AI, data, compliance, legal tech and digital workflows - areas where many legal teams are already experiencing pressure to upskill.
Digital, AI and Wider Skills Measures
Digital capability and responsible AI use remain priorities across the economy, and the Budget may have introduced measures relevant to professional services.
Update:
No major new digital or AI workforce measures affecting legal employers were announced.
What this means:
Existing pressures and expectations around digital and AI skills remain unchanged, particularly as client demand for technology-enabled legal services continues to grow.
2. What This Means for Legal Employers
Preparing for the 2026 Apprenticeship Funding Shift
Employers now face a material change to how solicitor apprenticeships can be used as a qualification route. Firms that rely on mature apprentices, often paralegals, career-changers or staff with valuable lived experience, may need to create alternative pathways to qualification.
Lucie Allen, BARBRI’s Chief Growth Officer said: “Employers are entering a period of real transition, and they need confidence that the pathways they provide remain fair, sustainable and aligned to the skills their teams will need in 2026 and beyond. Whilst there was much in the budget to reassure the legal profession generally, I was particularly pleased to see confirmation of the Growth & Skills Levy funding, although the lack of clarity on the future of mature solicitor apprentices remains a concern.”
This reflects growing disquiet across the sector about maintaining access and opportunity for all aspiring solicitors, not just those entering straight from school.
Digital and AI Capability Will Continue to Rise Up the Agenda
As AI tools have proliferated throughout 2025, firms have had to consider not just which technologies to adopt, but how to use them in ways that meaningfully enhance productivity. This is becoming a commercial issue too, with clients expecting AI-enabled efficiency in legal services. The Budget did not introduce new AI-skills measures, meaning existing pressures for legal employers remain unchanged, but the direction of travel remains the same: capability is becoming as important as technology itself. As Lucie Allen puts it: “The pace of AI adoption means legal teams need structured training, not just new tools. Capability is becoming a core professional requirement.”
This is a recurring theme from HR and Learning & Development leaders across the sector.
The Growth & Skills Levy Will Support More Flexible Training Models
The shift to the Growth & Skills Levy, whether fully defined or awaiting further detail, signals a system moving toward modular, skills-led professional development.
For legal employers, this could support short-course training in:
- AI literacy and responsible use
- Digital disclosure and e-evidence
- Data, cyber and compliance fundamentals
- Legal tech fluency
- Workflow and productivity tools
These areas align closely with emerging national priorities and the evolving nature of legal practice.
What Firms Should Prioritise Before the End of 2025
As the calendar year comes to an end, there are proactive steps you can take to make sure you are best able to prepare for changes ahead.
- Audit your 2026 apprenticeship pipeline: Identify individuals who may fall outside funded eligibility and assess alternative routes to qualification if you haven’t already.
- Refresh your SQE training strategy: Ensure pathways remain accessible to paralegals and career-changers, not only school-leavers.
- Map your digital and AI capability gaps: Focus on skills needed across teams and practice areas, rather than tool-by-tool adoption.
- Prepare for levy-funded short courses: Prepare training plans in line with the expected focus on digital and AI capability.
- Brief your senior leadership team> Partners and business leaders need a clear understanding of the Budget implications for budget, recruitment and long-term workforce planning.
How BARBRI Can Support Post-Budget Planning
Firms don’t just need to react to policy – they need training pathways that will still make sense in three, five and ten years’ time. BARBRI works with SME and larger firms across the UK to design programmes that are practical, future-focused and realistic about time and budget pressures.
We can help firms to:
- Turn SQE into a clear, joined-up strategy
- Map your current trainee and paralegal pipeline, decide when SQE applies, and design a structure that fits your business, whether that’s front-loaded exams, study alongside work or a blended model.
- Support a wider range of talent, not just traditional trainees
- Build accessible routes for paralegals, career-changers and non-law graduates, with options like BARBRI’s Foundations in Law to replace the old GDL-style knowledge stage and ensure candidates are genuinely SQE-ready.
- Give Gen Z (and beyond) the structure and flexibility they expect
- Combine flexible, digital learning with clear policies on study time, funding and wellbeing. Our programmes are built around busy workloads, with on-demand content, coaching and regular check-ins to help people stay on track.
- Build work-ready, tech-confident lawyers – not just exam passers
- Integrate professional skills and digital confidence – from communication and client-handling to commercial awareness and responsible use of AI – so new solicitors can contribute quickly and safely in real practice.
- Stay close to progress with data and insight
- Use our tech-enabled Personal Study Plan (PSP) and employer dashboards to see how learners are progressing across lessons, topics and mocks, spot issues early and target support where it’s needed most.
- Align future training with the Growth & Skills Levy
- Start planning short, modular courses in AI, digital practice and risk that can sit alongside core SQE preparation and, in time, align with emerging levy criteria.
If you’d like to sense-check your firm’s approach, or turn Budget headlines into a concrete training plan, our team can help you work through options and build a pathway that suits your people, your culture and your growth ambitions.
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