Yes, in most cases. Holding a degree — even one at the same level as the apprenticeship — does not disqualify you. The funding test is whether the apprenticeship would teach you substantially new skills for a new occupation. Change field and you are almost certainly fine; apply for an apprenticeship in the subject you already studied and you may not be.
The rule, stated properly
People assume apprenticeship funding works like student finance, where holding an equivalent or higher qualification generally bars you from funding for another. It does not work that way.
The apprenticeship funding rules turn on new learning, and they say so directly. Funding is available for an apprenticeship at a higher level than a qualification you already hold, including a previous apprenticeship. It is also available at the same or a lower level than a qualification you hold — provided the apprenticeship “will allow the individual to acquire significant new skills” and the provider can show the training content is “materially different” from your prior qualification or training.
The corresponding restriction is that funds must not pay for training delivering knowledge, skills and behaviours you already have, and funding is recoverable where that happens. That is why providers assess this carefully — the obligation sits on them, not on you.
This is why the subject of your degree matters enormously and the level of it barely matters at all.
The skills scan
The mechanism that decides it. Before you enrol, your training provider assesses what you can already do against the apprenticeship standard — typically a structured questionnaire plus a conversation, sometimes supplemented with diagnostic testing.
Three possible outcomes:
- Little overlap. You proceed normally. This is the usual result for anyone changing field.
- Partial overlap. You may proceed on a shortened programme with reduced funding, reflecting the parts you do not need to be taught.
- Substantial overlap. Not eligible for funding on that standard — there is not enough new learning to justify it.
A practical note: be accurate on the skills scan rather than impressive. This is the one point in the process where overselling your existing abilities works directly against you.
Where graduates actually get turned down
Rarely on the funding rule, and usually for one of these instead:
- Direct subject overlap. A computer science graduate applying for a software engineering apprenticeship is the textbook difficult case. Changing occupation solves it.
- Programme framing. Plenty of degree apprenticeships are built and marketed for school leavers. You are eligible, but you are not who they are recruiting, and that shows up in outcomes rather than in the rules.
- The salary. The most common actual reason graduates do not take this route. Apprentice pay is calibrated for eighteen-year-olds.
- Level 7 specifically. Since January 2026, government funding for Level 7 apprenticeships has been withdrawn for anyone aged 22 or over. Many graduates were targeting exactly that route. Level 6 is unaffected — see the age limit page.
If you left university without finishing
Simpler still. Partial study that did not lead to an award creates far less overlap, and having started a degree is not held against you. Employers ask about it in interview, and the answer that works is a straightforward one about what you learned and why this route suits you better — not a defensive one.
What to do about it
- Apply. Do not screen yourself out on a rule you have heard second-hand. This is the most common self-inflicted barrier in the whole route.
- Target a genuinely different occupation from your degree subject. Cleanest case for funding and the most convincing story for the employer.
- Ask the provider directly if you are unsure. “I hold a degree in X — is there a prior learning issue with this standard?” is a routine question they answer all the time.
- Be honest on the skills scan. Overstating existing skills is how you become ineligible.
- Look for career-changer programmes. Some employers explicitly recruit graduates and career changers, and the cohort will not be entirely eighteen-year-olds.
Next: is there an age limit, or browse live roles to see which employers are recruiting now.