AI Leadership Apprenticeship Units: AU0009, AU0010 and AU0011

Last reviewed: 4 August 2026 against the approved Skills England unit pages and the technical funding guide updated 29 July 2026.

The three approved AI leadership units compared

All three are Level 5 and currently approved for delivery. They are complementary, but they are not automatically a bundle. Initial assessment must show that each selected unit addresses a real skills need and does not duplicate learning the employee already has or is receiving elsewhere.

Who is eligible?

At a minimum, the learner must be employed, aged 19 or over at the start, and normally spend at least 50% of working hours in England over the unit. The employee must be on the employer's declared PAYE scheme and have a separate, identifiable line manager. The rules exclude a sole trader and can exclude a director or person of significant control who has no separate line manager.

For these AI units, Skills England adds a role test: the learner should work in a leadership position with autonomy to deliver technological change and inform investment decisions. A general interest in AI is not enough. The provider's initial assessment should connect the unit outcomes to the learner's current or expanded role.

Relevant prior learning works differently from a full apprenticeship. There is no partial reduction of unit content and price. If existing knowledge and skills overlap with 50% or more of the planned unit hours, the learner is not eligible for funded delivery of that unit.

What counts toward the 30 delivery hours?

Apprenticeship units use delivery hours, not the full-apprenticeship off-the-job model. Eligible hours must:

• deliver new knowledge and skills directly relevant to the unit;
• take place during normal working hours, excluding overtime; and
• involve the tutor and learner being in the same physical or virtual space.

Live teaching, practical training, project work and one-to-one coaching can count. Unsupervised assignments and self-directed learning can add value but do not count toward the 30-hour minimum. Initial assessment, onboarding, revision, examinations, standalone English and maths, and unrelated training are also excluded.

The provider can plan more than 30 hours but must not deliver less. Missed sessions must be replanned. A recording can count only for a specific learner absence, and recordings cannot exceed 20% of that learner's planned delivery hours.

Skills test and employer validation

The provider is responsible for a skills test that validly assesses the unit's knowledge and skills. The test can use an appropriate format—such as a structured scenario, practical demonstration or mixed method—but it must be reliable, proportionate and protected against predictability. A suitably qualified person independent from training delivery must confirm the test design meets the rules.

Successful completion requires more than a tutor mark. The provider confirms delivery and a pass; the learner confirms the training and acquisition of skills; and the employer validates that the plan was delivered, the test passed and the employee can apply the new learning in their role. The signed training plan and test evidence support the successful ILR outcome.

How the £750 maximum works

The published £750 is the maximum government contribution for each unit, not a guaranteed provider price. The provider and employer agree the total price in a contract for services. Under the April–July 2026 unit rules:

• a non-levy employer receives full government funding up to the unit rate;
• a levy employer with enough account funds pays from that account;
• a levy employer with insufficient funds receives 95% government support and pays the outstanding 5%; and
• every employer pays any agreed price above the £750 funding rate.

Check the rules that apply on the learner's actual start date. Unit funding policy may change, and the Department has said product affordability and prioritisation remain under review.

Design a usable employer output into the unit

The skills test and funding evidence must follow the published unit requirements. Providers can also structure workplace activity so the employer retains an approved result. AU0009 could produce a mapped workflow and prioritised AI opportunity; AU0010 could produce procurement criteria and workflow-specific governance controls; AU0011 could produce an implementation, oversight and change record.

Keep the employer asset distinct from the formal evidence record. Ask the learner to apply the unit to genuine work, capture the result consistently and have an authorised manager check its organisational accuracy. The AI leadership employer output pack provides seven reusable asset types and a manager-review model.

Provider launch checklist

• Confirm the organisation is verified and funded to deliver each specific unit.
• Use the exact AU0009, AU0010 or AU0011 learning outcomes in curriculum and sales material.
• Screen for age, employment, England, PAYE, line-manager and role eligibility.
• Document the prior-learning conversation and reject a unit where overlap reaches the 50% threshold.
• Schedule at least 30 eligible live delivery hours and distinguish additional self-study.
• Agree the training plan and employer release before delivery.
• Design the skills test with independent quality confirmation and employer agreement.
• Retain quantifiable attendance and delivery evidence for both funding milestones.
• Remove AU0002, 80-hour and £2,000 claims from every campaign, proposal and landing page.

Employers choosing between the three can use the AI leadership units comparison. Providers building the operational pack should also use the apprenticeship unit evidence checklist.