New Level 5 qualification for business advisers

SFEDI Awards has launched the Level 5 Certificate in Professional Business and Enterprise Support, a redeveloped qualification for people who advise and support businesses. It is the qualification route to the eight Core Standards in the SFEDI Business Support Standards.

The new Level 5 updates the qualification SFEDI Awards introduced in 2014. Since then, the way business support is commissioned and delivered has changed. The government's small business plan, Backing Your Business (July 2025), reports that SME take-up of business support fell from 49% in 2010 to 26% in 2023. Growth Hubs are moving under mayoral strategic authorities, which now lead on local business support. And businesses increasingly want help with AI and digital tools.

What it covers

The qualification keeps everything the previous Level 5 assessed, sets every mandatory unit at Level 5, and covers the whole advisory cycle:

• building and managing the client relationship
• diagnosing what a business really needs, separating symptoms from causes
• making evidence-based recommendations and helping clients act on them
• helping clients find and access other support, while they keep responsibility for their decisions
• agreeing how success will be judged, then reviewing, recording and reporting the impact
• professional practice, including challenging conversations, working with stakeholders, conflicts of interest, and using AI and digital tools responsibly with client information

Structure and assessment

Learners complete three mandatory units at Level 5 (19 credits, 190 hours of Total Qualification Time). Assessment is based on real client work: at least three client interventions, with at least one observed, and a personal development plan that the learner puts into action and reviews.

Optional units at Level 4 give more depth in business finance or project delivery, and a foundations unit helps people who are newer to advisory roles. The qualification is open to people aged 19 and over who work in a business support or advisory role.

A funded route for organisations in England

Organisations in England can put their advisers through the Level 5 as part of a funded Level 4 apprenticeship, delivered with the Academy of Leadership and Management (ALM). The pilot cohort starts in January 2027, and we're recruiting now.

Already qualified?

If you hold the SFEDI Awards Level 5 or Level 7 in Professional Business and Enterprise Support Services, your qualification continues to evidence the Core Standards. You don't need to do anything.

"Advisers are asked to do much more than signpost now. Commissioners want businesses diagnosed properly, supported to act and the results evidenced, and businesses want help with things like AI that didn't exist when our last Level 5 was written. We rebuilt the qualification around what advisers do today."

Leigh Sear, Standards Lead, SFEDI

There are several ways to take the Level 5, including directly with SFEDI. Find out more about the Level 5, or get in touch with the Business Support Team at support@sfedi.co.uk and we'll help you find the route that suits you or your organisation.