Shape the Future of the Rail Industry
LEVEL 7 SENIOR LEADER PROGRAMME
Accelerate your leadership journey with Fuel’s Level 7 Senior Leader Programme – purpose built for the UK rail industry. Join 250+ senior leaders from across the rail sector – TOCs, Network Rail, GBR, freight operators, finance, rolling stock companies, manufacturers and more – on a programme designed specifically for rail industry senior leaders. The Fuel Learning Level 7 programme is highly interactive and directly relevant to your role. You’ll invest your time working across industry, solving real challenges whilst developing your leadership capability.
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Elevate your senior leadership skills with our bespoke, results-driven development programme.
The rail industry programme is custom-built to fast-track senior leaders who shape performance across operators, infrastructure, and supply chains. You’ll build the strategic capabilities to lead through the Great British Railways transition while delivering measurable results in your current role.
Cohorts include leaders from across the rail network, creating powerful cross-industry connections. As an Ofsted Outstanding provider (2025), Fuel blends high calibre facilitation with executive coaching to ensure every module converts into on-the-job impact.
Programme highlights
- 12 Impact Workshops tailored to senior leadership in rail
- One-to-one executive coaching and group coaching
- Access to 30+ Elective Workshops
- Detailed psychometric and behavioural analysis to sharpen leadership style
- ‘Track & Trade’ leadership exchange – experience other parts of the industry
- Deliver a live strategic business project that generates ROI
- 17 month programme + 3–5 months End Point Assessment
- Optional MBA top-up in partnership with the University of Gloucestershire
What to expect
Real tools for real challenges
No theory, just practical solutions you’ll use tomorrow
Immediate organisational impact
Every project improves actual performance metrics
100% levy funded – until 31st December 2025
Full programme through apprenticeship funding, no cost to you
Executive-level development
Designed for senior leaders, not beginners
30+ elective modules targeting your priorities
Choose only what solves your challenges
15+ hours executive coaching
For your real situations, not case studies
Peer learning at senior level
Learn alongside Directors, VPs and C-Suite
Optional MBA top-up
Academic recognition for practical mastery
Impact Series Workshops
12 workshops designed to solve real problems.
No irrelevant theory. Just tools that work.
Lead with Impact. Build influence that moves actual results
Present with Impact. Win budgets and boardrooms with proven techniques
Team Impact. Multiply performance through practical methods
Commercial Impact. Think like owners, deliver like entrepreneurs
Personal Impact. Transform effectiveness with behavioural science
Negotiate with Impact. Close complex deals using field-tested strategies
Sustainability Impact. Drive lasting change beyond leadership transitions
Innovation Impact. Foster real innovation, not innovation theatre
Plus four rail industry specific workshops, covering: Railway Performance, Customer Driven Commercial Value, Digital Leadership and Strategic Resilience
The programme has given me the skills and confidence to lead more effectively. By applying what I learned, I’ve improved efficiency, boosted morale, expanded the team through a robust business case – and most importantly, we have reduced line safety incidents by 40%.
Michael Knott, Lead Competence Development Manager | GTR
Track & Trade
A new and completely unique component of the Level 7 Programme is our game-changing Track & Trade initiative – an innovative online dashboard which allows participants to ‘trade skills’, share hands-on expertise and experience other areas of the network.
Expect practical, peer-to-peer collaboration that grows your impact, broadens your knowledge and positions you at the forefront of the industry’s future. This isn’t theory – Track & Trade goes beyond workshops, connecting senior leaders across the sector to unlock insights and practical learning you can use immediately.
The initiative is now live.
In September, the first trade took place, with two rail Project Managers exchanging expertise: one sought insights on national plant and machinery resource planning, while the other enhanced their knowledge of work bank planning to help reduce costs and minimise disruption.
With Track & Trade you can:
Offer a trade:
Share your expertise – show a colleague what’s working in your process, planning, or innovation to help them learn and improve.
Post a need:
Say what you want to learn – connect with peers who can share insights on resource planning, work management or new industry perspectives.
Deliver Impact:
Wrap up each exchange with an Impact summary, turning individual learning into network-wide performance gains.
Build industry-wide connections:
Someone in the industry may already be solving your challenge. Stop silo working and start sharing knowledge and know-how across the network.
Built for senior leaders who build the future:
- Aspiring Senior Leaders - Operations and departmental managers ready for strategic roles
- Level 5 Completers - Graduates of operations apprenticeships seeking senior positions
- Recently Promoted - Fill real capability gaps through funded development
- Established Executives - Directors and VPs using levy for formal recognition
- Strategic Innovators - Leaders sculpting organisational futures with practical tools
Elective Workshops: Unlimited access. Zero waste.
Your apprenticeship includes unlimited access to our complete elective portfolio. Book what you need. Skip what you don’t. From handling tomorrow’s difficult conversation to understanding this quarter’s P&L. From leading next month’s transformation to building the innovation culture your CEO demands. Every elective solves specific challenges with immediate application. Because apprenticeship time should solve real problems.
Achieve real results:
0 %
Participant pass rate through practical application
0 %
Participants achieve distinctions solving real challenges
£ 0 m+
Verified returns from participant projects £4+ ROI for every £1 of levy invested
Support that understands senior reality:
- Facilitators who’ve actually led at your level
- Executive coaches from your sector
- Dedicated relationship manager ensuring seamless delivery
- Peer network of senior leaders facing identical pressures
- Digital platform that works around board meetings
- No junior trainers. No academic theorists. Just practitioners who’ve been where you are.
Gain recognition
You’re already delivering results. Now get recognised for it. The UK’s only Level 7 apprenticeship that treats senior leaders as senior leaders. Where practical tools solve real problems. Where levy funding drives organisational transformation. Where qualifications recognise reality.
The best time to start was when you got promoted. The second best time is now.
Every day without proper development is another day of learning the hard way. Your team deserves better. So do you.
Don’t miss out – funding closes on 31 December 2025
Government funding for Level 7 apprenticeships ends on 31 December 2025. To secure your programme funding you need to have attended your first workshop on, or before, the 16th December. Onboarding typically takes 4–6 weeks – so the earlier you start, the easier it is to complete eligibility checks and secure your place.
One question matters:
Are you ready to lead with confidence, not hope?
Fuel Learning – Ofsted Outstanding provider (2025). 93% distinction rate, £60m+ ROI projects delivered by participants across Level 3 – Level 7 programmes.