She said the new regime, which starts in the middle of this year, was creating an industry providing quality, professionalised advice. Everyone giving individual financial advice will need to prove competence at a level equal to the level five financial services standard.

“Everywhere I go I see people excited about doing level five,” Shanks said.

She said it meant there was a clear body of knowledge required for the profession.

Traditionally advice had been more transitional, she said, with people coming and going. But when there was a qualification required it gave people a sense of belonging in their roles and a skillset to be proud of.

That should lead to more people carving out career pathways and a more vibrant sector than there had been in the past, she said.

There would be more advice organisations offering a range of services in future, she said, not just specialising in mortgages or insurance advice.

Shanks said she was hearing from people across the industry who were doing the level five qualification and enjoying it, even if they had been advisers for decades. “Everyone is embracing it. That’s what it should be.”

The new licensing regime would create bigger adviser businesses with vertical integration across the advice streams, she said.

That would also create more pathways for people to pursue their careers. “What we want to do is have a vibrant enough sector so university students and people seeking a change of career see it as a profession they want to be involved with.”

David Greenslade, executive director of training provider Strategi said it had just under 2,000 enrolments in the past year and was seeing an increase in registrations in the past few weeks.

Open Polytechnic said it had 1200 currently enrolled. Professional IQ College has 618.