diff --git a/pkg/apis/eksctl.io/v1alpha5/assets/schema.json b/pkg/apis/eksctl.io/v1alpha5/assets/schema.json
index e878111454..708830b0cb 100755
--- a/pkg/apis/eksctl.io/v1alpha5/assets/schema.json
+++ b/pkg/apis/eksctl.io/v1alpha5/assets/schema.json
@@ -481,9 +481,9 @@
         },
         "version": {
           "type": "string",
-          "description": "Valid variants are: `\"1.17\"`, `\"1.18\"`, `\"1.19\"`, `\"1.20\"` (default), `\"1.21\"`.",
-          "x-intellij-html-description": "Valid variants are: <code>&quot;1.17&quot;</code>, <code>&quot;1.18&quot;</code>, <code>&quot;1.19&quot;</code>, <code>&quot;1.20&quot;</code> (default), <code>&quot;1.21&quot;</code>.",
-          "default": "1.20",
+          "description": "Valid variants are: `\"1.17\"`, `\"1.18\"`, `\"1.19\"`, `\"1.20\"`, `\"1.21\"` (default).",
+          "x-intellij-html-description": "Valid variants are: <code>&quot;1.17&quot;</code>, <code>&quot;1.18&quot;</code>, <code>&quot;1.19&quot;</code>, <code>&quot;1.20&quot;</code>, <code>&quot;1.21&quot;</code> (default).",
+          "default": "1.21",
           "enum": [
             "1.17",
             "1.18",
diff --git a/pkg/apis/eksctl.io/v1alpha5/types.go b/pkg/apis/eksctl.io/v1alpha5/types.go
index 1a9c225499..a393d21c44 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/eksctl.io/v1alpha5/types.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/eksctl.io/v1alpha5/types.go
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ const (
 	Version1_21 = "1.21"
 
 	// DefaultVersion (default)
-	DefaultVersion = Version1_20
+	DefaultVersion = Version1_21
 
 	LatestVersion = Version1_21
 )
diff --git a/pkg/ctl/cmdutils/filter/nodegroup_filter_test.go b/pkg/ctl/cmdutils/filter/nodegroup_filter_test.go
index c56469fb08..aa3608c352 100644
--- a/pkg/ctl/cmdutils/filter/nodegroup_filter_test.go
+++ b/pkg/ctl/cmdutils/filter/nodegroup_filter_test.go
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ const expected = `
 		"metadata": {
 		  "name": "test-3x3-ngs",
 		  "region": "eu-central-1",
-		  "version": "1.20"
+		  "version": "1.21"
 		},
 		"iam": {
 		  "withOIDC": false
diff --git a/userdocs/src/introduction.md b/userdocs/src/introduction.md
index bcbffb674e..f26e71f80f 100644
--- a/userdocs/src/introduction.md
+++ b/userdocs/src/introduction.md
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ eksctl create cluster --name=cluster-1 --nodes=4
 
 ```
 
-EKS supports versions `1.16`, `1.17`, `1.18`, `1.19`, `1.20` (default) and `1.21`.
+EKS supports versions `1.16`, `1.17`, `1.18`, `1.19`, `1.20` and `1.21` (default).
 With `eksctl` you can deploy any of the supported versions by passing `--version`.
 
 ```