Welcome to this special souvenir supplement bringing you the full results and insights from the 2023 WorldSkills UK national finals in Greater Manchester.
The finals showcase the pinnacle of technical skills among UK students and apprentices, but there’s a lot more to skills competitions than winning medals.
Find out why Greater Manchester was the perfect host city region for this year’s finals, how learning from abroad is raising technical training standards at home, and get the very latest on how WorldSkills UK’s Centre of Excellence programme is transforming teacher CPD.
Half of colleges have seen a drop in enrolment figures, with the blame partly placed on the loss of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).
A survey by the Association of Colleges (AoC) of 182 colleges shows 49 per cent are reporting falling numbers of 16-19-year-olds, compared to last year.
It also shows a national drop of 0.1 per cent, the first time in 15 to 20 years the figure has fallen, with 46 colleges reporting a dip between five to 15 per cent.
Colleges believe unaffordable transport, combined with the abolition of the EMA and increased competition for student numbers among school and college sixth forms, have been the main causes for a decline.
The survey is further evidence supporting the findings from two surveys – conducted by Lsect – and published in FE Week. The first showed that 105 colleges forecast an initial total shortfall of 20,319 students for this academic year.
Key AoC survey findings:
Half of the 182 colleges that responded are seeing a drop in 16-19 students, with 46 colleges reporting a significant dip of between five per cent to 15 per cent
Of those reporting a decline, colleges say the end of EMAs for students in the first year of the course, competition from other providers, lack of affordable transport and cuts in funding per student were the main factors
A decline in Level 1 courses (pre-GSCE and basic skills) was reported by 41 per cent of respondents
51 per cent of colleges said that their student numbers have increased or remained stable
60 per cent of colleges reported a drop in transport spending by their local authority
Over half of all colleges are ‘topping up’ Government bursary funding with their own contributions and the same proportion are spending more on subsidising transport this year than last
79 per cent of colleges agreeing that free meals in colleges for 16-18 year olds (currently not available, unlike in schools) would encourage participation.
Fiona McMillan, president of the AoC and principal of Bridgwater College in Somerset, said that at her own college EMA provided students with about £1,000 per year. Now, there is only £152 per year available for students.
She said: “We are all aware that funding is tight. But these young people are our future and we must consider our investment in them.
“We would all regret a situation where young people miss out and then become the so-called lost generation.”
Ms McMillan said the new 16-19 bursary, which replaced the EMA, is “better than nothing” but in terms of what it provides, “there is a big gap”. To cope, her college – like many others – has subsidised the cost.
She is also concerned colleges will miss out on vital funding, adding: “We are paid by our student numbers. So it’s an important issue for us.”
Martin Doel, chief executive of the AoC, said some of the changes could be due to demographics – with a drop of 40,000 in the 16-18 age group. He added: “It is a complex picture. The decline in college enrolment by students on Level 1 courses may be partially explained by improvements in school teaching.
“What is clear is a significant number of member colleges are concerned that financial constraints are preventing students from pursuing preferred courses at their institution of choice and there is a risk of vulnerable groups becoming disengaged from education.”
Andy Forbes, principal at Hertford Regional College, said they are “about five per cent down” on 16-18 enrolment from last year.
He said: “We’re now projecting a figure of just under 2,600 against our target of 2,719.
“We have experienced a particular decline in Level 2 enrolments and at the furthest reaches of our catchment area, which stretches quite a long way.”
Mr Forbes believes there are two factors to blame, adding: “The withdrawal of EMA and the cost of transport from the two ends of our catchment.
“We were not helped by late arrival of concrete information on what funding we had to compensate for loss of EMA and how we could use that funding, which made it difficult to put financial support in place for students and publicise them effectively.”
He also said colleges need to work harder to get the message across about the “exceptional quality of provision” they offer, in the face of “growing competition from schools” expanding sixth forms by offering vocational courses.
He added: “The decline of independent careers advice isn’t helping young people make good choices at 16 and we in FE are going to have to be a lot more active in ensuring school pupils and parents are made positively aware of the alternatives to staying on at school.”
However, the Department for Education spokesman (DfE) said there are “record numbers of 16 and 17-year-olds” in education or training.
He said: “There has been a massive increase in apprenticeships for anyone over 16 to learn a specific trade – 360,000 places in all available in more than 200 careers.
“And we are strengthening vocational education so young people will have high-quality courses open to them which are valued by employers.”
The spokesman also said: “We are targeting financial support at students who need it most to get through their studies – through the new £180m a year bursary fund, with further transitional support available for those students who were already drawing the EMA.”
Gordon Marsden, Shadow FE and Skills Minister, said the “alarming figures” show the impact of the government’s policy to scrap EMA. He said: “The government has left FE colleges facing a double whammy at a time of real economic uncertainty.
“Not only are college finances jeopardised by falling enrolment numbers, but they face the strain of having to try and address the post EMA funding gap, putting extra administrative burdens on them at a time where they claim to be setting them free.
“The government needs to get a grip urgently with a strategy that will help, rather than hinder, FE colleges in addressing young people’s employment and skills needs.”
AoC said they will repeat the enrolment survey in September 2012.
Click here to download the study and here to download the AoC press release.
The higher education regulator has announced 134 colleges will receive over £20 million in funding to invest in their buildings, facilities and equipment.
The Office for Students (OfS) has allocated one fifth of a £92 million capital funding package to FE providers, comprising £80.75 million available through a bidding exercise, as well as £7.75 million distributed through a formula.
Seventeen colleges won bids for £16.8 million worth of the project funding where providers were invited to bid for between £150,000 and £2.5 million of capital funding.
Bidders were required to demonstrate how they would address the government’s industrial strategy and priority sectors for growth, meet local needs and demonstrate value for money.
“The project will provide value for money and support environmental sustainability in reducing energy usage,” the OfS criteria said.
Another criterion was to demonstrate how funding would directly support the purchase of equipment or replacing, constructing or expanding teaching/assessment facilities.
The OfS said it received 193 bids requesting a total of £288 million and ultimately signed off on 60 bids equating to £80.75 million.
“Initially we had thought that we would be able to fund 30-40 bids, but we found that many proposals had adopted a proportionate approach to the funding requested and combined with the additional money from government this meant we could fund more bids than we had expected,” the OfS added.
The regulator added that for future bidding rounds, it would improve guidance after it spotted bidders were requesting funding for larger investments and projects that were already underway.
The largest FE winner was Truro and Penwith College, which was allocated over £2 million and will create a specialist computing lab at its Truro campus for cybersecurity and AI provision.
It told the OfS that it will also use the money to purchase up-to-date digital equipment for construction, nursing and psychology courses as well as more interactive classroom technology.
The college added that it aims to increase student numbers by 180 and address regional digital and other skills shortages identified in the LSIP with this work, all to be completed by next March.
Yeovil College was also awarded £2 million, which will be used to revamp the ground floor of its engineering building with specialist technology by March 2026. It also wants to reconfigure teaching spaces for advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and defence engineering courses.
Meanwhile, FE colleges received just under half of the £7.75 million calculated through a formula.
The OfS capped this year’s capital funding allocation to £30,000 to strike an “appropriate balance” that the majority of providers that meet the £10,000 minimum threshold can receive a “meaningful sum”.
117 providers were awarded allocations up to £30,000, but six eligible colleges will not receive any formula allocation because the formula calculated an award under the £10,000 minimum threshold.
The OfS calculated this year’s allocations by taking the funding rate per full-time equivalent student as well as individualised student data from 2023-24 HESA and ILR data.
It added that it will monitor the formulaic funding allocations in April 2026 to understand how the funding has been used and whether there are any underspends to reclaim.
“This was a very competitive funding round, and the projects we are supporting will make a tangible difference to current and future students,” said OfS director of resources and finance Nolan Smith.
“As well as expanding opportunities for students in strategically important subject areas, these projects will offer a boost to local and regional economies and promote national growth.”
Skills minister Jacqui Smith said: “This government is committed to supporting colleges and universities as engines of opportunity and growth up and down the country.
“This cash boost from government ensures young people are using the most up-to-date tech and facilities, helping them to secure a future in the well-paying, highly-skilled jobs that are crucial for our plan for change.”
“It will help build towards the prime minister’s target of two-thirds of young people taking a gold standard apprenticeship or heading to university by the age of 25 – driving prosperity for families in every town and city.”
A Walsall-based training firm has been bought by a local chamber of commerce to expand its reach across the West Midlands.
Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has added to its training roster with the acquisition of PTP Training, an apprenticeships and skills bootcamps provider, for an undisclosed sum.
The new ownership marks over 50 years since PTP Training, also known as Performance Through People, was first set up by Walsall Chamber of Commerce.
The provider has a 70-strong workforce and has learning centres in Walsall, Millennium Point in Birmingham and in Cannock with around 1,000 students on apprenticeships, skills bootcamps and Path 2 apprenticeship programmes.
PTP Training’s overall apprenticeship achievement rate was 70.1 per cent in 2023-24, according to Department for Education data.
It was also rated ‘good’ by Ofsted at its last full inspection in 2023.
The chamber also runs Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce Training, which offers apprenticeships and commercial business training courses.
PTP Training has changed hands multiple times during its 50-odd-year history.
In the 1990s, PTP became the training division of the East Mercia Chamber of Commerce (EMCCI) until 2003, when it was set up as a trading company – PTP Training Ltd – owned by the chamber trustees, Walsall and Southern Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce.
The trustee’s shareholding was bought out by Walsall Chamber of Commerce six years later.
In May 2020, PTP became part of independent training provider BCTG Group.
But BCTG Ltd, PTP’s parent company, was hit with an Ofsted ‘inadequate’ judgment in 2023 and subsequently saw its multi-million-pound apprenticeship, skills bootcamps and advance learner loans contracts terminated.
According to its 2024 accounts, the decision was taken to break up the BCTG Group and its shareholding in PTP was sold for £786,728.
Managing director Rob Colbourne became the sole owner and CEO after BCTG Group management resigned.
Colbourne said: “We’ve got many staff who have been with us for more than five years, some over 20 and 30 years so, when this kind of deal goes through, they want to know that we are all working towards one goal.”
“That is why this deal with Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce was so appealing and will bring benefits to all parties.”
He added: “My message to the team, to the organisations we work with and to our apprentices and learners is that it is very much business as usual. The PTP brand will remain in place and there will be no change to the way we work with our partners.
“Ultimately, however, this means we can work together across the wider region on future projects which is really exciting because our values and purpose are exactly the same.”
Corin Crane, chief executive of Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is a real milestone for us as a chamber and our training offer. It brings together two trusted and established providers across Coventry, Warwickshire and the wider West Midlands.
“We have been looking at PTP for some time as a potential partner and I am absolutely thrilled to get this acquisition over the line.”
A college in financial intervention has turned its deficit budget into a surplus after a “significant restructure” that resulted in more than 60 job losses, according to the FE Commissioner.
In spring this year, South Devon College (SDC) sought emergency funding from the government after “depleted” cash reserves left it with only three working days of operating cash.
The college has since borrowed £1.5 million from the government and made redundancies equivalent to 61 full-time employees, saving about £2 million per year on staff costs.
This was against a savings target of up to £2.75 million through up to 65 redundancies from its staff body of nearly 700.
A spokesperson for SDC said the college is “on track” to deliver a small surplus this year. It has an overall income of about £36 million.
The FE Commissioner’s assessment – completed in July but only published today – said SDC’s financial reporting suffered from “errors and delays” that exposed an “urgent” need to integrate its internal reporting systems and build “closer working relationships” between teams.
Issues included failing to classify capital grants as “restricted cash”, “erroneous” assumptions about income that had to be written off, and late reporting of a budget shortfall in apprentice numbers.
Its reserves are now “depleted” after repeated use to cover the college’s £1 million per year capital costs.
By the time the college asked the government for emergency funding in spring, reserves were so low that it “could not afford to restructure”.
But the college’s audit committee, which oversees risk management, only raised financial risk levels to ‘red’, the highest rating, in March this year.
The FE Commissioner’s benchmarks suggest a college aims to have more than 40 adjusted cash days in hand.
Before reclassification, SDC would have used its overdraft facility to manage low cash balances and restructuring costs, the commissioner noted.
The organisation has been told to carry out a “full review” of its finance team’s structure and skills mix, which has been overseen by a senior director of finance responsible for both operational and strategic management.
Plans to hire a head of finance were also “shelved” in 2024 due to “budgetary constraints”, the commissioner said.
How did it get here?
Governors told the commissioner’s team that financial pressures “commenced” due to the cost of the college’s £17 million ‘Hi Tech & Digital Centre’ in Paignton, which has had a “slower than planned” return on investment “due to Covid”.
The board has reportedly “reflected” on whether funding capital costs from cash reserves, which “weakened” college finances, “should have stopped” earlier.
Apprentice numbers have also “declined” since 2022, with low retention “partly” due to “issues” affecting learners who need “additional learning support and SEND”.
The college sought the FE Commissioner’s advice on curriculum efficiency and financial sustainability in 2023, which resulted in the use of a new planning tool, but work on planning for apprentice numbers in June each year is still “too late”, the assessment found.
A key “gap” in the SDC’s business planning process was a lack of integration between the financial plan and HR systems.
This was done for the first time when planning 2025-26, helping to identify most of the “curriculum staffing efficiencies” in the restructure.
What now?
The FE Commissioner’s team set out eight recommendations for SDC to be implemented in September and October this year, including a three-year financial strategy that “aligns” its vision, ambitions, cashflow, capital expenditure forecasting, and scenario modelling.
Other actions included ensuring “adequate and appropriate” resourcing of the finance team and taking a “whole college approach” to delivering and owning financial sustainability.
Monthly finance updates for governors and senior leaders need “further development” to show spending compared to the original and “reforecast” budget, so issues can be analysed “on a timely basis”.
SDC’s leaders should also agree an internal communications strategy to improve “staff morale”.
A college spokesperson said it has taken “decisive action” to rebuild its cash reserves since the intervention process began.
They added: “Following a recent stocktake visit, the [FE Commissioner] team highlighted visible progress on single improvement plan actions and noted that students expressed confidence in their experience at the college.
“We acknowledge areas for further development, including strengthening finance team capacity, and improving communication of our strategic plans and milestones.
“These priorities are being addressed as part of our ongoing improvement work.
“We remain focused on delivering high-quality education and training, and are confident that our recovery plan will strengthen our position for the future.”
A Berkshire college is exploring merger options after struggling with “serious cashflow pressures” that triggered government intervention this summer.
Newbury College’s long-term sustainability is being tested through a structure and prospects appraisal (SPA), which examines whether to stay as a standalone college or merge with another.
FE Commissioner Shelagh Legrave undertook an assessment of the college in July after the college fell into a “consequential slippage” of repaying funding advances.
The college blamed “complexities” in the planning system leading to delays in receiving receipts of its Mayfield Point site property sale.
Legrave’s report, published today but conducted in July, recommended leaders refresh its property strategy and create “more realistic” estimates for its income after its financial performance worsened from lower-than-planned student numbers and higher-than-expected English and maths resit provision.
The FE Commissioner also told the college to start an SPA process in the autumn term.
Newbury College was advised to explore a Structure and Prospects Appraisal (SPA) in March 2024 by the DfE’s place based team and the FE Commissioner’s office to test merger options “against the viability of a standalone option”.
The corporation initially agreed to the recommendation but paused the process in June 2024.
“The board has since reflected further and now considers undertaking a SPA would be judicious to ensure the college’s future sustainability,” today’s FE Commissioner report said.
The college said it is expected to complete the SPA in spring of next year and is exploring a range of “possible operating models” for the college.
The governing board has set up a SPA steering committee, thereby suspending the strategic development committee after the chair told the FE Commissioner it has “outlived its usefulness”.
The chair assured that the new committee was for “discussion not decision” but Legrave warned that its relationship with the wider board needs “careful thought” to maintain appropriate engagement with the whole board.
Legrave’s report described the college as “one of the smallest general further education colleges in England” with a “broad curriculum and a high cost base”.
“The sustainability of the college given its current size and its weak financial position, merits a need to consider the various strategic options available to the college,” the report said.
Newbury’s position ‘still fragile’
Newbury College is one of only a few FE colleges to operate under a PFI. The contracts, greatly expanded under New Labour in the 1990s, saw private firms build and operated public sector infrastructure and facilities, with above-inflation repayments scheduled over many years.
The college has since been crippled by the “very high” repayments costs of its PFI, due to end in 2027.
Its latest accounts show deficits from PFI payments amounting to about £460,000 each year since 2018-19, including massive deficits from interest payments. It was billed £154,000 in 2018-19 just for the interest.
The college will be free of the deficits once the contract expires and the FE Commissioner advised leaders to develop a transition plan by this December that details a “realistic” cost of procuring services needed once the PFI ends.
Meanwhile, Legrave noted that the college’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) in June 2025 has worsened for the year.
The college budget had assumed it would get extra in-year cash from the Department for Education for a growth in 16-18-year-old students, but they enrolled fewer learners than planned in 2024-25.
While the reduction in income was offset by growth in apprenticeship and higher education numbers, its pay costs were higher than its budget “largely” due to a higher-than-expected demand for GCSE English and maths resit provision.
The report said the college has undertaken a staff restructure, reducing management and teaching staff to “address its cost base”.
The report added: “While forecasts show an improving EBITDA, as a result of staff restructuring and the end of the PFI in July 2027, the position is still fragile, and the ongoing underlying financial position will always be challenging. The cashflow is also dependent on the receipts from the land sales and DfE’s consent to use the proceeds for working capital.”
Leadership changes ‘yet to be proven’
Newbury is currently being led by Lee Probert, contracted as interim principal until August 2026, who took up the post last December when Iain Wolloff retired.
Other recent leadership changes include Lee Jamieson, the new deputy principal, and Julian Tucker, a interim director of finance.
The FE Commissioner report said the “interim nature” of two of the three senior appointments means the strength of leadership at the college “has yet to be proven”.
She added that in light of the SPA process, permanent appointments might be “inappropriate” now and does cause “an element of uncertainty and fragility” to a leadership team that has already been through turbulence.
Regarding the governance of the college, chair of the corporation Sally Osmond told the FE Commissioner that leaders needed to provide more detail and data to the board after finding some reports “lacked focus” or were “too wooly”.
Lee Probert, principal of Newbury College, said: “We are pleased to receive the support of the DfE and FE Commissioner to undertake the review and evaluate future options for Newbury College to ensure that its long history is sustainable into the future.
“We continue to be focused on excellence for our students, embedding the key requirements for quality learning and developing skills for our communities providing ‘careers, not courses’.”
“Newbury College has been central to the development of thousands of students over the last 76 years and fundamental to the provision of key skills for businesses in the area.”
As educators and leaders within the further education sector, we are deeply concerned about growing threats to the fundamental British values that underpin our education system. Those of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
Together, the further education sector serves over 1.6 million learners annually. We are now certain that the future of each and every one of these learners and, indeed, the very fabric of our wider society, is under threat.
In recent weeks, each of us has witnessed attempts to sow fear and division in our communities, particularly the targeting of migrants and minority groups. We therefore feel compelled to speak out against ugly racist attacks, reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s.
As algorithms amplify outrage and the loudest voices push narratives of division, flag-waving, immigrant-hating, and fear, it feels more important than ever that we work together.
Silence is not an option if we want to cultivate hope among our students.
We, and all other anchor further education institutions, are shaping the citizens of tomorrow. It is our duty to ensure that our staff and students feel safe to learn and grow in an environment rooted in fairness, compassion, inclusion, freedom, and hope.
When we achieve this, our students, staff and wider community thrive and accomplish incredible things. For example, a student from West Suffolk College, originally from Zimbabwe, founded Better Youth UK to give teenagers with limited opportunities the chance to make money legally, and steer them away from crime, drugs and gang violence.
As the Prime Minister has affirmed, we will not surrender our flag. Nor will we surrender our future to those who thrive on fear and division.
To overcome this threat, and to counter those who are using our flag as a symbol to divide rather than to bring people together, we must create safe and supportive spaces, stand tall against the narrative of the far-right, and ensure true democracy prevails.
Our message to our staff, students and communities is simple: we are more connected, more compassionate and more capable of unity than any algorithm would allow us to believe.
There has been a menacing silence surrounding the flags raised across our country, but we must not be afraid to speak out, check in on our neighbours, stand up, remain vigilant and help to protect our educational integrity. We must continue to nurture the responsible, compassionate and caring citizens of the future; their voices matter, especially as they are about to cast their first votes in democratic elections.
Recognising the severity of the growing far-right threat, the Association of Colleges (AoC) is coordinating sector-wide guidance to support staff and students, while maintaining safe, inclusive learning spaces. What we need now is a strong government response and support, and we have written to the government and our MPs urging them to take action and address the issue with focus and collective resolve.
In the meantime, as members of the further education sector, we must unite and refuse to surrender our future to those who thrive on generating fear and division.
Please stand with us in protecting our educational environments where future leaders are shaped and democracy is strengthened through informed, critical thinking.
If you think you can support us with this important mission, please do reach out and get others on board too.
Only by bringing society together will we be able to create a better future for our students and communities.
Nikos Savvas, Chief Executive, Eastern Education Group
Palvinder Singh, Principal and CEO, Kirklees College
The government has promised to publish a “detailed transition plan” for transferring up to 1,000 subcontracted careers advisers and staff into the Department for Work and Pensions by April next year.
Ministers have responded today to a report from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) select committee that called out an “absence of information” about the planned merger of the National Careers Service (NCS) and Jobcentres.
They have promised to work with NCS employers, contractors and unions on a “detailed transition plan” which will be published “within the next six months”.
But ministers have rejected the committee’s call for a cross-government national strategy for adult careers guidance, arguing this would “risk” its work on transforming Jobcentres into an “integrated Jobs and Careers Service”.
The department also said that while careers advice will be available for anyone “who wants to look for work, increase their earnings, or change their career”, those who are not on benefits will be “served digitally, through a self-service option”.
The DWP is currently designing the new Jobs and Careers Service after announcing a merger of Jobcentres and the £55 million per year NCS last July.
Last month, the department told contractors it will be “in-sourcing” around careers advisers working for NCS contractors, estimated to number about 1,000, by October next year.
But MPs on the work and pensions committee have criticised an “absence of information” about the merger, with the first test site for the new service launching in June this year, almost a year after the first announcement.
Shortly after McFadden was appointed work and pensions secretary, the work and pensions committee published its report warning the merger risked being “little more than a rebranding exercise”.
Performance measures
In today’s response, the government accepted the committee’s recommendations to review the “incentives model” of the outsourced careers service, promising “robust performance measures” that will “align with the government’s wider employment goals”.
However, it rejected the suggestion of a national strategy for adult careers guidance which balances universal support with a focus on those who “need the most support”.
Pointing out that careers, adult skills and employment support are now “in one place” at the DWP, the response argued careers now needs to be “considered as part of this larger whole”.
It added: “Writing a separate careers guidance strategy therefore could risk our integrated Jobs and Careers Service vision.”
In response to a call for clarity around who will be eligible for careers advice, the department said: “We recognise that people are individuals with different support needs, and we want everyone who wants it to be able to access tailored support.
“For the majority of those not claiming benefits and who are seeking employment support or careers advice, this will best be served digitally, through a self-service option.
However, we recognise this will not be appropriate for everyone and other channels of support will be available.”
‘Crack on’
Addressing concerns about the relationship between careers advisers and Jobcentre work coaches, the department said it is designing the new service “to retain the strength of both roles”.
The new service will also “retain” the level 4 minimum qualification of careers advisers and officials will “explore” developing a dedicated training pathway within jobcentres.
The response added: “As the design of the service progresses, we will provide further detail on how this training pathway will be implemented and how careers advisers will be supported and developed within the new service.”
Committee chair Debbie Abrahams welcomed the government’s promise to reform performance measures for careers advice, but urged the government to “crack on” with detailed plans for in-sourcing careers staff.
She added: “Giving the DWP sole responsibility over the adult skills brief, instead of sharing with the Department for Education, should help to reduce the incoherent patchwork of services that are available.
“And bringing the careers service in house, rather than outsourcing, will in time provide clearer lines of accountability, and greater efficiency.”
An independent review into the growing number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) is “long overdue” and must finally join up piecemeal government initiatives, experts have said.
Last week, the government announced former social mobility tsar Alan Milburn will lead an “uncompromising” investigation into the causes of the NEET rate that has risen to almost one million.
While the appointment has been widely welcomed, sector leaders have urged Milburn to ensure the review breaks down long-standing “policy silos”.
Writing for FE Week (see page 10), Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said the review could succeed where others have failed – by connecting education, employment and health policy.
“The review can do something governments rarely manage: breaking down the policy silos,” he said.
“For too long, we’ve treated education, employment and health as separate domains when they are deeply connected. The danger now is ‘initiativitis’: a flurry of disconnected reforms – the curriculum review, the youth guarantee, the white working-class review – without a unifying vision.”
Former education secretary Lord Blunkett said he was “incredibly supportive” of Milburn’s appointment, praising his past work in Barnsley on social mobility and youth opportunity.
“Yes, I think it is long overdue and we need to join up the dots so that the variety of initiatives can be scaled up rapidly,” Blunkett told FE Week.
‘Initiativitis’ fears
Over the past 16 months, the government has announced £25 million to double the number of youth hubs, £90 million for youth guarantee trailblazers, launched foundation apprenticeships, conducted an independent review of curriculum, assessment and qualifications in England, and created a “job guarantee” for young people on long-term benefits.
Last month’s post-16 education and skills white paper also contained a range of measures to combat rising young NEET numbers, including auto-enrolling school-leavers on post-16 courses and tracking attendance of 16 to 19-year-olds.
Experts cautioned that the sector had seen a plethora of “reviews” over past decades without achieving meaningful change.
They added, however, that new reviews are necessary when times and causes of NEETs have changed.
For example, the rise in the number of young people who are economically inactive due to health conditions and disabilities has worsoned since the pandemic.
The government announced earlier this year that it plans to slash health and disability benefits for young people in a bid to push them into employment or training, as part of efforts to cut the country’s “ballooning” benefits bill.
Milburn’s review, to be assisted by a panel of expert advisers, has been tasked with “understanding the drivers of the increase in the number of young people who are NEET and claiming health and disability benefits, including childhood experience” and will “investigate the root causes of this rise in economic inactivity among disabled young people and those with health conditions”.
Milburn said the review will be “uncompromising in exposing failures in employment support, education, skills, health and welfare, and will produce far-reaching recommendations for change to enhance opportunities for young people to learn and earn”.
One system fits all
Laura-Jane Rawlings, chief executive of Youth Employment UK, told FE Week: “We currently have lots of pieces of the puzzle, but nobody has looked at these pieces holistically to really see where the gaps are.
“Over the last couple of decades, we’ve seen loads of reviews, reports and millions in investment, yet youth unemployment levels remain stubbornly high. So it’s fair to ask: what’s really going to be different this time?”
Rawlings urged Milburn to focus on the key “transition points” where young people fall through the cracks, from failing GCSEs in English and maths to struggling to access careers advice or opportunities locally.
“Government has funded a lot of good work, from the What Works Centre to Talent Match and the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers, but it’s all been piecemeal. No one has brought it together to understand how it fits as one system,” she added.
“If this review genuinely joins up the dots between skills, health, welfare and employment, and reflects today’s labour market, then it could make a real difference. But it must avoid becoming just another exercise in cost-cutting or another ‘test and learn’ that never gets to the learning.”
Stephen Evans, chief executive of the Learning and Work Institute, added that while reviews can play a role, the government already has a wealth of evidence on the issue.
“The urgency of this challenge, given the negative impact of being out of work and education when young, means we need to focus on rapid delivery of the government’s youth guarantee,” he said.
“Doing so requires proper resourcing and joining up work, skills and health support.”
Milburn will submit an interim report to the Department for Work and Pensions next spring, followed by a final report in the summer.
Two Institutes of Technology have ditched the flagship scheme amid fears Labour is lukewarm on the project, FE Week can reveal.
East London Institute of Technology, which launched in 2019 backed by £3.5 million of public funding, quietly exited this summer, citing “uncertainty” over government policy.
Black Country and Marches IoT, formed in 2021 with £17 million, will follow next year to gain “more freedoms” over its curriculum once its licence expires.
Their departures mark the first official exits since the Conservative government launched the policy six years ago with around £300 million in capital investment.
FE Week understands the Labour government planned to let IoT licenses lapse when their respective five-year terms came up for renewal, but Department for Education officials reversed this decision in March after the national network “rallied” in support of extensions.
IoT successes
Institutes of Technology, which are partnerships between colleges, universities and employers, aimed to drive a “step change” in level 4 and 5 skills when they launched in 2019.
Twenty-one institutes were established, involving 77 colleges, 35 universities and 99 employers, supported by £290 million in capital grants for new classrooms and high-end equipment. IoTs also tapped into a £54 million grant pot for developing higher technical qualifications (HTQs).
A previous FE Week investigation found the institutes were successful in recruiting students. But enthusiasm for the branded model appeared to wane when Labour came into power with a manifesto commitment to roll out a range of Technical Excellence Colleges (TECs).
Recent announcements, such as the prime minister’s ambition for two-thirds of young people to attain higher-level skills by age 25, suggest the government shares the same goals as IoTs.
But following an internal review late last year, officials are understood to have told the network they would no longer champion a small selection of “providers under a licence”.
Instead, the DfE suggested it would foster collaboration between colleges, universities and employers as the “default” way of working.
Then in March, after lobbying by IoTs, the government said it had “reconsidered” its approach and began issuing three-year extensions. The renewals were shorter than the 10-year extensions granted to five ‘wave one’ IoTs before the 2024 general election.
Last year, the government also cancelled a £23 million grant programme for 2025-26 to help providers increase uptake of HTQs at levels 4 and 5.
New directions
In return for initial capital investment and use of the IoT brand, partners committed to match funding of at least 35 per cent and hitting various targets. They included achieving at least 1,500 student starts at level 4 and above by their fifth year, and a focus on enrolment of women and learners from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
East London IoT, a partnership between Barking & Dagenham College, Coventry University and employers including Transport for London, said it declined to renew its licence due to “high levels of uncertainty surrounding the future” of the policy.
The institute, opened with £2.9 million in capital and supported with £500,000 in HTQ funding, built advanced robotics and digital labs used by 5,000 students. A Barking & Dagenham College spokesperson said the facilities would leave a “lasting legacy” but would no longer operate under the IoT brand.
Black Country and Marches IoT, which has taught around 1,700 students, said its plan was to “reposition” away from its licence next year to gain “greater freedom” over who and what it teaches.
Lead partner Dudley College of Technology said leaving the IoT network would allow it to expand training for younger learners below level 4, while Ben Towe, managing director of Hadley Group, who sits on the IoT board, said the move would “open up opportunities” beyond its current specialisms in advanced manufacturing, medical engineering and modern construction.
‘Fully committed’
IoTs that choose to relicense receive no further government investment beyond their initial capital grants. But despite funding for HTQs also drying up, partners told FE Week they continued to see the benefit of being a lynchpin of regional collaboration, offering a single front door to businesses seeking high-level technical training.
Multiple institutes told FE Week they remained “fully committed” to their local partnerships, which they see as “critical” to tackling skills gaps by helping students and employers navigate “complex” technical education pathways.
A spokesperson for New College Swindon, which leads Swindon and Wiltshire IoT, said confirmation of whether it will extend beyond the current 2026 expiry date would be shared “in due course”.
IoTs in wave 2, which opened between 2022 and 2024, have licences that expire between 2027 and 2029.
A Greater Manchester IoT spokesperson said the government’s renewed focus on higher-level skills “reinforces” the importance of its work, adding: “All our employer and education partners remain positive and supportive of the GMIoT and its value to the region.”
A spokesperson for East Midlands IoT said: “Students and industries are beginning to understand the value in strong local technical provision and clear pathways through more bite-sized layers of technical learning.
“The process is complex and takes time, but employers are committed to working with us to help them grow the skilled workers they, the region and wider economy, need.”
The DfE has never published data revealing IoTs’ performance.
In response to an FE Week freedom of information request for this data, the DfE refused to share what it held on individual institutes, arguing that publication would “prejudice the conduct of public affairs” due to concerns about accuracy and delays in reporting.
IoTs meet TECs
Last month’s skills white paper mentioned IoTs twice, saying that new technical excellence colleges should “draw on” their experience and expertise.
Labour has committed to launching 29 technical excellence colleges. Ten in construction have so far been named. Competitions to find five for defence, five for digital technology, five for clean energy and four for advanced manufacturing are set to launch by the end of the year.
IoT partners, five of which are already TECs, told FE Week they were confident the two initiatives would operate “synergistically”.
These include Dudley College of Technology, part of Black Country and the Marches IoT, Wigan & Leigh College, part of Greater Manchester IoT, Derby College Group, part of East Midlands IoT, Exeter College, part of South West IoT, and City of Sunderland College, part of North East IoT.
But former Dudley College of Technology chief executive Lowell Williams, a director of Black Country and the Marches IoT until this summer, said creating TECs “adds more confusion to the skills landscape”.
He added: “Why would you need both? You could have reshaped the brand to meet the aspirations of TECs.
“They’re both still about technical excellence and working with employers – it’s all the same ingredients. Governments just like new things.”
A refugee-turned-business student and a pioneering ESOL tutor were among the winners at this year’s Mayor of London Adult Learning Awards.
The City Hall ceremony, held on Thursday night, recognised the individuals and organisations whose work is transforming the lives of Londoners. Now in their fifth year, the awards, sponsored by FE Week and awarding organisation Ascentis, also honours tutors, businesses and charities that have shown exceptional commitment to adult education.
More than 250 nominations were submitted this year across 10 categories, with winners selected by a panel of judges drawn from London’s adult learning sector.
Addressing attendees, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “When I was re elected last year, I spoke about something called the London promise, the idea that if you work hard with a helping hand, you can achieve anything here.
“Tonight’s winners and runners ups are the embodiment of that promise.
“Each of you has proven the immense power of skills to change Londoners lives and as we build a safer, fairer and more prosperous city, you’ve set an example for the rest of us to follow.
“These awards are about celebrating you and all the extraordinary things you do so, congratulations, and thank you for being here tonight and for giving Londoners hope that with the right support, a better future is within their grasp. I can’t wait to see what you do next.”
Former United Colleges Group student Hamzeh Mouallem (pictured, centre) was revealed as the winner of the inspirational adult learner of the year award.
Hamzeh arrived in London speaking very little English in 2019 after fleeing the Syrian civil war. Balancing a full-time restaurant job with caring responsibilities for his younger brother, he progressed rapidly through ESOL and completed a Higher National Diploma in business with distinction. He is now studying for a top-up degree at the University of West London.
Judges said Hamzeh’s story “struck a chord”.
“What stood out most was Hamzeh being an inspiration to his younger brother, who is now at college. The majority of judges agreed that his journey exemplified determination and the transformative power of adult education,” they added.
The learning for personal progression award went to Judith Guarte Lee from Redbridge Institute of Adult Education.
Originally from the Philippines and living with cerebral palsy, Judith enrolled on ESOL and childcare courses after the birth of her son, rediscovering her confidence and ambition. She has since completed levels 1 and 2 childcare qualifications, secured a role as a childcare practitioner, and begun studying at level 3.
Reflecting on her journey, Judith said: “I’m incredibly grateful to Redbridge Institute, especially my tutors who have inspired me to believe in myself and follow my dreams. Everyone there is so helpful, I never feel left behind.”
Picking up the learning for good work award was Keighley Luff, who trained in facilities management at Chelsea Football Club through Capital City College.
Initially unsure she belonged on a high-level apprenticeship, Keighley thrived in her role as the club’s technical administrator, improving internal communications and the visitor experience at Stamford Bridge. She now also mentors new apprentices and champions work-based learning.
“I wasn’t sure I belonged on a high-level programme, but over time, I’ve discovered that discomfort can be a powerful space for learning,” Keighley said.
London Ambulance Service’s Darren Avery was named inspirational professional in adult education. As strategic workforce development manager, he has overseen the recruitment of over 2,500 apprentices, including care leavers, disabled Londoners and people from diverse backgrounds. Darren is credited with not only widening access to frontline NHS roles but also addressing critical skills shortages in the health service.
Darren said: “The greatest reward is watching people grow. Seeing a learner walk through the education centre in green uniform, full of pride and purpose, that’s what this is all about.”
A Ukrainian refugee-turned-ESOL tutor at Hammersmith and Fulham Adult Learning and Skills Service was named the winner of this year’s inspirational tutor in adult education award.
Iryna Hura impressed the judges with her “trauma-informed approach and pastoral support” that saw her classes achieve a 100 per cent pass rate in speaking and listening exams.
“I understand my students’ struggles with fear, loss and isolation because I’ve lived them too. I don’t teach English as a subject, I teach it as a lifeline,” Iryna said.
See below for the full list of winners and highly commended finalists:
