Mayors to design technical education routes for 14-year-olds

Mayors and local leaders will be handed a role in shaping education for 14- to 16-year-olds under plans for new technical pathways from September 2028.

Prime minister Andy Burnham will announce tomorrow that pupils will be able to combine core academic subjects with technical education, employer projects and workplace experience from year 10.

Number 10 said the pathways would be shaped by strategic authorities, councils, schools, colleges and employers around the industries and jobs available in their areas.

But the announcement included no new funding and leaves unanswered questions about which qualifications pupils will take, whether colleges will teach them directly and how school accountability measures will change.

The Department for Education will instead examine how its existing budgets can be “prioritised” to support the reforms.

Every figure mentioned in the announcement had been announced previously. Downing Street cited £570 million for additional college places, the £4.7 billion schools uplift by 2028-29 agreed at the 2025 spending review and £3.7 billion for SEND places in mainstream settings.

Ministers said the pathways would build on local initiatives including the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate, or MBacc, introduced while Burnham was mayor of the region.

Pupils would continue to study English, maths and science while accessing technical training, practical projects set by businesses, visits to employers and work experience.

Local pathways could focus on sectors including advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, clean energy, life sciences, construction, health and care or the creative industries.

Burnham said the reforms would put technical and academic education on an equal footing.

“For too long in this country, students have been told that you must take the academic path to do well and to be respected,” he said.

“From today, Britain will value the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap.”

Downing Street said the changes formed part of a wider devolution programme and would give local leaders “greater influence” over education for 14- to 16-year-olds.

Strategic authorities will be expected to bring together schools, colleges and employers, identify local priorities and coordinate workplace opportunities.

Undefined powers

However, the announcement does not explain what formal powers mayors will receive, how the system will operate in areas without a strategic authority or whether every part of England will introduce the pathways at the same time.

Work with local leaders and education providers will begin ahead of an “ambition” to start rolling out the routes in September 2028.

No detail has yet been published about which existing or new qualifications will form part of the pathways.

Nor has it been confirmed whether pupils will remain enrolled exclusively at schools or whether colleges will be able to enrol or teach greater numbers of 14- to 16-year-olds.

School performance measures and Ofsted inspections will be changed to recognise technical education and how well schools prepare pupils for employment.

That would amount to a second change to inspection inside a year. Ofsted’s report card framework only took effect in November 2025. The announcement referred only to school inspection and said nothing about the further education and skills framework.

Ministers have also not revealed whether the English Baccalaureate, Progress 8 or Attainment 8 will be changed as part of the reforms.

Schools will be given stronger incentives to offer technical pathways rather than treat vocational education as an “optional add-on”, according to the release.

What gets the chop?

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), backed the ambition but warned that the reforms would require investment, achievable timescales and a national framework.

“Right now there is little detail about what this will look like in practice,” he said.

Di’Iasio said parity between academic, technical and vocational routes must be reflected in performance measures and repeated ASCL’s call for progress 8 and Ofsted’s new inspection framework to be reconsidered.

He also criticised the timing of the announcement during the summer holidays and questioned what schools and colleges would be expected to do less of if they were required to prioritise the new pathways.

Education secretary Lucy Powell said the plans marked the start of a “shared effort” to connect young people with jobs and careers in their local areas.

“By offering high-quality technical and vocational education alongside academic achievement, we’ll give more young people the chance to leave education with the skills, confidence and opportunities they need to thrive,” she said.

Strategic authorities, schools, colleges and employers will be expected to make the new routes accessible to young people with SEND. No funding was attached to that expectation beyond the £3.7 billion already committed to creating around 60,000 specialist places in mainstream schools.

The reforms follow an interim report by Alan Milburn, which warned that more than one million 16- to 24-year-olds were not in education, employment or training.

Milburn welcomed the announcement but said a “whole system reset” was also needed across health, welfare and labour-market policy.

His report was critical of schools and colleges being held to account on enrolments and attainment, rather than sustained outcomes.

Mystery £3.5 billion

An endorsement issued alongside the announcement from Social Enterprise UK referred to a £3.5 billion commitment, although no such sum was identified or explained elsewhere in the release.

Employers would be expected to offer mentoring, workplace visits, practical projects and work experience, but no minimum requirements or entitlement for every pupil were set out.

Number 10 did not respond before publication to questions from FE Week about funding, qualifications, college involvement, accountability measures and the rollout timetable.