Listen to this story Members can listen to an AI-generated audio version of this article. 1.0x Audio narration uses an AI-generated voice. 0:00 0:00 Become a member to listen to this article Subscribe 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 progress 8 or attainment 8 measures 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. 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.
Paul Langford 28 July 2026 I joined the teaching profession in 1980 straight from university.I taught woodwork,metalwork(engineering) and geometrical and engineering drawing in those days.Then with compulsory Design&Technology for all 5-16 year I taught resistant materials, graphic products,control technology,electronics and engineering to G.C.S.E level.In those days all my pupils had a practical compulsory option for their Design and Technology G.C.S.E in years 10 and 11.A number of my pupils went on to pursue careers in the practical trades,commercial graphics, engineering and control technology.In 2010 the new ‘Conservative State Minister For Education’ Micheal Gove decided to abandon ‘National Curriculum Design and Tecnology’ as a compulsory G.C.S.E and in 2026 we now have the ‘Fallout’from his decision which did away with practical education for all pupils in all our state schools.Very sadly 16 years on if we are to reinstate practical education in our state schools we no longer have the specialist teaching facilities in any of our State Schools.We also have no-one like myself to teach these subjects again.After I retired from teaching I set my own engineering business up doing very specialist maintenance work at m.o.t testing stations.I am now in my 14th year.After numerous conversations with garage owners they have given up taking apprentices on who are on ‘Government Schemes’.There are 2 issues.The first is that the time to train apprentices impacts upon the profitability of their business.The second is that the £3000 government apprenticeship payout scheme is not sufficient to pay a secretary to do all the obligatory government apprentice scheme records for visiting government inspectors.So the future of ‘Andy Burnham’s New Brainchild’ to get industry and private businesses involved and providing apprenticeships is totally flawed.
David Hilton 29 July 2026 I welcome Mr Burnhams proposals to reform the education system. I made the transition to teaching some twenty-two years ago following on from twenty-five years experience in engineering on the shop floor. Without going into too much explanation as to why skilled trades have become so undesirable in the UK, I will point out one of the pitfalls off what Mr Burnham is up against. As Paul Langford states in his comments schools are no longer equipped with the technology and equipment to teach these required skills, nor are they equipped with the skillsets to teach them. As a result moving forward now if schools are to provide this vocational training for 14 to 16 year olds the likelihood is that they will need to send them to technical colleges and ITPs for their training. I can tell you now from experience what happens. Schools send there lower level students and students that are difficult to manage in the classrooms. Rather than promoting the benefits and career potential to the other students. Mainstream education needs educating itself that vocational qualifications are not only for students that are not academics. The skills gap that has continually developed since the mid 1980s is only going to be bridged by skilled trade apprenticeships training giving people the skills and experience that industry is crying out for. We must give these opportunities to the correct quality of students.