Personal statements for university hopefuls will be reformed to replace the “love letter” free text box with structured questions to help “level the playing field” for poorer students.
UCAS has announced three new questions students will have to answer (see below) after concerns progress is stalling on encouraging disadvantaged students to apply for university.
It hopes the change will help “level the playing field” and make sure students from all backgrounds “better understand the key information universities and colleges want to know about them when making admissions decisions”.
The new format will be introduced in September 2025 for students applying for 2026 entry.
In England, the application rate from the most disadvantaged backgrounds has slightly declined by 0.4 percentage points to 25.4 per cent. However, this has risen by 0.1 percentage points to 60.7 per cent for the most advantaged.
Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at Exeter University, said the reform “was a significant step in making the university admissions system a little bit fairer for all applicants”.
“The love letter from a university applicant to their chosen university subject has increasingly become a barometer of middle-class privilege as so many personal statements are now co-created and polished by advisers, teachers and parents.
Dr Jo Saxton
“This welcome reform strikes the right balance between a more structured approach to deter fabrication, while not limiting the opportunity for applicants to personalise their statement.”
Previous UCAS research found 89 per cent of students felt that the purpose of the personal statement is clear, but 79 per cent reported that the process of writing the statement was difficult to complete without support.
Kevin Gilmartin, post 16 specialist at the Association of Schools and College Leaders, welcomed the change, adding: “The current ‘text box’ approach is far too vague and has favoured students who are able to draw on support from family members that have previously been to university and submitted personal statements themselves.
“The switch to structured questions will provide much needed clarity to students about what information they should be including. These questions should also be of more use to admissions tutors than the old-style personal statements, which research has shown were barely being read in many cases.”
Dr Jo Saxton, UCAS chief executive and former Ofqual chief regulator, said the new approach will give “greater confidence” to students as well as their teachers “when advising on how to secure their dream course”.
Last month, UCAS also waived the application fee for students on free school meals.
The questions:
Why do you want to study this course or subject? This is an applicant’s opportunity to showcase their passion for and knowledge of their chosen subject, to demonstrate to universities and colleges why they are a good fit, and to outline any future ambitions.
How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject? In this section applicants can describe relevant or transferable skills they’ve gained in education, and demonstrate their understanding of how these will help them succeed in their chosen course or subject area.
What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences helpful? Here applicants can reflect on their personal experiences, and any other activities they have undertaken outside their education to further demonstrate their suitability for the course.
Labour will use its first term in government to devolve even more skills powers to local areas alongside its high-profile plans for a new national skills body, Skills England.
King Charles III officially opened this parliamentary session this morning with the customary speech from the House of Lords. The King’s Speech outlined 40 new pieces of legislation that the government will seek to pass in the next 12 months.
He said: “My ministers will seek to raise educational standards and break down barriers to opportunity. Action will be taken to get people back in employment following the impact of the pandemic. A bill will be introduced to raise standards in education and promote children’s wellbeing.”
Here’s what you need to know about legislative plans for FE and skills:
Teacher bans back
Labour could be about to revive plans to impose lifetime bans on teachers guilty of serious misconduct in colleges and training providers.
A children’s wellbeing bill was announced in today’s King’s Speech that will extend teacher misconduct rules and allow regulators to investigate cases “regardless of when the misconduct occurred” and “the setting the teacher is employed in”.
The Department for Education consulted on widening teacher misconduct rules to FE providers in 2022. The last government planned to include legislation in its schools bill, but the bill was dropped.
Under previous plans, FE colleges, special post-16 institutions and independent training providers will have a legal duty to decide whether to refer cases of serious misconduct for the Teacher Regulation Agency (TRA) to investigate. The TRA has powers to issue prohibition orders – preventing someone from working in teaching.
The broadened remit for the TRA would “reduce the risk of a prohibited person trying to work between [pre and post-16] sectors”, the DfE said when it consulted.
FE Week has asked the DfE to confirm if this measure in the King’s Speech will apply to post-16 settings.
Qualified teachers?
New teachers in FE, as well as schools, could be required to have or work towards teaching qualifications.
The children’s wellbeing bill announced today will “recognise the status of the teaching profession” by mandating qualified teacher status.
The last government removed requirements for FE teachers to have or work towards qualified status in 2013. Since then, individual colleges and providers have been allowed to decide for themselves what, if any, teaching qualifications they expect from their teachers.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said last week Labour’s manifesto commitment for 6,500 new “expert” teachers will apply to schools and colleges. In its manifesto, Labour said it will also introduce a teacher training entitlement as well as returning to mandatory qualified status.
DfE has been asked to confirm whether new qualified teacher requirements will apply to FE settings.
Wake me up, before you devo
Labour’s pre-election promises to give local leaders, like mayors, more powers over skills and employment support will be part of an English devolution bill.
Details emerging from the King’s Speech are scarce, however Number 10 said the bill will introduce an “ambitious standardised devolution framework” with “greater powers” in return for new local growth plans.
According to Labour’s manifesto, the plans will involve employers, colleges and universities setting out how they will support local growth sectors. It’s not clear whether these will replace existing local skills improvement plans.
The government will also speed up devolution settlements in areas currently without one. For established devolved areas, “advanced mayoral settlements” will be created “where there is capacity and ambition to do so”.
MCAs and the Greater London Authority will be responsible for 62 per cent of the adult skills fund budget in academic year 2024/25 and “further devolution is planned”, a Number 10 press briefing announcement said.
Employment rights
Proposals to introduce minimum service levels, which the last government said would limit the impact of strikes, have been dropped.
Labour’s workers’ rights drive will also see new laws banning zero-hours contracts and giving employees the right to sue for unfair dismissal from the first day of employment.
An employment rights bill will be introduced to give employees immediate access to parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal.
Since 2012, employees don’t obtain “full” employment rights until they have clocked up two years of consecutive service.
Pay reporting
Organisations with over 250 employees will be required to report on the pay of their ethnic minority and disabled staff.
A draft equality (race and disability) bill will be introduced by the government, mirroring existing requirements for reporting on gender pay gaps.
“Surfacing pay gaps will enable companies to constructively consider why they exist and how to tackle them,” Number 10 said.
What’s next?
Politicians will begin six days of debates on the King’s Speech tomorrow.
Baroness Jacqui Smith, the new minister for skills, further and higher education, will make her debut maiden speech in the House of Lords on Friday introducing the education elements of the King’s Speech.
After the debates, bills will begin to be introduced and make their way through both houses of parliament.
What is happening in terms of qualification reform, and in particular much of our sector’s response to it, brings to mind an activity I have built in to a programme on organisational culture and leadership I have delivered on and off over the years.
Over lunch, when everyone is out of the way, I set about adjusting one of the pictures in the room so that it is crooked. Then I just leave it and say nothing. By the end of the afternoon, without exception, someone always feels the need to put it back in place. And here we are.
We have entered a very interesting phase of the reform debate, with Labour having made a commitment when in opposition to “pause and review” of the current direction of travel with regards to T Levels and BTECs.
Notably, this was not a manifesto commitment. Then today, Gordon Brown and Lord Sainsbury used their powerful voices to counter that this would be a mistake.
The last Labour government’s answer to technical education was to introduce the 14-19 Diplomas. This set of unwieldy qualifications were a watered-down response to the 2004 Tomlinson Report, which had recommended reform of academic as well as technical education.
Initially, these 14-19 Diplomas were intended to support a simplified and streamlined post-16 offer which would ultimately consist of the Diplomas, A-levels, apprenticeships and a foundation learning tier for young people operating below level 1.
However, this aspiration was also watered down as competing qualifications – such as BTECs – were not discontinued. The sector’s resistance to change won the day.
It was unsurprising that the new Diplomas were promptly ditched by the coalition government when it came into power in 2010. With them went millions of pounds, countless hours of pointless meetings deciding how these damn things were to be delivered between schools and colleges, and several rainforests’ worth of resources and paperwork.
Nearly a decade later, the last government’s panacea to the thorny issue of technical education was of course the T Level. Sitting alongside A-levels and apprenticeships, they would finally allow us to attain the nirvana of a simplified and streamlined post-16 offer, supported by a review of qualifications below level 3.
At the time, I couldn’t help feeling we’d uncannily ended up in very similar territory to where New Labour finished, with at least two notable exceptions. This time there was a determination to switch off the alternatives, as well as an aspiration to ultimately merge A-levels and T Levels into the Advanced British Standard (ironically taking us full circle to realise the key ambition of the Tomlinson Report).
Now, of course, all of this is up in the air again. What does seem clear is that unlike the 14-19 Diplomas, T Levels will remain. This is a good thing. T Levels have real potential whereas those 14-19 Diplomas were just awful.
It is also still widely expected that there will be the eagerly awaited ‘pause and review’ announcement, even in spite of those influential voices speaking out against it. If so, I hope we avoid going completely backwards to witness T Levels suffer their own demise – only to be replaced by some other new solution in a decade’s time.
What I can’t subscribe to is the argument that the current system worked fine before the latest reforms. It didn’t.
The qualification landscape is far too bewildering. Many vocational (i.e. applied general) qualifications at level 3 provide reasonable preparation for higher education courses (predominantly those in post-92 universities), but do they all adequately provide the actual skills employers are looking for?
There are major skills shortages across many sectors, but no shortage of young people taking existing qualifications in these areas. In some cases we are even struggling to meet student demand, so something isn’t right – and yes, I know I’m at risk of oversimplifying a very complex issue.
We should not in any case cease the current direction of travel, but we do need to make sure it’s on the right tracks. So if a ‘pause and review’ is to be useful, here is what it should address:
Meeting needs
The first job will be to conduct a sector-by-sector review of the current reform agenda to ensure the approach to new and discontinued qualifications will meet industry and learner needs. The removal of level 3 electrical is a good example of where the current approach hasn’t been well thought out.
Progression coherence
The review should specifically look at the content and assessment of the new T Levels. In their current form they remain niche given entry requirements are as rigorous as A-levels.
A wider issue here is that GCSEs are geared towards A-levels and ultimately university education. They aren’t really fit for the purpose of supporting progression into technical education (something we are at the beginning of thinking about in Greater Manchester).
Progression breadth
Any reform below level 3 should also be a consideration so that it provides clear and effective progression routes into further study and also into employment.
Regarding the latter, we shouldn’t assume that the main purpose of any qualification is to lead immediately to another – a good job with training can be an equally valid progression outcome.
Protecting student choice
We also need clarity on the role and purpose of the new proposed Alternative Academic Qualifications (AAQs) and Technical Occupational Qualifications (TOCs) and their potential to protect student choice. This will help avoid the predicted armageddon that will swiftly follow any bonfire of BTECs.
Ultimately we have to ensure that whatever the result of any pause and review process, we end up with a system that more effectively aligns with the skills employers need, and with students at the heart of its design and delivery.
And what we absolutely must not do is to put the picture back in its place, only for the cycle of reform and resistance to resume.
It would be fair to say that Labour has not wasted any time since the election in ensuring there is real energy and noise around their commitment for change. This week will surely be the week where they focus on what it means strategically for their departments, what can be tackled quickly versus what needs to be done thoughtfully and based on a longer-term plan and, we hope, real evidence.
The inbox of education secretary Bridget Phillipson will undoubtedly be piling high with a range of stakeholders and influencers trying to ensure their messages land and are put on the top of the to-do list. I do not envy her or her team!
It is agreed by many, myself included, that technical education needs to be a priority.
A good technical education system will be pivotal for closing skills gaps and driving economic growth. Many young people are excited by the opportunities of technical education; more practical, more career-relevant and more skills-based curriculums suit them.
But they need to be the right quality programmes, at the right levels and meet the needs of the learners, which over the years have grown more complex.
We know that with 900,000 NEET young people and employers identifying the continued challenge of skills gaps, that the system is not working. Young people feel disconnected from education and opportunity.
In February we released our year-long commission on level 2 and level 3 education reform. The commission found there are clear gaps in the system left by the T Level rollout and that young people, particularly those who are disadvantaged, are at risk of falling out of the education system with a binary choice A- or T Level choice at age 16.
The practical delivery and costs of T Levels certainly, along with dropout and success rates need careful consideration before a carte blanche approach is taken.
But the answer to solving these issues cannot be to simply “do like the Conservatives did”.
In the schools world, Labour has committed to its election promises to review the school curriculum and to increase access to work experience. Careers education could also become hyper-local with greater devolution if the mayors get their way.
All of that means young people should have choices. No one is arguing T Levels shouldn’t be a valid and aspirational choice for school leavers. But qualifications are just one piece of the puzzle. When it comes to choosing what to do post-16, schools and colleges must be able to access qualifications that suit the needs of students.
Lord Sainsbury’s report today glossed over the needs of students who need to work alongside their post-16 studies, as well as those pursuing a career not covered by T Levels. There are valid and legitimate reasons why a T Level isn’t attractive to some young people, in the same way that other qualifications also have their pros and cons.
Keeping choices open isn’t about protecting vested interests as Lord Sainsbury’s report alleges. It is about having an offer that reflects the real priorities and demands of students.
I would therefore add to Bridget Phillipson’s growing inbox with a call to commit to a pause and review, and to explore with the sector how we can bring all these pieces together to simplify and improve the system. We are close but not yet there.
At the centre of the system should be Labour’s mission to breaking down barriers and ensuring our education system works for everyone.
As policymakers across the UK adjust to the new political landscape following the general election, there is a desire in each of the four nations to enhance economic growth. There will be a focus on supporting priority sectors with high growth potential. The creative industries are one of of these, as recognised in each of the UK nations through dedicated sector strategies.
Each places a strong emphasis on skills, given the extensive demands for a highly skilled creative workforce across the UK. Current skill reform interventions and strategies in different parts of the UK seek to strengthen pathways to the creative industries to reduce skills shortages.
As the labour market continually changes, there is significant focus on the role of further education (FE), not only to support progression routes into higher education but also to enhance opportunities to get into, and progress, in creative careers.
So, how is it faring? Research published today by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC) and carried out by Work Advance aimed to find out.
Due to there being four separate skills systems in the UK, the research presents evidence on creative FE in each nation. While the policy contexts are distinct, with differences in the learning programmes and qualifications each nation delivers, we find a similar picture of the current state of FE in each.
Low and falling take-up
Despite common policy aspirations to grow lifelong learning, the research shows that creative FE has been declining in each of the UK nations over the past decade. While this is the case across the FE sector generally (in part reflecting reductions in funding), enrolments in creative subjects have been falling much more rapidly than in other subjects.
Although each nation has aimed to extend the range of work-based learning programmes such as apprenticeships, growth in these areas has been insufficient to counter the wider declines. Indeed, the take-up of creative apprenticeships remains very low in all nations.
Mixed outcomes
The research also points to a mixed picture of outcomes among creative learners pursuing different pathways. This raises the importance of continuing to enhance the quality and relevance of skills programmes over time in response to labour market changes, so that they support stronger learner destinations.
Disparities across the board
Moreover, while broadening access and enhancing the inclusiveness of learning have been common UK-wide policy intentions, the research points to limits in diversity. Creative learners tend to be less ethnically and socioeconomically diverse than the wider FE student population. Furthermore, creative FE is highly concentrated in more urban regions, with more limited provision in rural areas.
Evolution, not revolution
Several implications emerge from this research. Chiefly, it highlights the importance of sustained policy commitments to strengthen FE, and in particular industry-facing technical training for the creative industries.
Across each nation, there have been common principles and design features guiding individual skills reforms. These seek to encourage lifelong learning, greater inclusion in learning among adults as well as young people, and stronger mechanisms to enhance the responsiveness of programmes including the customisation of FE to better meet varying geographical and sector labour market needs.
While the research highlights some of the challenges in achieving these goals, this does not point to a need for wholesale change. Instead, the dramatic realignment of the political landscape presents an opportunity to take stock, refocus and look to ways to build on existing progress.
With the likely introduction of a new industrial strategy by UK Government, the dedicated sector strategies in each nation can be revisited and policy and funding priorities reviewed.
This will present opportunities to more closely reflect on sector skills interventions to support greater learner and employer engagement, including incentives, communication tools, and the design and delivery of a broader range of skills programmes co-designed with creative employers.
Differences in the existing initiatives between the home nations provide fertile ground to share insights on what’s working. There will also be benefits in ongoing research to track changes in skills needs to understand trends in creative FE and how best to respond in future.
Creative Further Education in the four UK Nations: 2024 is written by Work Advance for and published by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, which is led by Newcastle University with the Royal Society of Arts and funded by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Read it in full here
New legislation that paves the way for a body called Skills England by “transferring functions” from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has been announced in the King’s speech.
In his address for the first state opening of parliament under a Labour government in 15 years, the monarch also confirmed his ministers will “reform the apprenticeship levy”.
The speech sets out the government’s legislative agenda for the next year, which will include a Skills England bill.
Labour pledged to establish Skills England in the run up to the election. The aim of the body will be to “bring together businesses, providers, unions, mayoral combined authorities (MCAs) and national government to ensure we have the highly trained workforce that England needs”, a Number 10 press briefing document said.
There will be consequences for existing quango IfATE, which currently works with employers to develop, approve, review and revise apprenticeships and technical qualifications.
FE Week reported this month that IfATE had reduced its headcount by 30 staff, including second-in-command Rob Nitsch, after being ordered to find savings by the Department for Education.
It is not clear from today’s announcement exactly what parts of the institute will be transferred to Skills England. A timeline for launching the new body has not yet been released.
There is also no mention of Skills England’s responsibilities in areas of higher education, such as the incoming lifelong learning entitlement. Its relationship with HE regulator the Office for Students also gets no mention in today’s King’s speech documents.
Number 10 said: “The Bill will transfer functions from IfATE to Skills England, which will sit at the heart of a system that provides learners with the skills required to thrive in life, businesses with the trained workforce they need to succeed, and local areas with access to the right skills to spur economic growth.
“Skills England will support economic growth by greater coherence to the assessment of skills needs and training landscape; ensuring training programmes are well designed and delivered to meet these needs; and that regional and national skills systems are providing the skilled workforce needed to enable businesses to thrive and to contribute to the Industrial Strategy at the heart of our growth mission.”
Reformed apprenticeship levy role
One key task of Skills England will be to identify non-levy training eligible for funding under Labour’s proposed “growth and skills levy”, set to replace the apprenticeship levy.
Today’s announcement didn’t include any further details about how Labour’s new levy would operate, but the party previously said it plans to allow up to 50 per cent of employer payments to be spent on non-apprenticeship training.
Skills England will “consult on (and maintain a list of) levy-eligible training to ensure value for money, and that the mix of government-funded training available to learners and employers aligns with skills needs,” Number 10 said today.
The body will also be tasked with developing a “single picture of national and local skills needs”. This will involve Skills England working with industry, the Migration Advisory Committee, unions and the Industrial Strategy Council to “build and maintain a comprehensive assessment of current and future skills needs” to help inform the Department for Education’s policy priorities.
Number 10 said the volume of skills shortage vacancies in England more than doubled between 2017 and 2022, from 226,500 to 531,200. Skills England will “build the evidence base needed to address these gaps and will be responsible for sharing this insight with actors at a national and regional level, supporting the development of provision that addresses this need”.
Skills England will also “ensure that the national and regional skills systems are meeting skills needs and are aligned, including using local and regional vacancy data as part of a robust evidence base”. The body will “convene MCAs and other key stakeholders to identify system issues and provide advice to Government, leading to a more coherent system”.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown and T Levels architect Lord David Sainsbury have urged the new Labour government to “ignore” the party’s promise to pause and review the Conservatives’ controversial bonfire of BTECs.
In a new report by lobbying firm WPI Strategy, the influential pair endorse calls to end the “wild west” situation that “currently exists” where multiple and overlapping vocational courses of “varying quality” are offered to school leavers and “suppresses talent”.
It advises the government to continue with plans to defund qualifications that compete with T Levels, launched in 2020 as the technical equivalent to A-levels, from 2025.
Brown claimed there is a “current fear” that those with a “vested interest in marketing and selling their own lower quality courses” will attempt to “pull the wool over parliamentarians’ eyes” and influence Labour to “pause and review the technical education system yet again”.
The report has attracted fierce criticism from former Labour education secretary Lord Blunkett who said the proposals will lead to the “collapse” of the pipeline of trainees in key sectors like health and social care, adding that Labour “must not walk into the trap of getting the blame for a scorched earth policy”.
Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association that co-ordinates the Protect Student Choice campaign, said WPI’s report reads like it has been “drafted in a time warp, and its authors are not aware of all the incontestable facts of this issue”.
DfE will ‘confirm next steps shortly’
The SFCA successfully secured a promise from Labour to “pause and review” the level 3 reforms last year if it won the next general election.
There is however concern in the sector that Labour could U-turn on the promise as it did not feature in the Labour Party’s election manifesto.
New education secretary Bridget Phillipson has so far been silent on the matter since taking office this month.
Responding to today’s report, a Department for Education spokesperson said: “We support T Levels as a high-class vocational qualification which give young people a firm foundation for their future and will confirm our next steps shortly.”
WPI’s report repeats the last government’s claims that the post-16 education system is “incoherent and confusing”, with over 12,000 vocational qualifications from over 150 awarding bodies.
It said the 2016 Sainsbury review, which paved the way for T Levels, called for a fundamental shift in technical education to solve the skills crisis, adding that the current reforms aim to “weed out low-quality qualifications and reduce overlap”.
The report’s authors, former civil servants Vincenzo Rampulla and Erika Williams, argue that Labour should be “empowering students, parents, and employers with a transparent system of post-16 qualifications – underpinned by data and easy to navigate”.
‘Vested interests attempt to pull the wool over parliamentarians’ eyes’
Gordon Brown’s foreword for the report highlights “outstanding” results for the first 1,000 students who completed their T Level in 2022, including stats that show 40 per cent of those have gone on to work in full-time jobs, 13 per cent have decided to pursue apprenticeships, and 44 per cent have decided to continue their studies at university.
But the report excludes facts that show a third of students who start a T Level drop out before completing. It also fails to mention the health and science T Level fiasco where over 1,200 students had their results remarked due to “major failings” in exam papers.
Several proposed T Levels have also either been delayed or cancelled altogether due to issues with quality and employer demand.
Education watchdog Ofsted released a damning review last summer that found “many” students have dropped out of T Levels after being “misled” onto the flagship qualifications, while experienced teachers struggle to teach the “complex” courses.
Employers were also allegedly being left “disappointed” and “poorly informed” about the mandatory 315-hour industry placements for T Levels, as the inspectorate warned that some placements are “not appropriate” for the subjects learners are studying.
It would be calamitous and costly to slow the rollout of T Levels or pause the changeover of funding
Despite this, Brown (pictured left) claims that those with a “vested interest” in retaining competing level 3 qualifications that are of “lower quality” could soon force Labour to “pause and review the technical education system yet again”.
“These calls should be ignored,” he said, adding: “It would be calamitous and costly to slow the rollout of T Levels or pause the changeover of funding from lower quality to higher quality qualifications. Delay would set the economy back at a time when we desperately need skilled labour now. It would hamper our growth prospects by bequeathing us an inadequately trained workforce for a decade to come.”
Lord Sainsbury (pictured right), one of Labour’s biggest election donors, added: “The most successful international skills systems have three things consistently in common: simplicity of choice, national standards, and stability. The UK’s system of thousands of qualifications, where in many instances public funding is going to for-profit private entities for qualifications that the government does not scrutinise the content of, is an international outlier.
“Labour must seize the opportunity to break from the failures of the past and deliver reforms that provide value for money and high-quality education.”
‘The report recycles the tropes used by the last government’
Bill Watkin
SFCA’s Bill Watkin hit back. He said: “Lord Sainsbury’s objective in funding this report was no doubt to promote the value of T Levels. But in attempting to do so, the report recycles many of the tropes used by the last Conservative government to describe BTEC qualifications while overstating the performance and potential uptake of T Levels.
“In opposition, the Labour party made a firm commitment to pause and review the last government’s plan to scrap BTECs if elected this year. Today’s report urges Labour to renege on the commitment made in opposition, over a year ago, and press ahead with the plan to scrap BTECs, but it has nothing to say about the fate of the 155,000 students that our research identified last year would be left without a suitable qualification if this plan is implemented.”
Watkin added that T Levels are a “welcome addition” to the qualifications landscape, but claimed it would be “reckless to scrap BTECs when there is no evidence to suggest that T Levels are close to being a genuine replacement or can be offered at scale”.
Pearson, the awarding organisation that offers BTECs, said there is a “place for both T Levels and other applied general qualifications in the modern skills landscape – not a stark choice between the two as the WPI Strategy report today suggests”.
Pearson “strongly urge” the new Labour government to “continue its plans to implement a review of the vocational qualification reform programme”.
Lord Blunkett added: “There is a simple truth, which I know the incoming government will grasp immediately. Either we pull the plug on courses that are already working with the consequent collapse of the pipeline of trainees into social care, childcare and much else; or we use common sense. T Levels have a really important part to play, but they are in their infancy and the statistics demonstrate that an urgent review of both timescale and what is working should be an imperative.”
The Skills Federation has appointed policy expert Fiona Aldridge as its new leader after spending three years without a chief executive.
Also known as the Federation for Industry Sector Skills & Standards (FISSS), Aldridge will join The Skills Federation this September after leading on employment and skills strategy at the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) for the last two years.
The appointment appears to be part of a refresh for the federation as it looks to expand its remit in “providing an employer voice” in government policy.
Aldridge fills the top position three years after FISSS’ previous CEO Matt Lambert stood down from the role in early 2021, after spending just one year in the post.
He took over from Mark Froud who spent six years at the helm but resigned with immediate effect in 2019. Since 2021, the federation has been run by its board.
In her previous role as head of skills insight at WMCA, Aldridge was part of the negotiations with the government for the employment and skills elements of the combined authority’s trailblazer devolution deal.
Prior to WMCA, Aldridge worked at Learning and Work Institute for nearly 20 years in its policy and research division.
“I am delighted Fiona will be joining us as we support the new government in achieving UK growth ambitions,” said Dame Julie Mellor, chair of The Skills Federation.
“Employer perspectives will be critical to inform the evolution of the skills system to meet skills needs in each sector of our economy.”
Aldridge said: “I am very excited to be joining The Skills Federation at the start of this new government, to help provide an employer voice in the development of skills policy. This will be critical to unlocking ambitions for economic growth and opportunity for all.”
The federation is a membership organisation for 19 UK employer-led bodies focussed on skills and training.
Its members include the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), ScreenSkills and Engineering Construction Industry Training Board industry (ECITB) and altogether represent 150,000 employers, both large and small, across 20 UK sectors.
FISSS previously used to verify whether apprenticeships had been completed successfully before issuing certificates under the old-style frameworks but lost the responsibility in 2017 when the ESFA took over amid the rollout of new-style apprenticeship standards.
The federation also runs ed-tech apprenticeship service ACE360, which joins up training providers to end point assessment organisations and external quality assurance providers to manage apprenticeship delivery and certification.
One of the “big four” accounting firms, a university, an adult education institute and a veterinary nursing specialist are among the latest FE providers to score top Ofsted marks.
Global giant Ernst and Young LLP (EY), which trains 1,365 adults in the level 7 accountancy and taxation professional apprenticeship, received ‘outstanding’ grades across the board in its first full inspection.
Its report was published today and detailed how apprentices work and learn in a “highly dynamic and supportive culture” where they progress successfully in the financial sector.
Inspectors found that EY’s leaders have “enhanced” the apprenticeship to “successfully meet the demands of the four key service lines within their company”.
Apprentices gain “increased learning” from experts in assurance, tax, strategy and transactions and consulting alongside their academic studies. Because of this, apprentices quickly develop the skills they need to become effective in the workplace, the report said.
Leaders have also successfully recruited apprentices from diverse backgrounds, including recent university graduates and young people who have just finished their A-levels.
The learning is tailored to meet their specific needs, Ofsted said. “Most graduates benefit from an accelerated route, while younger apprentices profit from a longer study time. This adaptability ensures that all apprentices, regardless of background, are well- prepared for their future job roles.”
The report highlighted how apprentices become “established and confident practitioners” who add value to their organisation.
“Many” progress quickly through the company. For example, in their second year, apprentices take on “high-risk” tasks, such as contract audits. Ofsted found that all apprentices who take end tests achieve and move on to positive destinations within EY or other accounting firms.
Also celebrating grade ones across the board today following its first inspection is Bournemouth University.
The higher education institution trains more than 350 degree apprentices in health and social care as well as senior leadership.
Inspectors found that despite the “significant challenges” in the healthcare sector during the pandemic, leaders ensured that a “high proportion” of apprentices completed and achieved their qualifications.
The report said: “Almost all apprentices played critical healthcare and leadership roles throughout this period, including undertaking additional tasks such as covering for colleagues during this challenging time. Throughout this period, leaders and lecturers worked highly effectively to support apprentices’ well-being. As a result, over two-thirds of apprentices passed their qualifications and almost all achieved distinctions.”
Leaders have also established “excellent” strategic links with healthcare providers and the NHS to ensure that the curriculums they provide support regional and national skills needs.
Bournemouth University’s “highly effective” governance arrangements were praised alongside lecturers who are “very skilful at ensuring that apprentices understand and remember what they have been taught”.
Professor Philip Sewell, director of apprenticeships and skills at Bournemouth University, said: “We’re so proud of all the work that goes into making sure our apprentices are highly trained and ready for their future careers. We work with local businesses and organisations to make sure we’re teaching the skills that employers need and feed in our own research, utilising our facilities, to give apprentices the best possible experience while they are learning with us which results in high achievement rates.”
Elsewhere, Redbridge Institute of Adult Education in London maintained its Ofsted ‘outstanding’ grade through a short inspection report published today.
The institute, which first achieved the feat in 2018, teaches over 1,000 adults. Most are on English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) courses, as well as digital skills, English, maths, teaching and learning, accounting, early years and counselling.
Ofsted found exemplary feedback from learners, with praise for a “welcoming and supportive” environment and the high-quality training provided.
Adrian Loades, chief executive of Redbridge Council said: “Congratulations to everybody at Redbridge Institute who has seen their hard work and dedication recognised by this outstanding judgment. Redbridge Institute provides invaluable support and help to so many Redbridge residents and it is great to see the high quality of its work confirmed by Ofsted.”
Lastly, veterinary nursing specialist training provider Lite (Stockport) Limitedwas upgraded from Ofsted ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’ in a report published on Friday.
The 40-year-old company trains over 130 apprentices to “exceptionally” high standards which prepares them well for their careers in veterinary nursing.
Inspectors noted that leaders have a “clear and highly ambitious intent” for the curriculum and apprentices develop high levels of confidence and resilience.
LITE Ltd head of centre Jackie Shopland-Reed said: “It is very rewarding that the inspectors praised the high quality of teaching and the support we provide for apprentices. We also received feedback that apprentices enjoy their learning and feel safe and well supported. Our strong and effective partnerships with employers were also praised, all of which makes us very proud.”
