None of England’s young offender institutions provided children in their care with the education they were entitled to during the last three years, an FE Week probe has revealed.
For the first time, figures released to FE Week by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) list how many hours of education young offenders received under the current batch of education contracts.
The data shows all three YOIs failed to hit the 15 hours per week tuition level agreed since October 2022, a month after the contracts started.
The worst YOI was Feltham, where contracted provider Shaw Trust delivered an average of 6.4 hours of education per week in the year to August 2025 – missing the MoJ’s benchmark by over eight hours.
England’s other two YOIs, Wetherby and Werrington, also delivered less education than required every month since October 2022, with the year to August 2025 being the worst so far.
YOIs are legally required to provide young people of a compulsory school age – about three quarters of their population – with at least 15 hours of education each week.
But staff shortages and high levels of violence have increased the time young offenders spend in their cells.
Helen Dyson, interim chief executive at social justice charity Nacro, said: “It is unacceptable that not a single young offender institution is meeting the basic 15-hour weekly education requirement.
“Young people in custody are being denied the education they are entitled to – left in cells for up to 22 hours a day with little or no learning.
“Education is a lifeline, not a luxury. Without it, rehabilitation is undermined, and the cycle of reoffending is reinforced.”
Learning hours lost
FE Week asked the MoJ for the education delivery statistics through a freedom of information request after noting it failed to include them in its regular youth custody data releases.
Officials shared figures that revealed education delivered at Feltham, Werrington and Wetherby averaged between 6.4 and 9.1 hours per week in the year to August 2025, a decline of up to 36 per cent since 2023.
It suggests that the average child in youth custody misses out on seven hours of education per week, or 266 hours per year based on the 38-week school year.
And it undermines claims made on the YOIs’ websites, where Werrington promises “30 hours of education per week” and Wetherby commits to 21 hours.
Education is provided by Shaw Trust at Feltham, PeoplePlus at Werrington, and LTE Group, trading as Novus, at Wetherby. The contracts are each worth between £2 million and £3.8 million per year.
None of the education providers commented when contacted by FE Week.
A spokesperson for the Youth Custody Service, part of the Ministry of Justice, said an “improvement plan” had been launched to increase levels of education, but was unable to provide further details.
They added: “Many children entering custody have already been excluded from mainstream education and arrive with complex needs.
“The overall number of children in custody has reduced and those that remain often require support before they re-enter formal education, to ensure they are ready to engage and learn.”
Better in Wales
The only UK YOI to deliver more than the minimum 15 hours was Parc, in Bridgend, South Wales.
It delivered an average of 21.4 hours per week through provider Novus Gower, a joint venture between LTE Group and Gower College Swansea.
Parc housed only 26 children at its most recent inspection.
Privatised Oakhill Secure Training Centre (STC) in Milton Keynes, which cares for up to 80 children aged 12 to 17 who are too vulnerable for a YOI, delivered an average of 22.4 hours per week, missing its 25-hour contracted target.
The STC’s contractor G4S said refusals to attend, ill health and court appearances had pulled its average down.
Oakhill STC is currently subject to a major safeguarding review over concerns about safety and staff conduct raised earlier this year.
An Ofsted monitoring visit of the centre in October found staffing levels in education remained “too low”, resulting in a less “varied and interesting” curriculum and unmet needs for children with special needs.
Outsourcing model criticised
Both the Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) and Prison Officers Association (POA), a union representing rank-and-file officers, criticised the MoJ’s outsourced model of education provision.
A PGA spokesperson said prison bosses had “limited influence” over third-party contracts, making it “difficult to address performance issues quickly”.
Providers also “struggle to attract and retain” skilled and motivated staff, who have to work with “disengaged and resistant” children who have sometimes been convicted of violent or disruptive offences.
Mark Fairhurst, POA national chairman, said the education data was “no surprise” since staff were “battling gang violence, threats and assaults”.
He added: “If we want a prison education system that delivers, the government must commit to building smaller self-contained units for young offenders and abandon the failed privatised education model by bringing education provision back in-house.
“Expecting teachers to educate young criminals whilst they continually try to kill each other explains why education provision is so erratic and unpredictable.”
Deputy Principal, Curriculum, The Sheffield College
Start date: September 2025
Previous Job: Group Executive Director for Curriculum, South Essex College Group
Interesting fact: Hayley loves to go on walks with her dog, Bartlet, who is named after the fictional character in the television drama series The West Wing
Toni Rhodes
Chief Executive, Education Partnership North East
Start date: January 2026
Previous Job: Deputy CEO, Education Partnership North East
Interesting fact: Outside of work Toni enjoys spending time with her three children and exploring new places
Ministers are facing a “tsunami” of employer backlash against their apprenticeship assessment reforms that are being “bulldozed” through despite widespread safety fears.
FE Week understands that businesses in the adult care, food and drink, and engineering and manufacturing industries are preparing letters to Skills England to oppose a “dumbed down” approach to apprentice assessment.
It follows last month’s explosive intervention from construction chiefs who wrote to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer to warn plans to slash independent assessment risk allowing unqualified apprentices to pass.
One manufacturer has already halted apprentice recruitment, and there are fears other employers will withdraw entirely unless ministers change course.
The reforms are being pushed through without proper consultation and for the sake of “speed and cost” savings, employers warn. They describe the process as “not employer-led in any way” and claim businesses are being “hoodwinked”.
Firms are also worried that apprenticeships will be watered down to a point where professional recognition organisations in safety-critical industries will no longer recognise apprenticeships as they will not guarantee competence.
A Skills England spokesperson said the agency is “listening to feedback and will continue to work with employers to get this right”.
‘Sampling’ fears
Skills England, which now sits in the Department for Work and Pensions, is ditching the end-point assessment model introduced in 2017 as a flagship reform to raise the quality of apprenticeships.
Officials this year tested new assessment “principles” through pilots for five standards: carpentry and joinery, assistant accountant, adult care worker, data technician and early years educator.
Slimmed-down “example” assessment plans were published for three of the five at the end of October, but officials paused the process for carpentry and joinery and adult care worker due to employer resistance.
Skills England said employers had told officials that end-point assessments were too “burdensome” and it believes proposed changes will cut bureaucracy and improve completion rates while maintaining rigour.
It stressed its new principles will allow assessment plans to be tailored to the requirements of an occupation, while key aspects such as health and safety will remain a component in apprenticeship assessment.
But employers are concerned about Skills England’s plan to introduce “sampling”, which would mean only around 40 per cent of an apprenticeship’s knowledge and skills statements are mandatorily assessed.
Examples emerging from the early pilots show that for the level 3 data technician standard, only 16 of 42 knowledge and skill elements would need to be mandatorily assessed, while just 19 of the 48 knowledge and skills statements for the level 3 early years educator would be mandatory.
The remaining 60 per cent would be “sampled” by assessment bodies. There is concern that this approach will create inconsistencies and stimulate a race to the bottom, as lighter touch assessments are incentivised to secure better pass rates and cost efficiencies.
Helen Hewitt, CEO of the British Woodworking Federation, told FE Week that Skills England had proposed slashing the level 2 carpentry and joinery apprenticeship from 70 knowledge and skills elements to 11 – with the standard’s typical duration cut from 24 to eight months.
“We kicked back and went absolutely not. You are talking a trade where you’re using machinery, making joints, installing staircases, roof trusses – life-critical, structural products,” she said.
The trailblazer group refused to endorse the plan, and it went to the route panel without employer support before being paused altogether.
Jan Richardson-Wilde, CEO of Occupational Awards Limited, said: “This is really dumbing down apprenticeships. Leaving 60 per cent to be ‘sampled’ is a serious concern as this is not reflective of what might need to be mandatory to confirm competence securely enough.”
Mandatory quals to replace EPA in many standards
Another area of contention is the proposal that, where most of an apprenticeship is a mandatory qualification, that qualification becomes the sole method of assessment.
For example, the level 3 assistant accountant standard currently requires assessment of 23 knowledge and skills elements. But under the reforms, only the AAT level 3 diploma in accounting would be used to measure an apprentice’s competence.
FE Week heard that many of the knowledge-based qualifications within apprenticeships were not designed to test occupational competence and assess just a sample of the curriculum with pass marks as low as 50 per cent.
Louise Cairns, CEO of the National Skills Academy for Food & Drink (NSAFD), said: “We are supportive of some simplification and improvements to the assessment process, but we are concerned the current approach will affect the quality of apprenticeships and reverse back to an old-style of framework delivery that our sector was keen to move away from, particularly where mandated qualification will be the only assessment method.”
Sarah Beale, CEO of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), co-ordinated a letter with accountancy employers to raise multiple concerns with Skills England.
She told FE Week that her organisation’s qualification, set to replace EPA for the level 3 assistant accountant apprenticeship to assess apprentices, does test competence “to a degree” but not every aspect of an apprenticeship, which involves an “entirely different framework”, that employers value.
“We have got to stop thinking of an apprenticeship and a qualification route as the same things,” she added.
Behaviours reduced to a ‘tick-box’
Skills England also plans to remove independent assessment of behaviours entirely, leaving employers to “verify” them internally.
Experts warn this will lead to inconsistent and potentially biased assessments, and erode one of the key features introduced following the 2012 Richard Review to enhance rigour.
Rob Nitsch, CEO of the Federation of Awarding Bodies, said: “Behaviours travel with the apprentice for the whole of a career in a sector and play a significant role in defining their potential and mobility. The absence of national standards will be a real difficulty for some sectors; similarly that they are not independently assessed.
“If we downgrade the rigour of the assessment, are we not compromising the longevity of an apprenticeship and sending a negative message about their relevance?”
Adult care worker employers argue the assessment reforms risk patient care and safety.
Nigel Taylor, who leads the adult care worker trailblazer group, said: “While we appreciate the intention to simplify processes and support employers, we believe the current proposals may unintentionally weaken the robustness of the standard.
“To ensure the apprenticeship continues to deliver the depth of skills our sector relies on, we have written to Skills England to outline these concerns and to request further consideration.”
The adult care worker trailblazer group is also challenging Skills England on the proposed funding band for the standard, which they hoped would rise to over £6,000 but is instead set to sit at £4,500.
Employer-led mantra downgraded to ‘pro-employer’
Eagle-eyed sector experts spotted that work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden’s priorities letter to Skills England, published last month, said the government agency will take a “pro-employer approach” – a shift from the “employer-led” approach used by its predecessor, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.
Across sectors involved in the pilots, trailblazers said they were given little notice of meetings, draft plans arrived hours before discussions, and their feedback was not reflected in revised documents.
Hewitt said: “The assessment plan was already written and sent to us to almost approve it. I don’t think they expected the tsunami of backlash they got.”
In recent weeks ministers and officials have used sector conference speeches to insist they are listening and “keeping close” to employers.
But Nitsch said: “Awarding organisations are hearing from employers in numerous sectors that they are dissatisfied with the proposals for apprenticeship assessment reform along with the extent and way they are being engaged.
“This on-the-ground reality is in stark contrast to the DWP and ministerial intent we are being offered – and the evidence in the first five revised assessment plans supports this. It is difficult to conclude that the employer voice is being sought or heard at the moment.
“In a nutshell, we need to build, not bulldoze.”
Hewitt accused Skills England of “hoodwinking people”.
Construction firm halts apprentice intake after 20 years
Stairways Midlands, a staircase and door manufacturer, has put its apprenticeship recruitment programme on hold for the first time in more than two decades.
Joint managing director Karen Wood said: “Apprenticeships have always been a cornerstone of our business and a vital pipeline for skilled talent. We’ve proudly trained dozens of apprentices over the years but under these new proposals, the model is simply not fit for purpose.
“Reducing training to eight months and removing independent assessment shows a fundamental lack of appreciation for the depth of skills and knowledge required.
“We cannot in good conscience support a system that prioritises speed and cost over competence and safety.”
She warned this will have serious consequences for the government’s goal of building 1.5 million homes if more employers follow suit.
Fiona Aldridge, CEO of the Skills Federation, who also sits on the Skills England board, said: “We have heard considerable concern from employers, especially around the new sampling approach and the risk that less detailed assessment plans will lead to inconsistencies in approach, but it varies by sector.
“Some, like financial services, feel broadly comfortable, but others – especially safety-critical industries such as engineering and life sciences – are deeply worried about reduced quality and weaker assurance of occupational competence.
“Employers value apprenticeships because they deliver that competence, so any reform that undermines confidence in it risks damaging the brand and driving employers away.”
Regulated industries may not recognise apprenticeships
Steve Smith, managing director of awarding organisation SIAS, said concerns from STEM employers mirror those raised in construction. He added: “The shift being introduced represents a move to a higher risk approach, and that does not necessarily work for sectors often reliant on licence-to-practice requirements, safety-critical roles, and where there is risk to life or clear legislative responsibilities.
“I know in the industries we work across, a rigorous and consistent sign-off of occupational competence is not optional, it is essential.”
Hewitt said the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS), which certifies cards for workers, will “no longer recognise apprenticeships as they will not be confident individuals who have met the minimum standard to demonstrate competence and safety”.
Aldridge said she was also aware that professional registration organisations had warned they may not recognise apprenticeships if they do not guarantee competence.
She called for “targeted solutions, not blanket changes across all sectors”.
Apprentices welcome simplicity but rigour is ‘non-negotiable’
Emily Rock, CEO of the Association of Apprentices, held a recent roundtable with apprentices who fed back that they support reforms that reduce stress and integrate assessment.
But they also see clear risks: “Credibility cannot be compromised. Apprentices identified risks such as inconsistency, dependency on qualification owners and challenges for small businesses,” Rock said.
“Fairness and rigour must remain non-negotiable. Any reform that weakens perceived independence or quality risks reducing uptake and limiting progression opportunities.”
A Skills England spokesperson said: “Apprenticeships are vital in delivering the government’s Plan for Change. We remain committed to enhancing the offer for apprentices and employers.
“We are taking a pragmatic approach as we know there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. We have heard from many employers that end point assessments are complex, burdensome and too long.
“We are committed to maintaining high quality assessment in apprenticeships, which is why we are listening to feedback and will continue to work with employers to get this right.”
Around 400 adult learners and college lecturers descended on Parliament this week to demand their MPs seek a reversal of adult education funding cuts.
As part of its Save Adult Education campaign, organisers at the University and College Union (UCU) arranged a mass lobby for lecturers and learners to speak to MPs about the impact of the government’s ongoing reductions to adult skills funding.
They also urged MPs to protect courses and jobs at institutes for adult learning and provide the right to free English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) courses as part of a “social integration plan”.
In March, the Department for Education confirmed it was cutting non-devolved adult skills fund allocations by 6 per cent and devolved budgets by 3.3 per cent.
While the post-16 white paper pledged to review adult essential skills and closely integrate the adult skills fund and Jobcentres to get people into employment, UCU said adult funding at current levels was crippling colleges and stifling student demand.
Students protest outside Parliament. Credit: Sean Vernell
Richard McEwan, a maths lecturer at New City College and UCU London representative, was among the adult learning lobbyists.
Addressing the rally outside Parliament, he said: “You must know people in your communities who’ve tried to get [adult and community education] courses, but they’re too full, can’t get maths and English courses because the colleges are too full, can’t do the interesting stuff they want to learn because colleges don’t offer it anymore.
“We want further education to be funded properly, for proper terms and conditions, to mean you get the quality education you deserve.
“Some of you will be the next generation of teachers and teaching assistants and healthcare workers.
“You deserve fair pay. You deserve a house and a decent life, just like everyone else. That’s what we’re speaking up for.”
Cradle-to-grave education
Lecturers from across the country brought their adult learners to London to speak to their MPs and tell their stories in person.
Cohorts from adult education centres, such as Camden-based WM College, WEA and the City of Bristol College, submitted green cards to speak to their constituency MPs.
Multiple students told FE Week that their motivation to join the lobby was to tell their MPs that ESOL courses had allowed them to integrate in the UK.
One student said: “Doing my level 1 ESOL course allowed me to improve my English for doctor’s appointments and travelling around, but I can’t progress as my college has cut more courses.”
Learners and college staff gather in Parliament committee room to tell MPs of their adult learning experience. Credit: Sean Vernell
David Kaplan, maths tutor at WM College, said: “I teach Somali women and Bengali women in a community centre. If we had more courses that give access to the community, it would improve their lives, not just in terms of jobs and prospects, but in terms of mental health, socialising and getting to know other people.
“I also teach all ages from 19 all the way up to 85.”
Responding to the cuts, Kaplan said adult education was an “easy cut to make”.
“When the government chooses to find the money, they find it,” he added. “They found it for defence spending, and they need to find it for adult education.”
MPs attending the mass lobby to hear students speak included Tulip Siddiq and Jeremy Corbyn.
Adult students listen to MP Jeremy Corbyn’s speech. Credit: Sean Vernell
Corbyn told a packed Commons committee room: “The priority is investment in people. That means giving young people a chance to go cost-free throughout college and university life, and also for colleges to be properly funded so the teaching staff are not living lives that are so insecure.”
‘They’re politicising ESOL’
The government is tightening up English language standards as part of its immigration crackdown, which includes a new requirement for migrants on work visas to speak A Level-standard English.
Dawn Butler speaking to room. Credit: Sean Vernell
But it does not have an England-wide policy on statutory access to ESOL courses, meaning it is down to local councils and mayors to decide how much provision they want to offer, and who can participate.
Last month, Reform UK mayor of Greater Lincolnshire Andrea Jenkyns announced her intention to divert £1 million from English for speakers of other languages courses towards a more “inclusive” scheme “which actually goes to the Lincolnshire people”.
While Jenkyns’ ambitions have not yet been replicated by other Reform UK controlled areas, as an FE Week investigation recently found, UCU members fear that ESOL provision is being “politicised”.
“Everyone has the right to speak English, everyone has the right to be in this country and to contribute,” McEwan said.
“Everyone has the right to work, whether an asylum seeker or not.”
He added: “They’re politicising ESOL.”
Adult education avengers assemble
Campaigners are calling for £2.2 billion per year of targeted investment into adult education, which the Learning and Work Institute has said it would boost the economy by £22 billion.
UCU also joined forces with HOLEX, WEA, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, the Learning and Work Institute, Right2Learn and the Open University to write to the chancellor ahead of next week’s budget.
In addition to calling for a restoration of adult education spending to 2010 levels, the coalition also demanded dedicated community education funding for disadvantaged groups and targeted support for older and unemployed adults.
Meanwhile, the Association of Colleges launched its own Adult Learning Pays campaign at its annual conference week, also calling for investment.
Ofsted’s deputy chief inspector Matthew Coffey has announced he will retire next month after nearly three decades in education inspection.
Coffey, whose career in education began teaching at a catering and hospitality training provider, joined Ofsted from the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) when the two bodies merged in 2007. His first inspection role was at the ALI’s predecessor, the Training Standards Council, in 1998.
His rise through the Ofsted ranks began when he was promoted from regional director to national director for further education and skills in 2011. He was appointed chief operating officer (COO) in 2014 and later given the title deputy chief inspector.
He was made a companion of the Order of the Bath in 2018 for services to education.
As COO, Coffey has been responsible for overseeing Ofsted’s corporate, data, planning, performance and communications functions. Staff were informed of his retirement this morning.
The announcement comes as Ofsted begins the first inspections under its new ‘report card’ model.
Coffey, who has served under five Ofsted chief inspectors, will be the second high-profile FE departure from the inspectorate this year after Paul Joyce, the former national FE director, left to become deputy principal at North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College.
Senior inspector Denise Olander was made interim deputy director for FE and skills. Interviews for a permanent post-holder were due to take place this month.
It’s not yet known if Ofsted will appoint a replacement for Coffey.
The conversations kept returning to a single point at the AOC Conference this week,: skills reform is being forced through far too fast.
Once again, we’re told that sweeping reform is urgent, necessary and inevitable. New apprenticeship standards, new accountability measures, new funding mechanisms, new agencies, new qualifications: the scope of the change package is dizzying. FE leaders aren’t opposed to reform. But many are questioning whether we’ve lost forever the art of thoughtful system evolution.
Our political culture increasingly valorises speed, and it was fitting that child therapist Tanya Byron’s keynote stole the show. She reminded us how, under pressure, humans abandon cognitive agility and leap to fast, intuitive decisions. You hardly need a clinical psychologist to recognise that instinct in Westminster. The skills white paper landed with the energy of a strategy eager to demonstrate momentum: tight timelines, ambitious restructuring, and the sense that consultation is something to get through rather than rely on.
But FE isn’t built for sprinting. It depends on continuity, partnership and long-term planning. Staff development, capital investment, curriculum design, employer engagement – none of it moves at a political tempo, nor should it. If skills policy is meant to meet long-term national need, why is it being reshaped in political time rather than real time? The consensus at conference was unmistakable: ambition isn’t the issue. Pacing is.
It’s a problem that Canadian philosopher Joseph Heath highlights in his book Enlightenment 2.0: when systems are forced to operate at the speed of politics, rational decision-making becomes impossible. His call for “slow politics” – a mode of policymaking that favours deliberation, structure, and institutional memory – feels tailor-made for skills reform.
Modern political incentives are difficult to shift, but perhaps the skills system would benefit from a ‘slow policy’ approach. It’s important that the system keeps pace with the realities of the economy and workforce. But unless policy is grounded in rational timescales and collective processes, we only have the illusion of progress. Which is why so much of the reform feels cyclical.
The sector doesn’t lack vision and, despite a decade of neglect, has absorbed change with stoic levels of resilience. But reform fatigue is creeping in. We’ve barely digested the last wave before being asked to reorganise around a new set of structures and priorities. When reforms arrive too quickly, short-term compliance overshadows long-term improvement, as leaders focus on what must be delivered this year rather than what will genuinely raise outcomes. There is also a risk of harming public confidence. Rapid turnarounds signal policy that is shaped by political cycles rather than sector expertise. And employers are feeling increasingly distanced.
With apprenticeship reforms, communication has been uneven and an understanding of the change details amongst employers appears low. Many employers are uneasy about the lack of involvement and empowerment, and the threat to apprenticeships’ credibility that has built up since the transition from frameworks to standards. Only two of the five pilot standards have been delivered with the support of the employers involved. Without time to make the case for change, many employers simply don’t see the argument for reform – or worse, may drift away.
Longer bedding-in periods matter. The sector has poured huge efforts into establishing T Levels, yet awareness among parents and employers remains low. This challenge will begin again with V Levels. The white paper’s proposals might have had more impact had they been distilled into fewer, clearer priorities, with piloting and structured consultation time factored-in before system-wide adoption.
The white paper contains ideas worth exploring – some overdue, many genuinely promising. But the sector needs the chance to test them properly. To refine, align and build around them, to ensure they reflect local realities, employer needs and learners’ lived experience. Policymakers fear that slowing down looks like doing nothing. But if this reform cycle is to be more than another turn of the wheel, government must trust the very principles it claims to value; collaboration, evidence, partnership – and it must re-learn patience.
As ever, the sector will pull together to innovate and deliver. But if government can match the sector’s willingness with a more measured tempo, the reforms could become more than another cycle of disruption – they could be the foundations of a skills system built to last.
Nick, 18, loves tinkering with his motorbike and was named “student of the year” while training to be a mechanic at St Eds, a vocational centre in Norwich.
His chosen trade is on thegovernment’s skilled worker shortage list. Yet, like almost a million 16-24 year olds, he is currently not in education, employment or training (NEET).
This summer, he was “buzzing” after being offered an apprenticeship at a local vehicle dealership – until his FE college provider pulled out two weeks later, saying he lacked the required level of English and maths.
Left feeling “absolutely crushed,” Nick is now back at St Eds, volunteering with younger trainees and getting help from its welfare team and careers adviser, Katie, to find another job.
His experience reflects the barriers facing young NEETs, and how providers like St Eds are trying to overcome them, despite growing pressures.
Nick at St Eds
‘The key is pastoral support’
St Eds mostly supports 16 to 19-year-olds in a dreary industrial unit that was formerly used as a funeral home, window factory, gym, smokehouse, printers and pub. “The building isn’t really designed for what we do,” admits chief executive Joe Crossley. But inside, the charity has brightened it up with student artwork and motivational messages.
Crossley says St Eds’ success rests on intensive pastoral support for vulnerable young people whose needs schools and colleges were unable to meet. Thirty-six learners have education, health and care plans; their EHCP coordinator Sarah ensures tutors “know what their triggers are”.
The welfare team, headed by ex-police officer Amy, works closely with social services and youth offending teams. Many learners face issues including county lines, exploitation and knife crime. Engagement officer Laura, a trained counsellor, provides additional support.
This model seems to work. Last year, all 153 young people finished their study programmes and 91 per cent progressed into work, apprenticeships or training (up from 84 per cent the previous year, before Katie took on the role of engaging employers).
Juniper Training, a large independent training provider (ITP) in the Midlands, tells a similar story. Chief executive Lesley Holland credits their pastoral staff with being instrumental in helping them to achieve 100 per cent progression for their 2,000 learners. Since Covid, Juniper has expanded safeguarding and counselling roles – vital, Holland says, since CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health services) wait times are now often longer than a year.
Staff frequently go far beyond contracted hours – taking learners made homeless to their accommodation late at night, liaising with social workers and delivering food parcels during holidays.
St Eds’ careers advisor Rachel
Castles built on rocks
St Eds’ extra support roles cost £250,000-£300,000 a year, funded by charitable donations. But competition for grants is growing. “We love what you do, but we’ve had 500 applicants” is now common feedback, says Crossley.
He sees providers like his as “castles built on rocks”.
His charity hit financial difficulties in 2023 after its main funder, Skills Training UK, collapsed. It survived only after a subcontract was signed with East Coast College to deliver level 1 courses. Most St Eds tutors come directly from trades, so are “rough around the edges” and require extensive training to become teachers, but the £5,100 pay gap between ITPs and colleges means they are sometimes “poached” by colleges.
Employability provision is also unstable. Analysis of the Department for Work and Pensions dynamic purchasing system byJ and G Chambers Consulting shows 130 organisations have secured contracts since 2022, but 71 have exited the market.
Fewer organisations are tendering for contracts, with the number falling from 9.95 businesses per contract in 2022 to 3.39 in 2025. The average contract value has dropped, too.
Spear is a six-week employability programme run in 17 centres nationwide by the charity Resurgo, supporting NEETs with at least one additional barrier to getting work.
Programme manager Ella Jenkinson says much of the other employability provision they come across “pops up and goes”. They were met with scepticism when launching in Bournemouth: “How long are you going to stay around?” she was asked. But now after five years, referral partners say Spear is “the only service we continue to refer to”.
“Five years isn’t even that long, but it is for this sector”, she says.
Ness Morse and Ella Jenkinson, Spear Programme
Demand outstripping capacity
The rising size of the 16-19 population, combined with increased school exclusions, has intensified pressure on level 1 provision. AnAssociation of Colleges survey revealed that shortages of teachers and classrooms mean students are being put on waiting lists even for priority sector subjects like construction.
ITPs report similar pressures. Paul Stannard, senior policy manager for the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), says there is “definitely unmet demand at levels 1 and 2”, especially in construction and NEET programmes. Level 1 courses are costly to run: funding is the same as for higher levels, but class sizes are generally smaller, with more support needed.
City College Norwich had to quickly expand its level 1 provision this year after enrolling 965 learners against a plan for 886. Principal Jerry White says current 16-18 funding “does little to recognise the extra resources needed” for success at that level.
As a result, when the college replaced level 1 courses in plumbing and electrical with multi-skills provision, nearby St Eds – which was already full – received a surge of placement requests.
St Eds’ student Faith George, CEO Joe Crossley and AELP senior policy manager Paul Stannard
Growth caps shutting out learners
Providers struggle to accommodate young people who join NEET programmes after September, says Stannard. Juniper accepts monthly intakes to accommodate college dropouts, but these learners do not appear in that year’s funding allocations if enrolled after November, causing “issues” for its finance team, says Holland.
New DfE‘affordability’ caps mean providers now receive only around two-thirds of eligible in-year funding on growth worth £500,000 over earnings. For Juniper, this means turning away young people despite high demand.
Holland says: “I don’t understand why, when a young person is legally entitled to education until 18, we’re ever in a position where we have to turn them away.”
She knows of “other providers with waiting lists, or they’ve closed the doors”, and believes these caps should instead be “based on the size of the provider”.
Juniper’s study programme contract is worth £11.5 million, and “to stay within half a million pounds of that when you’re talking about people is very challenging”.
In September 2024, Juniper agreed to help provide provision for around 2,000 young NEETs in Leeds left with nowhere to go due to an acute shortage of FE placements in the city.
But because they enrolled after November, these placements went unfunded that year.
Juniper delivered anyway, knowing they may never be paid. “We’re almost being punished for our success,” Holland says.
Funding is also lower for 18-year-olds than 16 to 17-year-olds, despite many being at the same educational stage due to mental health or school refusal.
St Eds vocational training centre in Norwich
Job search and rejection
St Eds aligns its curriculum with local skills improvement plans – 65 per cent of its provision is construction-related, and the charity “ticks employers’ boxes for social values”, Crossley says. But with more competition for jobs, employers are “less inclined to take on our learners”.
Spear Hastings manager Ness Morse says young people often rely solely on applying via jobs website Indeed, firing off “dozens of applications at the click of a button, but hearing nothing back”. She believes that employers receive hundreds of applications for some entry-level positions and “look for ways to cross people off their list”.
But as studies suggest that up to 80 per cent of jobs are never publicly advertised, Morse advises young people to instead “print off their CVs and walk into workplaces, make personal connections and use who they know”.
Jenkinson finds it “frustrating” that maths and English are often required for roles that don’t need them. “It’s almost a tick box on [employers’] systems that becomes an automatic rejection.” The “soft skills” of “communication, timekeeping and attitude” that young people develop through Spear “are exactly what employers want,” she says, yet their lack of maths or English qualifications are “often the obstacle to them hiring our young people”.
Juniper’s director of quality, Tara Hughes, says the 100-hour teaching requirement for English/maths is particularly difficult to achieve for late starters, forcing them to cut programme sizes or deliver unfunded teaching. “These are the most disaffected young people, yet we’re sticking them in classrooms for five hours of maths or English a week for the duration of their programmes.”
Mock interviews as part of the Spear programme
Invaluable feedback
At the Spear programme’s centre in Hastings, around a dozen young NEETs are nervously sat at tables dotted around a former church hall, doing practice interviews for prospective jobs they have applied for.
Their interviewers are local volunteers who have given up their time to help these young people gain what for many is their first-ever experience of an interview.
These volunteers all have senior experience of the sector the young person they are paired with is applying into; Guy has run restaurant businesses, and Paul is a Salvation Army coach with a teaching background.
Afterwards, the interviewers provide feedback so the young people are better prepared for their second mock interview later that day.
“They’ll come away with a much-needed confidence boost, and that will give them maybe just enough hope to just start sending out some more CVs,” says Morse.
The King’s Trust’s youth index survey found that over four in 10 young NEETs are not confident they know what employers are looking for when recruiting. Jenkinson says this interview practice is “invaluable” as “time and time again, we hear that young people aren’t getting feedback from interviews… so they really don’t know how they’re coming across.”
Brothers Jaylen and Baron at St Eds
Building confidence
Although the government’s ‘youth guarantee’ scheme is focused on providing work experience placements, the King’s Trust youth index found NEETs placed just as much value on developing confidence (32 per cent, compared to 30 per cent for work experience) for helping them move into work.
At St Eds, many first arrive with hoods up and headphones on. Rather than banning this, staff wait for learners to feel confident enough to remove the hoods and devices. Behaviour points earn rewards – from canteen vouchers (“cheesy chips are the key”, says Crossley) to Amazon Fire tablets. These rewards help break down the “massive stigma” that many of them have with education, based on their experiences of school.
Baron, 18, attends St Eds along with his 14-year-old brother, Jaylen, after being suspended from school and dropping out of college.
At St Eds “there’s never a grumpy moment with the teachers”. At school, he found his teachers “moody”.
Morse explains that Spear’s “high support, high challenge” approach means that “if someone is struggling with something that feels quite inherent – ‘this is me, I have anxiety or autism and cannot do that’ – you bring challenge so it’s not limiting on them”.
In Coventry, provider PET-Xi uses gamification to help autistic young adults translate online skills into real-world confidence.
“Someone who’s 13 could be managing a world of people online… we are the product of the things we spend time on,” says trainer Miguel Sa.
He spent eight hours on gaming communication platform Discord with one participant, Jacob, before he felt able to join a video call. Now Jacob volunteers weekly as a supervisor in a churchyard. “Almost no one wants to be sat at home not being productive,” Sa says.
Miguel Sa at Pet-Xi
Doors closing at 19
But recent adult education cuts have “really limited” the study options available to those aged 19 plus, says Jenkinson.
Millie, 20, struggled to find work after her previous level 2 health and social care college course failed to secure her a work placement, as employers demanded prior experience. Spear “made me rediscover myself,” she says.
She believes “it takes quite a while to know yourself in life”. She was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyscalculia four years ago and had always struggled with reading, but recently discovered a love of books.
She now works happily in a café but would “definitely” return to education and retrain as a music therapist if she could afford it.
Jenkinson says many young people are “delayed in their readiness for college”, often due to Covid. When they finally reach readiness at 20 or 21, “doors are closing as it’s no longer free for them”.
Millie, who benefitted from the Spear programme
Crossley calls the scrapping of traineeships, a pre-apprenticeship 16-24 programme which “created that bridge to help build resilience and communication skills”, a “massive mistake”. Bootcamps, he says, are “too light touch”, and foundation apprenticeships “probably a bit too long”.
Holland worries that much Youth Guarantee funding is going into work placements, but “not necessarily allowing providers to deliver the qualifications those young people need”.
The government is spending £90 million on employability schemes in eight ‘trailblazer’ areas but Resurgo’s CEO Iona Ledwidge, says “so far, we’ve seen little evidence that decisions to fund schemes through this have been based on robust evidence that they work”.
“The same applies to the directories that we’ve seen some Jobcentres using when they refer people for support. Schemes should show they work before they get public money.”
In Greater Manchester, the combined authority says an economic inactivity trailblazer is experiencing “ongoing challenges in data sharing with the DWP” that its mayor Andy Burnham told FE Week he could “talk all afternoon about”. “Cultural barriers” are preventing full exchange of data and limiting visibility of the 4,500 people being supported.
But for the vulnerable NEETs that St Eds serves, Crossley welcomes the movement of skills across from the Department of Education to the DWP. “They know there are people they service who need help getting out of bed,” he says.
Every corner of the skills system has its own crisis. Falling apprenticeship vacancies. Too few T Level placements. A shortage of entry-level jobs for young people. Almost a million 16–24 year old NEETs.
Each issue matters, but only tells part of the story. Employers sit at the heart of these challenges, yet policy treats them in isolation. What’s missing is a joined-up approach that recognises the cumulative effect on business and helps employers see how investing in skills can work for them.
Our members, representing employers of all sizes and sectors, tell us it’s not a lack of willingness to train or employ people but the sheer number of pressures hitting businesses at once.
Increased national insurance, record national minimum wage, escalating materials, energy and transport costs. A higher retirement age keeping the workforce older for longer while the cost of reskilling rises. Add to that the cost-of-living crisis, and many employers are operating with tighter margins and being asked to do more.
AI and automation is changing the nature of work, with a growing demand for digital, data and problem-solving skills. Employers are trying to adapt while keeping their businesses viable.
A record 252 employers took part in this year’s 5% Club audit, representing more than 800,000 employees across 20 industries. Together, they employ over 70,000 people in “earn and learn” roles such as apprenticeships and graduate schemes – 8.7 per cent of their workforce, the highest proportion we’ve ever recorded. Employers remain committed to developing talent, even when times are tough.
For the fifth-year running there’s been a rise in higher and degree-level apprenticeships, typically supporting mid-career reskilling and upskilling – exactly what employers tell us they need most.
But with young NEET numbers growing, government focus is weighted heavily towards this issue. The young population is growing and will continue to do so in the next five years, so we may see NEET levels grow even further.
Employers can ‘t solve this challenge alone. Entry-level roles are declining. Level 2 apprenticeships are at their lowest since the audit commenced, and the expectation is employers will do more. We need to align national need with commercial reality. We have to make it make sense for business to get involved.
Beyond apprentices, for the third consecutive year, employers have reduced the number of formal graduate schemes and placements. The median number of graduates has fallen from 31 in 2024 to just 23 this year, and SMEs expect to cut graduate recruitment by another 6 per cent next year. As competition for graduate roles intensifies, many will apply for lower-level roles that non-graduates might once have secured, pushing those furthest from the labour market even further from opportunity.
Each new initiative – the youth guarantee, foundation apprenticeships or sector-based technical colleges – is created in silo. Employers have to navigate multiple schemes, funding and reporting requirements, each with their own rules and language. This fragmentation is holding everyone back.
For policymakers, it means every reform has to prove its worth just as the last one starts to settle. For employers, it means more time, money and effort spent navigating a maze of disconnected schemes. For SMEs, that’s near impossible. We will only create enough opportunities for young people if the system is easy for all employers to engage with. Right now, it isn’t.
The problem isn’t just fragmentation; it’s continued change. Apprenticeships are key to many employers’ long-term workforce strategies. We’ve come a long way in building the apprenticeships brand, and further reform cannot undo that work. Wide scale change risks undermining that progress and damaging confidence in both funding stability and programme quality.
It isn’t all doom and gloom. Where employers do engage, results are impressive. More than three-quarters of audited employers reported apprenticeship achievement rates above 90 per cent. Employers going beyond the minimum, investing beyond their levy funds, sharing good practice with other employers and making their apprentices feel they matter, see higher achievement and lasting loyalty.
We need to change the conversation. Instead of designing separate interventions for apprenticeships, T Levels, work experience, bootcamps, apprenticeship units, V Levels or adult learning, we need a single, connected narrative that meets skills needs.
Only then will we unlock the scale of employer participation needed for a truly sustainable, inclusive and future-ready workforce.
Working in safeguarding means you get to see up close the barriers and setbacks that learners face, but you also see their potential – often long before they do.
That’s why I’m a real advocate of intervention programmes, which many colleges invest in to support learners beyond delivering qualifications. At LSEC, we are running one such initiative – Steps to Success – funded through our ten-year equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) grant project.
It began as a pilot to address achievement gaps, specifically for Black Caribbean males. But we soon saw benefits for a wider cohort. This year, it’s open to all male students wanting to take part. The aim is to help them build confidence and take ownership of their learning journey. We want to help them link their college experience to their wider aspirations – for example, showing how consistent attendance directly improves career prospects.
Our pilot showed promising results. Learners said they felt empowered and supported. It also raised an important question: how do we reach the very hardest to reach learners?
Building connection from the ground up
For me, engagement starts with a natural connection, finding commonality and being relatable. I’ve always had a student-facing role and know this direct contact is crucial. As a safeguarding professional, I work with many learners right from enrolment and gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges they face.
When a young person trusts you enough to open up, you see not just surface issues such as attendance or punctuality but the underlying causes. That insight helps me identify who might benefit most from Steps to Success and how to encourage them to participate. Being present matters: sitting in disciplinary panels, attendance reviews or simply being visible on campus. When students see you are consistently there and genuinely listening, they are far more likely to engage.
A whole-college approach
This work can’t sit in isolation. At LSEC, I collaborate with my safeguarding team, additional learning support (ALS) and curriculum colleagues to provide wraparound support. Our goal is to join up the networks around each learner so they feel supported and, most importantly, that they belong and are cared about.
Encouraging participation also relies on all staff knowing what’s on offer. If tutors, mentors and support teams promote the same opportunities in different contexts, learners hear a consistent message: ‘this is for you’.
Meeting students where they are
We must also recognise this generation’s mindset. Many young people seek instant gratification and respond best when they can see clear, immediate benefits. That might mean offering something small to get them through the door, like a free lunch. Once there, we help them see the longer-term gains – for example, improved self-worth, a sense of direction and hearing a different voice encouraging them along their journey.
Peer encouragement is another powerful motivator. When learners hear success stories from others like them, it hits differently. Hearing “this helped me get back on track” from a peer can break through barriers that staff alone perhaps cannot.
Encouraging accountability and aspiration
Much of my safeguarding work involves helping young people step out of the “shame and blame” cycle – the feeling that things just happen to them. We help them recognise their own agency and take responsibility for their journey.
Reaching out to parents and carers also matters. Even though college isn’t school, families remain an important influence. We send letters home explaining the value of the programme and its goals.
Learning from what works
Finally, evaluation is key. We can’t just assume success because students attend or say they enjoyed it. We track impact carefully – from achievement rates to student feedback – to ensure interventions genuinely make a difference, then can evolve and improve them.
Engaging the hardest-to-reach students boils down to three things:
Build heartfelt relatable relationships with learners, including through peers.
Invest in enrichment and belonging opportunities. Our recent 3000 Voices research into young people’s wellbeing revealed that this is something they want and need.
Ensure every staff member understands the benefits of the programme, making them more inclined to refer those students who they feel will benefit.
We can’t force young people to engage – we want them to want to engage. To do this every opportunity has to feel relevant and rewarding, with students at the very centre of everything we do.
