Latest news from FE Week

SWAP job outcomes hit lowest rate as starts surge

Fewer than 36 per cent of jobseekers who started a sector-based work academy programme (SWAP) last September were in work six months later, the worst result since the Department for Work and Pensions began publishing the figures.

SWAPs are short programmes for benefit claimants, running up to six weeks and made up of pre-employment training, a work placement and a job interview.

Jobcentre Plus staff arrange them locally with employers, and colleges and independent training providers deliver the training, funded from adult skills budgets.

Ministers have raised the annual delivery target twice in two years, from 80,000 to 100,000 and then to 115,000 for 2026-27.

Quarterly management information published today showed the three lowest monthly results since the data began, all in the most recent figures available. Jobcentres also recorded their busiest opening quarter on the programme.

Here are five things we learned.

1. Outcomes have fallen to their lowest level since the data began

DWP tracks SWAP participants through HM Revenue and Customs earnings records and reports the proportion with earnings six months after they started.

Of those who began a SWAP in September 2025, 35.2 per cent were earning six months later.

No monthly cohort has performed worse since the series started in April 2021, when the figure stood at 55.6 per cent. Participants who started in October and August last year, at 35.8 per cent and 36 per cent, produced the second and third worst results.

All three of those months appeared in the data for the first time today.

The department also tracks participants at nine months, which allows for people who take longer to find work. That measure is falling too, from 44.5 per cent for those who started in February 2025 to 39.9 per cent for those who started in July.

The figures cast doubt on a claim DWP made in May, when it said around four in ten SWAP participants moved into “sustained work” within six months. The measure counts anyone with earnings in a single month, not sustained employment.

Outcomes data was published for the first time this April, five years after the programme was expanded and following an FE Week investigation into the department’s refusal to release it.

2. Ministers missed last year’s target, then raised it by 15 per cent

Jobcentres delivered 97,130 SWAP starts in 2025-26, short of the 100,000 target. That target had itself been raised from the 80,000 that applied in each of the four previous years.

Ministers increased it again, to 115,000, for 2026-27.

Delivery so far suggests the higher target is achievable. Jobcentres recorded 28,490 starts between April and June, up 22.9 per cent on the same quarter last year.

Last year’s first quarter accounted for just under 24 per cent of the eventual annual total. On the same trajectory, 2026-27 would finish close to 119,400 starts.

3. Public sector, construction and security dominate

Pre-employment training is bought to match local employer vacancies, so the sector mix shows what colleges and providers are being asked to deliver.

Three sectors accounted for close to half of all starts in the quarter. The public sector was the largest at 5,190, followed by construction on 4,960 and security on 3,190.

Construction has grown 33 per cent since 2021-22 and recorded 16,620 starts last year, its strongest yet. Security has grown at a similar rate and now takes more than one start in ten.

The fastest growth over the life of the programme has been in education and teaching, which covers support roles in schools and colleges rather than teaching posts. Starts rose from 3,120 in 2021-22 to 8,910 last year, close to a threefold increase, though growth flattened this quarter at 5.6 per cent.

Elsewhere, the figures have reversed. Logistics and freight transport was the fourth largest sector in 2021-22 and has fallen 40 per cent since, despite rebounding 61 per cent this quarter. Administration is down 12 per cent over the same period and manufacturing down 30 per cent.

Ministers named health and social care in May as one of three priority sectors for the expanded programme, alongside construction and hospitality.

Healthcare recorded 3,880 starts last year, unchanged from 2021-22. Adult social care reached 3,270, having grown 30 per cent over four years from a low base. Between them the two sectors account for under 7 per cent of starts this quarter

4. Earnings have not improved in real terms

Participants who found work earned an average £1,415 a month six months after starting during 2025-26, up from £1,215 for the first group tracked in 2021-22.

That 16.5 per cent cash increase is slightly below inflation. Consumer prices rose 18.3 per cent between the months the two groups were actually earning, leaving the latest figure around 1.6 per cent lower in real terms.

Adjusted to today’s prices, the four earlier years land between £1,376 and £1,438. Four years on, participants who find work are earning no more than the first group did.

DWP has used the figure itself, citing average earnings of £1,400 a month when it announced the expanded target in May.

What the data does not show is the quality of the jobs behind it, a gap flagged when the department published its impact assessment of the programme last year.

That assessment found that for every 100 people who started a SWAP, roughly an extra 13 were in work two years later than in a matched comparison group. It also found the programme returned £1.83 to the exchequer for every pound spent.

But Institute for Fiscal Studies economist Imran Tahir said the assessment gave an “incomplete picture” because it could not show what kind of jobs participants moved into, warning they “may be insecure and low-paid”. The monthly earnings figures are the first published data to address that.

Earlier DWP research, based on 93 interviews and published after FE Week pressed for it, found only a “small number” of claimants reported moving into work. Few were offered the work placement and job interview the programme is supposed to guarantee.

5. London dominates, and Greater Manchester lags

London accounted for 20,220 starts last year, more than one in five nationally, and recorded 6,330 in the quarter, up 40 per cent year on year. No other region reached 3,300.

Growth was fastest in the north east, where starts nearly doubled from a low base of 630 to 1,230, and in Yorkshire and the Humber, up 40 per cent. The east of England was slowest at 7.7 per cent.

At combined authority level, Greater Manchester’s ten boroughs recorded 4,180 starts in 2025-26. The seven boroughs of the West Midlands Combined Authority, covering a similar population, recorded 7,080. Birmingham on its own recorded 4,200, more than the whole of Greater Manchester.

West Yorkshire, with roughly a fifth fewer residents, also outstripped Greater Manchester on 4,500.

Mayoral combined authorities control adult skills funding in these areas. Mayors have separately told the National Audit Office they feel treated as “delivery arms of central government”, naming DWP among the departments initially reluctant to give ground on delivery targets.

Colleges hit hard as high-cost HE funding withdrawn

College higher education grant allocations for the 2026-27 academic year have fallen more than twice as fast as those across the wider sector, with Bradford College warning some arts courses will have to close.

FE Week analysis of initial Office for Students allocations to 139 further education colleges and designated institutions found their combined recurrent funding has dropped by £2.72 million, or 9.3 per cent, from £29.15 million to £26.43 million.

Comparable allocations across all providers fell by 3.9 per cent, from £1.243 billion in 2025-26 to £1.195 billion this year, meaning the college reduction was around 2.4 times faster.

Seven in ten colleges analysed, 98, will receive less than last year. Sixty-nine lose at least 10 per cent and 39 lose at least one-fifth.

Around £1.59 million of the college reduction was in high-cost course funding, while about £1.13 million was in student access and success allocations. Those allocations also reflect changes in weighted student numbers and other formula elements.

The government required the OfS to stop providing general high-cost subject funding for computing, nursing, geographical systems, archaeology and creative and performing arts. A separate £32.1 million supplement for nursing, midwifery and allied health courses remained.

Bradford College’s allocation was cut by £223,600, or 64.9 per cent, from £344,429 to £120,829.

Deputy chief executive Christopher Malish said removing high-cost funding for creative subjects meant some specialist higher education arts provision was “no longer financially sustainable”.

Many programmes had small student numbers and were delivered at a loss because of their educational and cultural value to Bradford, he said.

“We will now need to review, and in some cases close, niche higher education arts provision that can no longer be supported,” Malish added.

He criticised the timing, saying the changes came too late in the business-planning cycle and would place college-based higher education offers nationally at risk.

Bradford will accelerate its focus on employer-led level 4 and 5 higher technical provision in line with the industrial strategy and the West Yorkshire local skills improvement plan.

But Malish warned the wider reductions could harm widening participation and social mobility in a city where many learners were the first in their families to enter higher education.

Luminate Education Group’s allocation fell by £162,366, or 25.7 per cent.

The group said reductions to strategic priorities grant funding for creative arts and computing explained its loss.

University Centre Leeds will continue to offer the affected courses, but Luminate said the funding model failed to recognise their contribution to the UK economy, “creative arts in particular”.

NCG, the largest college group in England, received the biggest cash reduction among the colleges analysed. Its allocation fell by £708,687, or 30.7 per cent, from £2.31 million to £1.60 million.

A spokesperson said its allocation reflected “a number of changes to the funding methodology and eligibility criteria applied across the sector”.

NCG had anticipated the changes and planned accordingly, they added, with “no current plans” to alter its course offer.

Individual changes can also reflect providers’ student numbers, subject mix, study intensity and completion rates.

A government spokesperson said universities and colleges would receive more than £1.25 billion through the strategic priorities grant, alongside £336 million in capital funding over four years.

“While we have had to make difficult decisions across all our budgets, we have protected support for high-cost subjects and funding for students with disabilities and mental health needs,” they said.

DfE pointed to retained funding for chemistry, engineering and physics.

It said removed funding represented less than 3 per cent of total per-student funding once tuition fees were included, while inflation-linked fee rises were expected to generate around £6 billion for the sector over five years.

DfE and the OfS are reviewing the grant to target funding more closely at future skills needs and disadvantaged students.

DfE did not address why college allocations had fallen 2.4 times faster than comparable allocations across all providers.

The Office for Students was approached for comment.

Meet the Greater Manchester mayoral hopefuls: what have they said about FE and skills?

Greater Manchester voters go to the polls tomorrow to elect a new mayor after Andy Burnham won the Makerfield by-election, automatically disqualifying him from the mayoralty. He has since become prime minister.

Seven candidates have made it onto the ballot. Whoever wins will inherit some of the country’s most significant devolved powers over adult education, skills and employment.

The incoming mayor will oversee a total skills and employment pot of nearly £421 million across three years, including £140 million of adult skills revenue funding for 2026-27, supporting nearly 50,000 residents.

FE Week looked at what each candidate brings to the brief and what they have pledged so far.

Bev Craig, Labour

Craig has been leader of Manchester City Council since 2021 and manages the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s economy, business and inclusive growth portfolio. She also previously led the digital and education, skills, work and apprenticeships portfolio.

Born and raised on a council estate just outside of Belfast, Craig moved to the city to study a degree in politics and modern history from the University of Manchester.

She then began her career in local government with Blackburn with Darwen Council, focusing on policy development and community and youth engagement. She also worked on off-campus student engagement at both the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University and worked as UNISON’s assistant national officer for care sector organising.

Craig has been a city councillor for Burnage and a school governor for Kingsway Community Trust for the last 15 years.

She was also chair of youth charity Burnage Multi Agency Group (BMAG) which promoted local activities to young people, until it wound up in 2013.

If elected, she has pledged to write to Andy Burnham on day one to ask for more devolved powers so Greater Manchester becomes the first city region with a “fully devolved skills system to cut youth unemployment and Get Greater Manchester working”.

Her manifesto includes a call for Greater Manchester to pilot the Manchester Baccalaureate (MBacc), create a “Greater Manchester Family of Schools” programme to join up schools and roll out “Skills for Life” across the region – a Manchester City Council programme piloting skills ambitions amongst schoolchildren and young people.

She also pledged that every town would have a youth centre that is linked to universities and youth services as well as a “new approach” to design industry-appropriate apprenticeships locally instead of relying on Skills England.

Other pledges include a “Gen-Z” commission to give people aged 18 to 27 a voice on policy and a requirement for every public sector body to offer school leaver work placements.

At local hustings earlier this month, she also promised to “make it easier and cheaper to access education and work through the Bee Network” via free bus travel for 11 to 18-year-olds and half-price travel for 18 to 24-year-old NEETs who are looking for work or a college course.

Craig’s manifesto also promises an adult careers and retraining service linked to the region’s Local Skills Improvement Plan. It proposes working with training providers and other local partners to offer bursaries, travel passes and childcare vouchers to help unemployed and low-paid adults access education.

Phil Eckersley, Conservative

Eckersley is a Trafford councillor, deputy leader of the council’s Conservative group and shadow executive member for healthy and independent lives.

He founded Bridgewater Home Care, a home-care provider, in Wigan in 2010. The company employs more than 100 staff across six branches.

Eckersley previously served as president of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Wigan division and was a board member of Wigan Council’s forward board to drive economic growth in the borough.

He has pledged to bring together employers, schools, colleges and training providers to align skills funding with “genuine” vacancies, according to local reports.

“I would also require major GMCA contractors to report on apprenticeships and opportunities created for local young people,” he said at a recent local husting.

“Careers support must reflect the whole economy, including engineering, digital, construction, health, social care and entrepreneurship,” he added.

Eckersley has focused his campaign on balancing what he describes as GMCA’s £1.4 billion debt. He told the BBC that he would continue free travel for 16- to 18-year-olds only when they were travelling to work, arguing that the scheme should support the economy.

Geraldine Coggins, Green Party

Coggins has been a Trafford councillor since 2018 and has prior experience in higher education.

She has philosophy degrees at Trinity College Dublin and St Andrews and a PhD from Durham University. Later, she had a faculty post at Keele University as a lecturer.

Coggins would expand the Greater Manchester youth jobs guarantee to offer “fairly” paid six-month placements to 18- to 25-year-olds who have been out of education, employment or training for more than a year.

Coggins’ flagship pledge is building 20,000 affordable homes, a programme which she has said should offer training and apprenticeships and a “new generation of green skilled workers”.

Her manifesto would require apprentices or trainees to make up at least 5 per cent of workers on housing and retrofit sites. Contractors would also have to provide at least 7.5 apprenticeship weeks for every £1 million of contract value.

“I’ll also back local businesses, green industries and apprenticeships while improving public transport and making buses free for under-22s so that opportunities are within reach wherever you live,” she told a local audience earlier this month.

She also pledged to give “greater weight” to local employment, apprenticeships and local supply chains under GMCA’s procurement powers.

Richard Kilpatrick, Liberal Democrats

Kilpatrick studied politics, history and English at Prior Pursglove Sixth Form College in north Yorkshire before later returning as a learning support teacher in politics, history and philosophy.

He was also elected as city councillor in 2018 and served as the Manchester Liberal Democrats spokesperson for education.

Kilpatrick has stated he wanted to work with “outstanding further education institutions” to create learning hubs that build AI and digital infrastructure to give young people access to future jobs and technical training.

BBC reports also cite pledges to extend free Bee Network travel to under-22s as a first step, funded through an additional 1 per cent increase in the mayoral council-tax precept. His longer-term ambition is to make the network free for all passengers within 20 years.

He added he would build on the MBacc to focus on the AI and technology sector within the Greater Manchester region.

Sian Astley, Reform UK

Astley is an interior designer who has run her own building and design business for over 20 years.

Born and raised in Greater Manchester, Astley studied law (LLB) at the University of Manchester after attending QEGS school in Blackburn.

She was elected as a councillor to Manchester City Council earlier in May and has not published any specific FE or skills policies to date.

Astley, however, told the BBC she would keep the free 16 to 18 travel pass but instead of partly funding it through mayoral council tax, she proposed to cut diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes and PR/social media advice.

Marlon West, Restore Britain

West went to university in Manchester and was a mental health nurse for around 30 years until he was suspended this month by the Nursing and Midwifery Council for 18 months over comments he made online about sexual grooming by Pakistani men.

He became a prominent campaigner against child grooming gangs after his daughter was targeted and raped. His main political message is around the “lack of support” from social services, police and education.

On education, West reportedly wants apprenticeships made more accessible to young people, alongside cutting childcare costs and free breakfasts to primary school age children.

He told the BBC that as mayor he would work with the larger businesses to “find out exactly what they need and work around that”, adding that he would “definitely” continue the Manchester Baccalaureate.

Marcus Farmer, Independent

This is Farmer’s third time standing for Greater Manchester mayor. He received just under 1 per cent of the vote in 2021.

Unlike the other candidates, Farmer has not submitted an election address for the official booklet distributed to voters.

He has also not published any specific education or skills plans but said on a recent podcast that his number one issue was to examine student debt, but did not detail how he would address the issue.

On NEETs, Farmer said: “Businesses don’t really see value in 16-year-olds and 18-year-old people… it’s expensive to employ young people.”

“We have to encourage youth employment, and I think part of the big deal is dealing with red tape. Red tape has got to come right down – the risk assessments and all that type of stuff.”

He also told the BBC in an interview that he would rather ask young people what they want rather than dictate policy.

Post-14 technical pathways could be transformational – but major questions remain

The government is right to recognise that England faces a serious challenge in the growing number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). The announcement of new technical pathways for 14 to 16-year-olds reflects an understanding that the current system does not work well enough for every young person and that more must be done to connect education with employment.

However, ASCL has concerns about the timing of this announcement. School and college leaders have spent the past year responding to major reforms to the curriculum, assessment and qualifications. Launching another substantial programme during the summer holidays, with few implementation details, makes meaningful engagement difficult and places further pressure on a profession already managing an exceptionally demanding programme of change.

Despite this, the ambition is welcome. Too often, vocational and technical education has been treated as a secondary option rather than an equally valuable route to success. If these reforms create genuine parity of esteem and provide clearer progression into employment, apprenticeships and further study, they could make a real difference. But several important questions now need answering.

System coherence

Only months ago, the government proposed a post-16 system built around three level 3 pathways: A Levels, T Levels and the proposed V Levels. Yet the Prime Minister’s announcement appears to present only two pathways at Key Stage 4: academic and technical.

How these systems fit together is unclear. If learners will eventually choose between three routes at 16, the relationship between the new technical pathway and future T Levels and V Levels must be much better explained. Without that clarity, there is a risk of creating confusion rather than simplification.

English, maths and progression

Any discussion about vocational reform must also address the longstanding problems associated with GCSE English and maths resits.

ASCL does not support the proposed stepping-stone qualifications. Instead, we continue to advocate universal literacy and numeracy qualifications that learners can take when they are ready.

We also believe it is time to move away from the arbitrary grade 4 benchmark and remove the condition of funding attached to GCSE resits. The case for this policy has already been weakened by the decision to remove the equivalent requirement for apprentices aged 19 and over. If grade 4 is no longer essential in one part of the system, it is reasonable to ask why it remains such a significant barrier elsewhere.

Work experience and careers

We welcome the emphasis on employer engagement. Evidence shows that meaningful encounters with employers improve outcomes and reduce the likelihood of becoming NEET.

However, research also highlights practical barriers, including unequal access to placements, limited employer capacity and the reliance on family networks to secure opportunities. If work experience is to become central to technical pathways, government must explain how schools, colleges and employers will be supported to deliver it consistently at scale.

High-quality careers education, information, advice and guidance will also be critical, particularly for disadvantaged learners and those with SEND, who are disproportionately represented among young people who are NEET.

Funding, workforce and FE

Technical education is more expensive to deliver than classroom-based academic provision. It requires specialist facilities, equipment, employer partnerships and teachers with current industry expertise.

Yet early indications suggest these reforms may be funded from existing budgets. Schools and colleges need clarity about how they will be financed.

Recruitment difficulties already affect many technical subjects, while FE colleges continue to struggle to recruit and retain staff because pay has fallen behind both schools and industry. If colleges are expected to play a greater role in delivering technical pathways, government must address FE pay parity and set out a credible workforce strategy.

Colleges already possess much of the specialist expertise, facilities and employer relationships needed to make these reforms succeed. But expanding provision for younger learners cannot happen without additional investment or at the expense of existing students.

National delivery and accountability

Much of the government’s vision depends on strategic authorities shaping local pathways. That may work well where devolved arrangements are strong, but young people’s opportunities should not depend on where they live. A national framework is needed to ensure every area can offer high-quality technical pathways, supported by stronger incentives for employer engagement.

The proposed reforms also depend on changes to school accountability and inspection. Given that both performance measures and Ofsted arrangements are already under review, government must explain how these changes will support technical education without creating further complexity.

The government’s objective is the right one. England needs stronger technical pathways that engage young people, support progression and help tackle the growing NEET challenge.

This announcement is therefore an important and potentially positive step. But success will depend on much more than ambition. Government now needs to provide clear answers on system design, English and maths, employer engagement, funding, workforce capacity and implementation. Only then can we be confident these reforms will deliver the opportunities every young person deserves.

New technical pathways for 14-year-olds could build on UTC model

This week’s announcement that all young people will have access to technical education pathways and meaningful employer engagement from the age of 14 has the potential to be one of the most significant education reforms in a generation.

It requires a change in the way schools think about their purpose; changing their focus to the destinations and future employment of their students, while maintaining the myriad of other roles played by modern schools. If implemented well, it could help tackle the rising number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), change communities and address the skills shortages that continue to hold back economic growth.

The government deserves real credit for recognising that technical education should sit alongside academic education as an equally ambitious and respected route. It is also a powerful endorsement of an approach that has already been proven.

For nearly 20 years, the 44 University Technical Colleges (UTCs), supported by Baker Dearing Educational Trust, have been delivering employer-guided technical education from the age of 14 across England. They combine academic study with technical learning, local and national employer partnerships and provide clear progression routes into apprenticeships, higher education and skilled careers.

Rather than starting from scratch, the government has the opportunity to build on the UTC model that is already delivering strong outcomes for thousands of young people. Baker Dearing and the UTC network stand ready to help. We have spent nearly two decades developing curricula, employer partnerships, teacher development and quality assurance that could help schools introduce these new pathways more quickly and with confidence.

This is already being demonstrated in the schools in Greater Manchester and Barrow-in-Furness adopting the ‘UTC Sleeve’ model, which builds employer supported, technical pathways into existing secondary schools.

Alternatively, the 14-16 provision offered by colleges has offered a fresh start in education for many young people who have struggled with old-fashioned academic learning. This provision could also be applied in certain schools. However, we believe the UTC model could work across a much wider span of education settings.

Andy Burnham understands the value of the UTC approach. Working with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Baker Dearing helped develop the technical framework that underpins the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate (MBacc) Award, ensuring that employer engagement, technical learning and workplace skills are rewarded alongside academic achievement.

As Greater Manchester expands its technical education offer, UTCs and the new UTC Sleeve model will continue to play an important role in supporting the ambitions of the MBacc.

This spirit of collaboration should now be reflected nationally. Baker Dearing, UTC leaders and employer partners would welcome the opportunity to work with government, combined authorities, schools and Ofsted to help shape the framework for these new technical pathways. We do not need to reinvent technical education – we need to build on what has already been shown to work.

The ambition is welcome. The next challenge is delivery. For example, there is a shortage of teachers with the right technical experience and knowledge, something that Baker Dearing has rectified for UTCs by developing an engineering training programme, supported by the Gene Haas Foundation and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851; heavyweight sponsors with deep links in industry.

We also work with Zen Educate who source teachers with experience of industry and develop our own teachers through a SCITT (school-centred initial teacher training) lead by the oldest UTC, The JCB Academy.

To achieve the scale that Burnham’s vision requires will need much more investment in innovative training and recruitment methods.

Schools will also need capital funding to deliver these new opportunities. New workshops and specialist classrooms will need equipment that matches what is used in industry, so students can learn on the tools they will use in the workplace.

With the right investment, employer partnerships and support for teachers, England has an opportunity to create a world-class technical education system that gives every young person access to high-quality technical learning and a clear route into skilled employment.

Under-25s exempted from apprenticeship co-investment hike

Ministers have partially reversed a fivefold increase in apprenticeship co-investment costs just days before it was due to take effect.

The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed levy-paying employers that exhaust their apprenticeship service account will not have to contribute towards training and assessment for eligible new starts aged 16 to 24 from August 1.

The government had planned to increase the contribution required from levy payers with insufficient account funds from 5 to 25 per cent for all new apprenticeship starts from that date.

But apprentices aged between 16 and 24 will now be exempt, meaning their training and assessment will be fully funded by government up to the relevant funding band maximum.

The published 2026-27 apprenticeship funding rules still state that government will cover only 75 per cent of costs when a levy payer has insufficient funds, leaving the employer to pay the remaining 25 per cent.

The rules are expected to be updated in the coming days to reflect the exemption for young apprentices.

Simon Ashworth, deputy chief executive and director of policy at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said the announcement reflected reforms his organisation had “championed”.

He added: “With more than one million young people currently not in education, employment or training, reducing the cost of employing young apprentices is one of the most effective ways to tackle youth unemployment.

“It will create more opportunities for young people and help employers build the skilled workforce they need.”

The change follows warnings from employers and training providers that the higher charge would force businesses to reduce apprenticeship recruitment and undermine ministers’ ambition to create 50,000 additional opportunities for young people.

FE Week revealed earlier this month that levy payers faced a fivefold increase in their contribution once their accounts were exhausted.

For an apprentice on the level 3 installation and maintenance electrician standard, which has a £23,000 funding band, an employer’s contribution would have risen from £1,150 to £5,750 over the course of the programme.

Businesses in engineering, construction, dental, childcare and professional services warned that the increase risked turning employers away from apprenticeships.

Around 36,900 employers paid the levy in 2024-25. Parliamentary figures showed 9.2 per cent spent more than the value entering their accounts, suggesting roughly 3,400 could have been immediately exposed to the higher rate.

A further 12.5 per cent spent most of their allocation and could also have faced the charge.

Under plans announced last December, government had already committed to fully fund apprentices aged under 25 when they work for small and medium-sized businesses that do not pay the levy.

Ministers have also said smaller employers can access up to £8,000 in combined support for each young apprentice, depending on their circumstances, alongside national insurance relief for apprentices aged under 25.

The package includes a new £2,000 hiring payment for non-levy employers taking on under-25 apprentices from October.

But the full-funding exemption had not previously extended to levy-paying employers after they spent their account funds.

A government announcement today said apprenticeship training would be free for “all eligible under-25s” from August.

The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed it will no longer expect co-investment from employers that have spent their levy when the apprentice is under 25.

The change is a partial reversal rather than the abandonment of the new co-investment rate.

Levy-paying employers will still have to contribute 25 per cent once their funds are exhausted for eligible new starts aged 25 and over.

DWP was approached for comment.

Benefit-hit apprentice families boosted by bursary

Households will be able to claim a new bursary worth up to £4,500 a year to help offset the benefits they lose when a young person takes up an apprenticeship.

The Department for Work and Pensions today announced the new bursary will close a loophole that penalises potentially thousands of low-income households when a young person starts an apprenticeship and is reclassified as an independent worker.

The payment will be funded through the £1 billion of additional investment in the reformed growth and skills levy.

Families will be eligible for up to £4,500 per year per household.

A report in April by the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) found disadvantaged families can lose between £17 and £339 a week in child benefit, the universal credit child element and work allowance if a 16-year-old household member becomes an apprentice instead of remaining in full-time education.

The report also revealed that the financial impact discouraged some parents from supporting their children to take up apprenticeships.

The findings triggered work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden to ask his department to scope out a targeted bursary for the universal credit-claiming households who can end up worse off under the current benefits rules.

McFadden previously described the issue to be affecting a “small number” of universal credit households, but the SSAC found the “policy contradiction” could be potentially affecting thousands of families.

The DWP did not give an estimate as to how many households the bursary could help and how it will define the bursary eligibility.

Officials will coordinate with the Scottish and Welsh governments on the detail of the bursary as universal credit policy applies across Great Britain.

Simon Ashworth, deputy chief executive and director of policy at the Association of Education and Learning Providers, said the new bursary was a welcome step.

“By tackling the household benefit trap, more young people will be able to choose an apprenticeship based on their ambitions rather than their family’s finances,” he said.

“If we are serious about reducing the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training, we have to make it easier for employers to recruit them. Fully funding apprenticeship training for eligible under-25s is a major step towards that goal and should encourage many more businesses to invest in the next generation of young talent.”

‘A springboard to opportunity’

The bursary sits alongside a raft of reforms aimed at boosting under 25s apprenticeships take-up to meet the government target of 50,000 by the end of Parliament in 2028.

Employers can benefit from up to £8,000 in support for hiring young apprentices including a £2,000 hiring bonus for SMEs, a £2,000 incentive for foundation apprenticeship starts and £3,000 youth jobs grants.

McFadden said the welfare system should be a “springboard to opportunity, not a barrier to it”.

“By providing bursaries to those who need them most and fully funding apprenticeship training, we are making sure cost is not the reason someone misses out,” he said.

Education secretary Lucy Powell added the government was “determined to help thousands more young people gain the skills, experience and confidence they need to build successful careers”.

“Too many young people face unnecessary barriers to apprenticeships, college places and training. We’re investing to change that,” she said.

Today’s package also revealed £285 million of cash for college capital projects to create an estimated 22,000 learner places in post-16 institutions.

£287m building cash for colleges short of places

Sixty-seven colleges and other post-16 institutions have been selected for capital projects the government says will create more than 22,000 additional learner places.

The Department for Education (DfE) today published the successful bidders for two funds covering the parts of England where post-16 capital decisions have not yet been devolved.

But it has not revealed how much each project will receive, what will be built or how many places individual colleges are expected to create.

‘Heartbreaking’: colleges already turning teenagers away

The cash lands following a two year period in which some colleges have reporting running out of space to accommodate growing numbers of learners.

FE Week reported in April that 9,500 young people had been unable to start the construction course they wanted because their college had no space, with more than 400 on waiting lists for carpentry, electrical, plastering and plumbing courses at Dudley College alone.

James Staniforth, principal of Shrewsbury College, said at the time that turning applicants away because “we just haven’t got the workshop space” was “heartbreaking”. His college has won projects from both pots.

The Association of Colleges estimated in April that colleges would teach 22,106 more 16 to 18-year-olds next year than they are funded for.

The 16 to 18 population grew by 230,000, or 13 per cent, between 2017 and 2024 and is forecast to rise by a further 110,000 by 2028, peaking nationally in the 2028-29 academic year.

Who made the list

The list, in full below, contains 87 projects; 46 through the general post-16 capacity fund and 41 to expand construction training.

The 87 projects are spread across 68 colleges and other institutions, with 14 winning schemes from both funding pots.

South Staffordshire College appears most frequently, with four successful projects across sites in South Staffordshire, Cannock Chase and Lichfield. Sparsholt College Hampshire and the Bedford College Group each have three.

Abingdon and Witney College, Bournemouth and Poole College, City College Plymouth, Gloucestershire College, NCG and Northampton College are among those appearing in both categories.

Successful general capacity bidders include academy trusts such as Heart of Mercia Trust, NOVA Education Trust and Weydon Multi Academy Trust alongside FE and sixth-form colleges.

Half the pot already devolved

The £287 million earmarked for the capital projects was announced in February and forms the nationally managed portion of a £570 million capital programme running to the 2029-30 financial year.

A further £283 million has been devolved to combined authorities and other areas with devolution deals to spend on their own priorities.

Of the funding controlled by DfE, £191 million was made available for post-16 capacity projects and £96 million for schemes related to construction provision. Devolved areas received £184 million and £99 million respectively.

Applications opened in February to FE colleges, designated institutions, sixth-form colleges and 16-19 academies in non-devolved areas. Schools with sixth forms, university technical colleges, studio schools and maths schools were excluded.

Colleges could bid for between £250,000 and £5 million for each project, although DfE retained discretion to go higher where there was sufficient evidence of need.

Refurbish, don’t rebuild

General capacity projects had to create space for at least 31 additional 16 to 19-year-olds and show that growth could not be absorbed by existing estates or another local institution. Projects are generally expected to be complete by August 2028 so the extra places can be used from that September.

DfE guidance said schemes that reconfigured or refurbished existing space were more likely to meet its delivery and value-for-money requirements. Permanent new builds faced tougher tests because of longer lead-in times and the temporary nature of the demographic pressure, although they could be approved where colleges demonstrated longer-term need.

Construction projects had to address waiting lists or expected demand and create capacity for at least 31 additional young people or adults. Employer cash or in-kind contributions were mandatory, and successful colleges had to be either be designated construction technical excellence colleges or work with their regional hub as a “spoke”.

The fund is intended to contribute to the government’s ambition to train 60,000 additional construction workers by the end of this Parliament.

Today’s announcement came alongside confirmation of bursaries worth up to £4,500 a year per household for universal credit families who could otherwise be left worse off when a young person starts an apprenticeship.

Lucy Powell, the education secretary, said: “Too many young people face unnecessary barriers to apprenticeships, college places and training. We’re investing to change that.

“This government is determined to help thousands more young people gain the skills, experience and confidence they need to build successful careers.”

Post-16 capacity project winners

Construction skills capacity project winners

V Levels aren’t the answer, and Burnham knows it

One striking aspect of Andy Burnham’s very welcome announcement about reopening technical education routes for 14 year olds is that V Levels are not mentioned. When explaining this reform, he said it was not about “giving kids another qualification in a system that doesn’t work”, but about “transforming the system entirely”.

V Levels are not the answer to the challenge facing 16-19 learners not suited for the A Level route, for three main reasons.

First, they address the wrong problem. Qualifications are important milestones on a learning journey, but they are not the journey itself. The real issue is the lack of pathways and progression routes for vocational students, made worse by the collapse of level 2 16-19 apprenticeships.

Second, they will be a massive distraction for providers, already struggling with chronic underfunding and technical teacher shortages. Implementing the reforms will take time and energy away from the real task of building stronger progression pathways.

Third, by ripping up the existing 16-19 vocational curriculum they risk leaving learners having to navigate unfamiliar qualifications of untested value with only patchy careers advice and guidance to help them.

It’s hard to have much confidence in the DfE’s ability to make a success of this. Remember the 14-19 Diplomas, launched in 2008 and withdrawn in 2013? And T Levels, launched in 2020 and now undergoing emergency surgery to try and resuscitate them?

Qualification reform is complex, involving getting many components interacting effectively. It’s therefore only worth doing if there is a big prize to be won.

In this case, the reforms are not going to improve a post-16 phase recently described as “structured in a way to exacerbate inequality” by the Deaton Review of Inequality. They are unlikely to have any impact on NEET (not in education, employment or training) numbers. They are not going to solve the skills gaps holding back the economy. They are not going to help revive apprenticeships for young people – the implementation plan barely mentions apprenticeships.

As Alan Milburn’s hard-hitting “Young People and Work” report observes: “The education and skills system…is designed to produce qualifications rather than working adults. Until that changes..the tail of failure will persist.”

Thankfully, with the arrival of a new government the focus has at last shifted to tackling the systemic issues that have previously been side-stepped in favour of the DfE’s tired old playbook of qualification reform. It’s too early – and details are as yet too scarce – to evaluate how effective the new approach to technical education reform will be. But they are tackling the right problem – the failure of our education system to properly embrace technical and vocational pathways.

They open up the prospect of new mechanisms being found to properly coordinate school and college offers in each local authority area and ensure that a full range of well-resourced and attractive technical and academic courses are readily available in all parts of the country.

Where does this leave the V Level reforms already underway? Given their potential to divert energy and resources away from much more important issues, it might be better to kick them into the long grass, put them on pause and prioritise the new, more radical technical education agenda. Time will tell if they are viewed as having a place in the revolution the new PM is leading. But in the meantime we need to concentrate on opening new doors of opportunity, not redecorating the old ones.