The quiet power of FE, where second chances spark social change

When I first walked into a college classroom nearly a decade ago, I wasn’t a lecturer but a woman in recovery, trying to rebuild a life that addiction had torn apart. 

I had just had my first son, some 20 years after leaving school with no FE qualifications. My Access to HE course, which I completed with a distinction, became a ladder out of an earlier chaos. It gave me a language for understanding people, systems and, eventually, myself. 

Today as a lecturer and programme co-ordinator, I’m helping to shape a new foundation degree in social and community practice.

It feels like the natural continuation of my own journey: learning, recovery and community all stitched together. 

The degree is being developed from need. In South Devon like in many coastal regions, social issues overlap – mental health, homelessness, addiction and low-level crime. 

Here, like most areas, support services are stretched and staff turnover is high. Too many people fall through the cracks. The new programme is designed to develop practitioners who can stop that happening. 

It equips them with the knowledge and critical skills needed to intervene early, carry out informed and ethical assessments, and work collaboratively across agencies. The aim is to ensure children, families and vulnerable adults receive timely, coordinated support.

The first year gives students the fundamentals – ethics, legislation, human development, wellbeing and research. The second year focuses on specific social challenges such as addiction and recovery, homelessness and deprivation, disability, mental health and working with victims and offenders. 

That last group of modules excites me the most. Real lives don’t fit neatly into categories. 

Someone can be a survivor, a parent, a carer, an offender and a neighbour all at once. Our students learn to see the whole person rather than just the label. 

Our social science classroom discussions, sometimes fuelled by lived experience, remind me daily that empathy is a form of intelligence. Some have faced the issues they now study. 

National data underlines why programmes like this matter. The Office for National Statistics reported this year that rates of symptoms of depression in England remain nearly double pre-pandemic levels. 

Alcohol-related deaths in the south west are among the highest in the country. 

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation described 2025 as a “turning point for poverty policy” as people struggle with housing and cost-of-living pressures. 

Every one of those statistics translates into the kind of cases our graduates will face. 

A collaborative project with Devon and Cornwall Police asked our students to present ideas on tackling antisocial behaviour and crime in Torquay. Their message was direct: punishment without understanding changes nothing. They proposed prevention through support and education – ideas that are now being implemented. 

Seeing that level of maturity in their analysis and proposals was a highlight of my career. 

What strikes me most about working with my students is their sense of service. Whether they go on to become social workers, advocates, counsellors or police officers, they share one common purpose – to make people’s lives better. 

Yes, it’s cheesy, but it’s also evidence-based. Research from the University of York shows that trauma-informed practice reduces repeat crisis interventions and improves community outcomes. 

The data confirms what lived experience has already taught many of us. For me, recovery and teaching are different sides of the same coin. 

Writing a module on addiction and recovery allowed me to bring that perspective into academia in a way that feels responsible and useful. It tells students – and maybe the sector – that vulnerability can coexist with professionalism. 

Real change in social care begins when education helps people turn understanding into action that strengthens the communities around them.

When I look around my classroom, I see a few learners who might reshape the very services that once supported them. That’s the quiet power of further and higher education working together. 

And if my story proves anything, it’s that learning doesn’t just change lives. It can save them too. 

It’s mayday for the skills sector under DWP

If you’ve seen the film Das Boot, about a German U-boat, you’ll remember what happens when they did an emergency dive. Alarms going off, crew scrambling everywhere and sheer panic.

Why does this spring to mind when I think of skills moving into the Department for Work and Pensions? Well, if skills didn’t have enough challenges, inserting it into the DWP risks sinking the market quickly.

Historically, employability and skills funding has been like oil and water; the two don’t mix. That doesn’t help employers, jobseekers or learners.

Research shows most employers hire for attitude and train for skill. Putting responsibility under one roof may seem like the best way to achieve this – but let me provide a reality check.

The DWP has a huge budget, skills will be a fraction of that, and there are flashing red lights from what has happened to employability, especially for SMEs.

The arrival in 2021 of DPS2 (Dynamic Purchasing System), which Jobcentres can use to fill unmet needs, has been a disaster. That’s because if a Jobcentre manages to find a programme that works really well, they can’t repeat it. They have to buy on price.

Contract awards are updated quarterly on Contract Finder so competitors can see what the winning price was. So they bid below that, often significantly lowballing. The Jobcentre ends up with poor-quality provision which they know won’t deliver, but it’s that or nothing. 

The DWP’s inability to course correct on this cannot be allowed to happen with skills.

When I met Debbie Abrahams MP, chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, and gave her evidence of how the DWP has failed to learn from, replicate and scale Jobcentre programmes, she agreed it undermines ministers’ priorities.

Problems are compounded by the DWP’s lack of transparency about the performance of its employment support programmes, as requested by her predecessor, Sir Stephen Timms and the National Audit Office.

Mel Stride’s response when he was secretary of state to a transparency campaign led by the then MP John Penrose, was the DWP didn’t need to measure performance and he didn’t see why they should. He also said using past performance as part of the criteria to evaluate bids from suppliers would “not be legally compliant with current procurement regulations”.

Alarmingly, Labour haven’t changed that, even though I suggested they should request full transparency during their access talks with civil servants prior to the election. 

The lack of training for Jobcentre staff to write specifications means they guess at what is needed, often unintentionally precluding proven solutions. They get conflicting guidance about whether they can speak to other regions about best practice, or speak to providers about their challenges. 

The DWP’s insistence that knowing a provider’s performance would compromise fair and open competition is an interpretation of procurement law unique to them.

They have predictably created a race to the bottom where a provider can write a great bid, low ball on price and win the work, even when they don’t have the expertise or capability to deliver it. This is inevitable if performance isn’t taken into account.

Whilst some DWP regions may like to address that, they are powerless.

Does quality matter?

Quality matters and has to be measurable, but the current modus operandi means it isn’t. Ofsted and the sector have worked hard to raise standards but the DWP’s current approach will reverse that. Skills England will say what? 

I’ve spoken to work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden about the need for public sector reform to achieve growth, and how DWP employment support is the place to start.

The way through this, as I discussed with Darren Jones (now chief secretary to the prime minister) earlier in the year, is a facilitated amnesty. Rather than allow civil servants to issue eloquent brush offs, McFadden and colleagues need to go looking for problems, call some of this poor practice out, and shift the intent of the organisation.

McFadden has already said the DWP is there to help get people into work, which means getting the best from skills, not ruining the sector. Hopefully we can say ‘all aboard’, rather than ‘abandon ship’. 

Our jobs market is changing faster than anyone expected – our skills system isn’t

Technological, demographic and environmental changes – so-called mega trends – are just some of the shifts reshaping the labour market at unprecedent speed, far faster than previously expected.

It is imperative that skills are now put front and centre of the growth agenda. A system of lifelong learning is needed to fuel labour market resilience and economic growth.

Jobs total is increasing, but not all occupations are growing

For the last five years, the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has been leading The Skills Imperative 2035 research programme to quantify the implications of these mega-trends. We published employment projections in 2022 which showed the total number of jobs was expected to grow, but that almost all this growth would be in higher skilled professional and technical jobs such as engineering, teaching and health practitioners. We identified that 12 million people in England work in mid-to-low skill occupations such as administrators, sales, and warehouse operatives, which are in decline. Our projections suggested that one million of these jobs could disappear by 2035.

A quarter of jobs in high-risk occupations could be lost

However, new analysis which has examined how the labour market has changed since 2022 shows that the pace of change has been more rapid than expected – as much as three times faster for some groups. If these trends continue, up to three million jobs in high-risk occupations could disappear before 2035.

Why these lost jobs matter

In previous periods of change in the labour market, displaced workers have found similar new jobs without creating large-scale unemployment. However, if there are far fewer low skilled jobs opportunities in future, these workers risk being permanently excluded from the workforce at a time when we need more workers because of the growing labour market. These workers tend to be lower-skilled/qualified compared to those in growing occupations. They will need support to upgrade their skills to enable them to transition to growing parts of the labour market.

These changes also pose a threat to young people

Changes also pose a major threat to young people who leave education without the skills and qualifications to access growing higher-skilled jobs. With fewer low skilled jobs opportunities in the future and increased competition from lower skilled workers already in the labour market, they run the risk of being not in education, employment or training (NEET).

We need to build a system of lifelong learning

The impact of these mega-trends on the labour market is very compelling. An urgent response is required. A system of lifelong learning is needed, with a cradle-to-grave approach to skills development at its core. In our report we set out the collective response required from across government, educators and employers.

Central to this response is the need to ensure all young people leave education with a strong base of the ‘essential employment skills’ (EES) – such as collaboration, communication and problem solving. Our research has shown that these skills are already important but will be even more vital in future, especially in growth occupations which utilise them intensively. These skills must be explicitly recognised and developed alongside the teaching of knowledge, supported by a common skills framework that schools and colleges can use.

Also central is the need to reinvigorate the adult skills system. As the rate of change accelerates, so too does the need to help existing workers reskill and upskill, given that over 70 per cent of the future workforce in 2035 are already in work. An injection of funding can rejuvenate the adult skills system after a decade of neglect, decline and fragmentation.

A joined-up, lifelong learning system – focused on both technical skills and EES – is now more essential than ever for delivering economic growth that benefits everyone.

Apprentice minimum wage to rise to £8

The minimum hourly wage for apprentices will be boosted to £8 next April, the chancellor has announced.

Ahead of tomorrow’s budget, Rachel Reeves tonight revealed the minimum rate on offer to apprentices will rise by 45p, or 6 per cent, from the current £7.55 per hour. 

While the wage boost is lower than last year’s 18 per cent hike, it is higher than the current rate of inflation that sits at 3.6 per cent in the year to October. 

Reeves will also increase the national minimum wage for 18 to 20-year-olds by 8.5 per cent to £10.85 per hour.

And the national living wage will also rise by 4.1 per cent from £12.21 to £12.71 per hour for workers aged 21 and over.

The rate rises will kick in from April 1, 2026.

Employers have to pay at least the apprentice minimum wage for apprentices aged 16 to 18, and for apprentices aged 19 or over in the first year of their apprenticeship. After their first year, apprentices aged over 19 should receive at least the national minimum wage, or the national living wage, depending on their age.

Reeves is also expected to use her budget tomorrow to confirm freezes on rail fares and NHS prescription charges to ease the cost of living. However, she is also rumoured to be extending a freeze on income tax thresholds once more and capping pension contributions through salary sacrifices to raise government revenue.

Reeves said the changes will benefit “many” young people across the country.

“I know that the cost of living is still the number one issue for working people and that the economy isn’t working well enough for those on the lowest incomes,” she added.

“Too many people are still struggling to make ends meet and that has to change.”

How Eduqas GCSE English Language is turning the page on ‘I’m never going to pass’

South Devon College is one of a growing number of schools and colleges choosing to deliver Eduqas’ GCSE English Language specification.

While the qualification is suitable for pupils sitting their GCSEs for the first time, the team at South Devon feel it particularly shines for re-sit learners, and they’ve seen the results to prove it.

As well as the hard work and dedication of Julia and her colleagues, Rebecca Walker, Curriculum Head of Maths and English at the college, credits the accessibility of Eduqas’ assessments for the dramatic improvement in outcomes. “The assessment objectives are the same across different exam boards, but the way that Eduqas structure their questions allows students to be able to demonstrate their understanding in a way that’s more accessible for them” she explains.

“I feel it gives students a really good opportunity to be able to work on their reading for understanding rather than having to look at different particular skills for particular questions.”

South Devon College, English Lecturer: Andrew Niering

Eduqas’ English Language GCSE also focuses on real-world skills, which Andrew Niering, an English Lecturer with two decades of experience of teaching at the college, believes is a real benefit for his learners.

“I honestly feel that what’s being delivered through the Eduqas format really transitions to meaningful skills for life. You’re asking young people to put together a formatted piece of persuasive writing, which surely is going to benefit them in life, and the story element is also fantastic. To have some confidence in the ability to tell a story is wonderful. It makes the English language component more real, more relevant, less far away.”

Eduqas Regional Representative: Catherine Oldham

Eduqas Regional Representative Catherine Oldham is an experienced former English teacher who provides support to the team at South Devon College as part of her role. She believes that together, Eduqas and dedicated English teachers can help learners thrive:

“After ten years supporting centres across England, I’ve seen how the right support can transform both teaching confidence and learner outcomes” says Catherine. “The personal relationships we build with educational institutions, combined with our comprehensive resources and ongoing professional learning, create partnerships that genuinely benefit everyone involved.”

South Devon College English Lecturer Aleshia Sampson agrees. “I love that we can have that relationship with an exam board, because I think that’s quite unusual” says Aleshia. “If you have any problems or concerns, you can just pick up the phone or drop them an email and they’ll respond really quickly.”

“I don’t really understand why people are with other exam boards, I really don’t!”

Learn more about switching to Eduqas for GCSE English Language and register your interest

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 514

Natalie Perera

Chief External Affairs and Communications Officer, AQA

Start date: February 2026

Previous Job: CEO, Education Policy Institute

Interesting fact: Shane from Boyzone turned up randomly at Natalie’s wedding in 2019

Lynette Leith

Principal and CEO, Boston College

Start date: November 2025

Previous Job: Vice Principal, Hull College

Interesting fact: Lynette once worked at Leicester Square’s Penthouse during movie premieres, where she met Sean Penn, Nicole Kidman and Samuel L. Jackson

Justin Johnston

Trustee, SFJ Awards

Start date: October 2025

Concurrent Job: Visiting Professor, University of Chester

Interesting fact: Residing in the Lake District, Justin loves living the outdoor life and has participated in a number of ultra marathons

Our economy won’t grow with almost 1m young people left behind

Britain faces the devastating reality that nearly one million young people are not in education, employment or training; one in eight of our 16-24-year-olds. It should stop us in our tracks. Behind every number is a young person with talent and potential, yet far too many are being shut out from taking their first steps into an adulthood full of opportunity.

This isn’t just a social crisis; it’s an economic one. At a moment when Britain needs growth more than ever, potential is going unfulfilled. Estimates suggest that labour shortages could cost the UK around £39 billion a year between now and 2027, yet close to a million young people remain on the sidelines – a waste of the very talent we need.

The truth is, this crisis is not landing evenly. It is concentrated in the communities that have endured years of instability, rising costs and dwindling opportunities, including in Hyndburn which I represent. These are the places where the recovery never truly arrived after the pandemic. Most of those one million young people come from areas where chances are fewer and the barriers higher.

New polling from Teach First shows the scale of the anxiety this creates: three quarters of pupils from low-income backgrounds worry about getting into university, securing an apprenticeship or finding a good job when they leave school. A quarter are very worried – twice the rate of their wealthier peers.

That fear reflects a daily reality in our most disadvantaged communities, where the opportunities that should open doors are too often missing. A quarter say they lack access to work experience, the kind that authentically allows young people to experience what’s possible after school. A fifth don’t get the support they need for additional needs or mental health, a gap even wider for disadvantaged pupils. With mental health now a leading reason why young people are out of work, it is right the government is putting the right support in place in education , so young people can thrive and build resilience.

The government knows it isn’t talent holding these children back; it’s access. And when background determines belief in what’s possible, it isn’t just an individual setback but a loss for us all. Britain cannot afford to waste this potential.

That’s why this government’s youth guarantee is a vital step. As Labour’s champion for the opportunity mission, I recognise that widening opportunity is essential to the country’s long-term economic and social strength. And with the chancellor inheriting a deeply constrained fiscal position, choices will of course be tough. But that makes it all the more important that the youth guarantee delivers first and foremost for the young people who need it most. When we hear more about it in this week’s Budget, I do hope we’ll see the most vulnerable children prioritised.

Businesses have a crucial role to play too. If we’re serious about building a stronger economy, employers need to step forward alongside government – offering the work experience, apprenticeships, placements and mentoring that young people need. It is brilliant that the Premier League and the Royal Shakespeare Company are among the companies bringing this to life. We must also support the schools and pupils working the hardest in the most disadvantaged communities. Growing the economy is a shared endeavour, and business has a vital part to play in unlocking the talent Britain needs.

Every young person deserves the chance to succeed, wherever they grow up. For too long, poverty has acted like a postcode lottery on ambition. The Youth Guarantee can help break that cycle, but it must be backed with wider commitments and investment – including tackling child poverty, and ensuring there is the right support for children and young adults with SEND including at college and in the workplace.

I believe this Budget can and will back the young people and communities too often left behind because we need to rebuild an economy with heart – one that grows by investing in the young people who will shape Britain’s future. Having almost one million young people locked out of opportunity is a national crisis. Bringing them in isn’t just the right thing to do; it is the smartest economic decision that Britain can make.

Royal recognition: 4 colleges win top national prize

Four further education colleges have been named among 19 winners of the 2025 Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education, the UK’s highest national honour in education. 

The awards, previously known as the Queen’s Anniversary Prizes, are part of the UK honours system and are approved biennially by His Majesty The King on the advice of the prime minister. 

The winning four further and 15 higher education institutions were announced at a reception at St James’s Palace this evening.

Colleges winning awards in this round, the sixteenth since the awards were established by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994, are: Gateshead College, Hull College, North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College and North West Regional College. 

In his letter to winners, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “The UK has always been a place of learning, invention and ambition. Our institutions of higher and further education are among the very best in the world. They educate the next generation, train our workforce, and lead the cutting-edge research that drives progress, not just here at home but across the world.

“This year’s prize-winners show the strength and breadth of that contribution.”

Each winner has successfully navigated an independent specialist judging process run by the Royal Anniversary Trust. 

There were fewer colleges and more university winners in this round compared to 2023.

Sir Damon Buffini, chair of the trust, said: “The Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education celebrate the power of education to change the world for the better. This much-loved national honour recognises, at the highest levels of state, outstanding work in universities and colleges, and the remarkable benefits they bring to our economy, society and the wider world. 

“This year, we are delighted to honour 19 institutions whose work offers an inspiring snapshot of the excellence and innovative work going on in universities and colleges across the UK. Congratulations all.”

Here is a summary of the winning college entries:

Gateshead College won for ‘PlanBEE’, it’s employer-led built environment apprenticeship programme created with Ryder Architecture and more than 70 industry partners.

Designed as a “complete rethink” of traditional apprenticeships, the programme involves apprentices taking six four-month placements across a range of roles and employers. Exposure to different roles in different businesses has also helped open doors to women and other minorities in the construction industry. 

Since its launch, the model has become a Gateshead-grown export. PlanBee now runs in Manchester, London and Canada. It’s also been adapted to serve the rail and digital technology industries. 

David Alexander, principal of Gateshead College, said: “This is a tremendous honour for our college. It recognises the innovative partnership approach we’ve taken with industry to tackle skills shortages, and it’s a powerful endorsement of the impact the PlanBEE programme has made. 

“This honour wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of our team, our incredible sponsors, and the talented apprentices who’ve helped make it the success it is today. It’s especially fitting to receive this recognition as we mark the college’s 80th birthday, giving us even more reason to celebrate.” 

Hull College has been honoured for its ‘Silent Voices, Vivid Stories’ ESOL initiative. 

The programme combines AI-powered storytelling, real-time translation and trauma-informed pedagogy to provide immediate access to learning for newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers.

It means the college can better meet the often complex needs of learners, many of whom have experienced trauma and a disrupted education, in their first language with a curriculum that supports them through to employment or further study. 

The programme links directly to priority vocational pathways in sectors such as health, construction and hospitality, and its successful blend of trauma-informed pedagogy and technology has influenced curriculum design across the college. 

Debra Gray, CEO and principal of Hull College, said: “We are absolutely delighted and deeply proud to receive the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education for our pioneering work in ESOL. There is no higher honour in our sector, and this recognition reflects the passion and commitment of our staff, our technology partners and – most importantly – our incredible students.

“This award is a tribute to the courage of our students, the expertise of our staff, and the belief that further education can – and must – meet people where they are. We remain committed to leading the way in inclusion, innovation and social mobility, showing how education can drive meaningful and lasting change.”

North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College (NWSLC) has been recognised for its leadership of the MIRA Technology Institute (MTI), a pioneering partnership between further and higher education institutions and industry to meet skills demands in electric, connected and autonomous vehicle technology. 

Launched in 2018, MTI delivers courses from level 1 to level 8 through its “skills escalator”, including bespoke CPD, short courses, online learning and six degree apprenticeships.

Nearly 61,500 students and delegates have studied at MTI, including over 18,000 industry professionals from big names such as Jaguar Land Rover, Bentley Motors and Aston Martin. It has also provided STEM experiences for more than 5,000 school pupils.

Marion Plant, principal and chief executive of NWSLC and chair of the MTI board, said: “The positive impact the MTI has had to date on developing individuals with these specialist skills has been remarkable.

“We’re so proud to have received this prestigious national award that recognises UK colleges and universities whose outstanding work demonstrates excellence and innovation and delivers real benefit to the wider world.”

North West Regional College won its prize for its Business Support Centre and its network of five industry-focused Technology Innovation Centres, supporting more than 400 businesses each year. 

The centres specialise in key sectors including food and drink innovation, assisted living and healthcare technologies and advanced manufacturing and engineering. They allow small businesses to access advanced skills, research capacity and specialist equipment that would otherwise be out of reach. 

In the past year, the college has delivered over 140 applied research and development projects and trained more than 1,000 people, helping SMEs grow by developing new products, processes and services.

White paper asks colleges to do more with less, says IFS

Colleges face higher expectations and sweeping new responsibilities all while per-student funding continues to lag behind 2010 levels, top economists have warned.

Analysis of last month’s post-16 education and skills white paper by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) flags new qualification reforms, workforce demands and increased accountability all land while college funding remains below historic levels. 

Reforms proposed in the white paper include replacing all existing vocational qualifications with V Levels, expanding T Levels, new pre-GCSE resit level 1 qualifications, new level 2 study pathways, levy-funded apprenticeship units, provider awarding powers for higher-level courses and auto-enrolment into FE for school leavers at risk of becoming NEET.

But the white paper wishes “do not always add up to a coherent overall strategy”, the think tank said, and there is “insufficient indication of how the different reforms connect”.

Two-thirds target ‘weak’

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer’s “bold new target” for two-thirds of young people participating in higher level learning has been played up by ministers as a sign of the government’s commitment to skills.

But the IFS suggested the target may not be so bold after all.

Shortly after it was announced, Downing Street confirmed to FE Week there was no deadline for the target. Without one, IFS said today, the PM’s ambition is “constrained” and, based on trends, may have been met by the late 2030s anyway without any change in policy. 

Around 50 per cent of 25 year olds were participating in higher-level learning at level 4 and above in 2022-23, up from 40 per cent in 2013.

“The higher-level learning target is constrained: it includes no time frame, and on current trends would be reached by the late 2030s even in the absence of new policy,” the report said. 

It described the target, and the sub-target for 10 per cent of young people to enrol in level 4 or 5 courses by 2040, as “weak tools for driving or assessing system-wide reform”. 

The targets “lack clear milestones, can be met through presentational changes, and reveal little about whether learners are accessing high-quality pathways”.

Funding below 2010s

The white paper confirmed that funding for 16-19 education will increase between academic years 2025-26 and 2026-27 by £450 million in real terms, or a 3 per cent increase per student.

While this is a “significant increase”, uprated funding per young student is still lower in real-terms than in the early 2010s by 4 per cent in colleges and 18 per cent in school sixth forms. 

Based on 2025-26 prices, per-student 16-18 funding in colleges peaked in financial year 2011-12 at just under £9,000 per student. In 2024-25, that figure was just over £7,000 and is projected to be around £8,000 in 2026-27, roughly what it was in 2012-13.

“In effect, the recent increases reverse some, but not all, of the real-terms decline seen during the 2010s. At the same time, the white paper introduces a range of new expectations on colleges, including delivering new qualifications and strengthening the further education workforce, which will put additional pressures on college resources,” IFS said.

Levy limits

Funding levels for adult education, which, alongside apprenticeships, make up around 40 per cent of colleges’ collective income, were not examined as closely by the IFS as the policies featured lightly in the white paper.

But the IFS did warn that limiting new apprenticeship units, which FE Week has since learned could be as short as one week in duration, too much may hold back employers from being able to invest in their workforce.

The report said: “There are sound reasons for targeting subsidy towards regulated, high-quality provision in areas of clear labour market need. But many employers also invest in training that falls outside these categories, and limiting eligible courses may reduce the extent to which the levy supports wider workforce development. 

“The challenge for the government will be to strike a balance between expanding flexibility, managing costs and ensuring that public funds support training with genuine economic value.”

The Department for Education declined to comment.