How we’re responding to Universal’s game-changing arrival

When Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Bedford to announce that Universal Destinations & Experiences will be opening a major theme park and resort in 2031 in our area, he chose The Bedford College Group to be part of this historic announcement. It was a fitting choice.

As the leading provider of post-16 education and training across the South East Midlands, we have already had extensive conversations with the local authority and senior officials from Universal Resorts and Destinations about the skills needed to deliver on this exciting and transformative project.

The new theme park is projected to create around 28,000 jobs spread across sectors including construction, hospitality and the creative industries. Nearly 20,000 jobs will be created during the construction phase, with an additional 8,000 jobs expected after it opens.

At the Bedford College Group, we are committed to ensuring that our students are ready to seize the opportunities this landmark development will bring, not just in Bedfordshire but across the region. My role is to make sure our curriculum is future-ready across all our colleges and connected with all our strategic partners: aligned with economic priorities and designed to equip students with the skills employers need both now and in the years to come.

Although the resort won’t open for another six years, we are already preparing. We are proactively designing new programmes and initiatives, across three of our colleges in Bedfordshire to meet the anticipated demand for skilled workers across multiple sectors, with a particular focus on infrastructure, tourism, and the creative industries.

Our colleges already deliver a broad and rich curriculum in civil engineering and professional construction. But as demand grows, with Universal, the expansion of Luton Airport, the new railway station planned at Wixams and increased investment in roads and other infrastructure, we must scale up and modernise our provision. This means not only increasing capacity, but also updating content, assessment, and delivery methods to meet evolving industry needs.

The ripple effects of Universal’s arrival will be felt far beyond Bedford. Towns across the region, including those in Northamptonshire where we also operate campuses, will see significant economic growth. As the largest provider of post-16 education in the South East Midlands, we’re thinking strategically about how to maximise the benefits of this investment across all our sites.

Beyond construction and engineering, we expect to see major growth in sectors such as customer service, travel and tourism, hospitality, aviation, marketing, media, digital technology, and the creative industries. Our curriculum will adapt accordingly, not just in Bedford, but across our entire group to ensure we’re developing talent that aligns with the region’s future economy. We are also placing greater emphasis on transferable skills, sustainability, and innovation, qualities that employers across all sectors are increasingly prioritising.

We’re also preparing for a likely increase in student enrolment driven by the project. To meet this demand, we’ve already committed to establishing a new hospitality school and logistics academy, strengthening our capacity to deliver high-quality, industry-relevant education in key growth areas.

The Bedford College Group is proud to be at the heart of this regional transformation. We hosted Universal’s first public consultation in Bedford and continue to facilitate important conversations between students, local leaders, including the mayor of Bedford and key project stakeholders. These discussions are laying the groundwork for collaborative, long-term partnerships that benefit everyone.

To that end, we have created a dedicated programme board, led by the principal of Bedford College, to oversee our planning and implementation in response to the Universal development. We are also working closely with local councils, employers, and community partners to ensure that our curriculum remains agile, inclusive, and responsive. Engagement with industry partners will be essential for shaping our apprenticeship and work placement opportunities, ensuring that students gain real-world experience aligned with job market needs.

The next six years promise to be a dynamic period of growth and innovation. We are ready to rise to the challenge, developing a workforce that is not only job-ready but first in line for the exciting careers that Universal and other local employers will bring to our communities.

When words set you free: The transformative magic of free writing

The FE sector holds rewards for teachers who immerse themselves in it, and one area my team and I have embraced during this period of maths and English resits review is the space and freedom to curate our curriculum.

We’ve spent the last academic year leaning into decision making around teaching and learning via the lens of the resit learner experience, to navigate and remove some of the barriers they face.

With this in mind, it’s essential to remind ourselves that good English resit curriculum design can counter the uncertainty that comes with potential policy reform.

It allows the possibility of trying different keys to unlock doors to learner progress of any kind, all the while maintaining the integrity of why language and expression are so important; they are a catalyst for social mobility and can change the lives of young people.

Write on

This year we adopted Andrew Otty’s Write On project on free writing to help overcome the barriers faced by our functional skills learners. Originally designed to motivate reluctant GCSE-resit students by encouraging writing without the pressure of aim or agenda, it felt like a key worth trying – one that could unlock a more accessible and empowering entryway into writing.

Here’s an account from one of my English team – Ethan Catherall, GCSE and Functional Skills English Teacher at Riverside College – who made free writing the focus of a 10-month project:

The wounds of resit students are rooted in innumerable factors that intermingle to create a disruptive vortex, with the student in the eye of the storm; mental health concerns, low-income households, family upheaval, adverse childhood experiences and local area issues are plentiful in their promulgation. But these are just the headlines amidst a litany of learning obstacles.

Enter FE, with the rope of life and the promise of redemption. This year I met several learners who were bruised by their recent entanglement with GCSE English.

Encountering this level of academic fragility constitutes both the gift and curse of working in FE. I felt compelled to traverse this uncertain fog alongside these learners to influence their healing journey in any way I could. Free writing quickly proved to be a remedy to this malaise.

In the first week, 10 minutes were set aside for learners to settle in their morning seats and write whatever came into their minds. The response was mixed in terms of output. However, I keenly observed something more subtle: a calming effect on the learning environment, even in this fledgling state.

From this point, my research organically started shifting away from just developing written skills; I saw the opportunity to develop the learners themselves, cultivating things like self-efficacy, ambition and resilience, whilst tending to low moods and alleviating anxieties.

Gradually, free writing developed into an immersive experience that was soothing yet explorative. Learners customised their free writing journals with stickers and coloured pens to truly make them their own.

They listened to many genres of music intended to both relax and inspire. They were introduced to works of art and they shared their thoughts. They drew and annotated their own artwork, they watched and commented on world events that unfolded, and their voices were heard.

They imagined themselves travelling the vast planet and boundless spaces beyond even that. They speculated, they hypothesised, they journaled. They became storytellers, they imagined. These students had arrived!

Rising from mental wells

And what did I see? I saw potentials beginning to be realised, souls beginning to sing, outlooks changing, smiles stealthily emerging from behind their shielding gazes. I saw change, poets, authors, explorers, creatives, activists.

In my short time of adopting this strategy in the classroom, I’ve seen students rise from the deepest of mental wells with jewels of insight and rich veins of personality. It invites us to explore and be creative in the same way it does the learners.

The scope of free writing is limitless, its beneficial implications varied and fascinating. I truly believe it could find its place in every classroom if we as practitioners believe in the good it can do and continue to expand its potentialities.

Ofsted plans FE webinars in response to reform timeline unrest

Ofsted has announced a series of webinars and regional events for FE providers to quell fears about the pace of its reforms.

The watchdog has faced growing criticism over the short timeline for implementation of its new report cards and inspection framework.

Chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver was also recently reprimanded by the education secretary Bridget Phillipson after announcing Ofsted would not confirm its final plans this academic year after all, pushing the announcement back to September.

Sir Martyn Oliver
Sir Martyn Oliver

This gives FE providers, schools and inspectors a matter of weeks to prepare for the new inspections when they resume in November.

In response, the inspectorate has announced a “full programme of sector engagement to be launched in September”.

Oliver said: “I know there are some concerns about the timeline for these changes, that’s why we are planning such a comprehensive programme.

“I have every confidence that our approach will support a successful roll-out of new-look inspections in November.”

Regional events planned

The programme of webinars and regional events “will continue throughout the autumn term, offering providers a range of opportunities to familiarise themselves with the changes ahead of inspections under the renewed framework beginning in November”, Ofsted added.

Different types of providers will get their own live webinars, with a full programme available online, and recordings due to be made available on YouTube afterwards.

Ofsted announced that there will be webinars for specific FE and skills provision types including; 16 to 19 programmes, apprenticeships, adult learning programmes, and high needs provision.

The webinars will take place between September 22 to 29.

Ofsted will also hold “face-to-face and online regional events”, hosted by local providers, local authorities and partners.

These events will “help providers build on their understanding of the renewed framework, supported by published materials”.

Oliver said: “I want to reassure education providers that, through our national engagement programme and published materials, they will be able to familiarise themselves with the changes during the first part of the autumn term – while routine school and further education and skills inspections are on hold.

“Our Inspectors will all receive extensive training between now and November, and many will have had the experience of a full pilot inspection.”

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Scrambling this programme together in order to try to allay the widespread concerns about the speed of implementing major changes to the inspection system is surely not the answer.

“The sensible thing would simply be to delay its introduction in order to give providers time to familiarise themselves and their staff with the new framework. The inspectorate and government must also reconsider the planned five-point grading scale which is a recipe for chaos.”

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 504

Karen Dorow

Charity CEO and College Principal, Lifeworks Charity Ltd

Start date: June 2025

Previous Job: Head of College, Lifeworks Charity Ltd

Interesting fact: Karen says nothing has made her feel quite as old, or proud, as seeing her daughter now teach the same travel, tourism and aviation course that she taught when she started out in FE

Furkan Uddin

Assistant Principal Skills (Young People and SEND), Bradford College

Start date: August 2025

Previous Job: Head of Professional Services & Leisure, Bradford College

Interesting fact: Furkan enjoys travelling and new experiences. He climbed the Atlas Mountains 18 years ago in Marrakesh, scuba dived with seals in Antalya, snorkelled in the Red Sea in Egypt, and now enjoys the outdoor thrill of his Kawasaki motorbike

Jason Turton

Principal and CEO, Kendal College

Start date: August 2025

Previous Job: Deputy Principal (Curriculum and Quality), Barking & Dagenham College

Interesting fact: Alongside his career in education, Jason is also an electronic music composer. His tracks have featured in films, TV programmes and adverts; a creative outlet that fuses structured thinking with late-night synthesis

NTI for Newbury College from ‘serious cashflow pressures’

A Berkshire college has been placed in intervention after facing “serious cashflow pressures” from the high costs associated with a private finance initiative (PFI) contract.

Newbury College has also blamed “complexities” in the planning system for not being able to sell its Mayfield Point site, causing delays to much-needed cash receipts.

The Department for Education issued the intervention notice today after a “consequential slippage” in repayments of funding advances. Severe cashflow issues are one of several possible financial triggers for intervention. 

FE Week understands the college has not received emergency funding.  

Newbury College was unable to put a figure on its money troubles, but said it was working with the FE Commissioner to “quantify” the financial risk. 

Controversial contracts

Newbury College is one of only a few FE colleges to operate under a PFI. The contracts, greatly expanded under New Labour in the 1990s, saw private firms build and operated public sector infrastructure and facilities, with above-inflation repayments scheduled over many years. 

PFIs, typically used to fund schools, prisons and hospitals, were scrapped in 2018 after costs to the taxpayer reportedly hit £200 billion. 

The college’s latest financial accounts outlined the “very high costs” of its PFI, which is due to end in 2027. 

Accounts show deficits from PFI payments amounting to about £460,000 each year since 2018-19, including massive deficits from interest payments. It had a bill of £154,000 in 2018-19 for the interest alone. 

The college will no longer face financial deficits when the contract expires in July 2027, and has deployed a raft of initiatives to improve cashflow, such as maintaining student numbers, and “actively” managing cost-of-living increases and projected salary rises in its forecasts. 

A college spokesperson said the board and leadership team have been in discussions with the FE Commissioner’s office for several months regarding structured support for its PFI payments. They added that cashflow will be aided by a 25 per cent rise in student numbers over the last two years, they added.

It also received the first payment for the sale of an eight-acre plot in September 2023 for the Mayfield Point development, which aims to transform the site into a new supermarket, a care home, a hospice, sustainable housing, and an electric vehicle charging station. 

But a college spokesperson added that challenges with the planning and development process have meant that “the cash receipts have not arrived as quickly as planned”. 

Lee Probert, principal of Newbury College, said: “We continue to be focused on excellence for our students, embedding the key requirements for quality learning and developing skills for our communities. Whilst we are working hard with the FEC, our primary focus remains on providing ‘careers, not courses’. 

“We will continue to ensure a sustainable future for the college and the communities we serve.” 

Newbury’s NTI lists a range of requirements to meet before it can be released from intervention.  

College leaders must “work closely” with DfE’s PFI team on the “effective management” of the contract. Governors must approve a single improvement plan which sets out detailed plans for future savings with clear milestones that DfE will monitor.  

DfE also published its official NTI letter to South Devon College today, placing it in intervention for serious cashflow issues and emergency funding. 

FE Week revealed last month that the college had triggered intervention after requesting a two-year, £1.5 million loan from the DfE to ease cash flow pressures. 

WorldSkills UK names over 400 learners for 2025 national finals

More than 400 of the UK’s most talented students and apprentices have been named as finalists for this year’s WorldSkills UK national competitions, where they’ll battle it out to be crowned the country’s best across dozens of skilled trades.

WorldSkills UK revealed the finalists participating in 47 events at the national competitions in November. As well as gold, silver and bronze medals, winners get a chance to represent the UK at the global “skills Olympics” in Japan in 2028.

This year’s finals will be held in colleges and universities across south Wales for the first time after Greater Manchester passed over the baton.

Wales has a strong association with Team UK and sent three competitors to last year’s WorldSkills event in Lyon.

View the full list of WorldSkills UK 2025 national finalists

The 417 finalists were selected from nearly 7,900 young people who registered to showcase their skills and competed in regional events.

The national finals will take place at three FE colleges and two university campuses from November 26 to 28.

The 47 competitions include aircraft maintenance, welding and horticulture.

Medallists will be announced at an awards ceremony on the evening of November 28 at the International Convention Centre.

Foundation skills medallists will get their awards at a ceremony at Cardiff and Vale College earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, WorldSkills UK has made online benchmarking resources accessible to competitors on its Learning Lab platform.

Ben Blackledge, CEO of WorldSkills UK said: “With employers all over the UK crying out for high-quality skills this is a fantastic opportunity for hundreds of learners to show they are ready for work. I can’t wait to see the finalists in action.”  

Welsh Government skills minister Jack Sargeant hailed the move of the national competitions to Wales as “thrilling”.

“We look forward to showing off our beautiful country to visiting teams while our hard-working competitors prepare to demonstrate their training,” he said. “I’m keen to see our representatives excel once again across a range of disciplines on their home soil.”

Nicola Gamlin, principal at Coleg Gwent, said: “We are incredibly proud to be a host venue for the WorldSkills UK National Finals 2025. It is an honour for Coleg Gwent to host this prestigious event, which showcases the very best of technical education and skills excellence across the UK.

“Congratulations to all the finalists who have reached this stage. It’s a remarkable achievement and a reflection of your hard work and determination.”

Yearning for Herning

EuroSkills Herning 2025 will take place this September

The next international competition is EuroSkills 2025, which will be hosted in Herning, Denmark, in September.

The event will bring together 600 young professionals from 33 countries across the continent for a smørrebrød of competitions.

The Team UK line-up for Herning was announced in April, with 19 apprentices and students selected who are currently undergoing an intense training schedule.

Last month FE Week revealed WorldSkills UK’s government grant would be trimmed by 15 per cent for 2025-26.

WorldSkills UK told FE Week the cuts will not affect the national competitions. But it will cull some competitions at next year’s 48th WorldSkills international competition in Shanghai, China.

Contests being ditched include logistics and freight forwarding, software testing, and cloud computing.

It will also cancel its international skills summit, pause its equity, diversity and inclusion heroes awards, reduce its “international insights work” and scale back its careers resources.

However, the UK will continue to participate in the bricklaying competition in Shanghai, seven years after the UK last competed.

Squad UK for Shanghai has already been chosen, and training is underway.

‘Inadequate’ Furness College chooses merger partner

England’s only ‘inadequate’ rated further education college is set to merge. 

Furness College has been in FE Commissioner intervention since the Ofsted blow in November 2024. A structure and prospects appraisal was carried out to assess the college’s “future sustainability and long-term resilience”, and Blackpool and The Fylde College (B&FC) was “unanimously” selected as a merger partner. 

Leaders at both institutions have now agreed in principle to a merger, citing a “complementary” curriculum offer, particularly in defence

Both boards will now commence due diligence and hope to have merged by this time next year.

Alun Francis, CEO of B&FC, said: “We are delighted and honoured to be selected as the preferred partner for Furness College.

“This is a strong endorsement of the impact our colleagues deliver every day and of our ambitious plans for the future.

Furness College principal and CEO Nicola Cove, who is standing down in October, said: “This is an important step in defining the future of Furness College.

“Our board unanimously approved B&FC’s selection and we’re now entering a period of due diligence and planning to ensure our future merger is shaped collaboratively and is in the best interests of all stakeholders”.

Out of the Furness…

Furness College, based in Barrow-in-Furness, was dealt a grade four judgment by Ofsted in November 2024. Inspectors warned that falling achievement rates, poor attendance and weak quality assurance meant that “too many learners do not receive a high-quality education”.

The 2,000 learner college was subsequently placed in formal intervention with the FE Commissioner, who, in a published report in April, urged the board to act “with urgency” to rebuild its reputation and improve learner outcomes. Within weeks, the chair of governors stepped down and Cove announced plans to leave in October.

A follow-up monitoring visit in April found Furness was making ‘insufficient progress’ on improving teachers’ use of assessments to check what learners and apprentices know and using that information to plan learning. But on improving the leadership of quality, information for governors, teachers’ use of feedback and personal development curriculums for apprentices, the college was making ‘reasonable progress’.

Alun Francis

Despite the poor inspection outcome, Furness College has a financial health score of ‘good’ according to its latest accounts. 

…and into The Fylde

Francis, who also chairs the government’s Social Mobility Commission, said: “I held an informal briefing with Furness colleagues last week, and we’re looking forward to working more closely together in the months ahead to explore how we can combine strengths and create even greater opportunities for our students, colleagues and communities”.

B&FC, rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, trains around 13,500 learners a year and has ‘outstanding’ financial health. 

The colleges are around 22 miles apart as the crow flies, but fall on either side of Morecambe Bay. The trip by road is around 75 miles.

Mergers on the table

This comes amid several other recent merger announcements as colleges seek to shore up their standards and finances. 

FE Week revealed this week that Northern College, one of the country’s last remaining independent residential adult education colleges, is in talks to merge with Barnsley College.

Two Cheshire-based colleges, Cheshire College South & West (CCSW) and Macclesfield College are set to partner in July 2026. 

In Leicestershire, SMB Group has announced plans to dissolve and merge with Loughborough College on August 1.

Meanwhile in the south west, Bridgwater and Taunton College and Strode College will merge to become University Centre Somerset College Group on August 1, and Exeter College has opened merger talks with Petroc.

Amid online poison, colleges can’t defend cohesion alone

You don’t have to spend long at an FE college to realise the sheer scale of the pressure young people face today.

As a governor, I’ve come to appreciate just how hard staff work not only to support learners academically, but to protect their wellbeing, navigate safeguarding concerns, and increasingly challenge the digital ideologies shaping their worldviews.

Colleges like those in our group are doing far more than delivering qualifications. We are being asked to defend against social division, rising anxiety, misinformation, and, in many cases, genuine harm.

We rightly prioritise safeguarding and wellbeing. But we need to face a broader, more difficult question: how do we help young people feel they belong in a society where so much online content promotes division and distrust?

Online harm is more than a safeguarding issue

At STCG our latest termly safeguarding report showed issues related to mental health, self-harm and suicidal ideation. These are indications of a broader context in which young people struggle to find identity, belonging and safety.

Alongside this, there’s a quieter but persistent concern – the influence of ideologies online. We’re aware of students trying to access extremist content, and we’ve had to develop staff understanding around radicalisation pipelines, incel cultures and misogynistic narratives targeting vulnerable young people.

This is a new and emerging cultural and ideological landscape that our students are navigating daily, often alone, often late at night, and always without a filter.

To be clear, colleges are not standing still. We embed Prevent into our tutorial and enrichment programmes. Our “Be Safe, Be Successful” events cover everything from online safety and grooming to radicalisation and healthy relationships.

The data shows positive student engagement, and we are proactive in our partnerships with police, charities and local agencies.

But we have to be realistic about our limits.

FE learners are with us, on average, for two years. Staff have only a few hours each week to connect with learners, build trust, and equip them with life skills. Meanwhile, divisive voices – often high-profile political figures or online influencers – have 24/7 access.

As educators we can offer structure and support. But we can’t monitor their algorithm. We can’t undo a viral TikTok. And by the time a concern reaches us the damage may already be done.

What does community cohesion look like in FE?

There’s growing policy interest in “community cohesion”, and rightly so. But the sector needs clarity. Cohesion is not easily measured in data dashboards or inspection frameworks.

Students from different backgrounds are learning to trust and respect one another. It’s recognising when misinformation is being fed to them. It’s choosing dialogue over division. You can’t capture that in a multiple-choice test.

And when it works, it often goes unnoticed because it prevents problems from arising rather than reacting to them after the fact.

Colleges are expected to act as a final safety net, and we’re proud to do that. But we cannot and should not carry that responsibility alone.

If community cohesion is a shared national priority, then:

●      Funding must match the complexity of need, particularly around mental health and digital safeguarding.

●      Curriculum space should be protected for personal development, critical thinking and civic responsibility.

●      National messaging must support educators, not undermine them with contradictory narratives.

Crucially, we need a cross-sector response to the online landscape young people inhabit. Social media platforms cannot remain unaccountable while colleges are left to mitigate their impact.

FE is resilient but cracks are showing

I believe deeply in the power of FE. I see it in our students who overcome challenges daily. I see it in staff who go beyond the job description, because they know they might be the only adult a student trusts.

But I also see the cracks.

We are witnessing too many young people falter not just academically but socially and emotionally. And it’s not because they’re failing us. It’s because, in many ways, we are failing them by not meeting the scale of what they’re up against.

Colleges are doing what they can. But we cannot do it quietly, and we cannot do it alone.

We need a national conversation and shared commitment to equip young people not only with skills but also with the strength to stay grounded in a world that often feels unsteady.

The 14-16 funding gap is holding back technical education

The new industrial strategy states that the government will use the 16-19 high-value course premia to uplift funding to courses that support key sectors. It also acknowledges that the nation’s skills pipeline starts at school.

But as things stand, technical education courses at pre-16 will receive no such uplift. This leaves schools and colleges in the 14-16 space to deliver expensive technical courses that support high-growth sectors, with no extra funding.  

For Baker Dearing, which works to support University Technical College secondary schools, we believe that pre-16 providers should receive a technical subject funding uplift, as post-16 providers do.

If 14-16 providers are expected to prepare young people for the workplace, the technical education courses that deliver this should be supported by a corresponding funding uplift similar to that received by post-16 provision.

The Department for Education already gives different weightings to technical subjects at key stage 5. Key stage 4 providers facing high costs to deliver those subjects should receive the same support. This will ensure consistency, addresses cost disparities, and ought to encourage progression to T Levels and apprenticeships.

The high value course premium, for example, gives providers £600 for each student taking certain level three courses in specific subject areas; including engineering and manufacturing technologies.

The government guidance states the premium is “to encourage and support provision that leads to higher wage returns, to enable a more productive economy”.

An uplift to KS4 technical subjects would support this objective, through initiatives that can progress young people into high-paying careers such as the college sector’s expanding 14-16 provision and Baker Dearing’s own UTC Sleeve initiative. The latter involves placing a high-quality, technical pathway within mainstream schools to reverse the decline in key stage 4 technical education and promote progression to T Levels, apprenticeships, and STEM university courses.

Uplifting destinations

Technical education is expensive at any key stage: Specialist teachers must be recruited and industry-standard equipment must be purchased. Then the teachers must be trained to use the equipment, whether that be 3D printers, CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and manufacturing) or, eventually, quantum computers.

There are also the associated costs: maintenance, increased energy costs, and consumable materials. The DfE recognises the increased costs of this provision, which is why it provides the post-16 programme weightings.

The benefits from a KS4 technical funding uplift would be seen throughout the skills pipeline.  Last academic year, a fifth of UTC Year 13 leavers progressed onto an apprenticeship – four times more than the national average. We put that down to the fact most UTC students start at 14, or maybe earlier. They have the opportunity to study the technical subjects needed for work at a relatively early age. Also, as one UTC leader said to us recently, they learn what they do not want to do and can target their preferred destination.

That sort of progression is good for the student but also good for the economy, as more young people will be prepared through apprenticeships and T Levels for careers in high growth sectors like advanced manufacturing that were identified in the industrial strategy.

Youth unemployment could also be tackled

Technical education at key stage 4 can also be enjoyable and engaging for students. Ben Lydon, writing for FE Week last October, stated that 14-16 college provision shows students from disadvantaged backgrounds “a future more hopeful than the one they left behind”.

Just four per cent of UTC Year 13 leavers became NEET (not in education, employment or training) last year. At a time when one in eight young people nationally are out of work or training, we should seize on anything that helps reduce youth unemployment.

If the government wants to feed talented young workers into high-growth sectors and increase youth employment, then the case is clear for an uplift.