Reclaiming apprenticeships for the next generation

Apprenticeships offer a chance to change someone’s life.  

With an apprenticeship you get a wage coming in, skills developed and a career taking shape. That is why getting more young people into them matters so much. 

As it stands, the apprenticeships system has strayed from its intended purpose of lifting young people up.   

Apprenticeship starts have fallen across the board, with uptake for under 25s dropping by 40 per cent in the last decade. Fewer than half of new apprenticeships are currently taken up by young people, and when you dig into why, the same frustrations come up again and again.  

The system is hard to navigate. The options aren’t clear. Some apprenticeships on offer don’t match where the economy is actually heading.  

This comes at a time when nearly a million young people aged 16-24 aren’t in education, employment or training. That figure has been growing since 2022, and precisely the moment young people have needed opportunity more than ever, they have found the drawbridge being drawn up. We are unapologetic about changing this.  

Young people want to work, and they want to have opportunities to earn or learn and start building their future. And that’s why we’re tilting the growth and skills levy towards youth, taking the difficult decisions about what standards to streamline, moving away from management and other lower priority standards.  

There is nothing wrong with management training, it is of course of benefit to the economy. But it can’t come at the expense of a young person’s first opportunity in life, especially when there are so many other routes to getting that training. The public rightly expect apprenticeships to provide young people with a genuine route into skilled work and provide value for money. 

Addressing this historic failure requires ambition to meet the scale of the challenge. That’s why we’re going to back employers that are stepping up to the plate, with new suite of hiring incentives, including for SMEs. 

This is alongside the new foundation apprenticeships in hospitality and retail that will open up entry level routes for young people looking to get their foot in the door. Altogether, that means up to £8,000 of support available to the employer, depending on the circumstances of the young apprentice. It is a straightforward recognition that bringing someone into the workforce for the first time takes investment, and we want to make that easier. 

But beyond opening more doors, we need those doors to lead somewhere worth going. We should reject the false choice that more opportunities for our young people must come at the expense of growth for our economy.  

That’s why, taking advantage of the flexibility on offer with a reformed levy, Skills England has led the development of new short courses, called apprenticeship units, which meet needs as varied as AI, Solar panel installation and welding. This comes off the back of our announcement last month to ‘fast track’ approval of new standards that open up opportunities for young people and address skills gaps for critical infrastructure and major investment projects.  

Early unemployment is not just an inconvenience. It can shape a person’s confidence and prospects for years. A job is good, but an apprenticeship offers the better route to progression. Young people deserve chances to gain skills, carve out a career and succeed in their chosen field. 

Giving young people a genuine, navigable route into good work is one of the most important things we can do – for them, for the country and for the economy. And we can build a skills system that not only meets the needs of young people but also can adapt at pace to new innovations and developments like AI. 

We are committed to making that happen. Young people cannot afford for us to let up until it does. And the country stands to win if we succeed.

New level 2 admin apprenticeship limited to under-25s

A long-awaited level 2 administration assistant apprenticeship will only be available to learners aged under 25.

Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden has now signed off the new standard, with starts expected from August 2026 and a funding band set at £4,000.

The approval forms part of a wider government drive to refocus apprenticeships on young people and those out of work. Ministers have today also confirmed controversial plans to withdraw funding from multiple popular management standards.

The new administration assistant apprenticeship follows six years of lobbying from large employers, including the NHS and local authorities. They have argued the programme would help tackle rising numbers of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET).

However, ministers have agreed to the standard with an age restriction.

Only learners aged 16 to 24 will be eligible to take the apprenticeship with public funding.

It is the first time an apprenticeship has been given an age limit, aside from the government’s decision to withdraw funding for level 7 apprenticeships for people aged over 21, which came into force in January.

The Department for Work and Pensions told FE Week there are “currently” no plans to apply age restrictions to other apprenticeships.

Level 2 business administration was one of the most widely used apprenticeships under the previous framework system, recording around 30,000 starts each year. About 83 per cent of those starts were by under-19s.

The framework was closed to new starts in 2020, and several attempts to introduce a replacement standard were rejected until now.

A source close to the trailblazer group that developed the new standard said the age restriction was a “shame” but understandable given pressure on the apprenticeship budget.

“While we understand the plans to pivot apprenticeships back to young people, the level 2 business administration framework was utilised very well across a wide range of employers and sectors offering in work progression especially for those who had not achieved maths and English at school or ESOL learners,” the source said.

“It is a shame they will not have the same opportunities with this standard but we know there will be huge appetite and demand and therefore even more pressure on the levy.”

England’s apprenticeship budget overspent for the first time last year. FE Week previously reported that £43 million has been added in-year to the 2025-26 budget, bringing the total to £3.118 billion.

Ministers have become increasingly concerned about the rising cost of higher-level apprenticeships taken up by older workers, while starts at lower levels and among young people have fallen sharply.

The government is now attempting to “streamline” the system to control costs. Sixteen apprenticeships – mostly popular management programmes – were confirmed today for defunding.

A level 3 business administrator standard has been live since 2017 and remains consistently among the five most popular apprenticeships, with around 12,000 starts each year.

The introduction of a level 2 administration assistant apprenticeship is also expected to be popular – and potentially expensive – even with a relatively modest £4,000 funding band.

Apprenticeships purge: Team leader and chartered manager among 16 axed standards

Sixteen apprenticeships, including popular management standards with tens of thousands of annual starts, will be defunded as ministers attempt to divert training funding towards young people.

Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden will tomorrow (Monday) use a speech at Waltham Forest College to announce the “biggest transformation of apprenticeships in a decade” alongside a £2.5 billion expansion of the youth guarantee and growth and skills levy. 

McFadden will also confirm the first wave of seven apprenticeship units, a £2,000 apprenticeship incentive for small businesses and the introduction of foundation apprenticeships in retail and hospitality. 

To resolve the decade-long decline in the number of young people taking apprenticeships, McFadden will take aim at standards the government believes are better suited to other forms of workplace training.

Among those standards to be defunded are the level 3 team leader, level 5 operations manager, level 4 lead practitioner in adult care, level 5 coaching professional and level 6 chartered manager (full list below).

It comes two months after funding was removed from over 21 year olds taking level 7 apprenticeships.

McFadden said: “We are focusing funding where it’s needed most and giving employers the flexibility and support they’ve asked for.  

“These reforms will give young people a vital first step on the career ladder and help business leaders recruit the talent that will grow their companies.”

Stream if you want to go faster

The announcement ends months of sector speculation and concern from employer groups over a “streamlining” exercise designed to divert finite apprenticeship funding towards younger learners, first signalled by the chancellor in last year’s budget. 

Ministers are concerned about spiralling numbers of expensive higher-level apprenticeships being taken up by older workers, while starts at lower levels and among young people have crashed.

Apprenticeships in leadership and management quickly emerged as likely targets. Skills minister Jacqui Smith previously told FE Week those programmes were “not only not what people would traditionally think of as apprenticeships” but were areas employers should fund themselves.

FE Week found 619 independent training providers, colleges and universities currently deliver the apprenticeships targeted for defunding.

DWP told FE Week each affected training provider will be contacted following the announcement and will receive reasonable notice before funding is withdrawn. Defunding will not take place before September 1, 2026.

Team leader is the most popular apprenticeship to lose funding. Approved for delivery in 2016, it clocked 12,670 starts in the last full academic year (2024-25) across 450 training providers. Only 80 of those 12,670 apprentice starters were aged under 19.

Another popular apprenticeship, operations manager, was also introduced a decade ago. It had 12,530 starts last year across 398 training providers.

defunded apprenticeships
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Ben Rowland, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said: “Short-term subsidies and incentives, while welcome as an emergency measure, are not the basis for a sustainable and effective system.

“The government is dismantling the current system with the defunding of a number of cherished employer-led programmes, such as the team leader and management apprenticeships, but has not yet shown what their vision for the replacement system is.”

Click to enlarge

7 apprenticeship units unveiled

Seven short courses funded through the growth and skills levy are set to launch next month, but ministers have only now revealed what programmes will be available.

DWP said this first batch of units are aligned to the government’s industrial strategy priorities, adding that more will be developed in the future.

It’s not yet clear how many teaching hours these courses will require, how they will be assessed or how they will be funded, despite April’s launch date.

The first apprenticeship units are: 

  • AI leadership – developing AI strategy
  • Electric vehicle charging point installation and maintenance
  • Electrical fitting and assembly
  • Mechanical fitting and assembly
  • Permanent modular building assembly
  • Solar PV installation and maintenance
  • Welding

Hospitable foundations

The first seven foundation apprenticeships, which are level 2 apprenticeships aimed at young people lasting eight months, were launched in August 2025 in the construction sector, digital, engineering and manufacturing and health and social care.

However, official data covering the first few months of starts on foundation apprenticeships showed there were just 36. Two programmes, finishing trades and software and data, didn’t recruit at all.

Ministers previously came under fire for excluding high-demand industries from the offer.

McFadden will confirm foundation apprenticeships in hospitality and retail will launch this April.

Small and medium sized employers will have access to an apprenticeship incentive grant worth £2,000 for each new employee aged 16-24.

Employers offered £3,000 sweeteners to hire unemployed young people

Employers will be paid £3,000 for each unemployed young person they hire in a £1 billion expansion to the government’s youth guarantee scheme.

The government will also raise the upper age limit of the jobs guarantee scheme, which fully subsidises jobs for young people who have been unemployed for 18 months, from 21 to 24.

Latest quarterly estimates showed there are around 957,000 young people aged 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training (NEET).

Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden will announce a £2.5 billion “new deal” for young people in a speech at Waltham Forest College tomorrow (Monday).

Around £1 billion of that has been earmarked for hiring grants and subsidies for businesses to encourage them to hire young people. The rest includes reforms to apprenticeships, such as new foundation apprenticeships, alongside existing anti-NEET policies. 

Prime minister Keir Starmer said: “We are determined to tackle the rise in youth unemployment by expanding practical routes into work, boosting apprenticeships and giving employers the clarity they need.

“These reforms underpin our ambition to create an economy that works for everyone, closing the skills gap and supporting more young people into meaningful employment.”

Jobs granted

Taken together, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) hopes the new youth jobs grants and the expanded jobs guarantee will create 200,000 jobs for young people over the next three years.

The new youth jobs grants will pay businesses £3,000 for each unemployed young person aged 18 to 24 they hire. To be eligible, the young person will have to have been claiming universal credit for six months. DWP estimated this would get 60,000 young people into jobs over the next three years.

It is not yet clear when the grants will be made available, or if there will be any other criteria around how long the young person needs to be hired for.

It comes alongside an announcement of an apprenticeship incentive payment worth £2,000 for each 16 to 24 year old hired by a small or medium sized business. FE Week understands eligible businesses could claim both the youth jobs grant and the apprenticeship incentive simultaneously.

Jobs guaranteed

Around 35,000 more unemployed young people will be eligible for a government-subsidised job through the jobs guarantee, McFadden will announce. 

The scheme’s current upper age cap of 21 will be raised to 24 in August. This means the number of young people hoped to benefit from the scheme has risen from 55,000 to 90,000 over the next three years.

Pat McFadden

Once a young person has claimed universal credit for 18 months, they will be eligible for a six-month paid work placement through the jobs guarantee. 

The government is promising to cover all of each young person’s employment costs for up to 25 hours a week, alongside wraparound support to help them succeed and “transition into sustained employment”.

Phase one of the scheme is due to launch next month in six areas: Birmingham and Solihull, East Midlands, Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire and Essex, central and east Scotland and south west and south east Wales.

DWP will enlist local delivery organisations that will be paid up to £2,650 to provide jobs guarantee participants with wraparound support and training.

Stephen Evans, chief executive of Learning and Work Institute, said: “The government is right to extend help like the job guarantee to those aged 22–24, as this group is more likely to be NEET than the 18–21 year olds the policy was previously focused on. 

“There is still lots of work to be done, including proactively engaging the one in two NEET young people outside the benefits system and helping employers to give young people the first steps on their careers. If we all work together so every young person is able to make the most of their talents, we will all benefit.”

First FE provider to receive Ofsted’s lowest new grade

An apprenticeship provider with a 20 per cent achievement rate has become the first FE provider to receive Ofsted’s new lowest possible grade.

The watchdog handed an ‘urgent improvement’ rating to London-based adult care training firm JS Consult in the ‘apprenticeship achievement’ section of its report published today.

Inspectors reported that “achievement rates are too low and have been for the previous four years”, adding that too many apprentices have “not been prepared well” for their final assessments and leave their apprenticeship after they achieve their adult care diploma qualification.

JS Consult, which had 47 apprentices and 21 skills bootcamp learners at the time of the inspection in January, recorded a 20 per cent achievement rate in 2023-24, way below the 61 per cent national average.

The London-based provider’s Ofsted report also showed three ‘needs attention’ grades, including for leadership and management, and four ‘expected standard’ grades.

Leaders ‘have not acted quickly enough’

Today’s report marks the first FE provider to be awarded the lowest Ofsted grade since the watchdog abandoned overall headline grades in favour of a five-point scale in up to 16 individual areas.

Chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver has said the baseline expectation is for providers to achieve ‘expected standard’, while the highest grade of ‘exceptional’ will be awarded only in rare cases where exemplary practice in demonstrated.

JS Consult has been delivering apprenticeships in the health, social care and business sectors since it launched in 2009. It recently began offering skills bootcamps in adult social care.

Ofsted said the company’s leaders have expertise in the care sector and a clear curriculum intention of reducing skilled staff shortages. 

Apprentices also feel “well supported by tutors and value their guidance, frequent wellbeing checks and staff interest in their lives, especially when facing personal problems that affect their studies”.

But while leaders “know the strengths and areas for development of their curriculums, such as the very low-achievement rates for apprenticeships”, they have “not acted quickly enough to secure rapid improvement”. 

Inspectors made clear that achievement rates “have remained too low for too long”.

They added that although leaders now give apprentices more preparation for their final assessments and improved information and guidance on the importance of completing final assessment, it is “too early to assess the full impact of their actions”.

Staff were, however, praised for preparing apprentices appropriately to take their next steps, and noted that apprentices “move on to positive destinations such as sustained employment or promotion at work”.

Updated government accountability measures this year stipulated that apprenticeship providers will be considered ‘at risk’ if they receive an ‘urgent improvement’ judgment from Ofsted for any provision-type level evaluation area for apprenticeships.

The ‘at risk’ classification normally triggers a performance review and management conversation with the Department for Education. It can even lead to extreme measures such as contract termination.

JS Consult declined to comment.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 526

Jamie McVey

Chief Commercial Officer, Train’d Up

Start date: January 2026

Previous Job: Sales and Marketing Director, LMP Group

Interesting fact: With his grandfather having worked on Scotland’s steam trains, joining a specialist rail training company feels like a full-circle moment

Ross Crook

Chief Revenue Officer, Lifetime Training

Start date: March 2026

Previous Job: Global Managing Director – Talent Solutions, Morgan McKinley

Interesting fact: Ross used to compete in triathlons and completed 13 half iron man distance tris. These days it’s more padel, golf, and watching rugby!

More detail to come on 16-19 funding, says Phillipson

The education secretary has said the government will have more to say on 16-19 education funding following this week’s “disappointing” below-inflation per-student rate rise for the next academic year.

Principals reacted angrily to this week’s announcement that the 16-19 funding rate would only increase by 0.5 per cent in 2026-27, despite a pledge in October’s post-16 education white paper of “increased funding to provide real-terms per-student funding in the next academic year to respond to the demographic increase in 16-19 year olds”.

DfE also told colleges this week to plan for a freeze in the rate it pays to cover free meals for disadvantaged students in colleges in 2026-27 (£2.61), even though the equivalent funding has been increased (to £2.66) for schools.

Inflation was at 3.6 per cent when the white paper promise was made. Last month, it was 3 per cent.

Population-spiked colleges scrabble for cash ahead of real-terms funding cut

College leaders described this week’s 0.5 per cent increase to the 16-19 funding rate as a “betrayal” and told FE Week it would mean diverting funding away from areas such as high-needs provision and staff pay awards to cover the gap. DfE’s lagged funding model also means colleges have to front up funding for the rising number of students, which can cause cash flow challenges.

Following her keynote speech at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) conference in Liverpool today, education secretary Bridget Phillipson told FE Week colleges should expect more detail on 16-19 funding “in due course”.

Asked specifically about the broken white paper promise, Phillipson said: “We’ll be setting out more detail around this, but we have seen a big increase in the number of young people in post-16 provision. 

“We face a demographic shift. There are more young people, but we’re also seeing a welcome increase in the number of young people who are staying on in education. That’s a good thing, because we know that too many young people are NEET at the moment. But we’ll be setting that out in due course.”

Ofsted piloting recruiting inspectors en-masse from FE groups

Ofsted has announced a new way of recruiting “groups” of school and FE leaders to work as part-time inspectors, in a bid to make inspections “more collaborative than ever before”.

School and further education inspections are currently carried out by full-time his majesty’s inspectors (HMI) and contracted Ofsted inspectors (OIs), who are typically serving leaders.

OIs typically join Ofsted “as individuals”, but the inspectorate says this “can restrict chances for two-way professional reflection and shared learning”.

Under a pilot announced this morning, Ofsted is trialling recruiting OIs as “groups of peers drawn from professional organisations and networks they’re already part of”.

This includes schools, multi-academy trusts, local authorities, independent learning providers and general FE colleges.

But inspectors will not be paid directly, with payments instead going to their employers.

The scheme is already underway, says Ofsted, and is hoped to encourage OIs to “form a professional community with each other and with HMI”.

OI not paid directly, under scheme

Currently, contracted Ofsted inspectors are paid directly for their work.

As a team inspector on a school or college inspection, they receive a daily rate of £335 a day.

Any additional specialist activities, such as quality assurance or complaints investigations, are paid at a rate of £392 a day.

Under the new pilot, “there is no separate inspection fee”. Instead, Ofsted will contribute to employers’ costs so that staff can become an OI “as part of their professional development pathway”, said an Ofsted press release.

Ofsted confirmed contributions will continue to be paid to their employers, once they are fully trained.

The inspectorate added that it is developing “additional learning and development opportunities to complement inspection training and make sure becoming an OI offers clear professional value for participants and their employers”.

Ofsted said the OIs will have regular opportunities to share feedback with each other and reflect on what they’re seeing and learning. These experiences “will then feed directly into how Ofsted continuously improves inspection”.

Announcing the pilot at the Association of School and College Leaders’ annual conference in Liverpool, chief inspector Martyn Oliver said he is “really excited” about it, adding: “It means we can bring in current sector insight in a more systemic way.

“It means more people in the sector, inspecting the sector. Even more colleagues who understand what it means to lead a school through challenges, to make the difficult calls you all make every day.”

Join us as an inspector, Oliver tells leaders

Oliver said he wants to “bring in as many people in from the sector as possible”, to give leaders chance to lend their expertise and “shape how inspection works”.

“I believe this should be part of every leader’s journey,” he said. “So join us. 

“I want to make inspection more collaborative than ever before. We should work together to challenge each other in the interests of children and learners and to keep raising standards.”

Oliver stressed OIs recruited through the pilot will be trained “to the same high standards as existing OIs” and will carry out the same inspection work.

The first participants in the pilot began inspector training in January and now currently taking part in shadow inspections, said Ofsted.

They are expected to be ready to take part in live inspections later this term, and further cohorts will begin training later in the year.

The pilot will continue throughout 2026 and feedback will be gathered, to help inform how Ofsted recruit OIs.

Ofsted said it is also exploring whether a similar approach can be adopted across early years and social care inspection.

Population-spiked colleges scrabble for cash ahead of real-terms funding cut

College leaders have warned millions of pounds must now be diverted to fund thousands of extra learners after ministers “betrayed” the sector with a real-terms funding cut.

The Department for Education this week confirmed the national funding rate for 16 and 17-year-old learners would rise only 0.5 per cent in academic year 2026-27, from £5,105 to £5,133.

The move broke a pledge made in October’s post-16 education white paper which said there was “significant investment” available to maintain “real terms per-pupil funding in the next academic year to respond to the demographic increase in 16 to 19-year-olds”.

Principals told FE Week they could be forced to re-evaluate course provision for high-needs students, facilities expansion and staff pay awards to find money for unfunded learners.

Sudden increases in student numbers are financially risky for colleges due to the DfE’s “lagged” funding model, which allocates cash based on the previous year’s enrolments. When numbers surge, colleges must absorb the cost unless there is in-year growth funding. 

No growth funding was announced this week, and in previous years it was limited due to affordability issues.

‘Betrayal’

The government’s recent £800 million cash injection will be swallowed up by the estimated 20,000 extra 16 to 18-year-olds who entered colleges in autumn, according to the Association of Colleges (AoC). 

The AoC said there are around 32,000 learners currently at college who are unfunded.

The white paper pledged an annual £1.2 billion of additional investment in skills by 2028-29 to recruit FE teachers and “respond” to the demographic increase.

Julian Gravatt, AoC deputy chief executive, said: “The DfE calculation that there will be a 1.6 per cent [average per-student] increase shows that this promise hasn’t been kept, and right now, there is a lack of information on the overall budget.”

University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady said the rate increase amounted to a “betrayal”.

“Just six months ago, in his keynote speech to Labour conference, the prime minister pledged that improving further education would be the “defining mission” of his government and promised to inject hundreds of millions more into the sector,” she said.

Bill Jones, chief executive of Luminate Education Group, said the news was “disappointing to say the least”, adding that colleges were expecting a rise of around 2.5 per cent “given previous promises that ministers made of real-terms increases per pupil”.

Real-terms drop

This week’s announcement marks the lowest increase since funding rates were frozen in 2021-22. Last year, the DfE applied a 5.4 per cent above-inflation rise to the rate.

Imran Tahir, senior research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, explained the marginal uplift would result in a real-terms funding decrease for colleges’ 16-to-19 income.

Analysis by the IFS found real-terms funding per student aged from 16 to 18 fell by 14 per cent in colleges between 2010-11 and 2019-20.

Increased funding in the last six years has only partially reversed earlier cuts, and per-student funding in 2025-26 remains around 8 per cent lower than in 2010-11 in real terms.

Tahir added: “It’s difficult to know definitively what’s going to happen to funding rates next year. In previous years there have been top-ups later in the year that have changed the picture for 16-to-18 funding.”

The IFS had previously called for an extra £150 million by 2028 just to maintain per-student spending in real terms.

No top-ups expected

Guidance documents published this week did not specify details of any additional funding to support significant enrolment increases.

The DfE expects to notify 16-to-19 providers of their in-year top-up payments to accommodate this year’s estimated 20,000 extra 16-18 students by the end of this month.

College chiefs told FE Week they were drawing up budgets on the assumption they won’t see any in-year growth funding.

Tony Lewin, executive principal of one of the country’s largest college groups, NCG, said due to funding lagging by one year, it would constantly be playing catch-up.

“We know next year will be the same again and again. It’s a sunk cost. You’re not able to recover that in the short term,” he said.

“We’ve still got a lot of ground to make up to get back to where we were just before austerity around 2009.”

He claimed NCG had over 500 unfunded learners in its colleges, representing a £3.6 million shortfall.

Lewin has funded learners using money that would have otherwise been invested in facilities and resources.

NCG also faces staff-related pressures from the 30 to 50 per cent premium of hiring agency staff due to struggles in recruiting permanent employees.

In the East Midlands, student numbers at Nottingham College have grown by a third in four years to over 8,000 students this year, but 1,300 students are unfunded, incurring a cost of £10 million.

“We have not been paid anywhere near the full amount in-year,” said Andy Comyn, chief financial officer at Nottingham College. 

The college was paid for half of its extra learners in 2022-23 and the following year, but this dropped to one third for the next two years.

Nottingham College CEO Janet Smith said: “Not only have we had to address that deficit ourselves from within the rest of the budget, but it also positions FE very unfairly compared with HE and schools, both of which are fully-funded for their growth.

“It’s another example of FE being disadvantaged relative to other parts of the education sector.”

Smith told FE Week the shortfall was squeezing its headroom for staff pay awards.

“We would like to pay our staff more and we can’t.”

Meanwhile, Jones was optimistic that a “guaranteed and generous” in-year top-up was on its way.

“I would be cautious of expressing too much anger about this week’s announcement because of that optimism I have that the £800 million will be distributed in a slightly different way. We need to wait to see the full picture,” he said.

However, Luminate fears it could have costs of around £2.4 million from unfunded learners, creating difficulties with cash flow.

“It feels like all of our funding streams are under pressure,” Jones added.

Pressures on high-demand courses

Matthew Butcher, vice principal of commercial, skills and partnerships at New College Swindon, said his big worry was the knock-on effect of pressures to non-core subjects.

“If we have a lot of students that need to retake GCSEs, then that puts pressure on our English and maths teaching, which then knocks-on into adult English and maths capacity,” he explained.

Butcher added the college will feel the “biggest pinch” to accommodate around 200 unfunded learners with high needs but without EHCPs, which carries high operational costs.