ESOL addresses skills shortages; cutting it’s counterproductive

Around one in 50 people of working age in England have limited proficiency in English. This impacts on their ability to function in daily life, contribute to the economy and integrate into communities. 

As it is, ESOL provision and funding has decreased significantly over the last 15 years, while demand has risen. So, it is concerning to hear of councils which are considering reducing or removing funding for ESOL provision, which is key to upskilling those who speak English as a second language and creating benefits for the learner and contributions to the country’s economic growth.

Councils have legal duties under the Equalities Act and are required to undertake an equalities impact assessment. Therefore, cutting ESOL funding and access would be counterproductive. It could limit both the employment prospects of people with protected characteristics who don’t speak English as a first language, and affect community cohesion.

Meeting new English language requirements

Speaking English to a good standard is high on the government’s agenda, but an often-overlooked fact is that, of those people of working age who reported that they cannot speak English well or at all, 35 per cent have British nationality (2021 Census). 

In the recent post-16 education and skills white paper, we were reassured that the current adult ESOL​ offer​ would be reviewed to ensure it meets the needs of individuals to enable progression into employment or training. 

For this government’s aspiration to become a reality, there must be accountability about how money is spent locally. This is both the challenge and opportunity of devolution – an opportunity to be responsive to local employer needs, but equally with a possibility to frustrate central government ambitions.

Maintaining ESOL provision isn’t enough

Skills England has stated that the UK’s priority sectors will need 900,000 more workers by 2030. Upskilling is essential to realising this long-term growth.

If we are to address our skills shortage effectively, not only investing in, but rejuvenating our current ESOL offering can be the key to meeting skills gaps. However, it must be done in a way that is relevant for both learners and employers.

I am in agreement with those in the sector who have argued that positioning language development more firmly within the essential skills framework could, if managed well, strengthen pathways and progression.

Indeed, this wider debate overlooks the fact that current ESOL provision offers mainly just the lower level of learning. There is a need for quality English language provision that equips workers with the specific technical language required for skilled employment.

Having this in place could help realise the untapped potential of those skilled workers who come to the UK to fill skills gaps and contribute to the economy.

Much existing provision is not sufficient for equipping learners with the English language skills they need to access higher-level work or for further study, with 85 per cent of learners leaving ESOL provision with entry level 1-3 qualifications.

In the coming years, our biggest challenge will be ensuring that any investment in ESOL is implemented with the needs of these learners in mind.

A national vision for ESOL

English language learning helps people develop skills for our economy and participation in our communities. It is a vital stepping stone for individuals both new to the UK and for the third of the UK population who do not speak English well.

All this points towards the need for a national vision for ESOL. Any vision must be based on the principle of equitable access to high-quality, place-based ESOL across England.

Key ingredients to deliver this vision include clear and stable funding streams, regional coordination of provision, and qualification standards that meet language needs for life and work.

Ultimately, adults who have high English proficiency are more likely to be employed – and so prioritising ESOL offers a saving to the public purse by equipping everyone with the language skills to contribute.

Committee chair criticises DfE response to SEND report

The chair of Parliament’s education committee has criticised government for not directly addressing recommendations set out by its SEND report, calling on ministers to provide a “much more detailed response” in the new year.

The Department for Education has published a 14-page response to the education committee’s “solving the SEND crisis” report, which in September set out 95 recommendations for improving the system.

The report recommended ministers should create a ringfenced funding stream for special educational needs in FE. 

It also called on ministers to not remove statutory entitlements to education, health and care plans (EHCPs).

The government has also confirmed SEND tribunals will continue under its reforms, as new data published today showed a continued increase in the number of appeals against EHCP decisions.

Response ‘deliberately high level’

The DfE normally responds to each recommendation from the committee in full. Instead, the response published this week sets out only its principles of reform.

The government said its response “at this time is deliberately high-level and further detail on our plans for SEND reform will be set out in the schools white paper early in the new year following a further period of engagement with children and families”.

But committee chair Helen Hayes (pictured above) said while the committee “understands that the government isn’t in a position to answer our report’s recommendations in detail whilst it is still developing its SEND reforms”, the current response “will only suffice as an interim response”.

This is “because it does not directly address any of our report’s recommendations in the way that is expected of an official response to a select committee inquiry”.

“We expect the government to provide a much more detailed response to our recommendations early in the new year alongside the expected launch of the white paper.

“It is important that the extensive input from individuals and organisations, as well as the hard work committee, is respected and reflected in a detailed response from the government.”

Tribunals to remain

The government has also confirmed SEND tribunals – which rule on EHCP appeals – will continue, after new figures showed an 18 per cent increase in appeals in 2024-25 compared with the previous academic year.

There were 25,002 registered appeals last year, up from just 3,147 ten years ago. An age breakdown shows 7 per cent of appeals were for post-16 education.

Data published by the Ministry of Justice also shows that, as in previous years, the vast majority of cases – 99 per cent – that ended up at tribunal resulted in a finding in favour of parents. These are cases where the appellant wins the majority of the appeal. 

Last year, 14,009 appealed were decided on by judges. The decision was only upheld in 143 cases. 

Source Ministry of Justice

In its response to the committee, the DfE said it recognised “the need for clear, independent routes of redress, retaining the SEND tribunal as an important legal backstop for families who are unable to find resolution earlier in the process.

But it added that “all parties should work closely and collaboratively to develop solutions to their disagreements, so that children or young people get the support they need quicker without the need for a tribunal appeal”.

Schools minister Georgia Gould told an online consultation event this week the government was “really actively looking at” how to address needs without parents entering the “adversarial” tribunal process.

‘Barriers’ to resourced provision

Georgia Gould
Georgia Gould

Government is hosting nine face-to-face and five online events aimed at “putting families at the heart” of its plans.

But the “conversation” only runs until January 14 – and leaves little time ahead of the delayed white paper, expected to be published the same month.

Ministers have said they want to see more resourced provision for students with SEND.

Gould said government wanted to understand the “real barriers” to operating such provision.

Office for Students chief to leave at Easter

The chief executive of the higher education regulator will stand down earlier than planned.

Susan Lapworth is set to leave the Office for Students (OfS) at Easter, despite being appointed for a term that was due to end in August 2026. 

The announcement comes just weeks after the OfS published its new five-year strategy and follows the government’s post-16 education and skills white paper which bolstered the regulator’s role in overseeing struggling university finances, expanding higher technical education and cracking down on franchising fraud.

The OfS announcement did not include a reason for Lapworth’s departure. FE Week has approached the regulator for comment. 

In a letter to education secretary Bridget Phillipson, Lapworth said she was “hugely proud of everything we have achieved” since she joined, initially as director of regulation, in 2018. She became chief executive in May 2022. 

Lapworth said: “We have established a new regulator and a regulatory system focused on the interests of students in a sector that has never been regulated in this way before. And we have increasingly focused our regulation on the things that matter most. 

“We have acted where students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, are exposed to weak outcomes, poor academic experiences, or sexual misconduct. And we have robustly defended academic freedom and freedom of speech – the essential foundational values of all higher education.”

The move will mark the end of over a decade in higher education regulation for Lapworth, which began as registrar at the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the OfS’s predecessor, in 2014.

She was paid £175,000-£180,000 last year alongside a bonus of £15,000-£20,000.

Lapworth is the second senior OfS staff member to announce their departure from the organisation in as many months. John Blake announced last month he will not be renewing his term as director for fair access and participation. He was replaced on an interim basis by Professor Chris Millward, who first held the role when it was created in 2017.

Phillipson said: “I would like to thank Susan for her dedicated service to the Office for Students and to higher education. Her leadership has ensured that the OfS is now well placed to meet the challenges ahead and help the sector achieve the government’s vision. I wish Susan every success for the future.”

Aspiring successors only have until January 12, 2026, to apply for the role, which has been advertised with a four-year term of office and a salary of £145,000 per annum.

Ofqual: On-screen exams could be introduced by 2030

On-screen exams could be introduced for some GCSE and A Level subjects by 2030, the head of Ofqual has said, in a big step towards making exams digital.

Ofqual plans to allow exam boards to introduce up to two on-screen specifications for GCSEs and A Level qualifications with less than 100,000 entries per year.

Chief regulator Sir Ian Bauckham said it was “important to start small” and that Ofqual will “have a very close eye to fairness” when assessing proposals.

It comes after a three-year-long research project by the regulator and the Department for Education, published today, identified “potential benefits” but also “significant challenges” for on-screen exams.

Ofqual has launched a consultation on its proposals running until March 5. The regulator then plans to hold a technical consultation next year, and if plans proceed, exam boards can then submit proposals.

Boards have praised Ofqual’s “rigorous approach” despite plans limiting the scope of subjects eligible for on-screen assessments in the near future.

What subjects could have on-screen assessments?

Exam boards were developing plans for on-screen assessments – but announced they had been delayed in December 2024. All required Ofqual approval.

Pearson Edexcel wanted to give students the choice to take GCSE language and literature on-screen in summer 2025, and OCR had plans to launch a digitally assessed computer science GCSE.

AQA had published proposals for parts of GCSE Italian and Polish to be assessed digitally by 2026, with plans for bigger subjects to be partly on-screen assessed in 2030.

But Ofqual’s proposal means the majority of GCSE subjects would not be eligible for on-screen assessments.

Eligible subjects would include German, which had 32,430 entries last academic year, design and technology (77,770 entries), physical education (79,285 entries), food preparation and nutrition (55,035 entries) and drama (48,650 entries).

For A Level subjects, only maths (105,755 entries) would be disqualified for on-screen assessment, as all other subjects had below 100,000 entries.

Bauckham told FE Week’s sister publication Schools Week: “The first step here is the introduction of specific regulations, and that’s because at the moment, there is no regulation to manage the entry of on-screen qualifications into the market.”

He added it was “important to start small” by targeting GCSE subjects with lower uptakes, as it “would be lower stakes and easier for schools to deliver”.

On what subjects may be chosen by exam boards, Bauckham said: “We think it’s going to be a range. We’re not absolutely certain that all of them are going to submit specifications either.

“Developing a new specification does require resource that they will have to put in.”

On-screen and paper versions would be offered as completely separate qualifications, but it is not clear whether schools and colleges will be able to offer both qualifications with students choosing whether to take an on-screen or paper assessment.

‘A pragmatic way forward’

Exam boards have welcomed Ofqual’s proposals – despite the regulator limiting the subjects it could introduce on-screen assessments for. None shared details of which subjects they were considering.

AQA chief executive Colin Hughes said: “Not introducing digital exams would be a disservice to young people. In many cases, their future jobs will involve digital devices.

“We recognise there are concerns about issues such as fairness, sockets and space. That’s why we believe that digital exams should be introduced in a measured, paced way, beginning with subjects for which digital delivery offers a clear benefit, and where the shift is least disruptive”.

Myles McGinley, managing director of Cambridge OCR, said Ofqual’s “regulatory approach should be robust while allowing for innovation where it improves assessment experience”.

OCR said it will continue its work on a fully on-screen computer science GCSE and will consider other suitable subjects in the coming months.

Chief executive of WJEC Ian Morgan said the proposed cap of 100,000 maximum entries “offers reassurance to stakeholders, particularly schools and colleges, in managing the transition towards greater use of digital assessment and represents a pragmatic way forward”.

Morgan said there remains “substantial work” to be done to assess which subjects would be suitable for on-screen assessment.

Pepe Di’lasio, general secretary of the Association of College and School Leaders, said: “This would represent a significant change, with many practical issues, and a measured approach is the right way to proceed.”

‘Very close eye to fairness’

The exams regulator would also publish guidance on platforms and devices that would be suitable for use in on-screen exams. Students would not be able to use their own device.

Bauckham said when assessing proposals, Ofqual “will have a very close eye to fairness, and anything that is demonstrably going to increase unfairness will be pushed back, and they’ll be asked to think again before they can market it to schools and colleges”.

Schools and colleges will be given three years with an assessment specification before an exam takes place. Two of these will teaching years. 

This means the first-on screen assessment would likely be taken towards the end of the decade, Ofqual said.

Research carried out by Ofqual and the DfE found “potential benefits such as improved accessibility, particularly for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), greater operational efficiency, and alignment with a digital society”.

But it continued there are “significant challenges” including “unequal access to digital technology, inconsistent IT infrastructure, technical risks and concerns about fairness, standards and delivery”.

When you look, suicide dangers are everywhere in our colleges

I’ve had enough of the tragedy. Earlier in my career, students I knew were lost through violence. Knives, guns, silly misunderstandings or random unfortunate encounters.

Having been through that, I never ever want to shake another mother’s hand following the murder of her son, trying feebly to express my sympathy in the face of an all-consuming and unfathomable loss that can never be eased or really lived with.

And neither do I ever again want to see parents, siblings or friends broken by the aching, chasm-cracking grief that follows the self-directed violence of yet another student suicide.    

 I’m not sure those outside education know what is going on amongst our much-maligned Gen-Z population. An Association of Colleges report last year revealed that 75 per cent of FE colleges had five or more students who attempted suicide over the previous 12 months, while 30 per cent reported 10-14 such attempts. Many had more.

Maybe this news has come to most people only as a rumble, distant and quickly passing on the horizon of their awareness. It might even sound hyperbolic or far-fetched.

But it seems that suicide is at pandemic levels for this generation. Over the course of my career, I’ve known more students die by their own hand than from cancer, accidents or any other single cause.

A recent Department of Education review placed greater responsibility on universities to consider the safety of student accommodation from a suicide-prevention point of view. Rightly so.

I’ve seen bright young people who were bursting with life leave our care at college only to then get lost in the wider world of HE, some of them never to return home again.

HE must do what it can to prevent this. Nobody disputes that. But the responsibility placed on HE institutions has forced me to consider our position in FE too.    

There’s one area in particular which should stop us in our tracks. You should try walking around your college with the eye of a young person struggling with suicidal ideation. It’s an act that demands some empathy.

What do you see from such an awful angle? Easily-accessed workshops filled with blades? Toilets in which someone could lock themselves away and forever disappear from view?   

Maybe, and perhaps most shockingly of all, you start to see the far more fundamental and structural dangers. Many of our college architects of recent years seem to have fallen in love with walkways and balconies.

They provide wide vistas and a sense of scale that might well befit an institution of learning which seeks to open up horizons. They look great, those airy atriums surrounded by floors and floors of learning spaces suggesting scale and ambition.

But now imagine you’re a young person who is finding everything too much. What the dizzying drops now suggest starts to look very different.  

I don’t know what to do with the fear this realisation has chilled me with. I don’t know how to retro-fit a college to ensure it is suicide-proof. Maybe that isn’t even possible.

You could employ the kind of netting you see in prisons, which would of course change the whole dynamic and feel of a place, but is that really any kind of solution? You could raise balustrades to make them harder to breach. I just do not know.   

I’ll care for the young people in my charge as pastorally as a subject teacher possibly can. I’ll watch for when they’re moving towards the edge. I’ll flag to them the phenomenal services and counselling our colleges try to provide. I’ll do whatever I must to help them navigate this tricky time of life in these pressurised days.

But I cannot help worrying that we’re walking in a dream every time we go blithely through another day without a preventable disaster happening somewhere on our FE estate.   

I never want to meet another stunned mum or see another heartbroken dad. So maybe we in FE need to be raising our voices just a little bit more, shouting and screaming to shock wider society into awareness. Before another voice is all too suddenly stilled.     

How a £25m crisis and intervention forced us to rebuild – and made Brooklands stronger

After an intensive six years of FE Commissioner intervention, Brooklands Technical College proudly achieved its standalone status as an independent provider in September.

This journey was triggered by a subcontracting issue that exposed the college to a £25 million debt repayable to the Department for Education.

This crisis brought us to the brink of insolvency and destabilisation. But while the last six years were challenging, they were also immensely rewarding.

I share this journey because the intervention period profoundly shaped my leadership. I learned that leading transformation is as much about emotional intelligence and managing change as it is about finance.

The framework of intervention created an environment of pace, focus and purposeful action.

My priority was to build a firm foundation for prosperity. To achieve this, my leadership strategy concentrated on two distinct, yet parallel, areas, which enabled me to compartmentalise the crisis:

  • Sustaining core operational success, which meant relentlessly focusing on the college community to ensure our learners, stakeholders and wider community received high-quality provision.
  • Navigating the political landscape and managing the financial crisis bydirectly addressing the £25 million debt via immediate curriculum efficiencies, and generating sufficient cash to repay a significant proportion of the money owed.

Culture changes

Firstly, we created a culture of collective ownership and fostered a sense of belonging for our staff (belonging@brooklands) by establishing new shared college values.

This created an inclusive and inspirational learning environment and provided the framework for our professional standards, behaviours and expectations.

In synergy with the governors, we made a bold decision to rebrand, using our new identity to redefine our place in the communities we serve.

We fostered deeper alliances with our local employers and borough councils. This wasn’t merely dialogue; it was a strategy to ensure the college’s curriculum aligned directly with local economic need.

Gaining community trust through clear, consistent communication enabled us to demonstrate relevance and secure backing for the college’s growth and capital project.

The capital project, (two new-builds and three major refurbishments) was financed through land sales and grants from the Education Skills Funding Agency and Surrey County Council. 

I constantly reflected on how I would lead and navigate staff, students and stakeholders to preserve the college’s future.

In synergy, I was managing high-level communication with the DfE whilst working to project a sense of resilience and confidence to my team. Crucially, it demanded complete transparency and a willingness to be held accountable by our corporation and external partners, whose endorsement was essential.

Secondly, on the point of navigating the political landscape, every intervention milestone was internally translated into a critical objective, allowing us to maintain the stability of the college community while simultaneously meeting external demands.

Proactive partnership

At no point was the learner experience, our ultimate purpose, allowed to falter.

I shifted our relationship with DfE and the FE Commissioner from one of transactional compliance to a proactive, solution-focused partnership. We demonstrated progress through an open and honest approach, communicating not just our achievements but also our challenges.

This transparency gained their trust and secured their endorsement. Strategic oversight of these key areas running in parallel, for six years, enabled us to channel our energies and secure stability.

Exiting intervention means taking back full control of our destiny. My role now transitions from leading a recovery to leading a sustainable legacy.

The resilience developed in the past six years is not a reaction to a debt, but a proactive mindset, defining our college as a dynamic, independent anchor for the local economy and educational landscape for years to come.

Intervention advice

To the FE Commissioner, those who have lived through intervention have valuable insight that could enhance future policy design. We will be happy to share our experiences with you.

To sector colleagues going through the process, reach out as much as you can to experts and colleagues who can support you. This was critical for me and I thank all the FE leaders and my executive coach for being my critical friend and for listening.

Be kind to yourself too. Intervention can be a turbulent environment. However, it can also be a purposeful, rewarding and powerful learning experience – if you have the appetite.

Dame Ann Limb becomes a Baroness

Dame Ann Limb has become the first former further education college principal to be appointed to the House of Lords.

Downing Street announced this afternoon the life peerage has been approved by The King on the recommendation of the prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer.

Limb will sit on the Labour benches and will take the title Baroness Limb of Moss Side in the city of Manchester and the county of Lancashire.

Limb, who grew up in Moss Side and currently chairs The Manchester College, said: “Having worked in and championed FE colleges for half a century, the cosmos has conspired to put me in the right place at the right time. Improving skills levels of all young people and adults is critical to strengthening the nation’s economic, cultural and social fabric. I want to play a role in making this happen.”

She led Milton Keynes College for a decade from 1986 before moving to Cambridge Regional College from 1996 to 2001, and led Learndirect in its formative years until 2005. 

She is currently chair of The King’s Foundation, the City & Guilds Foundation, Lloyds Bank Foundation and the Lifelong Education Institute. Limb is also pro chancellor of the University of Surrey and founder and vice president of the Helena Kennedy Foundation, a charity that has supported thousands of students to access higher education. Limb made headlines as the first woman to chair The Scouts and City & Guilds.

Queen Elizabeth II made Limb a dame in her 2022 birthday honours for services to young people and philanthropy.

Limb said: “I have not spent my career believing I would ever be offered a life peerage. However, the opportunity to serve as a life peer in the House of Lords is an experience my parents and grandparents would have deemed both inconceivable and incomprehensible.

“My decision to accept this honour follows a period of personal reflection and discernment over the last two months. In this, I have been sustained by prayer and upheld by my life partner, Maggie Cook. As a Quaker, and as a peer, I shall be guided in all decisions I take by my faith, values, conscience, and independence of mind.”

An outspoken advocate for the sector and its students, Limb has championed inclusion, social justice and leadership. She recently spearheaded the historic sale of City & Guilds to PeopleCert, securing ongoing “significant investment” in the now independent City & Guilds Foundation.

Among Starmer’s other appointments for life peerages was Sir Michael Barber, who was a skills policy implementation adviser under the last government, and Russell Hobby, the former CEO of Teach First and former general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers.

Pearson drops out of EPA top 10 list

Awarding giant Pearson has fallen out of the top 10 largest apprenticeship end-point assessment organisations after almost halving its number of EPA completions last year.

The finding was part of Ofqual’s annual round-up of EPA statistics, published today for the period March 2024 to February 2025.

It comes as the government pushes through controversial reforms that involve scrapping EPA and replacing it with a new streamlined version of assessment for apprentices.

Here’s what we learned from today’s Ofqual data.

City & Guilds dominates as Pearson falls off

City & Guilds of London Institute delivered the most Ofqual-regulated apprenticeship assessments for the third year running. 

In 2024-25, 18,610 EPAs were completed by City & Guilds – 12.5 per cent of all in-scope assessments. 

There were some moves in the top 10 most prolific EPAOs.

DSW Consulting and NOCN were new entries with 5,050 and 4,050 EPA completions respectively.

Meanwhile, Pearson Education Ltd and VTCT dropped out of the top 10.

Pearson dropped from 6,630 EPA completions in 2023-24 to 3,650 in 2024-25. VTCT’s total completions dropped slightly from 4,150 to 3,935 over the same period.

Ofqual’s data does not provide a breakdown of awarding bodies’ EPAs by standards or pass rates.

First-time pass rate returns to the 90s

Between March 2024 and February 2025, EPAs in 616 apprenticeship standards were in scope for Ofqual regulation. Out of the 157 awarding organisations recognised by Ofqual to offer EPAs, 139 AOs delivered EPAs across 491 apprenticeship standards.

A total of 153,155 EPAs were completed over this period.

Overall, the average first-time pass rate for Ofqual-regulated EPAs in 2024-25 across levels 2 to 7 was 90.8 per cent. 

This was a slight rise from the 89.7 per cent first-time pass rate recorded in 2023-24. In 2022-23, the first year this data set was published, the first-time pass rate was 91 per cent.

There was a 6.8 percentage point difference between the highest and lowest first-time pass rates by level in 2024-25.

Assessments on level 2 standards, of which there were 38,480 last year, had a first-time pass rate of 89.7 per cent, whereas non-degree apprenticeships at level 7 had a first-time pass rate of 96.5 per cent from 9,615 completed EPAs.

First-time pass rates fall slightly as each level gets lower.

The vast majority (72,305) of in-scope EPAs were at level 3, which had a first-time pass rate of 90.3 per cent, followed by level 2 which had a first-time pass rate of 90.6 per cent.

Senior leaders most likely to pass first time

Apprentices on the level 7 senior leader standard had the highest first-time pass rate – 99.5 per cent of 4,050 completed EPAs were passed the first time. 

This was followed by a 95.9 per cent first-time pass rate for the level 5 operations manager apprenticeship, and 95.7 per cent on the level 3 lead adult care worker apprenticeship.

Ofqual’s figures only list first-time pass rates for the 10 most popular apprenticeships.

Ranked ninth and tenth were the early years educator level 3 standard and the level 3 engineering technician with first-time pass rates of 85.2 per cent and 77.6 per cent respectively.

Business route is the most popular

Mirroring previous years, by far most EPAs were delivered in the business and administration subject route, taking up 22.7 per cent of all EPAs passed between March 2024 and February 2025, 34,780 in total. 

Engineering and manufacturing was the next most popular apprenticeship route, with 15,600 regulated assessments, followed closely by education and early years, which had 15,035.

At the other end, the creative and design route had 765 completed EPAs, protective services had 3,115 and hair and beauty had 3,425.

What LSIPs need to cut through the noise and make an impact in 2026

How employers, providers and local leaders work together to equip people with the skills their areas need is about to change.

Work is underway across England to produce the next round of Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), with updated government guidance just published. 

This refresh matters to the economy. With the country facing well-known productivity and unemployment challenges, LSIPs offer an opportunity to deliver skills plans that make tangible inroads. 

As we look to 2026, the question is whether LSIPs can now prove their value. There are four factors at play that will shape the answer to this challenge.

Navigating complexity

LSIPs sit within a patchwork of policies and plans that point to the same goal: boosting productivity and growth. There are now several government initiatives that come forward together alongside LSIPs; the new industrial strategy with its associated sector plans, skills packages and now jobs plans, emerging local growth plans and the Get Britain Working white paper.

This is a complex landscape for LSIPs to navigate. LSIPs are expected to face two ways at once: driving productivity by responding to the industrial strategy and their area’s local growth plan, while supporting efforts to re-engage people in the labour market through Get Britain Working.

These two missions are not the same. The sectors at the heart of growth strategies – digital, engineering, green technologies – are not typically the ones providing large numbers of accessible jobs for unemployed or economically inactive people.

Balancing those priorities requires careful judgement and clarity about what each LSIP needs to achieve. Their task throughout is to stay focused on occupations where training can address local needs.

Engaging providers to shape provision

Good LSIPs also bring clarity for providers about what their strategic authority and employers expect of them.

The focus in the refreshed LSIP guidance on identifying priority occupations is therefore welcome, because this better enables providers to identify relevant technical education provision. 

Collaboration is key here and LSIPs provide the bridge towards this. Under the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, providers must engage with their local LSIP. This statutory footing means LSIPs should take precedence over overlapping local skills and labour market strategies that many colleges already juggle. This clarity is no bad thing for providers.

Providers’ expertise about technical education delivery, curriculum design and funding mechanisms is essential for delivering skills plans that local areas need to thrive.

Sitting alongside an area’s local growth plan and Get Britain Working plan, LSIPs bring post-16 education and training into a more central role in the drive for local growth and opportunity.

Employers at the heart of skills planning

As LSIPs evolve, one principle must remain constant: employer leadership. LSIPs were created to ensure local training and qualifications reflect real business needs.

The new guidance expects employer representative bodies to be at the heart of skills planning. These bodies learned a great deal from the first phase of LSIPs. Many will be determined to make the next generation of plans more practical, focused and better connected to local priorities.

Beyond this, it’s essential to LSIPs’ credibility that employers are at the forefront of skills plans. Strategic authorities should consider these bodies the lead for employer-facing activity on skills.

Governance of LSIPs should also be employer led. Without this, LSIPs risk being seen as another bureaucratic layer rather than a bridge between education and the economy.

Making collaboration work

The best LSIPs will blend collective strengths between employer insight and provider expertise. For the first time, there is a structure through which employers, providers and local political leaders can co-own a shared plan for skills that supports growth and inclusion.

Strategic authorities should see strong LSIPs with actionable priorities as a step forward for devolution, because it helps post-16 education and training meet local needs.

To make that work, the next wave of LSIPs needs constructive engagement by providers, employer representative bodies and regional leaders to shape clear priorities and build a curriculum response.

Lots has changed since LSIPs were first published in 2023. LSIPs have the right statutory basis, political backing and policy direction.

The challenge is to take this opportunity by prioritising employer leadership, strengthening collaboration, and delivering the skills that support local growth.