‘Clearance style’ apprenticeship pilot to be run by mayors

An apprenticeship brokerage pilot run by metro mayors will offer a university “clearance style system” for young people whose applications have been rejected, the government has said.

It comes as the government confirmed plans for students to be able to apply for apprenticeships through UCAS alongside an undergraduate degree application have been dropped.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said the new £140 million pilot will help young people who narrowly miss out on an apprenticeship to find alternative opportunities locally, echoing the role UCAS clearing plays for higher education applicants.

The scheme, first announced in December, will be run in partnership with metro mayors and employers and will focus on matching so-called “near miss” candidates with similar vacancies in their area.

A DWP spokesperson said further details on where and when the pilot will operate are “to come shortly”.

The move comes after the government confirmed it has shelved plans for apprenticeship applications to be handled through UCAS’ website – a commitment announced in 2023 that was due to take effect from 2024.

DWP told FE Week today there are “currently no plans to run apprenticeship applications through UCAS”. 

Filling the gap

Alongside the mayoral brokerage pilot, ministers have promised a new online platform – funded from existing budgets – to provide clearer information on apprenticeships, including pay, progression routes and career outcomes.

Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden said the reforms would give young people “a second chance” if they miss out on their first-choice apprenticeship.

“Clearer information, better support, and real opportunities will help more young people get into jobs of the future,” he said. “And we’re giving those who miss out on their top choice apprenticeship a second chance by matching them with another opportunity in their area.”

While the locations are yet to be announced, the DWP announcement included supportive comments from mayor of London Sadiq Khan and West Midlands mayor Richard Parker.

This weekend, the government also announced plans to cut the time it takes to update apprenticeship and develop short courses to meet urgent skills demands.

Repackaged announcement?

The £140 million pilot was originally unveiled in December as part of a wider £750 million package for apprenticeships.

At the time, ministers said the mayoral brokerage would help connect young people – particularly those not in education, employment or training (NEETs) – with local employers.

The wider package included funding to make apprenticeship training free for under-25s at SMEs, develop short levy-funded AI courses, and introduce foundation apprenticeships in sectors such as hospitality and retail.

However, the government has yet to clarify how the £750 million will be divided between initiatives or over what timeframe it will be spent.

The apprenticeship budget for this year is fixed at £3.075 billion.

In response to a freedom of information request, DWP officials declined to provide cost breakdowns or delivery timelines, confirming only that the £750 million “will be met from the overall annual English apprenticeship budget”.

Officials also refused to set out how the measures would generate the promised 50,000 additional apprenticeships, saying forecasts were “highly sensitive” and needed to be developed in a “safe space”.

UCAS currently runs a clearing service between June and October to match applicants with unfilled university places.

While it added apprenticeship vacancies to its website in 2023 and will begin recognising level 3 apprenticeships in its tariff points system later this year, it has stopped short of hosting apprenticeship applications.

Plans for apprenticeship applications to be processed through UCAS in 2024 were dropped, leaving apprenticeship applications to continue to only run through the government’s Find An Apprenticeship website.

UCAS told FE Week the application process plans fell through because there is no commonly agreed timeframe for apprenticeship applications, as each organisation sets its own deadlines and start dates.

Ministers to slash update approval times for some apprenticeships

Ministers have pledged to cut the time it takes to update apprenticeships and develop new short courses linked to major infrastructure projects to as little as three months.

Under the plans, announced ahead of National Apprenticeship Week, the government will “fast-track” cases where rapid changes to apprenticeships are deemed necessary to meet urgent skills demands.

However, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has not specified which apprenticeships or courses would benefit. It told FE Week it is still working with employers to identify which apprenticeship updates or new short course approvals should be prioritised.

Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden said the reforms would “slash bureaucracy” and help young people move into skilled jobs more quickly.

McFadden is due to appear on Sunday morning’s politics shows to promote the policy ahead of National Apprenticeship Week, which begins on Monday.

Employers and training providers have long complained about the time it can take to update apprenticeship training, particularly in fast-moving sectors such as technology.

The same, but faster

Skills England, an executive agency of DWP, oversees the development of apprenticeship standards and updates to approved standards. Groups of employers propose changes to training content, assessment plans and funding bands, which are then reviewed by officials – a process DWP said can currently take 18 months.

The department confirmed every stage of the existing process will remain in place under the reforms, with steps expedited rather than removed.

McFadden said: “Britain’s future depends on getting more young people into good jobs with real prospects. These reforms will slash bureaucracy so we can train people faster in the industries where they’re needed most.

“We need to give more young people a faster route into secure, well-paid work by ensuring British businesses have the talent they need to grow.” 

While it is unclear which apprenticeships or courses will be fast-tracked, the announcement emphasised “growth sectors”, “high-quality jobs” and “major projects”.

The new system will “focus on making quick revisions to existing standards, for example updating construction standards in the light of regulatory changes following Grenfell,” DWP said.

The announcement comes alongside wider funding reforms due to take effect from April, which will allow employers to spend levy funds on shorter, non-apprenticeship training called “apprenticeship units” as well as full apprenticeships. 

It also lands amid a controversial “streamlining” exercise that could see some apprenticeships removed altogether, as ministers and officials grapple with keeping the apprenticeship budget under control.

Ben Rowland, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, welcomed the promise of a speedier system but warned ministers against limiting reform to high-profile projects.

He said: “AELP welcomes this announcement of a faster, slicker system and our members stand ready to respond and adapt to deliver new and updated programmes.

“Our challenge to government is that if the process can be made quicker and more credible for employers working on major projects, the same approach must be rolled out across the wider skills system, where clunkiness, slowness and misfiring sectoral engagement have been a chronic issue.”

Britain needs fewer rip-off degrees and more apprentices

For a country to be successful, its education system must enable its citizens to achieve their full potential. The world is an ever more competitive place and with the advent of AI, technology is transforming the way we work, the way we live and the way our nation’s future will be shaped.

While university is a great option, so are apprenticeships. Crucially apprenticeships are varied and wide-ranging. Nowadays young people can do apprenticeships in finance, software design and the green economy. In fact, I often wonder if apprenticeships were offered like they are now, whether I would even have gone to university in the first place. I am just better at learning when I am more hands-on, watching others, learning practically.

That is why this National Apprenticeship Week we need commit to turbo-charging apprenticeship uptake, giving people choice and flexibility as they choose their way in life. When I was president of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, too often I heard from employers about how great their apprentices were and the value they brought to their business. Crucially, these apprentices weren’t just on their first jobs. They were starting careers, inserting themselves into the DNA of their chosen businesses and becoming the future leaders of tomorrow.

While there is broad agreement among most politicians about the value of apprenticeships, just last week, analysis of data from the Centre for Social Justice showed that there were over 700,000 university graduates out of work and claiming benefits. That should tell us all that too many are ending up in university with degrees that won’t end up in jobs and huge amounts of debt at the end of three years of academic learning. That isn’t good for them and that isn’t good for the country. This is why turbo-charging apprenticeship uptake must be a national mission for all of us.

The economic case for apprenticeships is strong too. Apprenticeships offer immense value for money. For every £1 invested in level 3 apprenticeships, there is a £28 return to the wider economy. They’re also a fantastic way for businesses to tailor people’s skills for the specific role, and critically, they don’t burden people with the huge student debts that come with going to university.

The Conservatives recognise this. That’s why Kemi Badenoch committed to doubling England’s apprenticeship budget at conference.

We would fund this increase by cutting funding for rip-off degrees that leave young people with poor job prospects and an inability to pay off their crippling student debt. At present, taxpayers have to spend around £8 billion per year writing off unpaid student loans. This is a complete injustice. Hardworking taxpayers – many of whom have never been to university themselves – should not be forced to pick up the burden for poor-quality degrees that don’t get a good return.

That’s why the Conservatives want a more balanced approach that puts apprenticeships front and centre of our further education system. With nearly 1 million young people not in work, employment or training, it is clear that investment in apprenticeships is essential if we are to get the economy moving again.

The Conservatives can speak on this with great authority. As the party of aspiration, I am proud that the Conservatives created 5.5m apprenticeships between 2010 and 2024. Let there be no doubt that we are resolute in our ambition to get our young people into secure work. They deserve hope and they deserve a future. Or to adapt what Margaret Thatcher once said, when it comes to our future generations, apprenticeships are vital in “turning mirrors into windows”.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 522

Rachel Butt

Chief Learning Officer, Learning Curve Group

Start date: January 2026

Previous Job: Director of Excellence, Learning Curve Group

Interesting fact: Rachel endured the equivalent of 35 years’ worth of Ofsted inspections – 7 across the group – in her first year at LCG

Chris Duncan

Vice Principal, Finance and Resources, Leeds College of Building

Start date: January 2026

Previous Job: Deputy Director of Finance, Leeds Trinity University

Interesting fact: Chris first walked through the doors at Leeds College of Building almost twenty years ago as a first-year trainee with KPMG as part of their audit team

London’s adult ed job payments fall flat

A London scheme that paid £400 for every adult learner who found work in key sectors used only 2.5 per cent of its £5.4 million budget, FE Week can reveal.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan began offering job outcome payments from the capital’s adult skills fund through his Mayor’s Skills Academies programme in 2021.

Colleges and providers could claim a £400 “bonus” if a learner landed a job related to one of the mayor’s priority sectors within five months of completing an AEB-funded course.

But only £142,269 was paid out for job outcomes – from the £5.4 million available between 2021-22 and 2024-25.

And college and provider leaders complained the volume of paperwork involved meant the payments were a waste of effort.

The GLA stopped offering the payments last April after admitting take-up was “lower than expected”, but plans to re-introduce incentives with updated criteria this year.

Quality and outcomes

Job outcome payments are not usually offered to colleges or training providers through the government-managed adult skills fund, but have grown in popularity among mayors who control their own budgets.

Announcing the approach in 2018, Khan said the skills system was “too heavily focused” on delivering qualifications rather than “quality and outcomes”.

Then in 2020 the government launched skills bootcamp training courses for adults, which offer training providers a final “milestone three” payment of 20 to 30 per cent of funding per learner if learners achieve a “positive” job outcome.

Other combined authorities including West Midlands, Liverpool City Region and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough also offer payments of up to £400 for providers whose learners move into jobs after completing a work-focused training programme, although the level of uptake has not been shared publicly.

Gareth Thomas, a skills policy adviser and former director at the government’s Learning and Skills Council, welcomed the renewed interest in job outcome payments after working on national programmes that offered them in the late 2000s.

But he warned incentives for providers must be “at a level” that makes them worth the additional paperwork needed to prove learners have secured work.

London’s ‘academies’

London’s job outcome payments were available through the Mayor’s Skills Academies, a long-running programme that has co-opted colleges, independent training providers, local authorities and NHS bodies into “hubs” focused on boosting employment in priority sectors such as the green economy, creative, digital and health.

About £16 million has been spent on hub staffing, marketing, a GLA ‘quality mark’ for courses and bespoke support for underrepresented groups.

Until this week, the London authority had not released performance data for its programme and had only published one of the two programme evaluations it commissioned since 2021.

Data shared with FE Week shows colleges and training providers only claimed 336 individual payments for learners on the academies programme, which recorded 53,152 Londoners participating in training and education as a result of “hub activity”.

Only six of the 40-plus organisations that joined the academies programme claimed job outcome bonuses, with most of the funding (£110,000) going to Waltham Forest College.

Providers ‘baulk’ at paperwork

The GLA maintained strict thresholds for job outcome payments for three years until March 2024, despite knowing that training providers were concerned about the paperwork burden.

Criteria for payments included jobs being at least 16 hours per week, that the job lasted at least four consecutive weeks, paid at least the London Living Wage, and did not involve the use of zero-hour contracts.

An unpublished interim evaluation of the academies programme completed in 2023, seen by FE Week, reported that providers “baulk” at the amount of staff resource needed to make a claim.

A follow-up report by the same evaluators released late last year warned £400 was “not a sufficient incentive” for providers, with some worried that claiming the funding carried “risks of clawback”.

When contacted for comment, providers echoed these concerns – but also praised the academies programme for its “collaborative approach” to supporting “many people” into training and work.

Nishan Rajput, head of skills and employment at Big Creative, an independent training provider in north-east London, said his team found it challenging to find entry-level jobs or apprenticeships that met GLA’s London Living Wage requirement, which is equivalent to a £28,860 full-time annual salary.

Big Creative could have claimed a total of £156,000 in job outcome bonuses but only received £16,243.

Rajput told FE Week that the £400 payment was “not a massive amount” and “a bit disincentivising” for the amount of resource needed to support people into employment.

Meanwhile, West London College did not claim a single job outcome payment despite having a potential total allocation of £171,200.

Its CEO Karen Redhead said she was proud of her college’s work leading a green skills hub, which included employer-led partnerships, job coaches and employability leads.

But she added: “Whilst we recognise the need to evidence job outcome payments, this is not always straightforward to collect and payments are sometimes unclaimed.

“Consequently, the hub did not claim any job outcomes payments from the funding that was made available.”

The GLA appears to have taken this criticism on board.

Under its inclusive talent strategy, which will replicate the academies model with closer involvement from employers, it will offer providers a £500 fee for “good work” which pays at least the London Living Wage, and £300 for “other work” which pays at least the national minimum wage.

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said the skills academies “played an important role” in fast-tracking Londoners into good jobs in key sectors.

They added: “These academies have helped Londoners to access free accessible training and gain the skills they need to succeed, and have supported over 21,000 Londoners into employment in sectors such as the creative industries, health and the green economy.”

£1.5m emergency funding as Newbury considers merger

One of England’s smallest colleges has been handed £1.5 million in emergency funding while it explores a potential merger.

Newbury College was placed in government intervention last year following receipt of a funding advance from the Department for Education to cover a “cashflow gap” caused by delayed proceeds from a property sale and its burdensome PFI contract.

It entered into a formal emergency funding agreement with the DfE in December to allow for the outstanding “advance of funding” sums to be repaid and to cover its costs in the short term.

The FE Commissioner’s office is facilitating a structure and prospects appraisal (SPA) to evaluate whether merging with another further education partner is necessary. 

A conclusion is expected in May.

Newbury’s recently published 2024-25 accounts explained that “ahead of this decision”, the college “prepared forecasts to July 2027 which shows that, with the emergency funding support agreed with the DfE and the receipt of the delayed land sale proceeds, the college will hold sufficient funds to operate and pay its liabilities as they fall due until July 2027”.

The college is one of England’s smallest, with total income of £15 million in 2024-25. It employs 310 people, and enrolled 1,076 learners aged 16 to 18, alongside 373 apprentices and 2,197 adults last year.

Accounts also reported a deficit of £1.6 million for 2024-25, compared to a deficit of £1.5 million the year before.

Newbury is one of only a few FE colleges to operate under a PFI (private finance initiative) agreement. The contracts, greatly expanded under New Labour, saw private firms build and operate public sector infrastructure and facilities, with above-inflation repayments scheduled over many years.

The college entered into its PFI contract in 2002 and has since been crippled by “very high” repayments costs. This contract is due to end in 2027, at which point Newbury will own its building.

Around eight acres of land were sold in September 2023 for the development of a “mixed-use” facility to be known as Mayfield Point, as part of its “strategic plan to ensure the college’s financial health”. 

The first capital payment was received that month, the second was in February 2025 and the remaining payments are due in three tranches over the next three years. Accounts reveal the timeline was extended due to “logistical and contractual difficulties”.

Principal Lee Probert said: “We are committed to securing a sound and sustainable future for Newbury College and continue to be focused on delivering excellence and developing skills for our communities providing ‘careers, not courses’.” 

McFadden overstated employer interest in jobs guarantee

Pat McFadden has been forced to correct the record after claiming 60 firms  – including Tesco – had already signed up to employ NEET young people through Labour’s job guarantee scheme.

In a statement to Parliament on January 29, the work and pensions secretary thanked “over 60 employers who have already committed to providing jobs for participants of the scheme”, and then named E.ON, JD Sports, Tesco and TUI as taking part.

But the minister corrected his original statement this afternoon due to a “minor error”, namely that the employers had not “committed” but had merely ““expressed an interest”.

McFadden’s January 29 statement opened the application process for jobs guarantee delivery organisations. 

Guidance published that day revealed that delivery organisations, which can be colleges, training providers, local authorities or other specialist employment organisations, will be paid up to £2,650 for each eligible young person they place into paid work.

‘Jobs guarantee’ delivery partners paid up to £2,650 per placement

DfE considers BTEC defunding delay

The defunding of BTECs and other applied general qualifications could be delayed further, the skills minister has indicated.

Jacqui Smith told the Sixth Form Colleges Association’s annual conference that the Department for Education would confirm “transition” plans to new V Levels in a “matter of weeks” alongside its response to the level 3 and below pathways consultation.

The consultation, launched in October with the post-16 education and skills white paper, committed to removing funding for all existing diploma and extended diploma-sized qualifications of 720 guided learning hours and over in T Level subject areas in 2026 and 2027.

Teaching of the first V Levels is due to begin in September 2027.

Smith acknowledged that colleges had raised “substantial concerns about the pace of transition” and assured leaders she had “no intention of putting young people’s futures at risk” before suggesting the defunding timeline could be changed.

Speaking on Wednesday she said: “I know you want confirmation of the qualifications that will be defunded for 2026 and 2027 and that you need this information as soon as possible.

“I do hope to be able to set out that final position alongside the response to the level 3 consultation, so we can provide you with that full picture. 

“We don’t want to keep having to do year-by-year changes, but rather to have a plan about how we transition to an end-state situation that I hope all of us can support and the students can benefit from, and we’ll publish that in a matter of weeks.”

Catherine Richards, principal of East Norfolk Sixth Form College, pleaded with Smith to push back the defunding timeline for diploma and extended diploma qualifications, telling her that allowing the courses to be funded for a further two years would make a “huge difference”.

She explained colleges are “not sure what to do” with prospective students from this August because they do not know what will be funded.

Responding to Richards’ two-year delay request, Smith said: “I hear you. That’s why we… I won’t go back to say we did have a plan last year which people are now asking us to change… but that is the basis on which we’re now thinking.”

Plans to defund qualifications that overlap with T Levels began under the previous government. After the 2024 general election, Labour carried out a “short review” which resulted in the defunding of 157 qualifications paused by one or two years depending on their route.

After the skills minister’s speech this week, a DfE spokesperson said: “As per the usual processes, we are considering all the responses to the consultation on post-16 pathways. We will set out our response and the transition arrangements to reach the new qualifications in due course.”

Veering to V Levels

V Levels are being designed as a vocational pathway at level 3 to sit alongside academic A Levels and technical T Levels, pitched at students who want to “explore different sectors before deciding where to specialise”.

V Levels will be a similar size to a single A Level – 360 guided learning hours – with the intention being that students can mix and match between the two qualifications. Officials have said they will also consider creating medium and larger-sized V Levels if there is wide-ranging support for this in the consultation feedback.

The plan is for the first V Level classes to start in September next year, but very few are expected to be available at that stage. The full rollout is due to take four years until 2030-31. 

Similar to the T Level rollout in 2020, V Levels will be introduced route-by-route. A full timetable will be confirmed when the government responds to the consultation.

Under current plans, students will not be able to enrol on BTECs in health and social care, applied science or IT for the next academic year, with BTECs in business and engineering set to be removed in 2027. These courses are currently being studied by around 70,000 16 to 19-year-olds in England.

The Protect Student Choice campaign, led by the SFCA, has urged ministers to allow students to enrol on diplomas and extended diplomas in T Level subject areas over the next two years while the V Level rollout takes shape. Without this delay, youngsters are at risk of falling through a “qualifications gap” in key areas of the economy, the campaign argues.

Following Smith’s speech, SFCA CEO Bill Watkin told FE Week: “We welcome the minister’s commitment to ensuring a smooth transition to the new qualifications landscape and her determination not to put young people’s futures at risk.

“In the autumn, the Protect Student Choice campaign shared compelling evidence with the Department for Education to support the case for a pause to the defunding of diplomas and extended diplomas in T Level subjects to aid the successful transition to V levels.

“Since then, we have welcomed the opportunity to engage in constructive bilateral discussions with government officials about this matter and it is our hope that a positive statement on transition arrangements will accompany the government’s response to the post-16 qualifications consultation.”

Watchdog to hear claims Jo Grady broke UCU election rules

Jo Grady could face a re-ballot over her position as University and College Union leader amid claims she broke campaign rules.

Ewan McGaughey and Vicky Blake, who came second and third in the vote for a general secretary two years ago, will present their case to the Certification Officer – a trade union watchdog – next week listing seven alleged election violations.

They relate to UCU rules which prohibit candidates from using member email lists or other UCU resources for campaigning purposes, FE Week understands. Rules about opportunities to attend hustings to meet members were also allegedly breached.

UCU said the accusations were “totally unfounded” and would be “robustly” challenged at the Certification Officer hearing on Tuesday.

The Certification Officer is an independent officer appointed by the business and trade secretary and funded largely via a levy collected from trade unions and employers’ associations.

Stephen Hardy took up the role in October and is responsible for the statutory functions of trade unions and employers’ associations.

He deals with complaints and investigates potential legal breaches, fraud or financial irregularities. Hardy has the power to make enforcement orders, which can include financial penalties and ballot reruns.

The hearing was originally set for November but was delayed after the claimants submitted new evidence.

If their complaints are accepted, McGaughey and Blake have requested that Hardy orders a re-election at the “earliest possible opportunity”, FE Week understands.

A UCU spokesperson said: “The UCU categorically denies these allegations.

“They are totally unfounded and we will be robustly contesting them at the certification hearing.”

Grady’s narrow win

Jo Grady was re-elected as general secretary for a second five-year term in March 2024.

The ballot was conducted by single transferable vote, where members select candidates in order of preference.

Grady won in the third round of voting by just 182 votes over McGaughey, who is a law professor at King’s College London.

In total, 17,131 valid votes were cast, with a turnout of 15.1 per cent of the UCU’s 114,310 eligible members.

Grady was elected with 7,758 votes to McGaughey’s 7,576.

Blake, a contextual outreach lead officer at the University of Leeds, came third, and Liverpool John Moores University senior education lecturer Saira Weiner came last.