Skills England board members revealed

The full board of Skills England was unveiled today, just days before the new body formally replaces the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE).

Board chair Phil Smith and vice chair Sir David Bell were announced in February alongside joint chief executives Tessa Griffiths and Sara Maclean and deputy chief executive Gemma Marsh.  

They will be joined by AELP chair Nicki Hay, Skills Federation chief executive Fiona Aldridge and college principals Fazal Dad and Zoe Lewis as newly appointed Skills England board members on a three-year term.

IfATE’s powers around technical education and apprenticeships have already been transferred to the Department for Education (DfE) and will officially be abolished on June 1 at 2am. 

Phil Smith, chair, Skills England

Dame Fiona Kendrick is the only serving IfATE board member to move to Skills England.

Skills England’s chiefs report to senior civil servants and DfE ministers. It was set up as a DfE executive agency, but has a cross-government remit and an independent board.

Establishing Skills England was one of Labour’s manifesto pledges and was launched by the prime minister Keir Starmer shortly after the general election.  

Its role is to advise the government on the skills needed in the economy, publish sector skills assessments and develop and approve occupational standards for apprenticeships and technical qualifications. 

Board members are paid £15,000 per year and are expected to provide “independent perspective and insight” to ministers, help set strategic objectives and identify “high-quality feedback loops” between the government and skills bodies across the country.

Here are the board members

Fiona Aldridge

Dr Fiona Aldridge is currently the head of The Skills Federation, also known as the Federation for Industry Sector Skills & Standards (FISSS). She joined last July after the federation, which represents 18 sector skills bodies, was left without a chief executive for three years.

Aldridge was previously head of skills insight at West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and had been at the Learning and Work Institute for 20 years in its policy and research division.

One of Aldridge’s notable achievements was being part of the negotiations with the government for the employment and skills elements of the combined authority’s trailblazer devolution deal.

Fazal Dad

Dr Fazal Dad will join the Skills England board while concurrently serving as principal of Blackburn College.

Dad has worked in FE for the past 30 years, heading up Walsall College and steering it to an ‘outstanding’ institution during his leadership before joining Blackburn College in 2019.

Dad himself is committed to lifelong learning, studying part-time whilst moving up the FE career ladder, which resulted in obtaining two Masters degrees and a PhD aged 50.

Dad has also been Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) reviewer for over 15 years, a part-time Ofsted inspector and a police special constable for nearly 20 years.

Sian Elliott

Sian Elliott joins the board as director of organising, services and skills at the Trades Union Congress (TUC), leading on growing the trade union movement. She joined the TUC in 2019, first as women’s equality policy officer and then senior policy officer.

Elliott began her career in secondary education at Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation and the Runnymede Trust and in various policy lead roles at a child poverty charity and Bromley council before joining the TUC.

Nicki Hay

Nicki Hay is the first ever female chair of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), the representative organisation for independent training providers.

Hay entered the apprenticeships world when she joined ASM, part of the now-dissolved Quantica Training. She also sold her own ITP, Outsource Training, to Seetec Group in 2016 before joining Estio Training as chief operating officer.

Estio Training was acquired by BPP Group in 2021 where Hay now works as director of apprenticeship strategy and policy.

Brian Holliday

Brian Holliday is a senior board member at German technology giant Siemens’s UK arm, overseeing its digital and software business.

Reportedly a former apprentice, a chartered engineer and computer systems graduate, Holliday has worked at Siemens since the early 90s and is described as a “keen advocate for engineering, innovation, skills”.

He’s also the multi-national’s ‘UK government affairs programme lead’ and has reportedly worked on “several” digital projects with Skills England chair Phil Smith.

He has also been a non-executive director of Make UK and has chaired the Confederation of British Industry

Anthony Impey

Entrepreneur and business leader Impey is chief executive officer at Be The Business, a non-profit that helps small and mediums sized businesses improve their productivity.

In 2021 he was appointed chair of the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network for three years and has also chaired apprenticeship stakeholder and policy groups for the DfE, Federation of Small Businesses and the Greater London Authority.

He has also founded initiatives to help disadvantaged young people into the technology sector, has advised with City and Guilds and served on the board of London’s Capital City College.

Fiona Kendrick

Fiona Kendrick, a former chair and chief executive officer of Nestlé UK and Ireland, is the only IfATE board member to move to Skills England.

Aside from her experience at the Swiss food and beverage behemoth, Kendrick has been a senior advisor at management consultants PWC and Newton Europe, UK Commissioner for Employment and Skills, a training provider director and owns management consultancy Treo.

She was made a dame in 2015 for services to the food and drink sector and was the deputy chair of IfATE between 2017 and 2025.

Zoe Lewis

Zoe Lewis has been principal and chief executive officer of Middlesbrough College since 2013.

She has worked in senior management at the college, which has 15,000 students and a £43 million turnover, since 2005.

The college principal, who is a qualified accountant, previously worked in finance for local government, the police and an “outsourced private sector company”.

In the past, she has voiced frustration at FE being treated as the “poor relation” by government compared to other education policy areas.

Lewis is also a director at the Education Endowment Foundation, which tries to break the link between family income and educational achievement.

Sara Todd

Alongside Skills England deputy CEO Gemma Marsh, Sara Todd hails from Greater Manchester where she leads Trafford Council as chief executive and is the lead chief executive for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s education, work and skills portfolio. 

Todd has led Trafford Council since 2019 and has over 30 years’ of local government experience.

Before joining Trafford, she was deputy chief executive of Manchester City Council where she worked for 14 years.

Andy Westwood

Andy Westwood is currently a professor of government practice at the University of Manchester and has been a respected adviser, strategist and commentator in higher education and skills for over two decades. 

He worked in government as an official and a special adviser when Labour was last in power in several government departments, including the Treasury and the then Department for Innovation, Universities and Science. 

In 2010, he left Whitehall to lead the higher education representative body, GuildHE. Between 2014 and 2017 he was a professor of politics and policy at the University of Winchester. 

His expertise in regional development, skills and higher education policy has seen Westwood also advise on the international stage with the OECD, IMF and the EU.

Helen Woodward Davies

Helen Woodward Davies holds a number of high-profile roles in the nuclear training industry. She has worked at EDF for over eight years and was their head of construction workforce capability before becoming the resource programme director for Hinckley Point C.

Alongside her Skills England role, Woodward Davies is a board member of the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB).

She also chaired the National College for Nuclear between 2021 and 2023 and co-chaired the Nuclear Skills Strategy Group from August 2023 until April 2024.

Level 7 apprenticeship funding to be axed from January 2026

Public funding for level 7 apprenticeships will be removed for people aged 22 and older from January 2026, the government has confirmed. 

From the new year, employers will only be able to use the apprenticeship levy to fund the master’s level courses for existing apprentices and new starters up to age 22, as first reported by FE Week earlier this month. 

Level 7 apprentices who are care leavers or have an education, health and care plan (EHCP) can be funded up to age 25.

The Department for Education (DfE) said today the reforms “rebalance” the apprenticeship budget “towards training at lower levels, where it can have the greatest impact”.

It comes as part of a bundle of skills announcements, including 45,000 “domestic” training places funded through the immigration skills charge, a boost to the apprenticeship budget and £132 million for skills bootcamps in “priority sectors”. 

Appointments to the board of Skills England are also expected today. 

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “A skilled workforce is the key to steering the economy forward, and today we’re backing the next generation by giving young people more opportunities to learn a trade, earn a wage and achieve and thrive.”

The controversial cut to level 7 apprenticeships has been trailed for months, with prime minister Keir Starmer first announcing plans for the restrictions last September alongside shortened apprenticeships and new foundation-level programmes. 

FE Week first revealed that young people up to age 21 would be exempt from the level 7 funding axe earlier this month. A leaked letter from Phillipson to Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden revealed the age cap was introduced as a concession to win the support of her ministerial colleagues. 

Disbelief at Phillipson’s 21-and-under fudge for level 7 apprenticeships

Level 7s unviable from January

FE Week analysis for the most recent full academic year, 2023-24, shows that out of 23,860 level 7 starts, 468, or 2 per cent, were for under-19s, while 7,995, or 34 per cent, were aged 19 to 24. The government only publishes data on apprenticeship starts in three age groups: under-19s, 19 to 24-year-olds, and 25-plus.

It means very few level 7 apprenticeships will remain viable from January, with only the solicitor and accountancy and tax professional standards clocking up sizable volumes of starts for under 25s. 

The senior leader level 7 apprenticeship, which the Chartered Management Institute claims is largely taken by professionals in the NHS, education and civil service, has less than 1 per cent of starts for those aged under 25.

Other popular level 7 apprenticeships likely to become unviable to due to the age limit include senior people professional, digital and technology solutions specialist, chartered town planner, artificial intelligence (AI) and architects.

Employers wishing to continue with level 7 apprenticeships will need to pay for them themselves.

Just under £240 million was spent on level 7 apprenticeships in 2023-24, but DfE have not confirmed how much would be saved by removing levy eligibility now the age cap is in place. 

‘Record-breaking’ apprenticeship budget

DfE has also confirmed a “record-breaking” apprenticeship budget for 2025-26.

Treasury documents published earlier this month already confirmed the 13 per cent budget boost, from £2.73 billion in 2024-25 to £3.075 billion in 2025-26, as reported by FE Week at the time. 

DfE said today the extra funding, the largest cash increase in the apprenticeship budget since the levy was introduced in 2017, “will open up opportunities for young people to succeed in careers the country vitally needs to prosper”.

Latest forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) show £4.2 billion is expected in apprenticeship levy payments by employers in 2025-26, another record figure. 

Accounting for DfE’s £3 billion apprenticeship budget and allocations to devolved nations, this will leave around £600 million retained by the Treasury in 2025-26, down from £800 million in 2024-25.

Part of DfE’s pivot towards young people is the new foundation apprenticeships, designed for 16- to 21-year-olds, or up to age 24 for apprentices who were in care, in prison or with an education, health and care plan (EHCP). 

The first seven approved foundation apprenticeship courses were announced last week; three in construction, two in digital, one in health and social care and one in engineering and manufacturing. 

Foundation apprenticeships off to a shaky start

Starts are expected from this August, once the government has changed the law to reduce the legal minimum duration of apprenticeships from 12 to eight months. 

Maximum funding on offer to deliver the training ranges from £3,000 for health and social care, which one provider chief branded “laughable”, to £4,500 for engineering.

Employers who take on, retain, and progress a foundation apprentice will receive incentive payments worth up to £2,000.

The DfE said today that an extra 30,000 apprenticeship starts will be created during this parliament.

Boost for ‘priority’ bootcamps and construction

DfE has also earmarked £132 million for skills bootcamps “across a range of priority sectors” for 40,000 learners in 2025-26. This is alongside £100 million already announced to extend the courses in the construction sector. 

The government had previously told training providers that the programmes in sectors other than construction would no longer be funded. 

Providers in non-devolved areas will have access to 13 new level 2 construction courses through the Free Courses for Jobs (FCFJ) scheme, while mayors will share £14 million for in academic year 2025-26 for up to 5,000 new construction training places. 

A £600 million construction sector training deal was announced back in March which included funding for ten technical excellence colleges that will specialise in construction training. 

Immigration Skills Charge

A tax hike on employers hiring immigrant workers will fund up to 45,000 training places “to upskill the domestic workforce and reduce reliance on migration in priority sectors,” the DfE has claimed. 

The immigration skills charge (ISC) will rise by 32 per cent as part of the government’s recent crackdown on immigration. 

This is the first time the government has given any indication, albeit vague, that revenue generated by the ISC actually funds any training. 

A previous FE Week investigation found the charge had raised nearly £1.5 billion since it was introduced in 2017, but neither the Treasury, DfE, nor the Home Office would say how the money contributed to skills budgets, sparking criticisms over transparency. 

UCU members greenlight national strike ballot

Further education members of the University and College Union (UCU) have voted for a national ballot on strike action against low pay at its annual agenda-setting conference.

UCU members came together this weekend for the annual congress in Liverpool and voted to bring college branches across England together to launch a ballot for strike action this Autumn.

This means that the union will start to coordinate with each branch to consult on a disaggregated nationwide ballot following the upcoming spending review.

Paul Bridge, UCU’s head of further education, said: “Coordination is going to be essential if we are going to win a new deal for FE, it can’t just be driven from the head office”.

If teachers vote to strike, it could mean one of the first national strikes in the FE sector in well over a decade.

Congress took place just days after the government announced £190 million for 16-19 education this September.

But UCU members were not convinced of the material benefits of the funding on teaching staff in colleges, saying that it could well result in just a 2 per cent pay award, below the government’s deal for a 4 per cent pay rise for school teachers.

Motions by UCU branches from Bolton College, City of Bristol College, Merton College, South and City College Birmingham and Bradford College as well as the UCU FE committee all called for ballots on co-ordinated national industrial action.

Union members who argued against the motion said launching a ballot in September was “too soon” and that more time and strategy was needed before escalation.

All the motions passed and this summer will see branches engaging with members to build a campaign before preparing for a national ballot in September. UCU has already laid out a consultative ballot, closing on June 20.

Labour’s employment rights bill, currently in the House of Lords, seeks to remove the 50 per cent turnout threshold introduced by the Conservatives.

General secretary Jo Grady told delegates she was meeting chancellor Rachel Reeves next week to discuss education and vowed that FE funding will be part of her conversation.

She told delegates that “the time is now” to start making plans to escalate and taking the next steps to organise.

“The time is now to start escalating our campaigning, to start preparing, to start briefing branches, to getting all of our members in line, on message, clued up, educating each other. Because however many people we have at the beginning of a dispute, we want just as many at the end, really, we want more at the end,” she said.

“We are putting employers on notice that unless they come to the table with a decent offer, England wide strike action is on the cards,” she added in a statement about the motions passing.

Pay and deficit motions also passed

Other motions calling calling on UCU to up its campaign to close the teacher pay gap with schools, also passed.

It comes as UCU officials prepare to begin negotiations with the Association of Colleges next month. FE unions have demanded a 10 per cent pay rise in their annual pay claim for 2025-26.

UCU members also voted overwhelmingly to pass a motion that demanded FE college leaders stop using deficit budget an “an excuse” not to fund pay awards.

City and Islington College branch argued college management teams were pursuing “emotional blackmail” with the threat of redundancies if they were to enter deficits.

“Even if they are in deficit, so what? The government is in deficit, we are in deficit with our mortgages…” they said.

AI is here to stay, but staff need training

Elsewhere, Bolton College delegates convinced union colleagues to vote in favour for a motion calling for training and resources for teachers on “the alarming rise of inappropriate behaviour” due to students’ use of mobile phones and artificial intelligence.

“We need safeguards, we need training, we need policy,” proponents of the motion talked about recent cases of teachers having their images digitally altered to “get them fired”.

Additionally, a motion heard in a private session yesterday demanded that the union to “routinely” publish information it holds as if it were a public authority operating under Freedom of Information Act rules. However, FE Week understands that motion fell.

Reshaping the New Green Skills Landscape

As green skills emerge as a future megatrend, projections indicate that one in five jobs will soon require these competencies. Building a skilled green workforce will not only spur substantial economic growth but also meet the surging demand for environmentally friendly solutions across various sectors.

To address these needs comprehensively, Skills England has been established to identify key skills priorities and deliver them through the new Growth and Skills Levy. The Adult Skills Fund (ASF) is administered by devolved mayoral authorities, making it possible to fund green skills programmes through tailored learning and innovative provision funding streams.

Study Programme Funding Updates

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has closed, and funding responsibilities have transferred to the Department for Education (DfE). The funding formula can be used to add green skills into all study programmes. Many providers use induction, enrichment, or work readiness to deliver green skills. This framework facilitates the creation of innovative green skills programmes that integrate short accredited and non-accredited learning components into all study programmes. Another urgent priority is the development of the sector, and the sector-specific short courses in areas such as green construction, heat pumps, and hydrogen technology.

Innovative Training Resources

Green Skills Solutions is at the forefront of this transformation, having developed a comprehensive suite of curriculum and training resources employed by numerous educational providers through the Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF). Our extensive online training programmes, assured by City & Guilds, serve as valuable additions to study programmes, provide enrichment opportunities, and can function independently as ASF-funded initiatives. These resources effectively bridge the skills gap, offering flexible training solutions for students, staff, organisations, and companies while supporting their environmental, social, and governance objectives.

Additionally, Sabre Rigs has created a range of practical training rigs and resources essential for developing high-demand skills in low-carbon heating (heat pumps), solar energy, wind power, hydrogen, electric vehicles, and battery manufacturing. These training tools are utilised by learners pursuing careers in plumbing, construction, and automotive sectors.

Conclusion

The future workforce must be equipped with green skills to meet employers’ increasing demand. However, a persistent skills mismatch remains challenging due to the lack of a cohesive industrial strategy and the complicated skills landscape.

The future is green, and it is time to take action. Partner with us to ensure that your organisation is prepared to develop the green skills needed for a sustainable future. Contact us today for more information on accessing funding and leveraging our green skills training resources.

Over the next few months, we will be drilling down and exploring further the challenges of;

  • Green Skills in building construction, plumbing and heating
  • Green Skills in study programmes and adult learning
  • Green Skills in transport, logistics and energy infrastructure
  • The future of Green Skills in the green economy.

Sabre Rigs Website

Green Skills Solutions Website

Contact Details

Sabre Rigs Ltd Email orders@sabre-rigs.co.uk – Tele: 07468 759 512

Green Skills Solutions Ltd Email info@green-skills-solutions.co.uk – Tele: 07468 759 512

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 498

Shabir Ismail

Principal and CEO, Leicester College

Start date: August 2025

Previous Job: Acting Principal and CEO, Leicester College

Interesting fact: Shabir was born in Malawi and migrated to the UK at six years old speaking very little English

Charlotte Bosworth

Chief Executive Officer, Lifetime Training Group

Start date: May 2025

Previous Job: Managing Director, Innovate Awarding

Interesting fact: A committed lifelong learner, Charlotte learned to ski after turning 50 and was named ‘most stylish skiier’ on a recent trip

Days of DfE adult ed procurement could be over

The future of adult skills contracts for independent training providers is being “contemplated” by the Department for Education.  

In a contract notice published this week, the department said it was considering its options for the future of the adult skills fund (ASF) for the shrinking non-devolved areas it serves. 

The current £75 million contract was awarded to about 55 training providers, to start in 2023-24, and has since been extended until 2025-26. 

The DfE’s update suggested any new procurement beyond July 2027 – the final extension date for the current contract – would be worth an estimated £30 million per year. 

It said: “The department is contemplating whether it will procure to replace these contracts, or whether an alternative commissioning approach will be pursued.” 

When asked what other approaches it could take, a DfE spokesperson did not rule out expanding a pilot being tested from August that involves local authorities commissioning adult education locally. 

Some have interpreted the notice as an early indication that the government will extend the contract beyond the current end date of July 2026 to 2027, the final possible extension year. 

Simon Ashworth, deputy chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said extending the contract was a “pragmatic move” that provided continuity and “avoids the disruption and lottery” of another procurement round. 

He added: “Looking further ahead to a possible ‘alternative commissioning approach’, we have only just started to pilot additional funding being channelled through a number of strategic authorities. There have been teething problems which need ironing out before doubling down on this approach.” 

Contract value to halve 

The maximum value of the contract is likely to shrink to £30 million, less than half the current annual value, as adult education is increasingly devolved to regions. 

In the next two years, the portion of adult education funding devolved to regions will grow from 60 per cent (£828 million) to at least 70 per cent. 

Six new regions also joined the government’s “devolution priority programme” in February, with a view to taking over their adult education budgets after electing regional mayors next year. 

Mark Dawe, chief executive of The Skills Network, which currently holds an ASF contract, said the contract notice was “helpful”. 

He said: “Certainty of a reducing contract is better than no certainty of a contract staying the same. 

“It’s just telling us what we know, that more and more money is going to the devolved authorities.” 

Sue Pember, policy director at adult education provider body HOLEX, said the DfE appears to be “covering all bases” by signalling a potential contract extension to 2028 followed by a potential “shift in funding strategy”. 

She added officials are “leaving enough ambiguity to adapt” based on other political commitments such as the immigration white paper, local growth plans and local skills improvement plans. 

Procurement woes 

The DfE has a chequered record in procuring national adult education contracts.  

Tender outcomes have typically been delayed, giving successful providers little time to prepare.  

Winners of the most recent procurement in 2023 were informed on July 5 that year, and were then subject to a 10-day standstill period for contracts to start that August. 

The number of contractors was reduced from 208, to 88 to 55 over consecutive adult education procurement rounds. 

Procurements can also spark costly legal challenges. Learning Curve Group settled its 18-month case against the DfE in January for an undisclosed sum after failing to win a contract in 2023.  

Youth NEET numbers remain ‘stubbornly high’

The number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) remained “worryingly high” in the first quarter of this year, with about one in eight people believed to be either unemployed or economically inactive.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates released today suggest that the total number of young people aged 16-24 classed as NEET between January and March this year fell to 930,000.

This is a drop of about 0.3 percentage points, or 57,000 young people, to 12.5 per cent compared to the previous quarter.

It is the first time youth NEET estimates have fallen since reaching a peak of 987,000 between October and December last year.

Sarah Yong, director of policy and external affairs at Youth Futures Foundation, said: “The latest ONS data shows the number of young people not earning or learning remains worryingly high for the beginning of 2025.

“Despite a small reduction in the overall number of young people not in employment, education or training, the youth unemployment and inactivity challenge continues to be a stubborn issue for the UK at 12.5 per cent, with approximately one in eight young people affected.”

The ONS said their estimates, which are classed as “official statistics in development”, should be treated with “additional caution” because their Labour Force Survey has seen lower response rates compared to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.

Alongside the statistics, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall visited Liverpool to celebrate the start of the government’s “trailblazer” programme to test out ways to prevent young people from falling out of education, employment or training through £5 million grants to eight regions across England and Wales.

Kendall said: “Young people are our future – and yet for too long they have been denied access to the opportunities and support they need.

“We are investing £45 million – including almost £5 million here in Liverpool – to deliver our Youth Guarantee, so every young person across England gets the chance to earn or learn, as we boost living standards and get Britain working under the Plan for Change.

The trailblazer programme was announced last year in the Get Britain Working whitepaper – planned measures include enhanced tracking of young people aged 17-19, paid work experience programmes, and specialist multi-agency support teams.

Within the stats

Today’s ONS statistics show a 1 percentage point decrease in the number of young men classed as NEET, and a 0.3 percentage point increase of young women.

The overall NEET group is split between 354,000 unemployed young people, about two thirds men, and 569,000 “inactive” young people, shared more evenly between men and women.

The statistics body defines unemployment as someone without a job who has been actively seeking work within the last four weeks or is available to start work within two weeks.

Economically inactive is defined as not seeking work or unable to start work within the same respective time frames.

The Youth Futures Foundation, which has access to more detailed ONS NEET data, has found that about one in four young people have been seeking work for over a year, highlightly the “persistent nature” of the challenge.

Yong said: “Among this group, one in five lack any formal qualifications – double the rate seen across the wider youth population.  

“Unlike the post-financial crisis period, the recent rise in NEET levels since 2021 has also been driven in part by growing economic inactivity.

“Notably, the latest data reveals that around 52% of economic inactivity over the past three years is due to ill health, with a large proportion relating to mental ill health.”

But Susannah Hardyman, chief executive officer at youth education and employment funding charity Impetus, called the Labour Force Survey a “blunt tool for a sharp problem” that fails to capture combined factors that mean certain groups of young people are at an “acutely high risk” of being NEET.

She added: “Our Youth Jobs Gap research fills this looming data gap, revealing how uncontrollable factors – like socioeconomic background, special educational needs, and location – combine to make certain groups acutely high risk of being NEET.

“For example, a young person from a disadvantaged background growing up with low qualifications and special educational needs in Hartlepool is more likely to be NEET than not – an inexcusable reality”.

For individuals and the economy

Experts warn that failing to reduce youth NEET numbers will have a “long-term scarring effect” both on individual people and the national economy.

Laura-Jane Rawlings, chief executive officer at Youth Employment UK, said: “The cost of inaction or at least slow delivery is far greater than the investment needed to create meaningful pathways for young people.”

Hardyman and Yong called for a greater government effort to target “precise barriers” that hold young people back “based on evidence of what works”.

Yong cited the Netherlands as successfully achieving the lowest NEET rate out of 38 countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Achieving the Netherlands’ NEET rate of around four per cent would be worth £69 billion to the UK economy and would mean “approximately 500,000 more young people earning or learning”, she claimed.

UCU Congress preview: Lecturers to vote on national strike ballot

FE college teachers could walk out over low pay and high workloads if crunch motions at this weekend’s UCU congress are passed.

Members of the University and College Union will gather for their annual congress in Liverpool to debate motions on industrial action, tackling “excessive” college executive pay, abolishing Ofsted and a potential emergency motion of no confidence in the union’s general secretary Jo Grady. 

The union’s further education committee has submitted a motion demanding a national ballot over pay and workload, which comes as teaching and support staff unions prepare to negotiate pay rise recommendations with the Association of Colleges next month.

But due to the large number of motions lodged over the three-day conference, and the union’s experiment to make the congress ‘hybrid’ for the first time, it’s unlikely all motions will be heard.

Member apathy has been floated as a reason for the switch to a hybrid format, where people can take part remotely, insiders say. A motion has even been tabled to discuss the timing of this year’s congress during half term and a bank holiday, which has been “difficult” for working parents.

Others allege that certain motions that are contentious for UCU leadership – such as those supporting UCU staff in dispute with the union and another challenging Grady – might be pushed so far down the agenda that they go unheard.

Here’s the key motions to look out for:

National strike ballot

Several college UCU branches, as well as the union’s FE committee, want congress to back a national ballot for industrial action in the next academic year.

The union has been hesitant to back a national ballot, FE Week understands, due to uncertainty it will reach the legal turnout threshold. Labour’s employment rights bill, currently in the House of Lords, will remove the 50 per cent turnout threshold introduced by the Conservatives. 

UCU branches from Bolton College, City of Bristol College, Merton College, South and City College Birmingham and Bradford College are also bringing motions calling for ballots for co-ordinated national industrial action.

Thursday’s announcement of a 4 per cent pay rise for schools, coupled with £160 million for staff recruitment and retention in colleges, may diffuse strike demands.

However, FE unions have demanded a 10 per cent pay rise in their annual pay claim for next month’s negotiations with the AoC.

Rein in executive salaries 

Delegates from Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College will argue for a clampdown on senior manager salaries in colleges. 

Their motion claims senior manager pay rises “significantly outpace” those of teaching and support staff, and need reining in. 

It says: “This disparity undermines morale, devalues classroom expertise and diverts vital funds from frontline education. We believe this constitutes a systemic failure of governance and resource allocation”.

If passed, the motion will call on the education secretary to launch an independent probe into all publicly funded FE colleges to publish salary bands, performance-related bonuses and expense claims. The motion also demands clear, transparent pay ratios between senior management and teaching/support staff.

Abolish Ofsted 

The UCU could back the National Education Union’s “abolish Ofsted” campaign.

Delegates from Luminate Education Group argue inspections cause “unequalled stress for leadership and members”, they “focus on data over teaching quality” and are “unrealistic” because of “window dressing” by leaders.

The motion will call for increased scrutiny of Ofsted, including risk assessing inspections, and a programme of “national events to highlight the negatives of Ofsted inspections”.

A UCU report last year recommended replacing the inspectorate with a “valued and trusted peer improvement model”.

Protect staff from student AI abuse

Bolton College delegates will call for the AoC and government to provide training and resources for teachers on “the alarming rise of inappropriate behaviour” due to students’ use of mobile phones and artificial intelligence.

Their motion says there is “increasing misuse” of mobile phones by students, including malicious recording and AI-manipulated content which threatens staff safety and welfare. 

It notes “the lack of clear, nationally set guidelines on the use of mobile phones and AI” and calls on the UCU to campaign for “stricter institutional policies” with “consequences for students who engage in inappropriate conduct or misuse technology to target staff”. 

UCU transparency

Some motions will be heard in a private session, meaning journalists will not be able to hear UCU members discuss and defend motions, nor witness the vote results.

One of these, proposed by the National Executive Committee (NEC), seeks to impose a progressive increase in subscription rates, effective from September 1.

The progressive increase refers to imposing a higher subscription rate on UCU members receiving larger salaries.

Meanwhile, the University of Bath UCU branch is calling for the union to “routinely publish” information it holds and to agree on a publication scheme with the NEC. 

This would be a rare and unusual move for a union, which is not classed as a public authority, but would force it to act as if it was covered by the Freedom of Information Act.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady

Members will also vote to urge UCU leaders to resolve the current dispute with UCU Unite, the staff union, “as a matter of urgency”.

Vote for no confidence in Grady?

Possibly the most contentious debate could be an emergency motion lodged by Bournemouth University which will call for a vote on members’ confidence in general secretary Jo Grady.

The motion, seen by FE Week, said the union’s reported use of non-disclosure agreements and its dispute against its own staff “brings the union into disrepute” along with a call for Grady to consider her position.

Acland-Hood: I was wrong about our FE probe policy 

Susan Acland-Hood has admitted giving false evidence to MPs about probes into FE providers. 

The Department for Education permanent secretary wrote to the chair of the Public Accounts Committee to “correct an inaccuracy” she gave about the department’s policy on publishing findings of financial investigations. 

Earlier this year, in a letter defending her department’s apparent lack of transparency, she claimed the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s (ESFA) policy on publishing investigations “only” applied to academy trusts. 

But the publication policy covers any organisation receiving ESFA funding – including colleges and independent training providers. 

The majority of the ESFA’s probes concern claims related to the £10 billion in public funding that is spent on FE each year, through 16-19 education, apprenticeships, adult education and skills bootcamps. 

The DfE had made the incorrect claim to FE Week on two previous occasions, contradicting its own publication policies dating back to at least 2014, which are archived online. 

A departmental spokesperson refused to engage with questions on the accuracy of her statement until we raised concerns directly with Acland-Hood and the committee last month. 

She then admitted her January evidence was “inaccurate”. 

Focus on academies 

The permanent secretary said the ESFA had “focused” on publishing details of investigations into academy trusts, following concerns raised by the committee in 2019. 

She said: “It was inaccurate to say the scope of the previous publishing policy related only to academy trusts; its scope covered all ESFA-funded institutions, but in practice the focus was on academy trusts, and publications of reports on other remits were rare.” 

A review of its investigation publishing policy in 2023 also resulted in a “strengthened and clarified” commitment to publishing reports from December 2023 onwards, Acland-Hood added. 

Although it failed to clarify this at the time, the DfE also decided to water down the format of reports from lengthy and detailed investigation findings to short “outcome” reports which briefly summarise “issues” in general terms, without explaining how failures occurred.