MPs have urged ministers to import “specific” skilled people from overseas to meet the UK’s clean energy targets – amid the government’s push to curb reliance on migrant workers.
Parliament’s energy security and net-zero committee (ESNZ) warned the government would only meet clean energy and decarbonised building targets with significant new intervention in the UK workforce.
Following a year-long inquiry into green workforce planning, the committee found current skilled labour levels would not fill the estimated 135,000 to 725,000 green jobs needed by the end of this decade.
Its report said the government should also expand “try-before-you-buy” training opportunities after discovering up to 70 per cent of those embarking on construction-related FE qualifications did not finish their course or enter the sector.
Ministers are attempting to cut net migration by slashing the number of jobs that can be offered to people via the skilled worker visa route.
The immigration skills charge, the tax employers pay to bring in workers from abroad, was raised by nearly a third this year to disincentivise labour migration.
The ESNZ committee inquiry heard calls to “ringfence” money raised from the charge levied on firms hiring in the green energy sector to pay for “relevant” domestic training.
Committee members said there “may be a need for the import of some specific skills from overseas, at least in the short term, to deliver on targets for clean energy and decarbonisation of buildings”.
They added the government should, by the end of 2026, set out a “range of further options for conditionality to leverage the short-term need for skilled immigration to boost the longer-term need for home-grown talent”.
ESNZ committee chair Bill Esterson said: “It is essential that we build the workforce for the energy transition so that the government can hit its clean energy targets and, importantly, ensure the UK makes the most of the growth opportunity of the century.
“The committee has found that market forces alone cannot overcome the skills gap. We need policy certainty for the long-term, locally directed investment in training, and policies that make clean energy careers attractive and accessible.
“For British workers, this isn’t about hitting deadlines; it’s about securing good jobs, driving innovation, and ensuring Britain leads in the global race for clean energy.”
The Association of Colleges CEO David Hughes agreed with the recommendations.
He said: “For all ages and skill levels, it is currently not clear enough what learning and training they need to enter a career in clean energy or retrofit.
“There are great examples of colleges who are working with employers on fantastic provision, feeding directly into the green economy. However, we need more money at a local level in FE, as well as more partnerships with employers on curriculum development, to ensure career pathways and continuing training are fit for purpose right across the country, rather than in pockets.
“While we need to focus on growing and nurturing home-grown talent, getting appropriate provision at scale across the country is not a quick fix, and we need to look abroad to the skill that lies there.”
Try before you buy
The ESNZ committee also suggested that ministers “expand and formalise” so-called try-before-you-buy training opportunities after hearing examples of “effective” early-exposure models, such as on-site skills hubs and employer-supported placements.
“SMEs, which form the backbone of the construction and retrofit supply chain, frequently operate on short-term contracts and cannot absorb the risk of taking on inexperienced trainees without support,” the report said.
“The government should therefore expand these practical entry pathways across clean heat, low-carbon construction and retrofit, ensuring funded, flexible, short-duration placements are available nationwide.”
Reassemble a retrofit skills programme
The report estimated 250,000 workers would be needed to meet the target of building 1.5 million homes in the next five years.
“Relying solely on headcount growth will be challenging,” the committee said, adding that more workers will also be needed to retrofit five million existing homes to boost their energy efficiency by 2035.
It recommended the government join forces with the Construction Industry Training Board, Skills England, the Office for Clean Energy Jobs and industry to create a “nationally recognised” retrofit skills programme that “inspires” new entrants and encourages industry workers into teaching roles.
The government has already pumped £625 million into construction skills to create 60,000 new workers over four years. The package included £100 million to award 10 FE colleges with technical excellence college status (TEC), which is set be expanded to also create five clean energy TECs.
Ministers have been urged to demonstrate how they are working with employers and education providers to deliver clear career pathways, “particularly” for learners that are enrolled in colleges without TEC status.
International tech training company CoGrammar is due to fight the Department for Education in court next December, FE Week can reveal.
The firm, which ran government-funded digital skills bootcamps until its contracts were axed, is suing the DfE over millions of pounds in withheld payments. The department blocked substantial claims after investigations uncovered alleged fraud.
The company, which operates out of South Africa, used a fake employer to claim milestone payments to the DfE – which its management blamed on a “rogue employee”.
Officials were also concerned after discovering the provider deployed its own staff to conduct bootcamp interviews instead of employers, and made “improbable job offers” from small or dormant companies.
The revelations triggered the rejection of funding claims across several waves of the bootcamp programme.
FE Week also revealed that once CoGrammar’s bootcamp payments were stopped, the firm charged bootcamp learners – including unemployed people – for courses that were supposed to be free, which breached funding rules.
CoGrammar argued the audit relied on by the DfE to withhold payments was “materially flawed” and it has already proven major errors in the department’s processes. This summer, officials initially claimed the DfE was owed around £45,000, before switching to a position where they paid £1.5 million to CoGrammar.
CoGrammar said this was a “clear example of the lack of diligence and accuracy of the defendant’s [DfE] audit processes and ability to correctly calculate payments owed”.
The company added that the DfE cannot withhold payments “on the basis of generalised concerns absent of any finding of breach or fraud” and believes it is still owed at least £3.8 million once alleged errors are corrected.
Bosses at CoGrammar do not dispute that a fictitious employer and persona were used for some bootcamp payment claims, but argue the alleged fraud was an isolated incident and claim they reported a former employee to the police via Action Fraud.
FE Week understands the worker was interviewed by police in August.
The accused ex-staff member is also understood to be launching their own legal claim against CoGrammar CEO Riaz Moola for defamation and harassment.
A costs and case management conference was held last month for CoGrammar’s case against the DfE, and a newly issued court order sets out a schedule of disclosure, sampling, witness statements and bundle preparation running through next year before the dispute reaches a trial.
This includes a “schedule of learners” which will include the name of each learner in dispute; the unique ID number of each learner in dispute and funding wave; the milestones in dispute; the amounts in dispute; the DfE’s reasons for rejecting claims; CoGrammar’s reasons for disagreeing with the DfE’s reasons and for maintaining the validity of that milestone claim; and the DfE’s response to CoGrammar’s reasons.
Both parties must also agree to an “early neutral evaluation process” where they identify a neutral person to evaluate the submissions.
Justice Picken ordered that the case be transferred to the London Circuit Commercial Court, where an eight-day trial will be heard “not before December 10, 2026”.
A DfE spokesperson said: “We do not comment on live legal proceedings.”
CoGrammar did not respond to requests for comment on the trial date.
“You don’t need planning permission to build castles in the sky,” proclaims a Banksy quote painted across the crisp white walls as you enter the newly refurbished Sutton Life Centre.
It’s an apt welcome to a building that is the embodiment of a partnership between a local authority and a specialist FE college that, on paper, might sound fanciful given today’s fractious SEND-funding landscape.
The centre, which houses Orchard Hill College learners and Sutton Council’s preparation-for-adulthood hub, offers something rare: a space where education, support services and community life overlap, aiming not just to teach young people with SEND but to alleviate the “cliff-edge” they face when support services stop once they turn 18, highlighted in areview by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission.
It is one of several collaborations between FE community partners across the country aimed at tackling the SEND crisis.
Today, local dignitaries are treated to iced cupcakes after a whistlestop tour of the centre’s climbing wall, sports pitch, sensory garden, PS5 gaming zone, radio studio (where Lib-Dem leader Ed Davey has already been grilled on a student-run podcast), a public library and a café providing real work experience.
By day, the space hosts students on vocational pathways and provides a hub for teacher training. When college hours end, the lights will stay on for sports sessions, advice for young people and families, and perhaps even a nightclub.
“It’s a place for young people to feel seen, supported and part of a community,” says college executive principal Kelly Phillips.
The facility looks expensive, with the cost split between the college and the council. But Kieran Holliday, director of education, integrated support and safer communities at the London Borough of Sutton, says the investment should save the council money. Sutton is forecasting a £23.2 million DSG (direct schools grant) deficit – a debt echoed across many councils.
Kieran Holliday in Sutton Life Centre’s public library
A SEND system in deep crisis
Demand for education, health and care plans (EHCPs) continues to surge. There were 638,700 plans nationally as of January, with some areas reporting 25-45 per cent annual spikes.
While demand accelerates, the quality of SEND commissioning continues to deteriorate.
Out of 29 area SEND inspections by Ofsted last year, only four were judged positive. More than half were deemed “inconsistent,” and nine cited “systemic failings”. Families increasingly feel they must fight to secure suitable provision. SEND tribunal appeals rose by 55 per cent in a single year to 2023-24.
Meanwhile, pressure on councils is reaching unsustainable levels.Post-16 transport costs have doubled in real terms over eight years. Councils have no duty to provide transport for students aged 19-25 with EHCPs, or any post-16 learners, and many are shifting costs onto families. Sheffield proposes increasing parental contributions from £540 to £1,000. Sutton is forecasting a £1.55 million saving after introducing charges.
The Sutton Life Centre, originally opened in 2010 as a youth hub to make young people more ‘street smart’, fell out of regular usage after Covid.
It is one of 10 sites that Orchard Hill now operates across London as part of its “vision” to “set up in local areas where there’s demand, so people don’t have to travel an hour and a half on a bus to get there”, says Phillips.
Sutton’s high-needs debt means it would have been invited to join the government’s safety valve programme, which has negotiated 38 deficit-reduction deals with local authorities. But a year ago the government froze entry to new councils, leaving Sutton facing £1 million a year in lost interest income or additional borrowing costs on those debts.
Last week’s governmentbudget revealed that from 2028, SEND cost pressures will instead sit on central government’s books, potentially creating a £20 billion time bomb if councils’ existing SEND deficits are accounted for.
FE needs different solutions
Clare Howard, CEO of Natspec, the national body for specialist FE colleges, is concerned that the issues the government is focused on solving through its delayed schools’ white paper and SEND reforms (now expected in January) – addressing spiralling costs and early identification of need – “do not affect FE”.
Specialist colleges educate only 3 per cent of all FE students with SEND; 90 per cent of FE learners with EHCPs are already in general FE colleges. Howard rejects the idea that post-16 SEND costs are driving national financial instability.
Young people aged 16-25 account for 26 per cent of EHCPs but receive less than 10 per cent ofhigh-needs funding. “FE requires different solutions to different problems,” she says. “FE providers and young people aged 16 to 25 must not be grouped under reforms designed for schools and children.”
As Orchard Hill College is a sponsor of an academy trust of 14 special schools, Phillips gets insight into both school and college specialist sectors.
She highlights how specialist colleges do not get access to government capital building grants provided to FE colleges and special schools.
Orchard Hill College executive principal Kelly Phillips at the grand opening of Sutton Life Centre
Demand rising faster than provision
Nationally, demand for specialist provision continues to outstrip supply. The number of placements in independent and non-maintained special schools has jumped 14 per cent in a year.One tenth of children and young people with EHCPs are now out of school, home-educated, NEET or waiting for a placement.
Orchard Hill College, rated outstanding, receives “100 times more” placement requests than it has capacity for, says Phillips.
But local authority cost-saving measures mean that placement requests are often turned down by councils; the Association of Colleges reports that more than two-thirds of colleges have had admissions decisions overruled by local authorities.
Natspec describes some local authorities as being “reluctant” to place some young people at 19 in specialist FE if they are unlikely to enter employment in the future, “steering them towards adult social care instead”.
“This indicates a lack of understanding of specialist FE and one of its core purposes: building independence, skills, and meaningful learning outcomes,” it said.
Furthermore, when young people with complex needs are given unsuitable placements in general FE colleges, without adequate preparation or staffing, those learners experience a renewed “cliff-edge” when those placements break down, says Phillips.
Ambitious College’s head of college Nicola Hawkins
Nicola Hawkins, the head of college at Ambitious College, run by the charity Ambitious about Autism, says local authority cost-saving schemes like the safety valve agreement have “often” made it “more challenging to have places funded” at the college. Another representative of post-16 specialist provision said their local authority was “not able to increase our places in FE because their funding is being spent in the pre-16 arena”.
Furthermore, local authority delays in commissioning specialist FE places, often due to funding disputes and tribunal cases, are leaving young people out of education for many months before they can access a specialist FE placement.
Hawkins describes funding decisions being made as late as September for placements offered in February. “This impacts autistic young people massively on transition and outcomes of next destination,” she adds.
A recent AoC report highlights the importance of strategic planning for placements; “some needs could be met if provision was planned ahead,” it said.
Send Learner and staff outside West Thames College
Rebuilding a broken system
In Sheffield, which is now projecting a DSG deficit of up to £60 million unless spending is dramatically reduced, a devastating SEND area inspection earlier this year identified “systemic failings”.
For Maria Swift, Sheffield’s post-16 SEND lead, the inspection was a turning point. “We had to repair our very broken system,” she says. A major gap was identified in post-16 capacity for young people with complex needs, with families often fighting for limited placements in special schools.
“We didn’t have enough confidence in our system for young people to move on at the right time, through nobody’s fault – decisions about young people’s futures were often coloured by lack of aspiration,” Swift adds.
The council convened a roundtable with The Sheffield College and local special schools to review long-standing issues with data and planning. Outdated EHCPs, featuring “primary need” categories that no longer reflected students’ realities, were skewing data and masking emerging needs.
The local authority took their findings “on the chin”, says Sarah Le-Good, assistant principal at The Sheffield College. But she had to navigate cultural differences between the sectors to come up with solutions: “I talk apples, but my special schools talk bananas”.
A deep data trawl produced a five-year map of need in the city and revealed a striking number of EHCPs requiring “secure” provision, preventing young people from leaving sites independently.
Sutton Life Centres podcasters in its podcasting studio
Swift found this “very worrying”. “Are we locking up these young people for life?” she says.
The college identified an unused corner-plot campus and developed plans for an additional 100 high-needs places. Demand quickly surpassed expectations: This year’s numbers are “significantly higher” than the 565 initially planned for, with 700 places requested for next year.
Le-Good sees it as a “real privilege” to be a general FE college (she’s “never used the word mainstream, because nothing is mainstream”) with specialist provision nestled within their site.
But it is a “really hard message” for parents to be told their young person will have to leave their special school. So the college is engaging families earlier on, offering “soft” careers guidance to students with more complex needs before they reach year 11.
The college’s new guide for young people with SEND to plan their post-16 journey “enables different conversations” for neurodiverse young people who are “possibly in a trauma state in a meeting about their future”.
Three Orchard Hill College students on work placements with Beans and Bloom based at Sutton Life Centre
“It’s a physical document that gives them a sense of confidence… it tells them they do have a future.”
Sheffield’s SEND review uncovered deep gaps in provision of level 2 and below, which was not aligned to local labour-market needs.
In response, The Sheffield College created Bloom, a curriculum co-produced with schools, health professionals and parents which focuses on “core competencies” where qualifications aren’t always appropriate and prioritises practical, hands-on learning.
“It’s not about replicating other specialist provision,” Le-Good says. “It’s about pushing learners to achieve what they’re capable of.”
Swift says the council’s parent carer forum, which can be “feisty”, has cautiously embraced the approach. “They’ve challenged us and corrected us – it’s been a two-way process.”
Student aspirations adorn the walls of Sutton Life Centre
The employment puzzle
Photographs of learners sharing their hopes for life after college adorn Sutton Life Centre’s corridor walls; Mason tells of wanting to become a beautician, Nursel of wanting to teach languages and Joshua of wanting to work in a café.
For Phillips, “these aren’t just decorative pieces; they are reminders of the possibility and ambition of our young people”.
The college has had real success helping its learners find work; nationally only 5 per cent of adults with a learning disability are in paid employment, which Phillips describes as “shocking”, but for her former students, it is 79 per cent.
Phillips believes that her young people “have a lot to offer” the economy; she recounts stories of how when other employees are off during adverse weather conditions, her young people will “walk four miles in the snow to get there, because that job matters” to them.
Learners working at entry level and level 1 are often missing from local skills improvement plans (LSIPs) and national disability employment initiatives, which Howard says “overlooks the key reality that many young people with complex needs want to work”.
David Holloway, the Association of Colleges senior policy manager on SEND, believes that tackling the disability employment gap requires employers to become “more confident to employ young people with SEND”. The movement of responsibility for post-18 skills to the Department for Work and Pensions could therefore be “very positive and lead to a stronger focus on skills for work”.
Orchard Hill checks in on its past learners every six months to ensure they have continued support, but it is a service they are not funded for. What makes Sutton Life Centre unique is that if that young person’s access to work breaks down, the college can refer them to social workers on site who can “pick that person back up”, says Phillips.
“It gives young people a place where support continues, where they can return and get guidance, take part in activities and remain part of a community that understands and champions them.”
Lynette Barrett of National Star College
College-college collaborations
Natspec says the “binary” nature of place planning systems in general FE and specialist colleges, and subcontracting rules, make partnerships between them “very difficult”.
But there are notable successes where specialist organisations have partnered with general FE colleges to provide on-campus provision. The autism charity Ambitious about Autism operates co-located campuses at West Thames College in Isleworth and Capital City College in Tottenham, as well as three supported internship programmes.
Hawkins sees the collaboration the charity has with West Thames College as a “true partnership” rather than a “tenancy agreement”, as is often the case with similar arrangements elsewhere.
Co-location means her autistic learners are not “separated away”. It enables the charity to support a “broad breadth of learners”, from those “on the sensory level that need quite intensive support through to learners that are nearly work ready, and every learner in-between”.
It is particularly helpful for those learners with “the capability of accessing a level 1 to 3 course within the mainstream college, but who need specialist support around their autism”.
Meanwhile, a lack of suitable local specialist provision for young adults with complex needs prompted Heart of Worcestershire College (HOW) to subcontract National Star, a specialist college based in Gloucestershire, to deliver learning, therapy and care at their campus.
Learners are registered on HOW’s individualised learner record, making HOW accountable for their outcomes and welfare. But the team delivering programmes are employed by National Star, who assess and manage learners’ programmes.
“What you don’t see in a business plan and costings is the value of trust and the importance of shared ethos and culture,” says National Star’s CEO Lynette Barrett. “You can’t calculate that in a tender bid, yet it is critical for this type of partnership to work.”
Back at the Sutton Life Centre, Phillips reflects that something rarer than planning permission was required to realise its ‘castle in the sky’: a belief that SEND provision can be transformed when partners choose not to work in silos.
“Partnership solutions to SEND challenges are the thing I believe in most in my career,” she says. “It’s not about us, or about education or health alone. It’s about all the partners working together to meet young people’s needs.”
It’s hard to pigeonhole our sector into a singular, narrow definition because specialist FE exists for many purposes. But let’s be clear: specialist FE is not predicated on a deficit model. We’re not a symptom of a failing system. We exist because our young people need our skills and expertise to thrive.
During this Power of Specialist FE Week, we celebrate the breadth and depth of our wonderful sector and its power within an inclusive education system.
Our colleges are the opportunity for young people to translate their schooling into life skills and capabilities for their future. In this sense, specialist FE is the same as the wider FE sector. We all want our young people to have a sustainable place in society. What will help our learners sustain their future will look different, but the ultimate goals are aligned. For some, the key to their next steps will be a suite of qualifications; for others, the confidence and self-advocacy needed for a job interview with unfamiliar people; and for some the ability to indicate preference in their care and support. The FE sector is already highly collaborative and successfully inclusive. Ninety per cent of learners with EHCPs are already in a mainstream FE setting, with Specialist FE meeting the needs of the remaining students who require our specialisms.
Specialist FE is often the most positive and transformative period in a young person’s educational journey. We know that many have faced a challenging route through their education, where support has only been accessed by first proving current provision was demonstrably notworking. We unlock our learner’s education, transforming this complex history by delivering highly inclusive, specialised support, creating life-changing results.
This Power of Specialist FE campaign celebrates our sector and its power to secure greater recognition and parity of esteem in policy reform so we can continue delivering long-term, meaningful outcomes for our learners.
Despite our demonstrated success and efficiency, our ability to maintain this vital provision is hampered by an absence of recognition by policymakers. Our young people’s education is entirely publicly funded but we are treated differently from colleges in the statutory FE sector, viewed as independent or exclusive, creating systemic barriers to equitable investment and funding.
Our settings are wonderfully unique. We have colleges that operate multiple sites across large metropolitan cities, small single sites with highly adapted buildings, colleges who operate almost entirely within local business environments and large residential settings with onsite nursing and therapies.
Some are run by charities, others are community interest companies and some have origins as schools or adult social care provision. These unique estates and structures need to be recognised and understood in funding decisions to ensure their uniqueness can thrive and meet the needs of their learners. One-size-fits-all doesn’t work for our young people and it won’t work for specialist FE.
The final, most important chapter in this story is the people who make specialist FE the magical and transformative world it is. The work we ask our staff to do is often challenging. Teaching and supporting young people with complex needs, highly individualised communication and at times much shorter life expectancy requires exceptional talent and passion. But all across the country, our skilled, determined staff make a difference to the lives of our learners every day. We need a governmental strategy to support recruitment and retention in our sector and address the pay disparity in specialist FE. Policymakers must also stop talking about care and support roles as ‘low skilled’ – they are far from that, and the term is often an analogy for low pay. The depth of expertise and passion in our teams ensures we deliver on the highest aspirations, whatever the complexity. This is the life blood of the sector and to every single person in it, I say thank you.
The specialist FE sector consistently delivers high-impact, life-changing outcomes. It is a vital contributor to social inclusion and economic opportunity. We’re calling on the government to recognise the power of Specialist FE. This week I want to celebrate it and say how grateful I am to get to be a part of it. Together we unlock education, we transform lives and we create lasting impact.
The recent budget renewed attention on young people and particularly those most at risk of poor employment prospects.
Entry points to work are increasingly difficult for young people, making it difficult for them to hit the ground running. Work experience provides the foundations for that.
The eight trailblazer pilot projects in devolved regions that underpin the youth guarantee are adopting work experience among a range of activities to help young people re-engage with their education and to reduce inactivity and unemployment.
This and more are needed. A growing gap is leaving too many young people on the outside looking in. This isn’t about motivation or talent; it’s about whether the system around them opens doors, especially in regions where opportunity remains sparse.
This gap – often driven by local socioeconomic conditions – is becoming a major driver of inequality in progression and a leading cause of young people becoming NEET.
Today’s labour market is shaped by continuous technological change and persistent skills shortages. Rather than fulfilling a tick-box exercise, young people’s work experiences should help them step confidently into further study, apprenticeships and employment.
Work experience should not be a nice-to-have; it is an essential stepping stone into the world of work. Employers agree. Around eight in 10 business leaders say work experience is a great way to attract entry-level employees and apprentices. Yet the opportunity gap persists.
What employers tell us
Our poll of 750 business leaders helps illuminate why the gaps remain. Employers are committed to offering work experience, but many face barriers: 36 per cent find it too time-consuming, 35 per cent believe they lack suitable tasks, 34 per cent are worried about safeguarding, and 22 per cent don’t feel equipped with a clear structure.
Schools and colleges, grappling with demands and shrinking budgets, report similar constraints.
For small businesses, issues arise around capacity and a need for more flexibility in the way student engagement is offered. Small firms account for 60 per cent of UK private sector jobs, and play a crucial role in opening young people’s eyes to real workplaces.
The budget offers incentives to do that by extending funding for SME apprenticeships for individuals under 25 and creates an opportunity for smaller businesses to engage earlier and with purpose to attract young talent.
Momentum grows
There is firm policy momentum behind a work experience guarantee, trailed in revised statutory guidance, restated in the skills white paper and highlighted through the curriculum and assessment review.
And we are seeing a growing consensus behind this approach. Around 1,600 leaders from business and education recently assembled to explore how they can break down barriers and transform work experience as agents of change to support growth, strengthen skills, and reduce disparities.
An abundance of goodwill was reflected in a shared ambition to make work experience more inclusive and impactful.
Evidence of what works
CEC’s mission has been to support the conversion of intention into action. We have been working with regional partners across Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, Liverpool City Region and West Yorkshire, plus multi-academy trusts and employers such as KPMG, to test approaches to modern work experience.
Early signs are encouraging, showing a more flexible approach can reduce pressure on employers, increase the relevance of local skills and offer entry points for young people who might otherwise be left out.
The budget’s additional investment in regional growth and local priority sectors, if well directed toward activities such as meaningful work experience, could offer a powerful spur to redoubling focus on the skills employers are seeking.
Stakes never been higher
We face the unignorable prospect of one million young people becoming NEET, alongside an escalating number of learners with special educational needs who, without meaningful support, risk being locked out of the workforce.
The conditions are in place: policy impetus, cross-sector consensus, proven models and growing urgency. What we need now is coordinated ambition.
National and local government, employers, schools and colleges pulling in one direction, amplifying the importance of high-quality work experience, committing to practical, scalable models and ensuring every young person can access experiences that shape their future.
The curriculum and assessment review’s ambition was to build a ‘world-class curriculum for all’. The challenge now is to ensure that the emerging framework truly embraces the critical role of the FE and skills sector.
The post-16 education and skills white paper has already outlined the need for a coherent tertiary system that integrates FE, HE and lifelong learning, underpinned by high-quality teaching and leadership. This review must be part of building that coherent system.
The good, the gaps, and what FE and skills bring
The review’s report rightly highlights our curriculum’s strengths: it is knowledge-rich, with breadth of subject coverage. International comparative performance remains solid in many areas.
It also identifies stubborn attainment gaps: for learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, for those with SEND and/or disabilities, and for transitions across phases.
Importantly, when it comes to 16-19 education the report recognises that A Levels and current academic routes do not suit all learners. It notes that many young people need additional applied, high-quality options and acknowledges the ‘extensive changes’ needed to create these coherent qualification pathways.
This is where FE and skills comes into sharp focus. The sector’s strengths lie in bridging vocational and technical learning, responding to local and employer needs, offering applied and professional pathways, and nurturing adults and young people who may not succeed in purely academic settings.
For the review to achieve its ambition of high standards for all, FE and skills cannot be an afterthought.
The three knotty issues as ETF sees it are: the detail behind V Levels and ensuring they are fit for purpose and deliverable; the perennial issues surrounding English and maths; and the growing, critical need for curriculum and assessment to adapt to technological, social and environmental change – including through the incorporation of digital skills, media literacy and sustainability or ‘green’ skills for all learners.
Professional development is critical
One persistent barrier to a world-class curriculum for all has been the status of technical and vocational pathways and the professionalism of practitioners. Reform of the curriculum and qualifications alone will not close attainment gaps unless the FE and skills workforce is recognised, supported and developed.
That means embedding professional standards, providing routes to status, developing our leaders and charting clear career pathways.
These factors all contribute to systemic positive change across FE and skills and the broader education sector, laying the groundwork for a reformed, coherent curriculum and qualifications landscape to succeed.
FE and skills practitioners with clear career pathways, who have opportunities to hone their dual professionalism and receive recognition for their practice, are better enabled to deliver the best experiences for their learners, including enabling vital employer connections and experiences across new and existing technical and vocational pathways.
Sector leaders play a crucial role in driving the system-wide change needed to provide clear pathways and opportunities for every learner.
When supported with tailored development and network opportunities, leaders’ power to find shared solutions and foster collaboration within – and beyond – FE and skills is amplified, leading to better outcomes for all.
Path to success
The ambition to build a world-class curriculum is welcome and necessary. Yet success will be judged not by textbooks or qualifications, but by outcomes for learners, employers and their communities.
To achieve this review’s highest ambitions, the FE and skills sector must be positioned squarely in design, delivery and governance of a reformed curriculum.
If we get this right, we will unlock improved individual life-chances, stronger local economies and a workforce fit for the future. If we ignore this opportunity, we risk reforming part of the system and leaving too many behind.
Now is the moment to elevate the workforce to the heart of this change via recognised professional statuses, a strong community of practice and rigorous standards, so that our education system can deliver the opportunities and enriching experiences that every learner deserves.
All the talk has been about V Levels since the skills white paper was published. But they aren’t quite the revolution some think – they’re an evolution of what already exists. This is no bad thing, and there are welcome new features.
V Levels will be the same size as one A Level and used in a ‘pick and mix’ fashion. They represent a middle ground between academic A Levels and technical T Levels, offering a broader programme of study. The white paper also suggests they will have an increased proportion of non-exam assessment compared to A Levels.
Same thing, different name?
While providers do use applied general extended certificates this way, one complication of the old landscape was the range of naming conventions, branding and subject choice.
Subjects will now be pre-determined by the DfE, and a provisional list has already been published. Ofqual will also set the design rules for structure, assessment and grading, ensuring all awarding organisations have the same grade scale and UCAS points.
Finally, it’s proposed there won’t be any awarding organisation branding or different naming conventions for size, such as foundation or introductory diplomas.
These changes will standardise the offer and reduce confusion. Notably, DfE will nationally set high-level outline content linked to occupational standards. So content will be derived from Skills England’s work and underpinned by employers, ensuring learners have the skills needed in the labour market.
T Levels future
Combinations of V Levels could represent an effective pathway for undecided learners. But what about those who study large or extended diplomas?
In 2023-24 there were over 100,000 16-19 learners enrolled on extended diplomas alone, and far more if we include other smaller diplomas. And over 20,000 T Level learners.
Under the new landscape T Levels will be the only large qualification, as funding for all others is removed. But can T Levels be scaled to meet demand? And will the narrow scope of subjects be expanded?
Both questions are addressed in the recent post-16 Level 3 and below pathways government consultation document.
Deliverability concerns
Sector stakeholders have spoken publicly on the T Level teething problems, but it’s rare for the DfE to comment directly.
However, the consultation states they’re “continuing to refine them to enhance deliverability whilst maintaining rigour and quality,” and “have looked to reduce duplication and the volume of assessment to help manageability at scale.”
This commitment to more effective delivery is promising, as T Levels must be fit for purpose to replace large applied generals.
The consultation says T Levels should be extended to more subjects, and Skills England’s “analysis” will be used to “ascertain whether a large qualification is needed to meet the skills needs of the industry”.
This implies that where there is evidence of strong performance with existing large Level 3 diplomas, they will look to reproduce these pathways in a T Level.
Missing standards, emerging possibilities
Many Level 3 standards exist for new T Levels, such as sport and social care. However, DfE seems pragmatic about creating T Levels in areas without appropriate standards.
Previous governments would have dismissed the lack of standards as evidence of zero need for a T Level. But this paper sensibly suggests “adjustments to either the standards or the focus of the T Level would be required to meet the needs of students and employers.”
This opens up possibilities. Take protective services pathways, which had roughly 15,000 16-19 learners on Level 3 study programmes in 2023-24. Naturally, some would move to V Levels. But a third are on the extended diploma.
The armed and emergency services are major progression routes into employment, but the relevant standards at Level 2-4 don’t match up for T Levels.
Under the previous policy, no Level 3 standards meant no T Level. But with this new flexibility and desire to expand, could a protective services T Level emerge? We hope so, given the clear demand.
V and T Level mix
Current suites of qualifications cater for small, medium and large programmes. For a sector to thrive, it will need both a V and T Level. The introduction of V Levels is exciting, but the government’s appetite to address ongoing issues with T Levels and widen their scope is even more so.
Large qualifications are the bedrock of general FE colleges, and T Levels must function properly once the big diplomas are gone. There’s far more to come, but I’m cautiously optimistic.
When I was asked to give a Black History Month workshop at a college, it caught me off guard.
I’ve been teaching in FE for more than 15 years, but I’d never seen myself as someone who teaches Black history. I always thought my presence as a Black lecturer opened the door to honest conversation. In practice, it’s different.
I started teaching in my late 20s in Ipswich, where around 3.5 per cent of the population identifies as Black.
Growing up, Black History Month felt forced. In school it was a lecture about struggle, not culture or pride. Maybe that’s why I avoided it in my teaching.
Yet, as a media lecturer, I realised that I already teach elements of Black history through the stories, people and visuals I bring into lessons.
Walking into a classroom as the only Black teacher some students have ever met, I am representation. I face questions like “Do you rap?” or “You’ve smoked weed before, right?”
Those moments show how narrow some young people’s exposure to Black culture is.
So my first job is always to challenge stereotypes and open minds. But that isn’t enough. To understand a people, you have to respect their history.
That’s what I tried to do in my workshop at West Suffolk College in Bury St Edmunds where the Black population is even lower, at around 1.6 per cent.
I wanted students to feel invited in, not lectured to. I spoke about figures like Spike Lee, Naomi Campbell and Ashley Walters, icons who show creativity, resilience and influence across industries.
My approach came from my other role as a BBC radio producer, where I curate a three-hour show celebrating Afro-Caribbean stories and voices across the East of England.
The goal is always the same: to connect people through real, lived experiences rather than guilt or politics.
What surprised me most was how many students had never heard of these names or their achievements, and how engaged they became once they did.
Maybe it was my delivery, or maybe they had just never been told these stories in this way before. Either way, their curiosity reminded me that representation is not only about visibility; it’s about storytelling.
For me, Black history was not a lesson. It was a lifestyle. My parents filled our home with African art, books, and films like Mario Van Peebles’ Posse. They showed me that Black history lives through creativity and pride. That foundation shaped how I teach today, with honesty and context.
One key point I made in my workshop was about awareness. None of the students were visibly of African heritage.
I asked them to think about their future workplaces. Would they stay in Suffolk or move elsewhere? Would they understand the cultures of their colleagues and communities? If not, they may be at a disadvantage.
I learned British, German, French, and American history at school. I can work comfortably in diverse spaces because of that. Can they say the same?
After four engaging sessions, I left feeling both proud and reflective. I had spent years teaching without formally including Black history, assuming it was covered elsewhere. Now I know it must be part of everything we teach – not just in October, not just in diversity week.
In most FE colleges, Black History Month still sits as a one-off event in October, often led by well-meaning white staff relying on the same slavery heavy curriculum I endured. It is time to change that.
According to the Ethnic Equity in Education FE Report 2024, just 7.2 per cent of FE leaders are Black, compared with 30 per cent of students. As the report notes, “At no point in the FE workforce is there a reflection of the UK’s Black population”.
FE colleges need to bring in Black leaders and educators to write, teach, and reshape the narrative. Let’s make Black history a natural part of the curriculum every month of the year.
Lack of workplace readiness amongst young people is becoming an epidemic. Recent research suggests that only 55 per cent think they can offer the skills employers want, while half believe they have the right work experience.
Starting their careers on the back foot affects not just young people, but the businesses they work for and the UK’s productivity.
One reason for this disconnect is inconsistency in education.
As a result, many young people miss out, especially those already facing barriers to social mobility.
The government’s recently published curriculum and assessment review and skills white paper have started to address this challenge, recognising the need for stronger alignment between education and employability. However, both stop short of embedding financial and enterprise education across the post-16 phase.
Learning by doing
At Young Enterprise, we’ve seen how powerful hands-on learning can be.
Many students, especially those at risk of disengaging, are motivated thorugh ‘learning by doing’ – whether that’s earning while they learn, taking part in enterprise activities or getting real-world exposure.
These programmes not only teach knowledge, but build confidence, resilience and transferable skills.
In FE settings, applied learning is already central to delivery. Embedding financial capability and enterprise thinking into existing programmes, through the likes of simulated businesses, employer partnerships and community initiatives, give learners real-world context and connect their studies to the decisions they’ll make in work and life.
Take students on our practical ‘Start Up’ programme, aimed at those aged 18 plus, in HE or FE.
Recent award winners have included a team that aimed to end water scarcity by combining atmospheric water generation with renewable solar power energy to improve access to water.
Another group of psychology students offered a digital bereavement service, designed to help individuals create lasting memories of their loved ones.
From enterprise education to real opportunity
Enterprise skills such as innovation, marketing, finance and project management shouldn’t be reserved for business studies students. They should be immersed throughout the curriculum, showing how classroom learning connects to real careers.
Employers play a huge role in bridging this gap. By offering inclusive entry points, such as pre-apprenticeship programmes, mentoring or work experience, they can help young people from all disciplines take that all-important first step.
For those without professional role models at home, exposure to the workplace and hearing from relatable ambassadors can be transformational.
Moment for change
However, this isn’t something schools and employers can do alone. The government has an important role to play.
Now that the curriculum review and white paper have been published, attention must turn to implementation – how to profit from the vast wealth of resources already created by charities, often in partnership with financial services institutions.
The curriculum and assessment review shows that both children and parents place huge value on skills like budgeting, finance, problem-solving and creative thinking.
But while the report calls for consistency and coherence, it stops short of making financial education statutory at post-16.
Similarly, the skills white paper provides another chance to close the gap.
With the government aiming for two thirds of young people to move into higher-level learning, it is vital that financial and enterprise education is offered at this stage too.
Yet today, there is no universal offer for post-16 students, despite this being the point where many are stepping into independence for the first time.
Turning ambition into action
Financial education has been on the curriculum in schools for a decade, but without clear prioritisation or guidance, it has reached too few pupils.
Only 47 per cent of young people recall receiving meaningful financial education in school, and that needs to change.
Schools and FE institutions should be the place where firm financial foundations are built, supported by employers and underpinned by a consistent national approach.
From integrating budgeting and entrepreneurship projects into core subjects, to partnering with local businesses, there are many ways to embed real-world learning into the classroom.
Recent policies have set out a strong direction for technical learning, but the next step must be to extend that vision to financial and enterprise capability. These are the skills that give young people confidence, independence and resilience to thrive in the future of work.
