Incoming assessment reforms will not “dilute” or “dumb down” apprenticeships, a Skills England boss has claimed following a backlash from employers.
Gemma Marsh, Skills England’s deputy CEO, acknowledged widespread concern from businesses, especially in safety-critical industries, that plans to streamline the assessment of apprentices will lead to some learners qualifying without proving they are competent.
But she insisted at the Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB) conference that Skills England, a government agency belonging to the Department for Work and Pensions, is “not rushing”, is “listening”, and is determined to take a “pragmatic approach”.
“I’ve really been trying to get under the skin of assessment reform,” said Marsh, who joined Skills England six months ago after 23 years working in Greater Manchester.
“Nowhere in these reforms is it about diluting. It’s not about reducing competency. It’s not about dumbing down – you have my word on that.”
She added that the government is “not throwing the baby out with the bath water” but pressed the need to “simplify” the current system.
Her comments follow an FE Week investigation into discontent from the first five pilots of reformed assessment plans, and alarm that Skills England is “bulldozing” through changes without properly consulting and listening to employers and sector experts.
Skills England’s plans include having mandatory and independent assessment for only around 40 per cent of an apprenticeship’s knowledge and skills statements, with the remaining 60 per cent being “sampled”.
Officials also want to make mandatory qualifications, that sit within over 100 apprenticeships, the sole method of assessment for some of those standards and also remove independent assessment of behaviours entirely, leaving employers to “verify” them internally.
‘Not on my watch’, say chief regulator
Skills England plans to publish the names of the first batch of apprenticeships that will officially go through the assessment plan reform process before Christmas. They will be linked to industrial strategy sectors.
The plan is to then plough through the 700-strong suite of apprenticeships in England during 2026, with a target end date of August 1 for getting all apprenticeships started on the process.
Delegates at today’s FAB conference hit back at this timescale, telling Skills England officials it was “impossible” and “unmanageable”.
Sir Ian Bauckham, Ofqual’s chief regulator, also spoke at the conference and acknowledged the concern raised by employers and experts and recognised the “demanding” timescale.
He claimed apprenticeship quality would not be compromised on his watch.
“Of course, I recognise there are mixed feelings about this [apprenticeship assessment reform], and in particular, concerns that some of the changes may lead to a dilution of quality,” Sir Ian said.
“I want to reassure anyone who might be concerned about this, that Ofqual intends to regulate to ensure apprenticeship assessment remains a valid and reliable signifier of occupational competence, and there will be no compromise on quality on my watch.”
‘Competency is key’
Marsh stressed that the pilots were a “test phase”, and added: “Every sector is different, and that’s absolutely what we’ve learned.”
She said the reforms would not be applied uniformly across all standards, emphasising that “not everything is a one-size-fits-all” and that Skills England must take a “practical approach”.
Marsh also insisted the reforms were not being pushed through quickly despite political pressure to streamline apprenticeship assessment and increase completion rates.
“Please take one thing away from today: we’re not rushing. We are listening,” she said. “We want to build this with you, and we want to take all of your advice on board.”
She also made a plea for the sector to “reset” the tone of the ongoing debate, arguing that anxiety around lower standards had “got lost in the language”.
“This is not about dumbing down competency. This is not about diluting assessment,” she said. “Quality is key, and that will remain. Competency is key, and that will remain.”
FAB CEO Rob Nitsch said: “The desire that we now have a reset that leads to us working more closely together was clearly expressed; it will be important that this is carried through – we will be very committed to ensuring that it is.”
Employer-led or pro-employer?
The government’s language recently shifted from the skills system being “employer-led” to taking a “pro-employer approach”.
Asked directly about confusion over whether the apprenticeship reforms remain “employer-led”, Marsh argued the labels do not matter.
“Language is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? Because I’m not very civil servant a lot of the time, my language is completely different,” she said.
“Employers are absolutely critical. We need to listen to employers, we need to make sure we are meeting their needs – but they also have to meet us halfway. They are part of that journey and are accountable for ensuring that we have good jobs, better jobs and the skills we need.”
Marsh added that Skills England was exploring new “expert pools” which involve wider engagement beyond trailblazer groups to ensure more voices feed into standards development and assessment design.
For a small business owner, taking on an apprentice can feel like a leap of faith. You’re employing new talent to join you or your team, not just filling a role but investing time and money into them. An incredibly rewarding move, yes, but one that comes with its own challenges – not least the costs associated with taking on a new team member, training and paying them.
At this week’s budget, the Chancellor announced that apprenticeships will be fully funded for non-levy paying employers hiring apprentices under 25 years old – expanding it from the previous funding for under 22-year-olds. She thanked the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) for our representation on this issue. While it’s hard to escape the idea that the Treasury is not good at the detail of apprenticeship policy, this is at least some attempt to help SMEs (small and medium sized businesses).
The Chancellor also announced she was providing £820 million over the next three years for the youth guarantee, which will help small businesses do what they do best – provide jobs in our local communities and help those who need it most get into work. Taken together, these announcements should open up more opportunities and help give the next generation the tools to build something of their own.
While this, and recent announcements introducing new foundation apprenticeships earlier this year, are positive steps, the fact remains that more needs to be done to help small employers hire apprentices. The appetite from small firms is there, but too many are currently being held back by rising labour costs. Our latest Small Business Index showed this was one of the top three barriers to growth, behind the domestic economy and the tax burden.
Measures like reintroducing a £3,000 incentive for small employers hiring an apprentice under 25, which was briefly introduced during the pandemic, would help to take away the risk associated with taking on an apprentice.
With almost half of small business employers telling us this incentive would encourage them to employ apprentices in the future, we think this would make a real difference to the number of apprenticeship starts, particularly at entry level. Sadly, starts numbers in small firms are falling and have been since the Apprenticeship Levy was introduced back in 2017. Young people are losing out on the chance to develop valuable skills and experience in small businesses, while those businesses miss out on a rich source of talent. We’d like to see the government setting targets to increase the number of apprenticeship starts in small steps year on year, to create some accountability and measure the success of any policies that are brought in.
In a practical sense, small firms say the system is confusing and fragmented, and involves a lot of admin. Time and resources are in short supply for small businesses, and most of them don’t have their own administrative or HR (human resources) team to deal with this side of taking on an apprentice. Our research found that a third of small business employers who currently have an apprentice on their books say reduced admin or paperwork would encourage them to take on more.
Providing financial incentives could help to offset this too, allowing employers a bit more freedom to get apprentices on board, make sure training is up to date and maintain contact with educational establishments and training providers.
We were hoping to see measures at this year’s budget that encourage small firms to invest and grow in their business. And while as a whole the Chancellor didn’t deliver on pro-growth, pro-business measures, this apprenticeship announcement was a positive move to open up opportunities to more young people and get more small firms into the apprenticeship system.
Multiverse is on the cusp of overtaking Lifetime Training as England’s largest apprenticeship training provider, new figures reveal.
Full-year apprenticeship data covering academic year 2024-25, published today, show the gap between England’s largest and second largest training providers has closed to just 1,070 starts, down from over 8,400 the year before.
The narrowing at the top of the table comes as Lifetime recorded a 20 per cent fall in apprenticeship starts, from 16,330 in 2023-24 to 13,100 in 2024-25. Meanwhile, Multiverse saw its start figure grow by 52 per cent, from 7,910 in 2023-24 to 12,030 in 2024-25.
Multiverse, which was founded in 2016 by Euan Blair, specialises in data and digital apprenticeships, mostly at higher education levels, and has degree awarding powers for its level 6 digital and technology solutions programme.
Lifetime offers a much broader portfolio of apprenticeships from levels 2 to 5 in sectors such as retail, hospitality and adult care.
Charlotte Bosworth, CEO of Lifetime Training Group, told FE Week the company had focused on sectors where it delivers “the greatest impact” but also that “economic headwinds” facing employers and the uncertain funding landscape contributed to its drop in starts.
“Lifetime has made the strategic decision to focus on sectors where we can deliver the greatest impact: care, early years, retail, and hospitality. These industries are critical to the UK economy and society, and our priority is ensuring that apprenticeships in these areas are high-quality, sustainable and aligned to employer needs,” she said.
“Apprenticeships are a vital driver of skills and productivity, and continued investment and flexibility in funding will be essential to ensure they remain accessible and impactful.”
Multiverse became the highest-earning apprenticeship training provider earlier this year due the high-value programmes it delivers. But it is yet to turn a profit, with Blair describing the company as “pre-profitability” earlier this week.
A Multiverse spokesperson said: “Employers want best-in-class AI training to realise productivity benefits, and ensure their people don’t get left behind. “Growth is critical, but so is learners getting promotions or avoiding redundancy, and businesses increasing productivity. That’s beginning to happen, but the sooner specific standards in AI and short courses come online, the better for the whole system.”
Level 7 rush intensifies
As with previous years, 2024-25 saw continuing growth in higher level apprenticeships and a decline in level 2 starts.
FE Week analysis shows 70 per cent of the overall growth in apprenticeships can be attributed to starts on level 7 courses. An FE Week investigation earlier this year revealed early figures showing a rush on level 7 starts before funding is removed in January for apprentices under 22.
Today’s figures, covering August 2024 to July 2025, update our initial analysis. They show level 7 starts are up by 41 per cent, nearly 10,000 additional starts, compared to the previous full year; from 23,860 to 33,560.
It means nearly one in 10 of all new apprentices in 2024-25 was a level 7.
Data covering May, June and July 2025 show level 7 starts were up 127 per cent, 128 per cent and 228 per cent respectively.
But that is still only part of the story. The rush to start level 7s is expected to reach its climax in the final months of 2025. We won’t see those figures until next year.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer announced funding for level 7 apprenticeships would be removed in his party conference speech in September last year. The January cut-off date was announced in May.
FE Week analysis shows there were 5,349 additional senior leader apprenticeship starts in 2024-25 compared to the year before, 1,486 extra starts on the accountancy or tax professional apprenticeship, 789 on the senior people professional apprenticeship and 652 extra apprentice solicitors. The funding bands for those apprenticeships range from £14,000 to £27,000 per apprentice.
Experts described the spike in starts as a “financial headache” for the government, which is trying to squeeze the limited apprenticeship levy budget to launch new industrial strategy short courses and pivot funding towards younger workers.
The apprenticeships budget for financial year 2026-27 has not yet been confirmed, but the pot was overspent for the first time in 2024-25.
Under-19s lowest since pandemic
Overall apprenticeships starts were up by 4.1 per cent, driven mostly by level 7 starts. A total of 353,470 apprentices started in 2024-25, up from 339,590.
Excluding level 7s, apprenticeship starts only increased by 1.3 per cent.
But under-19 apprenticeship starts were the lowest since the pandemic. There were 74,990 starts in 2024-25, down 5 per cent on the year before. This is the lowest level since 2020-21 (65,150) and means under-19s now make up 21 per cent of all apprentices, down from 25 per cent in 2018-19.
Numbers of 19 to 24-year-olds increased slightly, by 1.2 per cent, between 2024-25 and the year before, whereas starts by those aged 25 and above shot up by 10.2 per cent.
There were over 5,000 fewer level 2 apprenticeship starts in 2024-25 than in 2023-24, a 7.3 per cent frop fro 70,850 to 65,680. Level 4 starts increased by 11.8 per cent, level 5 by 11 per cent and level 6 by 2 per cent. Level 3 starts only increased by 0.4 per cent.
It is the mission that every learner, everywhere, will have the chance to discover their brilliance, shape their future, and make their mark on the world. A promise that knowledge will not be hoarded but shared. That opportunity will not be rationed but opened wide. That learning will not stop at any age, border, or barrier.
Education is the spark that ignites curiosity.
It is the bridge between cultures, the engine of innovation, and the compass that guides us through uncertain times. From the first crayon scribble to the final graduation cap, from apprenticeships to reinvention in mid-life, learning shapes who we are and who we dare to become.
Every day, in classrooms, workshops, homes and communities across the world, educators turn obstacles into opportunities, technology into tools, and lessons into life-changing moments. They prove that innovation is not just found in code or circuitry, but in creativity, compassion, and courage.
Learning without limits is more than a theme, it is a movement.
It is the will to tear down the walls that block learning walls of inequality, inaccessibility, and outdated thinking.
It is the vision to reach every learner, whether in a crowded city school, a rural village, or a refugee camp.
It is the power to unite human connection with the tools of tomorrow, AI, XR, and ideas not yet imagined, so education does not simply keep pace with the future but shapes it.
At Bett, we celebrate those who make this real:
The community-built learning centre on the edge of São Paulo, alive with music, science, and hope.
The rooftop school in Kuala Lumpur where pupils harvest rainwater to cool their lab, learning that science can solve problems they see from their own windows.
The community college in San Diego where veterans, artists, and engineers share the same workshop, each learning a new craft.
The adult learning centre in East London where parents study for degrees alongside their children’s homework hour.
Learning without limits means no learner left unseen, unheard, or underestimated.
It means the courage to combine the heart of teaching with the power of technology we have yet to invent. It means refusing to accept that where you are born determines how far you can go.
This January at Bett, we gather not just to showcase what’s new, but to ignite what’s next.
We are here to inspire, to challenge, and to commit to building a world where learning knows no boundaries.
You are part of this mission.
Whether you teach, design, lead, or spark curiosity at the kitchen table, you carry the promise forward every day.
Better education for all is not just our goal, it is our shared responsibility, our greatest opportunity, and our boldest promise. Because when everyone can learn without limits, there is no challenge we cannot meet, and no future we cannot build together.
Bett UK 2026 is gearing up to be our most ambitious edition yet. After a record-breaking 2025, with a 23% surge in educator attendance and the largest exhibitor showcase in our 40-year history, we’re raising the bar once again. From vibrant community spaces to future-shaping technologies and fresh, forward-looking content, Bett 2026 is set to be an unmissable celebration of progress, purpose and possibility.
Our most exciting programme yet is here, packed with trailblazing thinkers and innovators exploring one powerful theme: learning without limits. Featuring Hannah Fry, Amol Rajan, Vivienne Stern MBE, Ofsted, and many more sector-leading voices, this year’s line-up will spark bold conversations on AI, digital strategy, skills, careers, esports and everything shaping the future of learning.
Across Higher Education, SEND, Teaching & Learning and every corner of the sector, you’ll discover fresh perspectives, practical tools and free CPD designed to transform your practice and inspire meaningful change across your institution. From the big debates that challenge the status quo to hands-on sessions offering actionable takeaways, Bett UK 2026 has been carefully curated to equip every visitor with the clarity, confidence and creativity needed for the future.
Community-led spaces: find your people, share your voice
Education thrives on community and Bett UK 2026 shines an even brighter spotlight on the peer-to-peer connections that make our sector special. Back by popular demand, the MSP Village and SEND Villagereturn for 2026. These vibrant, community-led spaces were created to bring peers together around shared challenges and real-world opportunities. Curated with partners, educators and experts, these hubs offer networking, content, workshops and rich resources in an environment built on collaboration and shared purpose.
One of last year’s standout programmes, Tech User Labs, was oversubscribed by more than 400%. So, in 2026, we’re making them bigger, better and more accessible by moving them directly onto the show floor. These 45-minute, hands-on sessions are your chance to experience real solutions in real time from Intel, Kahoot, Microsoft, ASUS and many more. Learn how to get more from your existing tools, test new products, troubleshoot pain points and build your institution’s digital confidence. Slots for Tech User Labs fill fast, so get your ticket and sign up when programmes go live very soon.
Bett is committed to elevating diverse voices, and our Women in EdTech initiative returns refreshed and expanded for 2026. This influential space celebrates the women shaping the future of EdTech from founders and innovators to classroom leaders, researchers and policymakers.
The Women in EdTech Mentoring Circles return for 2026 after a hugely successful launch last year. Designed as a supportive, safe space for women across both education and EdTech, the circles bring peers together to share experiences, offer advice and build meaningful connections. Whether you’re a woman in the sector or an ally championing female leadership, the Mentoring Circles provide an invaluable opportunity to learn, connect and grow.
Introducing EdTech 10: the innovators to watch
New for 2026, we’re unveiling the EdTech 10 List, a celebration of the ten trailblazing females redefining the next era of education technology. This list goes beyond recognition; it’s a platform to highlight impactful work and success stories of women revolutionising the EdTech landscape. Being part of this initiative means inspiring others and connecting with fellow innovators. Join us as we recognise their achievements live at Bett UK 2026.
Brand new for 2026 – Operational Transformation Theatre
The Operational Transformation Theatre explores how innovation can reshape the way schools operate behind the scenes. It focuses on smarter use of people, money, data and digital tools to improve efficiency, reduce workload and strengthen long-term resilience. By showcasing practical strategies and technologies, it empowers school leaders to reimagine operational systems and create the conditions for educational excellence. Ultimately, it demonstrates how thoughtful operational change can unlock time and resources, motivate staff and drive better outcomes for students.
Hear from Stephen Morales on connecting people and systems for operational excellence, James Garnett on strengthening IT security, and James Browning on using AI to power smarter, more resilient trusts. With more expert-led sessions throughout the programme, this theatre is your go-to for practical insights that turn innovation into impact.
Higher Education is evolving at pace, and Bett’s HE Campus is the dedicated destination for leaders, academics and digital strategists navigating that change.
The HE Campus offers deep insight into digital transformation, academic innovation, AI adoption, student experience, micro-credentials and the changing business models of HE. It’s a rich, future-focused environment built for bold thinking and sector-wide collaboration. Expect to hear from Amol Rajan and Vivienne Stern, Prof. Doug Delpha, Marie-Aude Sourd and so many more.
School Absenteeism in 2025: What’s really going on behind the numbers?
Across the UK, schools are grappling with a sharp rise in pupil absenteeism yet the story behind those missed days is far more complex than a simple crisis of attendance. Our new report, School Absenteeism in 2025, takes a look at the forces reshaping how young people experience school, from shifting parental expectations to the growing emphasis on emotional wellbeing. Rather than pointing to a single cause, the findings reveal a system in transition, where engagement, mental health and the evolving purpose of schooling are deeply intertwined.
One of the most striking insights is the changing role of the modern parent. Families today allow an average of six “mental health days” per year, signalling a growing recognition that emotional resilience is just as important as academic progress. While parents still deeply value education, many feel empowered to question traditional norms around discipline and attendance, especially when they see their children under strain. This cultural shift, accelerated by the pandemic, suggests that many families now view school through a wellbeing-first lens.
At the same time, today’s learners are growing up in an entirely new educational landscape, one where autonomy, flexibility and personalised support aren’t seen as “nice-to-haves” but as essential for motivation and belonging. With hybrid learning models, adaptive technologies and differentiated pathways becoming more familiar, students are increasingly aware of what helps them thrive. The report highlights that disengagement rarely stems from disinterest alone; more often, it’s about whether young people feel safe, supported and connected – emotionally as much as academically.
As schools navigate these shifting expectations, the opportunity lies in re-imagining attendance not as a compliance metric, but as a barometer of connection. School Absenteeism in 2025 brings together data, practitioner insights and lived experience to help educators understand what’s changing and where meaningful solutions can take root.
Inside the report
97% of parents now say mental health is just as important as academic success.
3 IN 4 have allowed their child a ‘duvet day’ to rest or recharge.
55% believe personalised learning could help improve attendance.
1 IN 3 support a hybrid approach to schooling.
Download it today and keep the conversation going at Bett UK 2026 this January.
The countdown to January begins now
Whether you’re exploring solutions to immediate challenges, scouting what’s next in EdTech, or looking to sharpen your vision for long-term transformation, Bett UK 2026 is your chance to connect, learn and lead. Educators go free, join us 21–23 January 2026 at ExCeL, London!
The Chancellor’s skills announcement today – £820 million for a youth guarantee and a £725m apprenticeship budget uplift over three years – lands with an impressive thud, but nowhere near enough momentum. With almost one million young people adrift from education, employment or training, and a desperate need for more skills for the growth we need, it’s at least a recognition of the scale of the crisis. Yet it still feels more like a headline than a plan.
In 2017, employers agreed to a new tax – the apprenticeship levy – on the understanding that it would help them invest more in training and stop non-training employers freeloading. The government has since reneged on that deal. Levy receipts are now far exceeding what is returned to the apprenticeship budget.
During the next three years, the levy will raise around £3.34 billion more than it does today. The £725 million announced is therefore only 21 per cent of what employers reasonably expected to see flow back into training.
While Treasury officials may be quietly satisfied with this sleight of hand, AELP feels obliged to point out the consequence: government is effectively pressing the brakes by choking off levy-funded training while wondering why its accelerator – the youth guarantee – is failing to speed up growth or bring NEET numbers down.
Entry level jobs need to exist
Progress for young people ultimately depends on being offered that crucial first rung on the employment ladder. New initiatives can’t make a difference if entry-level jobs aren’t there. Employers are willing to play their part, but government policy is making that harder.
The underhand skimming off of the levy is just one part of how government is making this worse. Last year’s Budget saw the introduction of increased National Insurance contributions for employers. This year we’ve seen above inflation increases to the minimum wage.
Ministers must not be surprised if in the coming months and years they find that employers’ priorities drift away from opening up opportunities for young people – especially as they’re being given less time to spend allocations without clarity on the other “aspects” of the growth and skills offering they can use the levy to fund. A credible NEET strategy starts by backing the employers who want to invest in young people and by unlocking the levy funds that already exist for that purpose.
Remove growth caps to unlock capacity where it’s needed
There are other vital changes government can make, notwithstanding what I have just said, that will make things better. Currently, the 16–19 funding model makes it harder for providers to respond to rising NEET levels, with rigid growth caps and slow, centrally controlled allocations preventing expansion. Demand can shift in weeks, yet the funding system moves at the pace of years. A review is on its way, but if the government wants a system that is genuinely agile and innovative, it must fund it to behave like one. Growth funding should track real-time need, allowing providers to scale quickly, adapt their models, and test new approaches without being penalised for taking sensible risks.
This matters because capacity is already stretched. The youth guarantee and automatic FE places will only succeed if the system has the space to absorb the larger secondary-school cohort coming through.
Parity of provider types will deliver that extra capacity
If the government wants to harness the full power of the organisations eager to help tackle this crisis, it must ensure ITPs have the same powers as FE colleges. When ITPs have equal visibility, equal access to national initiatives and a guaranteed place in policy design, the system can expand its ability to respond. That means ending their routine exclusion from key funding schemes and removing rules that stop ITPs and colleges working together.
This parity will give policymakers a richer set of solutions and increase frontline capacity overnight – delivering the additional capability the youth guarantee and wider reforms need.
Employers and providers (of all types) are already doing the hard work and want to expand; they just need the government to stop putting barriers in their way. If ministers back them with the right funding, flexibility and parity, then the country has a fighting chance of turning this around. Without that, we risk another year of drift while too many young people remain stuck on the sidelines.
A large automobile apprenticeship provider has been sold to a private equity-backed training firm.
Sue Pittock and Rob Foulston handed over ownership of Remit Training to Inspiro Learning for an undisclosed sum on Tuesday.
Inspiro Learning, formerly Babcock Skills Development and Training Limited, was itself bought by Beech Tree Private Equity in September.
Remit employs over 250 staff and is the country’s largest automotive apprenticeship provider. It operates five academies in England and Scotland.
Chairman Rob Foulston bought the training provider in 2008 and appointed Pittock as CEO in 2013.
Remit scored Ofsted’s highest grade in 2023 when it was training over 2,250 apprentices nationally. Latest government statistics show that Remit recorded an overall apprenticeship achievement rate of 52 per cent in 2023-24.
Pittock said: “With Inspiro’s strong focus on outcomes for learners and high-quality delivery, we believe they will be an excellent home for Remit to continue its journey from here.”
Inspiro was launched in 2023 after defence infrastructure giant Babcock International offloaded its training division.
The provider was previously known as Babcock Skills Development and Training Limited and has held a ‘good’ Ofsted rating since 2021. It operates in the automotive, rail, energy and service sectors. It had 2,270 apprenticeship leavers in 2023-24, according to latest government data, and holds an overall achievement rate of 74.1 per cent.
Stuart Wilson, chief executive of Inspiro Learning, said: “Remit has an excellent reputation for high-quality training delivery and building long-term relationships with an impressive customer base.
“This clear strategic alignment with Inspiro makes for an exciting combination of the businesses to bring shared best practice to even more learners.”
Wilson told FE Week his first priority is “continuity of exceptional delivery” in both organisations before making any decisions about the structures of the companies.
Pittock added: “I would like to personally thank Remit’s previous majority shareholder and chairman, Rob Foulston, for his commitment and dedication to Remit over the last 17 years.
“It has been hugely rewarding sharing the Remit journey with him, and also of course with all our colleagues at Remit, who, together with Remit’s exceptional clients, have made Remit what it is today – an outstanding training provider.”
The electrical, plumbing and mechanical trades keep the UK running, powering our homes, businesses and essential infrastructure. Yet the sector faces a twin challenge: meeting growing demand for skilled tradespeople and ensuring the workforce better reflects the diversity of modern Britain.
Women currently make up just 2.4 per cent of the electrical and under two percent of the plumbing workforce. In the wider construction workforce, 15 per cent of professionals are women but fewer than 5 per cent are in on-site roles. Other groups, including ethnic minorities and people with disabilities, continue to encounter barriers. If we are to build a sustainable future, the trades must become more inclusive.
The diversity gap
Attracting a broader range of talent is not just about fairness. It is about the creativity, innovation and problem-solving that come from diverse teams. The challenges facing our sector, from net-zero targets to digitalisation and an expanding infrastructure pipeline, won’t be solved without new perspectives.
A lack of gender diversity limits the sector’s long-term resilience. Employers miss out on a huge pool of talent without women in these industries, at a time when demand for skilled labour is higher than ever. Broadening access is not optional; it is essential for growth.
Many of the obstacles appear long before starting an apprenticeship. Outdated stereotypes of ‘male-dominated’ trades still shape perceptions in schools. Young people who could excel in these roles are often discouraged before they even begin. Later, in the workplace, women and others who break through find themselves without visible role models or clear pathways for progression.
Representation and role models
At JTL, we have seen how powerful representation can be. When apprentices are taught and mentored by people who share similar experiences, it helps them imagine their future in the trades. Across our 16-strong network of specialist training centres, a growing number of female teaching staff are already helping to shift perceptions. One of JTL’s delivery team managers, Dulcie Sanders, is developing a female support network to bring apprentices and staff together. Through mentoring, guest speakers and networking events, the initiative aims to build confidence, create connections and strengthen retention.
Encouraging signs of progress
Although our apprentice gender balance still mirrors that of the wider industry, there are positive signs of change. Outcomes for women training with us are improving; our qualification achievement rates (QAR) for women are 2 per cent higher than the national female average. We also see improving female representation at industry competitions like SkillELECTRIC and SPARKS Learner of the Year. These initiatives challenge misconceptions, promote talent and increase confidence so we proudly put forward our apprentices year after year.
We’re proud of the progress being made at JTL. Our recent National Apprentice Awards saw a female Apprentice of the Year, Stephanie Hitch, take home one of the top accolades. We also saw female training staff recognised in our tutor and training officer categories, and employers with diverse teams taking home Employer of the Year across our five regions. But there is still work to do.
Providing tailored support and effective mentorship will be essential to sustain and strengthen these improvements, and small practical steps like inclusive recruitment materials and structured workplace mentoring can make a real difference.
Looking ahead
The case for a more inclusive workforce is compelling. A sector that welcomes people from all backgrounds is stronger, more innovative and better prepared for the future. It will help us attract and retain the skilled professionals we need to deliver the homes, workplaces and infrastructure of tomorrow.
By challenging outdated perceptions, celebrating role models and providing visible support, we can help every apprentice see a place for themselves in the trades. The industry has powered Britain for generations and now it has the opportunity to represent it too – diverse, skilled and ready for the future.
A decade-long spree of assessment reform has taken its toll on awarding organisations which are battling through levels of uncertainty while bearing the financial and human cost, according to NCFE chief executive David Gallagher, the new chair of the Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB).
In his first interview since taking on the FAB role, Gallagher addresses the impact of skills’ shifting architecture on sector morale and market sustainability, and sets out how he wants to support the regulated community, particularly smaller and niche awarding bodies.
He also tells FE Week how he plans to utilise his own organisation’s experience of “brutal but necessary” regulation intervention. And he explains how FAB is making a tangible difference behind the scenes – asserting that apprenticeship assessment changes, for example, would have been “far worse” than what is now being proposed.
Weathering wave after wave of reform
Gallagher joined education charity and awarding giant NCFE in September 2018 as managing director of end-point assessment (EPA) before being quickly promoted to chief executive the following March.
Since that time the awarding sector has worked through the introduction of apprenticeship standards and EPA, T Levels, and topsy-turvy decisions on applied general qualifications to name a few policy changes.
The sector is now braced for even greater reform with the introduction of V Levels, the lifelong learning entitlement, higher technical qualifications, new level 2 pathways, the growth and skills levy and perhaps most controversially, the end of EPA.
“We’ve been in a state of major reform for a very long time,” Gallagher says.
“You recall this view that we were going to end up in a world with just T Levels and A Levels for 16 to 19-year-olds, and then obviously that was eroded over time. It doesn’t feel like that long since we introduced end-point assessments, and now that is being changed.”
Last month’s skills white paper, he adds, is “the most comprehensive basket of reform since I’ve been in the sector, around 22 years”.
Alongside V Levels and T Levels refinement, Gallagher reels off a list of regulatory and policy shifts reshaping the landscape simultaneously: apprenticeship units, functional skills adjustments, OfS regulating higher technical qualifications (HTQs), and the prospect of colleges getting their own awarding powers.
“It’s a huge programme of reform,” he says, “and what I’ve picked up on is a real mixed response from the sector”.
Many recognise that some elements – such as the bureaucracy and duplication in EPA – needed attention. But the speed and breadth of change comes at a heavy price.
AOs, he says, are being asked to “bear all of the uncertainty and the cost of another much bigger programme of reform,” without having seen the benefits of the last one.
Gallagher accepts that the motives behind much of the reform are “honourable”, as ministers or civil servants “have spotted problems and challenges and are looking to make improvements”.
But the disconnect between policy intent and practical delivery is widening.
“Underneath some of this, we’re talking about this being a simplification agenda,” he says. “I’m seeing a lot more complexity and confusion coming in.”
More than anything, organisations are struggling with the sheer lack of stability.
“Human beings don’t particularly like a lot of uncertainty a lot of the time. When everything’s uncertain, I think it’s really challenging in terms of the culture of the sector, the morale of the sector, even just the wellbeing of individuals.”
Policymaking ‘catch-up’
Labour’s new national skills body – Skills England – was billed as a chance to inject coherence into the system. But Gallagher warns it hasn’t yet had the stabilising effect many hoped for.
“We’ve gone from the Department for Education having the mandate working with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, and then IfATE abolished, and Skills England being established, and then half of skills being shifted across to the Department for Work and Pensions, all with devolution in the mix,” he says. “It’s really challenging.”
Labour’s intention to broaden engagement with employers and beyond – to include trade unions, providers and professional bodies – is a step forward in principle, Gallagher says. But he argues that genuine consensus-building in the qualifications ecosystem is slow and complex work.
“It’s very rare that you could sit in a room with an AO, a college, an employer, a civil servant, a professional body, and quickly reconcile on what the problem is and what the solution is,” he says. “Getting that alignment is incredibly challenging.”
Instead, political appetite for quick wins is leading to policy being announced first and designed later.
“There’s a political desire to get the things moving more quickly, without spending a very long time trying to figure out the complexity, understand the root cause of the problems, and really think and work through the solutions,” he says.
“We tend to be announcing policy, and then the planning is always catching up. I’m the first one to advocate for an agile and responsive system, but the planning and the execution are arguably even more important.”
Compounding this is a worry he says regulators themselves have raised: a significant minority of AOs are now loss-making.
“That’s a real worry in terms of market stability and sustainability,” Gallagher says.
FAB-ulous influence
Gallagher is clear that the sector is stronger as a collective and sees FAB’s job as co-ordinating the position of all members, large and small, to create a more coherent and sustainable market.
He says current apprenticeship assessment reform is one example where the influence of the federation has come into play.
Ministers are currently pushing through changes that will see the end of EPA, moving to a system where only around 40 per cent of an apprenticeship standard’s knowledge and skills are mandatorily assessed independently. The rest will be “sampled”, mandatory qualifications in some standards will become the sole method of assessment, and behaviours will be “verified” by employers.
The proposals have been met with backlash from businesses in multiple safety-critical industries that fear apprentices will be allowed to pass without proving they are competent, as an FE Week investigation revealed last week.
Gallagher says FAB saw earlier drafts of the policy proposals that, in their view, would have gone dangerously far.
“It would have been an even more diminished role for any type of independent assessment, to the extreme that they may not have had a role.”
He adds that he is “still nervous” that elements of the current reform might not be right, but he “very strongly” believes that “if we [FAB] hadn’t worked actively in the background, it would have been worse for all stakeholders”.
Three-year term goals
Gallagher has been on FAB’s board for around five years. He is now stepping up from vice chair and replacing Lifetime Training CEO Charlotte Bosworth as chair of the federation.
He says Bosworth set a “brilliant example” of how to challenge “some really contentious, quite politicised, quite polarising things” and helped bring “stability” to FAB with CEO Rob Nitsch.
He now wants to follow Bosworth’s “calm” approach and has broad priorities for his three-year term.
The first is more professional recognition for people working in the sector – a nod to the federation’s work to deliver an “individual professional recognition” pathway. Gallagher says assessment design experts are “really difficult” to recruit and retain, but are more important than ever with reform “on steroids”, and he hopes this pathway will help.
He secondly wants to protect the specialist niche awarding bodies that “feel most threatened” by policy churn, recognising smaller AOs must have their “voice heard” and be “listened to, understood and supported”, just as much if not more than the larger awarding bodies in the sector.
Gallagher also sees an opportunity, with his commercial background experience, to help FAB members explore commercially resilient strategies, including international markets and new commissioning opportunities through the DWP.
Learning from ‘brutal’ intervention
Lastly, he wants FAB to be an “improvement partner,” helping the sector anticipate risk and not just react to it.
To this end, Gallagher reflects on recent years when NCFE was subject to significant Ofqual intervention in the wake of early T Level issues. He plans to use this difficult experience to help others across the sector.
“We were the only organisation that really was subject to any sort of intervention or public scrutiny,” he says. “That was really difficult to swallow.”
He stresses that this was not “a criticism of Ofqual,” but rather a consequence of NCFE being positioned “in the middle of the policymakers and the contract holders and the regulators and the colleges”.
Once intervention was finalised, however, he says the “brutal” process ultimately strengthened the organisation.
“It was the least preferable way to get you fit to run a marathon, because it was brutal, but it was necessary,” he reflects. The scrutiny acted like “scaffolding” which at times “felt a bit too heavy” but ultimately it helped to “repair all of the different areas in the business”.
In hindsight, NCFE is “so much better for it” and it has shaped Gallagher’s thinking about FAB’s future role.
“What I would love is FAB to increasingly play a role in helping organisations to understand what intervention could look like,” he says. Not just “getting off the naughty step,” but strengthening AOs before problems arise.
FAB currently has a record number of members – 161, which is just over 85 per cent of the government technical qualifications in the UK.
“Wouldn’t it be great if every Ofqual regulated awarding organisation wanted to be part of FAB’s membership because they saw value in it,” Gallagher concludes.
“If our voice can really step in, we can start trying to depoliticise this a little bit.”
As we heard in the Prime Minister’s party conference speech, increasing the esteem of technical careers is deeply personal to him, particularly given his father’s story. The same goes for me.
In a previous job working as a lecturer in FE, I saw first-hand how access to high quality technical education can transform lives and open doors. Even today it’s an issue that’s literally close to home, with my wife about to begin her a career in midwifery but helped on the way to university by our local FE college.
That path: to a secure, well-paid job, in your own community, is one that many more young people want to tread. Yet tragically, many in communities such as mine in Bishop Auckland have previously felt that the only way they can get on is by moving out: first to university then to work in London or another big city.
High-quality technical education and apprenticeships, available nearby and supported by local businesses, are the key to breaking this cycle. By ensuring young people can train, qualify and thrive in the places they grew up, we strengthen our local economies and allow talent to stay rooted in communities right across the country.
That is why T Levels matter. Designed with employers and combining classroom study with real-world industry placements., they give young people the skills, knowledge, and hands-on experience needed for apprenticeships, further study or skilled jobs. Introduced in 2020, there are now 21 T Level courses being delivered by hundreds of providers.
Across the North East, T Levels are already powering the industries of the future. At Tyne Coast College, students on the building services engineering for construction T Level are gaining the skills needed to help meet the Government’s target of 1.5 million new homes, with the greatest uplift required in the North.
At Gateshead College, the Engineering, Manufacturing, Processing and Control T Level is preparing students to lead the region’s clean energy revolution, while at NCG Newcastle, the digital support services T Level is providing the expertise to help modernise and scale-up our nation’s defences.
I recently met with T Level students at Bishop Auckland College, whose passion and determination were truly inspiring. Their stories show what can be achieved when we give young people the chance to combine learning with hands-on industry experience. These are the future nurses, engineers, digital technicians, and educators who will power our economy and deliver excellent public services for decades to come.
I’m delighted that other Parliamentary colleagues are taking the opportunity to visit T Level providers in their see for themselves just how transformative these qualifications are.
It’s why I strongly welcomed the Prime Minister’s recent announcement setting out the clear ambition that two-thirds of young people will gain high-level qualifications by the age of 25, whether through university, FE or a gold standard apprenticeship. Backed by £800 million in additional funding for 16–19 education and a plan to establish new technical excellence colleges, this sends a clear signal that we are serious about backing the skills vital to our future prosperity.
T Levels are a success and I look forward with optimism to how they can continue to help deliver the skills revolution our country needs.
In the months ahead, my colleagues and I on the APPG will continue working closely with government, industry, and education providers to champion these qualifications, listen to the experiences of students and employers and help improve access.
We’re also keen to hear from parliamentary colleagues across party divides about how T Levels are being delivered in their areas, including any barriers and challenges which government still needs to address.
In a time where there’s so much talk of political division, let’s come together behind a shared commitment to ensuring all our young people can gain vital skills, and embark on well-paid and rewarding careers, wherever they come from. This is vital not only to young people’s individual futures, but to our collective future, because the truth is – and I here it every time I meet with business and industry leaders – Britain is being held back by a lack of skilled workforce. T Levels and work placements and are important part of the answer.
