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Gordon Brown urges Labour to ‘ignore’ pause and review promise

Former prime minister Gordon Brown and T Levels architect Lord David Sainsbury have urged the new Labour government to “ignore” the party’s promise to pause and review the Conservatives’ controversial bonfire of BTECs.

In a new report by lobbying firm WPI Strategy, the influential pair endorse calls to end the “wild west” situation that “currently exists” where multiple and overlapping vocational courses of “varying quality” are offered to school leavers and “suppresses talent”.

It advises the government to continue with plans to defund qualifications that compete with T Levels, launched in 2020 as the technical equivalent to A-levels, from 2025.

Brown claimed there is a “current fear” that those with a “vested interest in marketing and selling their own lower quality courses” will attempt to “pull the wool over parliamentarians’ eyes” and influence Labour to “pause and review the technical education system yet again”.

The report has attracted fierce criticism from former Labour education secretary Lord Blunkett who said the proposals will lead to the “collapse” of the pipeline of trainees in key sectors like health and social care, adding that Labour “must not walk into the trap of getting the blame for a scorched earth policy”.

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association that co-ordinates the Protect Student Choice campaign, said WPI’s report reads like it has been “drafted in a time warp, and its authors are not aware of all the incontestable facts of this issue”.

DfE will ‘confirm next steps shortly’

The SFCA successfully secured a promise from Labour to “pause and review” the level 3 reforms last year if it won the next general election.

Former shadow skills minister Seema Malhotra repeated this promise to the House of Commons multiple times over the past year.

There is however concern in the sector that Labour could U-turn on the promise as it did not feature in the Labour Party’s election manifesto.

New education secretary Bridget Phillipson has so far been silent on the matter since taking office this month.

Responding to today’s report, a Department for Education spokesperson said: “We support T Levels as a high-class vocational qualification which give young people a firm foundation for their future and will confirm our next steps shortly.”

WPI’s report repeats the last government’s claims that the post-16 education system is “incoherent and confusing”, with over 12,000 vocational qualifications from over 150 awarding bodies.

It said the 2016 Sainsbury review, which paved the way for T Levels, called for a fundamental shift in technical education to solve the skills crisis, adding that the current reforms aim to “weed out low-quality qualifications and reduce overlap”.

The report’s authors, former civil servants Vincenzo Rampulla and Erika Williams, argue that Labour should be “empowering students, parents, and employers with a transparent system of post-16 qualifications – underpinned by data and easy to navigate”.

‘Vested interests attempt to pull the wool over parliamentarians’ eyes’

Gordon Brown’s foreword for the report highlights “outstanding” results for the first 1,000 students who completed their T Level in 2022, including stats that show 40 per cent of those have gone on to work in full-time jobs, 13 per cent have decided to pursue apprenticeships, and 44 per cent have decided to continue their studies at university.

But the report excludes facts that show a third of students who start a T Level drop out before completing. It also fails to mention the health and science T Level fiasco where over 1,200 students had their results remarked due to “major failings” in exam papers.

Several proposed T Levels have also either been delayed or cancelled altogether due to issues with quality and employer demand.

Education watchdog Ofsted released a damning review last summer that found “many” students have dropped out of T Levels after being “misled” onto the flagship qualifications, while experienced teachers struggle to teach the “complex” courses.

Employers were also allegedly being left “disappointed” and “poorly informed” about the mandatory 315-hour industry placements for T Levels, as the inspectorate warned that some placements are “not appropriate” for the subjects learners are studying.

Officials announced plans in April to undertake a “route-by-route” review of T Level content and assessment in a bid to boost their poor recruitment and retention and to ensure the courses are “manageable at scale”.

It would be calamitous and costly to slow the rollout of T Levels or pause the changeover of funding

Despite this, Brown (pictured left) claims that those with a “vested interest” in retaining competing level 3 qualifications that are of “lower quality” could soon force Labour to “pause and review the technical education system yet again”.

“These calls should be ignored,” he said, adding: “It would be calamitous and costly to slow the rollout of T Levels or pause the changeover of funding from lower quality to higher quality qualifications. Delay would set the economy back at a time when we desperately need skilled labour now. It would hamper our growth prospects by bequeathing us an inadequately trained workforce for a decade to come.”

Lord Sainsbury (pictured right), one of Labour’s biggest election donors, added: “The most successful international skills systems have three things consistently in common: simplicity of choice, national standards, and stability. The UK’s system of thousands of qualifications, where in many instances public funding is going to for-profit private entities for qualifications that the government does not scrutinise the content of, is an international outlier.

“Labour must seize the opportunity to break from the failures of the past and deliver reforms that provide value for money and high-quality education.”

‘The report recycles the tropes used by the last government’

SFCA’s Bill Watkin hit back. He said: “Lord Sainsbury’s objective in funding this report was no doubt to promote the value of T Levels. But in attempting to do so, the report recycles many of the tropes used by the last Conservative government to describe BTEC qualifications while overstating the performance and potential uptake of T Levels.

“In opposition, the Labour party made a firm commitment to pause and review the last government’s plan to scrap BTECs if elected this year. Today’s report urges Labour to renege on the commitment made in opposition, over a year ago, and press ahead with the plan to scrap BTECs, but it has nothing to say about the fate of the 155,000 students that our research identified last year would be left without a suitable qualification if this plan is implemented.”

Watkin added that T Levels are a “welcome addition” to the qualifications landscape, but claimed it would be “reckless to scrap BTECs when there is no evidence to suggest that T Levels are close to being a genuine replacement or can be offered at scale”.

Pearson, the awarding organisation that offers BTECs, said there is a “place for both T Levels and other applied general qualifications in the modern skills landscape – not a stark choice between the two as the WPI Strategy report today suggests”.

Pearson “strongly urge” the new Labour government to “continue its plans to implement a review of the vocational qualification reform programme”.

Lord Blunkett added: “There is a simple truth, which I know the incoming government will grasp immediately. Either we pull the plug on courses that are already working with the consequent collapse of the pipeline of trainees into social care, childcare and much else; or we use common sense. T Levels have a really important part to play, but they are in their infancy and the statistics demonstrate that an urgent review of both timescale and what is working should be an imperative.”

Skills Federation appoints first CEO in 3 years

The Skills Federation has appointed policy expert Fiona Aldridge as its new leader after spending three years without a chief executive.

Also known as the Federation for Industry Sector Skills & Standards (FISSS), Aldridge will join The Skills Federation this September after leading on employment and skills strategy at the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) for the last two years.

The appointment appears to be part of a refresh for the federation as it looks to expand its remit in “providing an employer voice” in government policy.

Aldridge fills the top position three years after FISSS’ previous CEO Matt Lambert stood down from the role in early 2021, after spending just one year in the post.

He took over from Mark Froud who spent six years at the helm but resigned with immediate effect in 2019. Since 2021, the federation has been run by its board.

In her previous role as head of skills insight at WMCA, Aldridge was part of the negotiations with the government for the employment and skills elements of the combined authority’s trailblazer devolution deal.

Prior to WMCA, Aldridge worked at Learning and Work Institute for nearly 20 years in its policy and research division.

“I am delighted Fiona will be joining us as we support the new government in achieving UK growth ambitions,” said Dame Julie Mellor, chair of The Skills Federation.

“Employer perspectives will be critical to inform the evolution of the skills system to meet skills needs in each sector of our economy.”

Aldridge said: “I am very excited to be joining The Skills Federation at the start of this new government, to help provide an employer voice in the development of skills policy. This will be critical to unlocking ambitions for economic growth and opportunity for all.”

The federation is a membership organisation for 19 UK employer-led bodies focussed on skills and training.

Its members include the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), ScreenSkills and Engineering Construction Industry Training Board industry (ECITB) and altogether represent 150,000 employers, both large and small, across 20 UK sectors.

FISSS previously used to verify whether apprenticeships had been completed successfully before issuing certificates under the old-style frameworks but lost the responsibility in 2017 when the ESFA took over amid the rollout of new-style apprenticeship standards.

The federation also runs ed-tech apprenticeship service ACE360, which joins up training providers to end point assessment organisations and external quality assurance providers to manage apprenticeship delivery and certification.

Ernst and Young among latest batch of Ofsted ‘outstandings’

One of the “big four” accounting firms, a university, an adult education institute and a veterinary nursing specialist are among the latest FE providers to score top Ofsted marks.

Global giant Ernst and Young LLP (EY), which trains 1,365 adults in the level 7 accountancy and taxation professional apprenticeship, received ‘outstanding’ grades across the board in its first full inspection.

Its report was published today and detailed how apprentices work and learn in a “highly dynamic and supportive culture” where they progress successfully in the financial sector.

Inspectors found that EY’s leaders have “enhanced” the apprenticeship to “successfully meet the demands of the four key service lines within their company”.

Apprentices gain “increased learning” from experts in assurance, tax, strategy and transactions and consulting alongside their academic studies. Because of this, apprentices quickly develop the skills they need to become effective in the workplace, the report said.

Leaders have also successfully recruited apprentices from diverse backgrounds, including recent university graduates and young people who have just finished their A-levels.

The learning is tailored to meet their specific needs, Ofsted said. “Most graduates benefit from an accelerated route, while younger apprentices profit from a longer study time. This adaptability ensures that all apprentices, regardless of background, are well- prepared for their future job roles.”

The report highlighted how apprentices become “established and confident practitioners” who add value to their organisation.

“Many” progress quickly through the company. For example, in their second year, apprentices take on “high-risk” tasks, such as contract audits. Ofsted found that all apprentices who take end tests achieve and move on to positive destinations within EY or other accounting firms.

Also celebrating grade ones across the board today following its first inspection is Bournemouth University.

The higher education institution trains more than 350 degree apprentices in health and social care as well as senior leadership.

Inspectors found that despite the “significant challenges” in the healthcare sector during the pandemic, leaders ensured that a “high proportion” of apprentices completed and achieved their qualifications.

The report said: “Almost all apprentices played critical healthcare and leadership roles throughout this period, including undertaking additional tasks such as covering for colleagues during this challenging time. Throughout this period, leaders and lecturers worked highly effectively to support apprentices’ well-being. As a result, over two-thirds of apprentices passed their qualifications and almost all achieved distinctions.”

Leaders have also established “excellent” strategic links with healthcare providers and the NHS to ensure that the curriculums they provide support regional and national skills needs.

Bournemouth University’s “highly effective” governance arrangements were praised alongside lecturers who are “very skilful at ensuring that apprentices understand and remember what they have been taught”.

Professor Philip Sewell, director of apprenticeships and skills at Bournemouth University, said: “We’re so proud of all the work that goes into making sure our apprentices are highly trained and ready for their future careers. We work with local businesses and organisations to make sure we’re teaching the skills that employers need and feed in our own research, utilising our facilities, to give apprentices the best possible experience while they are learning with us which results in high achievement rates.”

Elsewhere, Redbridge Institute of Adult Education in London maintained its Ofsted ‘outstanding’ grade through a short inspection report published today.

The institute, which first achieved the feat in 2018, teaches over 1,000 adults. Most are on English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) courses, as well as digital skills, English, maths, teaching and learning, accounting, early years and counselling.

Ofsted found exemplary feedback from learners, with praise for a “welcoming and supportive” environment and the high-quality training provided.

Adrian Loades, chief executive of Redbridge Council said: “Congratulations to everybody at Redbridge Institute who has seen their hard work and dedication recognised by this outstanding judgment. Redbridge Institute provides invaluable support and help to so many Redbridge residents and it is great to see the high quality of its work confirmed by Ofsted.”

Lastly, veterinary nursing specialist training provider Lite (Stockport) Limited was upgraded from Ofsted ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’ in a report published on Friday.

The 40-year-old company trains over 130 apprentices to “exceptionally” high standards which prepares them well for their careers in veterinary nursing.

Inspectors noted that leaders have a “clear and highly ambitious intent” for the curriculum and apprentices develop high levels of confidence and resilience.

LITE Ltd head of centre Jackie Shopland-Reed said: “It is very rewarding that the inspectors praised the high quality of teaching and the support we provide for apprentices. We also received feedback that apprentices enjoy their learning and feel safe and well supported. Our strong and effective partnerships with employers were also praised, all of which makes us very proud.”

How to reform qualifications without breaking the bank

While plans for the Advanced British Standard (ABS) are now well and truly sunk, what lessons can the new government learn from the experience?

It was halfway through a session with the DfE on the ABS when it clicked for us round the table. We totted up all the different elements of the qualification and someone said: “Hold on, isn’t this just three A levels plus English and maths?”

After a slightly awkward pause, everyone agreed it was.

The problem, it appeared to us, was that the department was trying to recreate something that structurally wasn’t actually flawed. Or at least, the structure wasn’t the main thing that needed resolving.

The main issue the department was really trying to sort out was so-called ‘parity of esteem’, as well as a sense that not enough young people were learning the sort of English and maths they need for working life.

If we break this down, the first thing is less about the structure of qualifications, and much more about their brand and perception. The reason we don’t like talking about ‘parity of esteem’ at AQA is it isn’t really something you can fix in a qualification itself; it’s in the eye of the beholder.

And this isn’t an isolated issue. On T levels, there was something in there about needing to raise the quality of vocational qualifications, but at its heart (and I was in the DfE when it was conceived) T levels were always about brand. The idea was to create ‘parity of esteem‘ by creating a vocational qualification whose brand was as strong as that of A levels, hence the name.

The problem with this is: it misunderstands the problem and therefore misapplies the solution. The problem isn’t really the qualification itself; the problem is the perception of that qualification.

This comes from what policy officials see as their default set of tools to solve policy problems; too often, structural change is the first thing officials and ministers consider. The softer side – how to influence and create genuine behaviour change – is more rarely looked to as a solution.

That’s why you end up with a brand new, totally redesigned qualification that still hasn’t changed the parity of anything.

Too often, structural change is the first thing officials and ministers consider

What if this wasn’t the default approach? What if we treated qualification reform like other challenges in public policy that require a behavioural solution, such as teenage pregnancy or smoking?

Under this model, the structure of qualifications would be tweaked and improved, but far more effort would go into influencing people’s perception of the qualification and what young people know and can do if they have it.

Research would be undertaken to understand why, for example, middle-class parents like apprenticeships, but only for other people’s kids. Deeply ingrained social norms would be understood, and language would be tested to see what could start to challenge those norms, including the sorts of techniques made famous by the ‘nudge unit’ (Behavioural Insights Team).

This would see the department think differently; instead of spending time and money constantly restructuring things, it would first ask itself whether it could play more of a ‘system stewardship’ role. It would set out to shape behaviour more softly, with some tweaks in accountability to guide choice if necessary.

This would have the added benefit of costing less money, as well as creating less change fatigue in the sector – something teachers and lecturers tell us constantly is a major concern.

And what about the second challenge I mentioned at the start, around maths and English for life? Well, at AQA we have tried to take our own advice. Instead of waiting for a major restructure of post-16 qualifications, we have begun creating an on-demand, when-ready assessment, akin to a driving test.

This will help students certify that they have the numeracy skills they need to go on to further study or work. And we will be doing the same thing for literacy and digital fluency.

For a Labour government lacking in cash and keen to make an impact quickly, we need new and fresh approaches if we want to deliver improved outcomes for our young people.

Hopefully, some of these ideas are the start of a conversation to do just that.

Labour’s early efforts to tackle youth unemployment are encouraging

In May, the Office of National Statistics released its latest NEET figures. They showed that numbers of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) had reached their highest levels in nearly a decade at 900,000. Alarmingly, this is not a new issue or challenge.

Youth unemployment is complex. In 2011 we saw the highest NEET levels on record. Then one million young people were NEET, nearly one in five of them at that time. In the 13 years since, the world has changed dramatically. The impacts of austerity, Brexit, COVID, the global and national economic and political challenges all still being felt.

In our Youth Voice Census, young people have told us these last seven years how their confidence in their future and themselves is falling. And barriers to employment are becoming ever more complex, and particularly for those with protected characteristics or additional needs.

Employers in turn tell us about their economic concerns, and that when they hire they see a huge skills gap in the workforce. Hybrid working affects their ability to offer the critical experiences young people need to develop their knowledge, behaviours and skills.

We have seen a plethora of government interventions, but little innovation. There have been cuts to youth services and Connexions, ESF programmes closed to make way for Shared Prosperity Funding, and Education Business Partnerships closed to make way for LEPs and now LSIPs. Devolution is playing a greater role and changes to education pathways, apprenticeships and welfare appear never-ending. And I could go on!

Against this backdrop, it is easy to see the scale of the challenge and why any government would find the the road ahead a challenging one to start down. But the payoff is worth it.

According to research from Youth Futures Foundation, bringing the level of NEET down to match some of the lower levels seen across Europe would boost our economy by £38 billion.

Combining careers advice and personalised support makes a real difference

And the payoff is not just financial: there is a scarring impact for young people who spend time NEET in terms of their health and economic futures, as well as for our communities.

This week, the new secretary of state for work and pensions, Liz Kendall has begun to set out her plans to help people back (and young people in) to work. The challenge of economic inactivity and unemployment is a pressing one for her department.

Labour had already committed to a Young Person’s Guarantee: a commitment that young people aged 18 to 21 would receive support to access a training or apprenticeship opportunity. This is something the Youth Employment Group had called for, so it is welcome.

Kendall has also now confirmed a commitment to bringing the National Careers Service and Jobcentre Plus together. This will mean that at a local level, unemployed people will get careers support as well as the work coach support they need to connect with local opportunities.

This is a very positive move from Labour. We know through the Youth Voice Census that still too many young people have not had the careers support they need to make that confident transition into employment. Access to in-person, tailored guidance is really important to them, and when good careers advice and personalised support come together, it makes a real difference.

There is still much more to do, and this move from Labour is just one of many we will need to see if they are to turn the tide on youth employment. But it certainly points to a new era for supported services, and we look forward to working with the government as they take their next steps on this challenging road.

Manchester mayor builds support for MBacc

The vision of mayor Andy Burnham’s Manchester Baccalaureate (MBacc) took a step further yesterday as he held a summit between business and education leaders. FE Week reporter Josh Mellor visited the event to find out more about the perception of this “alternative EBacc” set to launch in September…

Burham appeared energised and confident as he addressed the room, drawing a laugh at the irony of trying to speak over the din of a heavy drill from a neighbouring construction site as he tries to galvanise support for his “integrated” technical education plan, dubbed the MBacc.

In front of him, around round tables, sat hundreds of school, sixth-form and college leaders, business representatives and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) staff acting as “facilitators”.

The all-day event – which included “collaborative sessions” about how to make the proposal a reality – was organised by the mayor in a bid to get more schools and employers from the region signed up to work with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to offer a different pathway to the government’s current English Baccalaureate (EBacc).

This could, in some quarters of central government, be seen as a potential regional rebellion against the English education system’s alleged bias towards academic subjects.

In short, the MBacc is a list of core and optional GCSE subjects that will steer pupils towards technical training routes leading to in-demand jobs in the local economy.

This contrasts with the EBacc, a Conservative-government measure of schools’ academic success that promotes five core subjects, English, maths, science, a modern language and either history or geography.

Like the EBacc, the MBacc suggests core GCSEs in English language and literature, maths and sciences but also ICT.

However, instead of languages and humanities as options, it steers students towards engineering, design and technology, business studies, drama, music or performing arts.

Fresh from the metro-mayor’s well-publicised visit to Downing Street after Labour’s election victory last week, Burnham said he has a “willing audience at the heart of government”.

“The big message is, if we don’t fix technical education, that will be a risk to the growth that we all want to see,” he added.

He slammed the “snobbery” around technical education in England and the “obsession” with the university route, which is only followed by about a third of students in his area.

He said: “That is what the MBacc is all about – let’s give everyone growing up here a clear and equal path in life.”

‘Colleges have fought tirelessly to get that buy in’

Echoing the language of the new Labour government, Burnham said promoting a “clear and equal” pathway for young people to get technical work is a “Manchester mission”.

But despite the independence Greater Manchester now has, both the mayor and attendees recognised that much of his vision will not be possible without the government’s support due to the way schools are judged by Ofsted by taking account of EBacc take-up and the need for funding for expert teachers and equipped classrooms.

From September this year, the GMCA will offer a “toolkit” of careers advice with graphics showing a student’s progress route through GCSEs, then T Levels, apprenticeships or technical qualifications, followed by “great jobs or higher education”.

Seven technical “gateways” have been laid out, leading to work in key industries that match in demand sectors in Greater Manchester’s economy.

Alongside this, the GMCA wants to use its regional influence and careers advice website “GMACS” to offer work experience opportunities.

GMCA also plans to offer schools a package of support with the technical route for students, with the hope that it can be built up so “every” young person who wants one has an “integrated” technical educational pathway by 2030.

The combined authority team will connect schools to the Careers Enterprise Company to offer 50 hours of “high quality” work experience, tailored to each gateway for years 9 to 11.

There will also be an Annual Festival of Technical Education hosted by GMColleges, to raise awareness of technical education pathways.

But signing up to the MBacc offer will be voluntary, the GMCA will not offer any incentives or publish any league tables showing which schools, or how many students, are participating.

Despite therefore risking appearing as a branding exercise, moving towards the MBacc is a step in the right direction for Anna Dawe, chief executive at Wigan and Leigh College. She said: “For me, as someone who’s worked in education now for over 30 years, [it’s great] to hear technical education being promoted and told that it is just as valid a pathway as an academic pathway, and to actually get buy-in from employers in a city region such as this.

“As FE colleges, we have fought tirelessly to try and get that sort of buy in, but for employers to actually be incentivized to be part of it, that that puts technical education in a very, very different space.

“The mayor can broker conversations with employers in a different way to the way that colleges can and that is incredibly welcome, and also it just puts it out there at a very, very top strategic level.”

Policy issues

The mayor admitted there are “policy issues that might stand in the way” of his vision.

Appearing to address his Labour government directly, he pleaded that funding for BTECs and other level 3 alternatives to T Levels should not be withdrawn as currently planned, estimating that this would affect 4,500 learners in Greater Manchester.

He also raised concerns about apprenticeships increasingly being accessed by older people.

Greater Manchester’s schools and colleges will also need more “capital” to build learning spaces for technical subjects to be taught in.

Chris Cox, vice principal at Ashton Sixth Form College said: “Originally when this was first launched a year ago I thought it was about a separate qualification.

“But now I understand that it’s a collection of GCSEs I’m much more supportive.

“I think it has real potential… but I do worry ever so slightly, are we asking students to make very, very specific choices that might be wrong, that might narrow their opportunities later on?”

Claire Cronin, headteacher at West Hill School in Stalybridge, said: “I think the principal [of a technical pathway] is 100 per cent needed because there’s a gap between the amount of children who take a skills and academically-supported route.

“About 70 per cent of children fit the mould of not following the traditional university academic pathway.

“It perpetuates the skills divide of those children following in that and going into lower pay work or falling into NEET.”

However, Cronin added that she had “some hesitation” about teacher recruitment after recently truing to find a design and technology teacher for two and a half years.

James Eldon, principal of Manchester Academy, said: “Andy has forced the conversation around students who don’t do the EBacc – that’s long overdue.”

DWP to merge Jobcentre Plus and National Careers Service

The National Careers Service will be merged with job centres across the country in a bid to tackle economic inactivity as part of the government’s back to work plan.

New work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall today set out plans for a national jobs and careers service by merging the two separate public services into one.

Kendall also confirmed one of Labour’s manifesto pledges that 18-to-21-year-olds will be “guaranteed” access to training, an apprenticeship, or support to find work – but details on what will change exactly have not yet been released.

Under the Department for Work and Pensions’ plans, the combination of more than 600 Jobcentre Plus offices in the UK and the National Careers Service will “support those seeking better opportunities with the means to find better paid work”.

The merger appears to be promoting a cultural shift of not just getting those on benefits and unemployed people from long-term sickness into jobs, experts say.

The Department for Education-funded National Careers Service is a free service to anyone that offers advice and guidance on training and careers. Whereas, Jobcentre Plus is a job support service exclusively for benefits claimants and run by DWP.

Stephen Evans, chief executive of Learning and Work Institute (L&W), said: “I think it [the merger] makes sense, not least as most National Careers Service customers are referred from Jobcentre Plus.”

What we need from a revived national careers service policy

The merger comes in line with the government’s new target to raise the employment rate to 80 per cent.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said earlier this week that the government’s main focus was creating “sustained economic growth” through reforming the skills system and tackling economic inactivity.

Achieving the 80 per cent employment rate could boost the economy by £25 billion and save the taxpayer £8 billion per year, according to analysis from the Learning and Work Institute.

Evans said. “To deliver this, the government needs to offer help to everyone who wants to work: today, only 1 in 10 out-of-work disabled people get help to find work each year. There also needs to be better join-up of work, health and skills support, and the government will need to work with employers on how they recruit.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said: “We’ll create more good jobs, make work pay, transform skills, and overhaul jobcentres, alongside action to tackle the root causes of worklessness including poor physical and mental health.”

‘A good start’

Meanwhile, details on how the government will roll out the “youth guarantee”, which aims to drive down the number of NEETs (not in education, employment or training), are yet to be determined.

Official figures from the Office for National Statistics show the number of NEETs amongst young people aged 16 to 24 are on the rise.

As of March 2024, an estimated 900,000 young people were classed as NEET, equating to 1 in 8 of all young people in the UK, and up 1.1 percentage points from the previous year.

Evans said L&W had been calling for a youth guarantee since 2018 to apply to 16–24-year-olds but that narrower age cohort “is a good start”.

The application of this guarantee, he added, will need better joined up support and better incentives for apprenticeships for young people in the apprenticeship levy

“I would be measuring the success of the guarantee by a sustained reduction in the proportion of young people NEET in England over time, and also by an increase in the proportion qualified to at least level 3 and in work that pays at least the Living Wage,” Evans said.

Jacqui Smith: 10 facts about the new skills, FE and HE minister

Jacqui Smith has been appointed as the Department for Education’s new minister for skills, further and higher education by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.

The former teacher returns to government 16 years after her time as a no-nonsense home secretary ended amid the expenses scandal, and 25 years after her first ministerial role at the then-Department for Education and Employment.

Since losing her Redditch seat in the 2010 general election, Smith has split her time between the serious job of chairing large, under-pressure NHS hospital trusts and more good-humoured media appearances as a commentator, podcaster and Strictly Come Dancing contestant.

Here are ten things we know about the returning minister:

An unelected minister – Smith has not been an MP for 14 years, but will be made a junior minister with responsibility for skills, further and higher education (her exact title is yet to be confirmed by DfE) through an appointment to the House of Lords. This is not unusual, according to the House of Commons Library, about a fifth of government ministers (20-25) have been peers in every government since 1979.
An “old hand” – Smith was elected in the New Labour landslide in 1997. Between 1999 to 2009 she had a series of stints as a minister in education, health, trade and industry, education again, the treasury, and famously as the first female Home Secretary. But education was “the best department” to work in, the former teacher said.
A “Whole of government” role – Smith told fellow podcast presenter Iain Dale skills is seen as “a central thing” for Labour’s growth strategy, so she’ll be “trotting off” knocking on various people’s doors. She has previously praised the role of a minister of state, which is not in cabinet and junior to the Education Secretary. She told the Institute for Government: “You really get to work on the detail of it and the policy development.”
Oxbridge educated… – Born 1961 to parents who were both Labour councillors, Smith grew up in Worcestershire, where she attended school and sixth form. Smith studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University, at the same college her new boss, education secretary Bridget Phillipson, graduated from 20 years later. After university, she worked for a Labour MP.
…With college credentials – In the 1980s, the former home secretary moved back to Worcestershire and trained to be a teacher at Worcester College of Higher Education (now a university). She taught business and economics at Worcester Sixth Form and then Haybridge High School, Hagley, while also serving as a Labour councillor. Her former boss at both schools, headteacher Melvyn Kershaw, said he was “delighted by her teaching and commitment to the school and its students”.
Facing terrorism – Within days of starting at the Home Office in 2007, Smith dealt with attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow. She soon pushed for controversial 42-day detention rules for terrorism suspects and compulsory identity cards. The former was later dropped by Gordon Brown and the latter scrapped by the Conservatives in 2010. She also pushed for more neighbourhood policing, tried to improve the Home Office and reclassified cannabis from a class C to class B drug, despite admitting smoking it herself at university.
Expenses scandal – Smith’s time as home secretary, and in government, came to an end in 2009 after the expenses scandal. She later apologised for using her MP’s second home allowance to pay for her main home in Redditch and for claiming the cost of pornographic films her husband had watched on expenses. In 2007-08, she claimed £157,631 on top of her regular earnings, the third highest MP’s claim that year. This included £40,000 a year on her ex-husband Stephen Timney’s salary for being her assistant. Speaking about the scandal this week, she said: “I think, after 14 years, I perhaps have done my time, and therefore I don’t have any guilt about it.”
Merging hospitals under the Tories – For the last decade, Smith has chaired the boards of some of England’s largest NHS hospital trusts, first in Birmingham and later in east London. She successfully merged trusts in Birmingham, although concerns have since emerged about patient safety, culture and leadership during her time there. In 2021, she was appointed ‘chair-in-common’ of two trusts serving east London, with a view to merging them into one ‘group’, but this was shelved in January.
Part-time NHS chair, part-time celeb – Since leaving government Smith has frequently appeared in the media, including presenting a documentary on pornography, co-presenting a podcast, reviewing the news on Good Morning Britain and competing in Strictly Come Dancing (being voted out in the first round) while chairing an NHS trust. She faced a backlash for appearing on the dance show in late 2020, while University Hospitals Birmingham NHS foundation trust faced extreme pressures during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Missed calls from the prime minister – Speaking on the final episode of her podcast, Smith said she was on a “special weekend” away with her family in Wales when she missed several calls from Sir Keir Starmer’s office. The next day, after England had beat Switzerland in a penalty shootout, she took a call from the prime minister and accepted a role as minister of state for education, overseeing further, higher education and skills.

OfS chair Lord Wharton suddenly resigns

Lord Wharton has resigned as chair of the Office for Students six months before his term of office was due to end.

The Conservative peer suddenly stood down days after the election of a Labour government.

It also follows a damning report last year from a House of Lords committee slamming the higher education regulator’s political independence. University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady called on Wharton to resign at the time.

Wharton was appointed in February 2021 by the then education secretary Gavin Williamson, for a four-year term. He was made a life peer in 2020 after serving as an MP and minister between 2010 and 2017.

As OfS chair, Wharton received an annual salary of £59,000, set by DfE, for two days a week.

An un-named Department for Education spokesperson thanked Wharton “for his service as chair of the Office for Students through a period of change and challenge at the OfS”.

Wharton’s term at the OfS was mired in controversy.

The peer, who led Boris Johnson’s Conservative party leadership campaign, faced calls for an investigation after speaking at an event alongside Zsolt Bayer, a Hungarian talk show host with known racist and antisemitic views.

The government was forced to defend Wharton’s appointment at the OfS against accusations of cronyism.

On today’s resignation, the DfE spokesperson added: “Lord Wharton’s resignation has been accepted. The process to appoint an interim chair is underway, and a permanent replacement will be announced in due course.”