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11 April 2026

Tag: skills

Let’s have an education and skills commission to advise government

The skills system is crying out for a comprehensive long-term strategy led by experts, writes Sir John Armitt In the past 30 years, there have been over 70 ministers responsible for skills policy – all believing their personal success is measured by what they can alter. Most of them have been well intentioned, but these […]

New powers in Skills Bill point to radical loss of autonomy for colleges

Government is taking more control but the Skills Bill will only be a success if young people are kept at the heart of it, writes Angela Donkin The new Skills Bill has been published with a legal requirement for employers and colleges to work together to fill local skills gaps. The DfE’s press release does […]

The Chancellor did broadly the right thing with the Budget – now to delivery

The government will need to be much quicker delivering what it announced in the Budget last week than its record so far, writes Stephen Evans Times have changed. Last week, we already knew most of the measures in the Budget in advance through Treasury press releases. But in 1947 Hugh Dalton resigned as Chancellor because […]

Showing off the country’s skills is missing from the International Education Strategy

International investors will only help us build back better if the International Education Strategy shows off our workforce skills, writes Neil-Bentley Gockmann The launch of the government’s updated “International Education Strategy” before the half-term break was very welcome. But there is a missed opportunity in it. The strategy was updated to include the new Turing […]

Young people need to be involved in decisions around youth unemployment

Combined authorities and colleges working closely together can help reduce the risk of youth unemployment, write Julie Nugent and Gina Patel Since the pandemic emerged in the UK last year, the economy has taken an unprecedented hit. National unemployment now stands at five per cent, while one-fifth of people are not economically active or seeking work.  For […]