skills | FE Week

DfE removes funding to develop HTQ courses

The fund aimed to boost uptake of higher level technical qualifications

Skills policy just moved house, and the neighbourhood matters

Every department brings its own instincts. In the DWP, skills will be filtered through a jobs lens. That could mean welcome alignment with growth – or the slow erosion of training as a route to better work

Pat’s skills nightmare: The kitchen is on fire

If Gordon Ramsay walked into today’s skills sector, he would be screaming. Funding is broken, bureaucracy is bloated and expectations are sky-high. The system does not need another garnish – it needs a complete menu overhaul

Engineering’s skills crunch can be solved with our plan

From nuclear to renewables, hydrogen to carbon capture, major projects demand a workforce ready to deliver. Our five-year plan tackles the skills shortage head on

We need the same rigour of teaching in colleges as in schools

Schools soared up the international league tables under Gove and Gibb. Colleges, by contrast, remain the poor relation. It’s time to bring evidence and rigour to FE through a ‘skills standards’ revolution

Supporting the UK’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan Through Skills

The UK Government’s Decarbonising Transport: A Better, Greener Britain strategy sets a legally binding path towards a net-zero transport system. With transport accounting for 27% of UK domestic greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 — more than any other sector — reforming how we move people and goods is a national priority.

Khan puts business bosses in skills driving seat

The mayor wants employers with skills gaps to help commission skills programmes in the capital

Tom Bewick, author of Skills Policy in Britain and the Future of Work

If history often rhymes, as Mark Twain once said, then Tom Bewick’s book, Skills Policy in England and the Future of Work, is a poignant poem of political déjà vu that should be required reading for our skills policymakers and shapers. As “a product of FE” who went on to help shape the skills system […]

No one left offline: Education must power NHS digital reform

The government’s 10-Year Health Plan promises a bold leap into AI-driven, community-led healthcare. But without a coordinated education strategy, millions risk being left behind