Technical reform needs stability as much as ambition

It is no surprise that Andy Burnham has made reforms to technical education one of his first announcements as prime minister. His record as mayor of Greater Manchester, and everything he’s said over the last few weeks, pointed in that direction.

While the announcement came earlier than we might have anticipated, it’s clear that the PM wanted to respond to recent reports of the plights of young people who are left behind, notably the interim report from Alan Milburn, Young People and Work, and the Public First inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes.

Both reports give a similar diagnosis of issues that are often related. Disadvantage is baked in early, and the system has consistently failed to mitigate it.

Education can feel irrelevant to young people, leaving them disengaged, and often resulting in high rates of absence. Schools and colleges lack the resources needed to respond to students’ diverse and growing needs. And the economy is changing fast, so that even when young people do get qualifications, they too often struggle to find roles in a labour-market where entry-level jobs are increasingly automated.

The two reports recognise that strengthened vocational education is an important part of responding to these challenges.

At AQA, we can see at first hand the importance of credible national qualifications: we are best known for GCSEs and A Levels, which remain profoundly important to us. But we are also expanding our technical and vocational offer, bringing assessment expertise, a dynamic approach and a moral purpose rooted in our charitable status.

TQUK, an important part of the AQA Group, is helping us to develop new 16-19 vocational qualifications, including V Levels.

And we also see that the current system is not working for many communities. We have bases across the country, particularly in the north of England. Our training provider, Realise, helps people prepare for careers in bus driving, early years and gas engineering, from adult skills centres in areas such as Bradford and Blackpool.

That means we are plugged into communities that have some of the worst educational outcomes in the country.

So we recognise the urgency driving Burnham’s announcement on 14-16 technical education. But schools and colleges have been left uncertain about what the changes mean for them. They are already planning for 2027 and 2028, and now they do not know what they are expected to do or what qualifications will be available.

For decades, vocational qualifications have suffered from constant policy churn, so the government must take the opportunity now to end this cycle.

We suggest three priorities for the government as it finalises its policy thinking – notwithstanding the need to make sure that schools and colleges are resourced to deliver an expanded offer.

First, set out how the new plans align with existing reforms to both vocational and general qualifications. The Department for Education should be open to some quick replanning, to make pathways coherent and to give providers space to think.

There is a very limited window to do this before the government’s ability to introduce reforms in this parliament becomes impossible, and so it needs to work quickly to ensure that opportunities are not missed.

Second, challenge awarding organisations to produce new, high-quality Key Stage 4 technical qualifications. That will give local areas a good choice of 14-16 options to help engage young people and give them a range of positive choices at 16 and beyond.

Finally, give local areas the flexibility to shape provision in ways that work where they are. Work experience, employer partnerships and the role of colleges will all look quite different in different parts of the country.

It is tempting to come up with reasons why meeting the PM’s ambition is going to be difficult. But communities and young people across the country deserve better than that.