Listen to this story Members can listen to an AI-generated audio version of this article. 1.0x Audio narration uses an AI-generated voice. 0:00 0:00 Become a member to listen to this article Subscribe For most of the last forty years the cultural wind blew against further education. University was the route ambitious parents pushed their kids towards, trades were positioned as the back-up, and a generation of young people picked their post-16 pathway based on a status hierarchy that had little to do with what the labour market was actually asking for. A recent report pushed this to the front of the conversation. Microsoft’s research team analysed 200,000 real conversations with Copilot, mapped them against occupational data, and produced an applicability score for every job in the US economy. The roles with the highest AI applicability turned out to be interpreters, historians, writers, sales staff, customer service representatives, and almost everything in the computer, mathematical, office, and administrative categories. The roles with the lowest were the ones that FE has spent decades training people for: nursing assistants, ship engineers, roofers, tyre repairers, plumbers and electricians. Microsoft’s own framing of the finding speaks directly to this sector: occupations that require a degree have higher AI applicability than occupations with lower formal education requirements. Become a member for unlimited access to FE Week subscribe Our members enjoy early access to exclusive content and in-depth articles before anyone else. Get expert journalism on FE and skills, experience fewer ads, and unlock a growing range of member benefits.