In November, 1,683 mentions of "further education" and "apprenticeship(s)" were recorded in the UK media, a five per cent decrease on recorded mentions in October.
The figures for this last month nonetheless represent a six per cent increase on those of the same month in 2023.
The chart below plots the mentions of "further education" and "apprenticeship(s)" in the media over the last twelve months.
Policy & Parliament
With just a month since the budget, policy news in the further education and skills sector has continued to come thick and fast. The top headline in November was the launch of the DWP’s new “Get Britain Working” White Paper. The joint ministerial foreword assured readers that the paper was “part of wider government action to spread opportunity and fix the foundations of our economy”.
"To get Britain growing again” the paper began, “we’ve got to get Britain working again”. But how does the government plan to do so?
A £115 million investment for a new “Connect to Work” supported employment programme, which will provide voluntary employment offers to people with disabilities, health conditions or complex barriers to work and will support up to 100,000 people a year.
£45 million for eight mayoral areas to test the new “Youth Guarantee” - which aims to ensure all 18-21 year olds can access education, training or employment support. Eight regional trailblazers will test this approach, working with major organisations, including the Premier League and Royal Shakespeare Company.
Another confirmation that £40 million will be set aside to “transform the Apprenticeship Levy into a Growth and Skills Levy”. Skills England is currently consulting with employers as to what exactly the levy will eventually look like.
£55 million to develop the new jobs and careers service - which merges the NCS with job centres. Also included is a “radically improved digital offer” and “more flexibility” for staff at centres to offer “personalised service to jobseekers – moving away from the ‘tick box’ culture”.
Elsewhere…
Earlier in the month, Skills Minister Jacqui Smith toured a number of sector conferences, with some big news for both further education and skills:
At the AoC’s annual conference, Smith revealed that colleges have been given a “crown guarantee” for the local government pension scheme (LGPS) that is expected to lower contribution rates and save them around £30 million. Smith also confirmed that colleges would be included in some form of public sector subsidy to cover employer National Insurance hikes from April.
Speaking to the AELP, the minister also had news for higher level apprenticeships, confirming that the axing of public funding for level 7 apprenticeships would be “pretty widespread”.
Fixing the foundations…
The government also revealed they would be supporting the delivery of 32 new skills hubs in collaboration with the CITB and NHBC, in order to fill housebuilding skills gaps with “fast-track training” for up to 5,000 apprentices each year.
The organisations have committed £140 million to see the hubs developed and delivered in areas with the greatest homebuilding need.
Parliament
Mentions of “further education” and “apprenticeship(s)” in the UK parliament reached a year high in November, appearing in 190 separate events, ranging from House of Commons Debates, House of Lords debates, written answers and ministerial statements.
Highlights?
Helen Whately, Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions, delivered a blow to Liz Kendall late in the month when she suggested that the Get Britain Working White Paper was “such a song and dance about so little that I feel sure she will qualify for one of her own Royal Shakespeare Company apprenticeships”...
Education minister Janet Daby also revealed, in response to a parliamentary question by Neil O'Brien - a shadow minister in the Department for Education, that level 7 apprenticeships were absorbing 238 million - or 9 per cent - of the apprenticeship budget. It puts a concrete figure on the costs of this higher level provision, which is widely expected to be culled entirely in order to fund the new Growth and Skills Levy and several other commitments announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper. Final decisions on the future of level 7s are expected in the new year...
In the Media
Much media coverage in the month focused on responses to the Government's policymaking, including both the Budget and the Get Britain Working white paper.
On the day of its launch, Liz Kendall wrote a piece for The Telegraph entitled: "Labour’s plan to get Britain working means the end of a life on benefits". "Unlike the Tories", Kendall wrote, "we will never simply write people off and blame them for failing. Instead, we will get Britain working again and get Britain growing again".
There were, however, some mixed reactions to specific policy announcements within the White Paper. FE Week's dive into sector responses around the 'Youth Guarantee' found some feeling hesitant that the investment in a "handful of pilot projects" would fail to "match the scale" of the NEET challenge.
For The Guardian, Ian Porter, Senior Policy Advisor at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, expressed concern that the Government's "harmful rhetoric" on benefits "threatens to sabotage" relations with those it is trying to support through the Get Britain Working initiatives.
Elsewhere...
FE Week reported on former education secretary Damian Hinds' warning that without "major design change", Skills England in current form was "doomed to failure". Hinds was critical of the new body's position as a departmental agency, doubting its ability to work effectively across government to make real change. "If the Government were serious" about working cross-department, "they would put it in the Treasury or perhaps the Cabinet Office. They would not just make it part of the DfE management structure", he argued.
"We’ll lose apprentices due to Reeves’ tax and wage rise, say bosses", led an FE Week piece earlier in the month, which featured comments from a variety of providers who felt increased cost pressures would hit apprenticeship recruitment hardest.
Cost concerns also made headlines for the further education sector, after debate arose as to the application of the recently announced £300 million funding boost for college, to be delivered in 2025. The Association of Colleges argued that much of the investment will be absorbed by projected demographic increases in 16-to-19 students, while the UCU called on colleges to "manage their budgets to prioritise giving hard-working staff a proper pay-rise now” - or, at least, when the funding eventually comes through.
The month wrapped up with good news as BAE Systems announced it would recruit 2,400 new apprentices and graduates next year, funded by a 230 million investment in education. The defence manufacturer's decision means it will have spent more than £1 billion on boosting staff skills since 2020. Defence Secretary John Healey said the news was a "vote of confidence in the UK as a leader for cutting-edge employment, creating highly skilled jobs across the UK."
As we continue to follow how the media are digesting the Government's latest policy announcements, here are our top five stories of the month:
The Telegraph - Labour’s plan to get Britain working means the end of a life on benefits
"Our country’s best asset is its people. But Britain’s talent is languishing in villages, towns and cities across the country. Recent figures show three million households with no one in work, and 300,000 households where no one has ever worked – that’s the equivalent of a city the size of Leeds."
FE Week - Youth guarantee: A ‘real chance’ or lacking ‘firepower’?
"Labour’s promise of a 'guarantee' of job support, an apprenticeship or training for every young person has been described as 'a wrapper for several existing initiatives'."
The Guardian - Labour’s ‘Get Britain Working’ strategy risks making things worse. Here’s why
"If you’re someone with a disability or a long-term health condition who loses their job, the system designed to help you find and stay in work isn’t working. Disabled people’s experience of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is often characterised by distrust, fear and negativity."
FE Week - Skills England ‘doomed to fail’, says former education secretary
"Skills England is “doomed to fail” if the government presses ahead with plans to establish it as an in-house agency without the independence of its predecessor, a former education secretary has claimed."
The Times - BAE to recruit a record 2,400 trainees next year
"Britain’s largest defence company will take on a record number of apprentices and graduates by next year. BAE Systems, which builds the nation’s nuclear submarines and fighter jets, plans to recruit more than 2,400 apprentices, undergraduates and graduates."