New plans to look at the outcomes of learning offer an opportunity

The successful vaccine rollout allows us to look to the future, despite the ongoing lockdown and effects of the pandemic. The Government’s roadmap to reopening and forthcoming Budget will give us a sense of how we can return to some kind of normal and the economic support to help us do this.

We’ve published several new reports looking to the future. More than 200 people joined us to discuss skills in Northern Ireland, with our research showing improvements are likely to lag other countries in the decade ahead. Join us on 5 March to discuss challenges and opportunities in adult learning across England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland.

We will be living with the effects of the pandemic for years to come. Our research shows long-term unemployment is on the rise – the Government’s Plan for Jobs should help limit this, but there’s more to do.

The FE White Paper set out the Government’s plans for further education in England – my thoughts on it are here. In practice, it was largely a restatement of what the Government’s already doing. It was also notable for what it didn’t say: little about reform of the apprenticeship levy, how to increase learning for basic skills and level 2, how to help retraining, support with maintenance costs, or join up with employment support or the industrial strategy.

This is all the inevitable consequence of publishing it during a one year spending settlement. However, the new plans to look at the outcomes of learning offer an opportunity – we’ve argued for greater devolution of learning, skills and employment support based on outcome agreements before. And all eyes will be on the spending review for a long-term sustained increase in investment and to answer these bigger questions…

Last month we published the final report of our Youth Commission, setting out a plan to improve education and employment outcomes for young people. That’s even more pressing given the double whammy of disrupted education and weaker labour market they face. Join us on 23 February to debate this with speakers including Kate Green MP, Shadow Education Secretary.

And finally, we will soon be announcing a new flagship project, working with local partners across the UK to support thousands of adults to retrain and change careers. We will be looking to deepen our understanding of how best to support adults to retrain, and influence the development of policy and practice more broadly. Watch this space…

Stephen Evans
Chief Executive

Driving change in further education for young adult carers
In partnership with The Carers Federation and National Lottery Community Fund, we are working to improve the support that young adult carers receive in further education. We have recently commenced the second year of this three year project, and new case studies and the final report from year one have been published on our website. Colleges are still able to join the project and work with us to improve their support for young adult carers.

Care leavers’ access to apprenticeship – impact of the apprentice national minimum wage
During the first year of an apprenticeship, the national minimum wage is £4.15 per hour. We are undertaking research on behalf of DfE to explore how viable the apprentice national minimum wage is for care leavers, who often live independently from around the age of 18. We have launched a short survey to capture care leavers’ views and experiences, and will also be undertaking interviews with staff who work with care leavers. To find out more about this project, get in touch.

Youth Commission final report launch
Tuesday 23 February | 1.00pm
Young people have faced a double whammy of disrupted education and a tougher labour market as a result of the pandemic, and the number of young people claiming unemployment-related benefits has more than doubled. Our Youth Commission has explored how we can make sure all young people get a fair chance in life. Join Kate Green OBE MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Jo Maher, Principal and Chief Executive, Loughborough College for this event.

Housing, Learning and Work Conference
Thursday 25 February | 9.30am
Bringing together the social housing, employment and skills sectors, our Housing, Learning and Work Conference will explore how we can build back better and support social tenants to access decent work and training opportunities after the pandemic. Hosted in partnership with Communities that Work, this free and online conference will feature a keynote from Minister for Welfare Delivery, Will Quince MP. Book your place now.

The role of flexible work: tackling unemployment, aiding retention & supporting progression
Monday 1 March | 10.30am
Promoting more high quality flexible and part time job opportunities will be vital to delivering a more inclusive labour market after the pandemic, and to ensuring those who need to work flexibly are not left behind. Join us at this Better Work Network event with Timewise, as we explore the findings from the latest Timewise Flexible Jobs Index, what it tells us about the availability of quality flexible and part time job vacancies during 2020.