With A UK Jobs Drought: Will the New Student Cohort Be Pointed In The Right Direction? FE Soundbite 861

August 22, 2026

Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 861: 22nd August 2026. With a UK Jobs Drought: Will the New Student Cohort Be Pointed In The Right Direction?

This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal by FE News: ISSN 2732-4095. We know life is busy, so here's a snapshot of the latest announcements and epic thought leadership articles from sector influencers and thought leaders across FE and Skills this week on FE News.

Gavin’s Reflective Perspective

So we had Results Day part 2 this week, which really kicks everything into action for a lot of the sector. The end of the summer is near, so is the start of the new academic year.

Why Is The Increase In 16 year olds Significant?

One thing that JCQ highlighted was the increase in numbers of students sitting GCSEs, levels 1 and 2 qualifications. The number of students taking GCSEs rose 1.5% to 1,130,316, with entries up 0.6% to 6,199,256… and significantly, the population of 16 year olds across England, Wales and Northern Ireland increased 1% to 787,135. So this will mean more people coming into the FE and Skills sector, will that mean more funding? Probably not is the reality!

A couple of things stood out in the level 1 and 2 and GCSE results day for me.

English and Maths

Post 16 pass rates in England fell again: 15.3% of maths entries and 19.8% of English language entries achieved grade 4 or above. This is post 16, so the learners have already had a crack at this at school. How are we learning our lessons, and how help those still at school pass these essential grades, so it isn't 'ground hog' day each results day?... and it fall into the responsiblity of FE and Skills. What is going on in schools for 11 years for someone not to pass these essential quals?

8.1% of all GCSE entries are 17+

Entries from students aged 17 and over rose 3.7% to 500,277, now 8.1% of all GCSE entries!

Overall, the stats were similar to last year: 22% of GCSE results were awarded 7/A or above, up from 21.9% in 2025. There were 445,349 VTQ results awarded across 308 qualifications, with leisure, travel and tourism the biggest sector.

What happens next with Preparing for V Levels?

It will be interesting to see what happens next with V Levels. There is literally a 1 year countdown clock for the 2027 Sept launch of the first V Levels… and how many students take up the new V Levels that are available… or will we see a similar situation with T Levels (which are now 5 years old, but only have 1.4% of all Level 3 results). Surely there will be more than 20,000 people taking V Levels in 5 years time?

Just 1 in 5 Level 2 and 3 starts lead to a Priority Occupation

People are still sifting the data, but back in June, DfE highlighted that just 1 in 5 Level 2 and 3 starts lead to a Priority Occupation. With this in mind, what does this mean for new learners signing onto Level 2 and 3 programmes in September, which is people signing up to programmes... literally right now?

How do we also help the local and national skills priorities be more widely known… how do we encourage the skills compass to be pointing in the right direction? In a recent interview I had with Phil Smith from Skills England, he highlighted that jobs in the priority skills areas are predicted to be 1.8 million by 2035, which is a 24% increase in 10 years. Getting the Skills Compass orientated correctly couldn't be more important, so it will be interesting to see how this is working with the current student sign ups for Level 2 and 3s.

Just 707,000 vacancies, lowest vacancy levels since 2014

ONS released their latest labour market figures and, as Work Foundation cleverly highlighted, we have a deepening jobs drought in the UK. There are just 707,000 vacancies in the UK between May and June 2026, that is the lowest level since 2014!

2.5 unemployed people per vacancy in April to June 2026

Total vacancies are now 81,000 (10.3%) below their January to March 2020 pre-pandemic level and down 19,000 (2.7%) on the year. There were 2.5 unemployed people per vacancy in April to June 2026, a ratio that has held at 2.5 since July to September 2025, up from 2.3 a year earlier.

This is alarming!

Vacancies fell in nine of the eighteen industry sectors in the quarter. Education recorded the largest percentage decrease, down 7.3%, or 4,000 vacancies. Human health and social work activities recorded the largest fall by volume, down 5,000 (4.1%) on the quarter and 11,000 (8.5%) on the year. Health and Social care is one of the priority skills areas, so this is interesting.

Reorientating the Skills Compass and future outcomes

My earlier point on DfE's quite recent data from June, that just 19% of Level 2 and 3 starts lead to a Priority Occupation, is more important than ever, to have the reorientation of the skills compass point in the right direction; hopefully it has already, with students, careers advisers and providers literally signing people onto programmes for the next 2 years.

Are We Making an Effective Case for Hiring Young People To Employers?

There was interesting polling this week completed by DfE and DWP which will be used for the final outcomes of the Milburn review on NEETs. There was a real split in the findings, with a third of adults blaming young people's motivation for finding a job... seeing as most employers are probably not going to be young people, this is really interesting.

Half of respondents said young people today have fewer opportunities than previous generations. That view is strongest among young people themselves, at 56% of 16 to 24 year olds against 47% of those aged 55 to 75.

Split in public opinion on the Rise of NEETs

Asked what has driven the rise in young people who are NEET, 36% pointed to limited access to apprenticeships and entry-level jobs. Almost the same proportion, 35%, said young people lack the motivation or desire to work. A further 32% identified the loss of part-time and early work experience of the kind Saturday jobs used to provide.

That near tie, is the report's most striking. The public is split roughly down the middle between a structural explanation and a behavioural one, which makes the politics of any intervention harder than the headline sympathy for young people would suggest.

Young people themselves don't see it that way at all... among 16 to 24 year olds, the leading explanation for the rise in NEETs, was fewer early work opportunities at 48%, then limited access to apprenticeships and entry level jobs at 39%, then broader economic conditions like the cost of living at 38%. Motivation didn't feature near the top. So the group most convinced young people just can't be bothered... is everyone except young people.

So this is interesting... especially as this is influencing the final Milburn Review... so, how do we take this on board, how do we help employers and adults understand the barriers for young people? How do we also get them on board to help bridge those barriers?... and for young people starting new programmes, literally in weeks, making key decisions right now, how do we ensure they are on the pathway to stepping into those priority skills areas, as the number of vacancies currently available is very alarming.

I hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week

Epic Exclusives Thought Leadership Articles

Our Top 3 Thought Leadership Articles This Week

Firstly, 14-16 Education Reform is a Golden Opportunity to Finally Change the Narrative By Olly Newton, Executive Director, Edge Foundation

Secondly, Have We Already Created Next Year’s Apprenticeship Problem? By Andy Hillerby, Founder, Apprenticeship Improvement

Finally, Skills England Has Identified Accountancy As A Growth Profession. Now We Need The Talent Pipeline To Match By Gareth John, Policy Director at accountancy training provider First Intuition

This week, we also had some other Epic Exclusives!

Boys Are Behind Girls In Level 3 Technical and Vocational Exams As Well As A Levels By Mark Brooks, Director at the Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys.

Staying, Leaving, or Progressing? What the Social Care Workforce is Telling us By Claire Montague, Sector Manager for Social Care, NCFE

Confidence is High, Now Providers Need To Turn It Into Action By Dani Juson, Head of Marketing, Bud Systems and Neil Anderson, Head of Marketing, Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP)