Skills Minister Jacqui Smith on the Missing Middle, NEETs, and Why Gold Standard Apprenticeships Matter

We caught up with Skills Minister Jacqui Smith this week at the Energy and Utility Skills Conference to talk about the Government’s big push on Higher Technical Qualifications (with the PM’s two thirds of young people achieving higher level skills by 25 years old), Levels 4 and 5, the NEET challenge, Technical Excellence College progress and explored more around “gold standard” Apprenticeships.

Watch the full interview with Skills Minister Jacqui Smith below:

Gavin caught up with Skills Minister Jacqui Smith at the Energy and Utility Skills Conference, to unpack the Prime Minister’s big announcement at the Labour Party conference with the two-thirds target: Two-thirds of young people achieving either a Degree, a Higher technical qualification, or and this is new a level four or above apprenticeship by age 25.

Jacqui was clear about why this matters: we have a massive gap at levels four and five compared to other countries. These are your technicians, your supervisors, the people who are absolutely crucial for economic growth. It’s what everyone’s been calling the “missing middle” for years now, and the government is now putting in measures to address this.

Apprenticeship Funding

Gavin asked the Minister about funding for the Higher Level Technical Skills for those aged 25, particularly via the Apprenticeship route. Especially as the Growth and Skills Levy is going to be prioritising Apprenticeships for 16-21 year olds (often referred to as the 22 and under funding ruling). So, Gavin asked if there would be more funding for the learners aged 21-25? Check out the video interview above for more on this from Jacqui Smith and more will also be revealed in the upcoming Post 16 White Paper.

The Apprenticeship Reality Check

Skills Minister Jacqui Smith explained how Apprenticeship starts for young people have dropped by 40% in recent years. So with the redirection of Levy funding from Apprenticeships at Level 7 to focus the Levy pot for Apprenticeship on young people at the start of their working lives. Jacqui chatted about the new foundation apprenticeships.

NEETs: How To Support Those Who Have Fallen Through The Cracks?

Jacqui Smith is now working across both the Department for Education and the Department for Work and Pensions, Gavin asks about how we can support NEETs, especially as one in seven young people not in education, employment, or training.

Just last week at the Labour Party Conference the Chancellor announced a backstop, young people who’ve been on Universal Credit for 18 months get a guaranteed paid work placement. Gavin asks the Minister about how we can support all NEETs, not just those who have been on Universal Credit for 18 months. The recent Learning and Work Institute report called ‘Off the Grid’ highlighted that 1 in 2 NEETs are not claiming any benefit at all. So Gavin’s next question was all about how we support and reach all NEETs?

Jacqui talked about guarantees for 16 and 17 year olds, a place in college, an apprenticeship, or support to find work. The transition from school to post-16 is absolutely critical, and she said the forthcoming Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper will have more on preventing young people from falling through the cracks.

Pathways

This is vital, especially as just two weeks ago (25th September 2025), DfE released their Post-16 Pathways Outcomes Analysis that highlighted Nine distinct pathways, one alarming pathway that was highlighted is that 8% of young people move from Full Time Education to being NEET.

The Pathways research actually identified that 18% of young people are on a potentially vulnerable pathways, including those experiencing long-term unemployment or predominantly staying at home. These groups showed significantly poorer outcomes across wellbeing, mental health, and material circumstances.

On the plus side 19% of young people progressed into Apprenticeships and Training (so a higher percentage than the vulnerable pathways group), 28% of young people moved from Full-time Education into Employment (28% of non-university students), which is two years of education followed by sustained work (which is also double the percentage on the vulnerable pathway). So it isn’t all doom and gloom. So let’s see what further measures will be in the Post 16 White Paper that is due very soon.

Technical Excellence College Progress

Jacqui Smith also discussed Technical Excellence Colleges, including the ten Construction Technical Excellence Colleges launched in September, and Jacqui was genuinely enthusiastic about the feedback from principals. They’re saying the TEC designation has transformed conversations about courses and employer engagement. Which is brilliant news.

Building on this, the PM announced just last week that there would be an additional 14 new Technical Excellence Colleges in advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and digital. Jacqui explained that more information will be coming this calendar year so colleges can apply. This will bring us to 24 specialist Technical Excellence Colleges in total once they’re all up and running.

Check out the full video interview, which includes a transcript for the latest on Gold Standard Apprenticeships, Levels 4 and 5, NEETs, Technical Excellence colleges and more.