NEETs: From The Fringe To The Mainstream, What’s Next? FE Soundbite Edition 867
Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 867: 3rd October 2026. NEETs: From the Fringe to the Mainstream, What’s Next?
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
Lab26 Reflections
So we had the Labour Party conference this week. Wow, I counted over 20 fringe events on NEETs… that is a lot (glad we had the Breaking Barriers Collective event when we did)!… I also got to see Mayfield and Milburn on the same stage (got a pic with Mayfield)… I was within a couple of meters of Andy Burnham a few times… it was a pretty cool conference. I also enjoyed hearing from the new AI Minister as well. .. but 20 NEET fringe meets, in just a few days at the Labour Party conference… is loads… Milburn got a mention from the PM on stage, but wow, I think it is a massive effort from the sector to bring youth employment to the headlines… the what next… well, let’s see what comes out from the Milburn review.. But for me, the what next is Adults… the NETERs (50 – state pension age) are x3 the number of NEETs… also… are we looking at a joined-up approach? There are 702,000 vacancies, but 981,000 NEETs, 2.7 Million Economically Inactive due to ill health, 2.5 unemployed for every vacancy… how are we going to support employers for the growth in jobs?
Chancellor Announces £100m Local Apprenticeship Service led by Mayors
… and at the Labour Party Conference. It wasn’t just Andy Burnham discussing skills, and employment. The Chancellor the day before in his main speech also announced a £100M local apprenticeship service led by Mayors. … and in a few fringe sessions I heard the announcement on the 50,000 youth placements at Defence firms deal.
Coming into fruition, now what do we do with it?
Skills, youth employment and engagement were very, very much front and center for the Labour Party Conference. I tried to look at some wider sessions, meet a new crowd, particularly the Tech hub, with a future of work view in mind… and the amount of people ‘out of our sector’ who said, wow, skills, employability is so hot right now. Well, I think they meant in the ‘spotlight’ right now and it is recognised as an urgent need… so as a sector, that is years of effort coming into fruition… now what do we do with this? The apples are ripe on the tree… but will they drop and rot on the floor, or will they be made into award-winning cider, the tastiest apple pie… dunno, time will only tell, but it is really awesome to see all that effort coming into play, after all of those years!
New DWP report on supporting Neurodivergent people into sustainable work
On Friday… wow, DWP and our mate Prof Amanda Kirby released a new report on supporting Neurodivergent people to flourish in sustainable work. I am a MASSIVE FAN of Amanda’s work… and many of you joined Amanda, ETF at the Bridging the SEND Transition collective earlier this year. So I highly recommend checking out the latest from DWP and Amanda.
It’s working, the campaigns are working! Let’s take the wins… especially seeing fruit with DWP.. on NEETs on Neuroinclusion. So many more battles, campaigns to fight, but it was amazing to see the fruit ripening before my eyes at the Labour Party conference!
Fav thought leadership for me was Anthony Painter’s Rewiring the State and Luke Maynard’s article on the Employability Skills crisis (I had a brilliant Monday meeting on the Mersey with Luke… on Monday). … and most people know I am a massive fan of the Singaporean life long learning system… here is a cracker from Ladi Mohammed and Shani Wijemuni.
I hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week!
Epic Exclusives Thought Leadership Articles
Firstly, Prevention not Rescue, Rethinking Youth Unemployment By Nick Brook, CEO of Futures For All
Secondly, Counting the Cost: Why the UK’s Employability Skills Crisis Can No Longer Be Ignored By Luke Maynard, Head of Communications and Corporate Affairs at City & Guilds
Finally, From Skills Intelligence to Career Action: What England Can Learn from Singapore By Ladi Mohammed, Founder & CEO at Global Educational Travel and Tours (GETT) and Shani Wijemuni, Policy Officer at Global Educational Travel and Tours (GETT)
This week, we also had some other Epic Exclusives!
Rewiring The State: A Moment Of Opportunity for The Future Of Skills By Anthony Painter, Director of Strategic Engagement, Ufi VocTech Trust
Under Pressure: How Universities Can Best Prepare Students for What Comes Next By Bede Brosnahan, Operations Director at Gazing Red2Blue
Stats show FE’s Greatest Retention Opportunities are the Everyday Ones By Jane Tidswell, HE and FE Director at People Insight
What’s New in the World of FE?
Announcements
Labour Party Conference 2026: Burnham Promises Pathways from 14 and Apprenticeships at 18
Team UK Wins Two Golds and 19 Medal Honours at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 By WorldSkills UK
Chancellor Announces £100m Local Apprenticeship Service led by Mayors By the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
TUC welcomes Chancellor’s decision to restore the Union Learning Fund By the Trades Union Congress (TUC)
Reports
Neurodivergent People Need Support Based on Need Not Diagnosis, Report Finds By the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
SFC’s Financial Sustainability of Colleges in Scotland Report By Colleges Scotland
Voices
What Businesses Actually Need From FE and Skills Partnerships By Adam Herbert, CEO & Co-founder, Go Live Data
By Danny O’Meara, Operations Manager, FE News and