The Constant Learners: Why Millennials and Gen Z Adults Need Apprenticeships Too

When Sir Keir Starmer addressed the Labour Party conference last week, he did more than deliver a political speech, told a story that seemed to resonate with the lived experience of millions of workers, apprentices, and learners. He spoke as a son, a brother, and a citizen, recounting his father, the fabled toolmaker who felt overlooked not for lack of talent but because he worked with his hands; his sister, a care worker; and his brother, failed by the education system. Then he posed a question that cut through the political noise: Do we genuinely afford apprentices the same respect as university graduates?

A Moment Of Recognition

For those in the skills and further education sector, this was a moment of recognition. Not because the sentiment was new, we have heard echoes before, but because it seemed personal, timely, and human. Educators, apprentices, and employers responded instantly, celebrating the acknowledgement of a sector too often overlooked. The Prime Minister’s framing was clear: the pursuit of dignity, opportunity, and recognition is not confined to the university track, it extends equally to technical and vocational pathways.

A Policy Pivot: Scrapping the 50% University Target

Starmer announced the scrapping of Labour’s long-standing target of getting 50 per cent of young adults into higher education, a benchmark symbolically set by Tony Blair in 1999. In its place, he set a new goal: two-thirds of young people should attain higher-level skills, whether through university, further education, or a “gold-standard” apprenticeship by age 25. Downing Street clarified that this target would include at least 10 per cent of young people pursuing higher technical education or apprenticeships that the economy will require by 2040, a near doubling of today’s figure.

Starmer framed this as a defining mission for his government: to no longer ignore further education. He called out the sector’s historical marginalisation, describing it as the “Cinderella service,” overlooked because politicians’ children rarely pursue it. He pledged higher standards in every college, raised the quality of teaching, created more apprenticeships, created more technical excellence colleges, and qualifications linked to jobs and rooted in communities.

The Reality for Millennials and Gen Z

This speech resonated in part because it reflected a truth familiar to millions of Millennials and Gen Z adults: the route to stability, dignity, and meaningful contribution is no longer linear. It is fractured, unpredictable, and increasingly defined by the need to adapt repeatedly. These are the constant learners, not by choice, but by necessity.

Millennials grew up with cassette tapes, VHS, and landlines, yet came of age during the digital revolution. They remember the thrill of burning CDs from downloaded MP3s, the guilt of LimeWire crashing the family PC, and the dawn of social media with MySpace. Gen Z, by contrast, have never known a world without smartphones, streaming, or instant messaging. They are digital natives, fluent in platforms and algorithms, expecting instant access, seamless interfaces, and highly personalised experiences.

Yet fluency does not equal security. Both generations have faced repeated economic instability. Millennials entered adulthood amid the 2008 financial crisis; Gen Z navigated schooling and exams through COVID-19 lockdowns. Both have experienced the shifting impacts of Brexit and now confront the AI revolution, which is redefining job roles faster than training programmes can adapt. As a result, the workforce must constantly retrain, pivot, and reinvent itself. They are not merely learning, they are relearning. They are not just progressing, they are pivoting. They are not merely surviving, they are rebuilding.

Historical precedent underlines this reality. The recessions of the 1980s wrought substantial job losses in traditional industries, particularly manufacturing, impacting workers of all ages. Between 1979 and 1983, the UK lost 1,705,000 manufacturing jobs. Young adults entering the workforce at this time were suddenly forced to acquire new skills to navigate an expanding service economy. Government initiatives such as the Youth Training Scheme (YTS) were designed to provide vocational training to school leavers and adults, helping them adapt to changing labour market needs. The decade highlighted the importance of an adaptable, flexible workforce equipped not only with immediate job-specific skills but with the ability to learn continuously, a theme that remains relevant today.

Apprenticeships As Lifelines

Modern challenges mirror these historical pressures, albeit in a more complex and accelerated environment. Automation, AI, and shifting market demands mean that Millennials and Gen Z must constantly upskill to remain employable. Apprenticeships have emerged as a critical lifeline. Nearly half of all apprenticeship starts in England are now by adults over 25. For many, these are not a fallback, they are a pathway to relevance and security in an economy that no longer guarantees a lifelong career in a single sector.

While high-level apprenticeships for adults over 25 are essential for upskilling and economic resilience, they cannot substitute for urgent interventions aimed at the nearly one million young people currently classified as NEET (not in education, employment, or training). These young people face distinct barriers, including limited work experience, lower qualifications, and social or economic disadvantage, which cannot be addressed simply by reallocating resources toward older learners.

Government policy is caught in a push-and-pull: promoting high-quality apprenticeships, while needing to prioritise early interventions for young people to prevent long-term disengagement. Yet the practical reality is that apprenticeships are funded, selected, and delivered by employers through the apprenticeship levy. Employers decide which roles and levels to invest in, based on business needs and workforce planning, not government aspiration alone.

The tension is clear: policymakers can set targets and ambitions, but operational control and financial accountability lie with employers. Without alignment between policy ambition, funding timelines, and employer-led implementation, even well-intentioned “gold-standard” apprenticeship promises risk being aspirational rather than achievable. A resilient system must therefore balance support for adults seeking career pivots with targeted measures for NEETs, while respecting the central role employers play in determining how the levy is used.

The Gold-Standard Challenge

Here, thus, lies the undeniable tension in the government’s positioning. While the Prime Minister champions “gold-standard” apprenticeships as a cornerstone of opportunity, the reality of funding introduces a ticking clock. The Level 7 levy pot, critical for high-level adult apprenticeships, now has fewer than 90 days of usable funds remaining. The promise of gold-standard apprenticeships risks for those in their mid-career being excluded by both policy ambition and the finite window of flevy availability.

Employers and training providers are keenly aware of the pressure this creates. The scramble to use L7 levy funds before they expire has led to an unnecessary rush, effectively front-loading expenditure. The government now faces a clear challenge: to reconcile its aspirational policies with treasury realities, ensuring that the promise of gold-standard apprenticeships can be fully delivered “for all” within the constraints of the funding cycle.

Evidence Over Rhetoric

The House of Commons Education Committee’s report this last month reinforces this point. Its findings on Level 7 apprenticeships serve as a reminder that policy must be grounded in evidence, not symbolic aspiration. Programmes must reflect the lived experiences of learners, the capacity of employers, and the needs of the sectors they serve. Targets alone, no matter how ambitious, cannot replace properly funded, practical, and flexible pathways. Without aligning policy with realities, even well-intentioned conference speeches risk falling short.

The House of Commons report also underscores the need for monitoring and evaluation, accountability, and structural support. Gold-standard apprenticeships are only meaningful if they are accessible, appropriately resourced, and connected to genuine career outcomes. The stark reality of the Level 7 levy timeline highlights the tension between the rhetoric of aspiration and the mechanics of delivery.

The Path Forward

History, policy, and modern economic pressures all converge on the same point: the constant learner is the new norm, and a fair, responsive, and well-funded apprenticeship system is essential. Sir Keir Starmer’s speech signals a recognition of this in part, embedding further education and apprenticeships at the heart of national ambition.

The challenge remains translating rhetoric into actionable policy: comprehensive curricula, robust funding, expanded mental health support, and true parity of esteem across academic and vocational routes. This is a defining moment. By valuing apprenticeships and further education equally with university routes, the government can restore dignity to learners, enhance social mobility, and create a workforce equipped not just to survive, but to thrive. Education, however it must reflect the realities of the modern economy and the needs of the modern learner.

Millennials and Gen Z are “the constant learners”. They too deserve a system that sees them, supports them, and allows them to realise their potential. Because education is not just about opportunity. It is about resilience, relevance, and above all, dignity. And it is time the system caught up with the realities of those who have been learning, adapting, and persevering every day.

By Thomas Burton, Head of Apprenticeship Delivery, York St John University