Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 797: 17th May 2025 | How Will The New Apprenticeship Funding Rules Affect You? More on the Immigration White Paper and the impact on Skills and

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

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Gavin’s Reflective Perspective

So I hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week and thanks to Hachette Learning for Sponsoring FE Soundbite this week.

New Apprenticeship Funding Rules

Wow, another busy week, we have had the New Apprenticeship Funding rules.. and some new language coming out of it. Jacqui Molkenthin wrote a brilliant piece that has been really well received on the Apprenticeship Funding rules. Top line, there are some new terminologies that you need to get your head around:

• “Apprenticeship assessment” will replace end-point assessment 
• “Assessment organisation” will replace end-point assessment organisation  
• “Gateway to completion” will replace gateway
  

Immigration White Paper And The impact on Skills and Employment

We also had the release of the Immigration White Paper (an 82 page doc). We have a wide-angle view on this with our famous Sector Reaction piece from different stakeholders in the sector reflecting on the Immigration White Paper. Again, new terminology for you with 'International Student Levy'. The immigration white paper is geared towards home-grown talent at all levels, particularly below Level 6, so massive opportunities seem to be on the horizon for FE, Skills and Work-Based Learning.

Immigration White Paper and Systems Thinking

From my perspective, this Immigration white paper answers some questions, but... big picture, again it creates even more questions! How does it link to the industrial strategy, the Growth and Skills Levy, and an overarching Skills Strategy? And what will happen with ESOL provision? For entry-level jobs, how does this support the Youth Guarantee and trying to tackle the NEET issue? This pattern of big-ticket policy announcements creating more questions than answers is becoming quite familiar. I think if this had a step back and looked how the Immigration Policy fitted with different Government Departments or big policy strategies, it would help!

For me, one thing is clear... the Immigration white paper could be a long-term nail in the coffin for many Universities with regard to their international intake. It was only last week OfS stated 43% of HE institutions were struggling for cash and revenue! Longer term, the Immigration White Paper should logically mean more investment in skills, but let's see… and when!? More needs to be released soon on the Growth and Skills Levy, surely?!

Other Big Announcements

The ONS Labour Market Info was released and are we coming into a Labour Market Crossroads? We are still at a 75% employment rate (with a 80% target by Government). Economic Inactivity is at 21%. However, Work Foundation calculate that 200,000 more people in economic inactivity want to work compared to a year ago, making nearly two million in total... but the of jobs advertised has fallen to 761,000, a drop of 40,000 on the quarter – the largest for over a year. It feels we are at a bit of a crossroads! NEETS are still super high, Youth Futures Foundation calculate that the unemployment rate for people aged 16-24 not in full-time education has increased from 11.7% to 12.6%.

DfE announced that Almost 1M more Young People to get Access to Mental Health Support

Paul Stannard and Madhavi Kumar from AELP also wrote a really interesting article on Reframing Careers Guidance: What the 2025 Changes Mean for ITPs and the Skills Sector

Stuart Martin wrote a really interesting article on the Vocational Education system in New Zealand.

So a jam packed Soundbite this week and thank you to Hachette Learning for sponsoring FE Soundbite this week.

So I hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week.

Epic Exclusives Thought Leadership Articles

Our Top 3 Thought Leadership Articles This Week

Firstly, The New Apprenticeship Funding Rules: Next Steps for EpAOs By Jacqui Molkenthin, Specialist support for End-point Assessment Organisations

Secondly, New Zealand’s Vocational Education System: The Story So Far By Stuart G. A. Martin is the Founder of George Angus Consulting

Finally, The Future of HE in England: Rethinking Purpose, Pathways, and Partnerships By Mark Morrin, Lifelong Education Institute

This week, we also had some other Epic Exclusives!

Improving QARs in Apprenticeships: The Role of EPAOs and Strategic Planning By Nikki Juffs, Managing Director, Advance EPA

The Growth and Skills Levy: Is It Still the Government’s Most Underrated Investment? By Al Bird, CEO at Instep

MBA Programs are Growing, But Something More Interesting is Afoot By Brady Colby is the Head of Market Research for Validated Insights.

What’s New in the World of FE?

Announcements

Immigration White Paper: Skills-First Immigration? | Sector Reaction By the Home Office

Almost 1M more Young People to get Access to Mental Health Support this Year By the Department for Education (DfE)

ONS Labour Market Data, May 25. Is the UK Labour Market at a Crossroads? By the Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Livestreams

Empowering FE Learning – Hospitality and Catering Learning

Voices

Reframing Careers Guidance: What the 2025 Changes Mean for ITPs and the Skills Sector By Paul Stannard, AELP Senior Policy Manager, and Madhavi Kumar, AELP Project Manager.

In The Know

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Next week we have two cool live streams on their way:

On Wednesday, 21st and Thursday, 22nd of May, both at 10am, we have the final Episodes of both Future skills and Empowering FE Learning livestreams. Check them out!

Here is the link to join Future skills - Durable skills live stream on Wedndesday 21st May at 10am

Here is the link to join Empowering FE Learning - Childcare on Thursday 22nd May at 10am

We hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week. Stay curious, keep innovating, and let's shake up the world of FE together – catch you next week!

By Danny O’Meara, Digital Project Manager, FE News

By Gavin O’Meara, CEO and Founder, FE News and FE Careers