Is The FE and Skills Policy Churn Causing Chaos For Learners and Hindering Social Mobility? | FE Soundbite Edition 805

July 12, 2025

Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 805: 12th July 2025 | Is The FE and Skills Policy Churn Causing Chaos For Learners and Hindering Social Mobility?

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

I hope you had a great week, it is schorchio out there, I hope you had time to enjoy the sun, but are also not melting!

I have based my Gavin's reflective this week off an Exclusive article from Baroness Manningham-Buller, Chair of the House of Lords special inquiry Social Mobility Policy Committee and a report on Policy Churn causing chaos for 16-19 year olds from EPI and SKOPE... and stepped back and asked... is this causing chaos for social mobility at all ages, regions... as well as just 16-19 year olds? No doubt, you will have heard all about the Curriculum and Assessment Review, but what do young people (aka learners), also think?

Comparing Inequality and Outcomes Across Post 16 Education in the UK

EPI and SKOPE's report: Comparing inequality and outcomes across post-16 education in the UK highlights: Policy churn, fragmented pathways, and a lack of sustained focus from policymakers have created confusion for young people, entrenched inequalities, and raised serious concerns among employers. Yeah. I agree. Even Bridget Phillipson in a letter laying out the immediate priorities for Skills England on the day it launched in June, said for Skills England to bring together the fragmented skills system, so everyone knows this.

EPI and SKOPE called for stable post-16 pathways, improved coordination at local and national level, to embed employability skills and to use data to address inequalities.

Improvements Needed In Wales

Now, I have been a raving fan about the Welsh system for a while... but EPI and SKOPE highlighted that urgent action is required in Wales to raise the proportion of young people achieving Level 3 qualifications, which is notably lower than the rest of the UK. The share of Welsh boys going to university has hardly increased at all in the last 25 years and is now lower than it was 6 years ago before the pandemic!

Now when you couple these findings from EPI and SKOPE with the findings from The House of Lords Social Mobility Committee, which looked at the importance of place; educational and training options for 16 to 18 year-olds; NEETs and Data.. this is interesting! This is pretty similar in initial findings from the PAC committee (they are yet to state their recommendations, this is just the initial findings and observations).

The Social Mobility Commission also heard concerns about the lack of flexibility in the Apprenticeship Levy (and what is the new Growth and Skills Levy going to be? Labour have only been in power for a year?!.. and the impact T- levels have had on established vocational qualifications such as BTECs. The rigid requirement for GCSE Maths and English is a barrier to apprenticeships and other employment and training opportunities. This isn't just numbers, or data, this is actually affecting individual learners.. and most importantly NEETs who are not learners or people in work!

So they are coming at this from the same angle... now I know Skills England has a mandate to sort this out, but SKOPE and EPI were looking wider than this across the UK... and how we can be joined up.

What Do The Actual Young People Want From The Curriculum and Assessment Review?

Did you know that there was a Youth-Led Shadow Curriculum and Assessment Review? They published their final report this week, which is ahead of the actual Curriculum and Assessment review... and not surprisingly... young people want an end to SATs and fewer GCSE exams!

Interestingly, the Youth Led Shadow Curriculum and Assessment Review suggested: more “life skills” such as financial literacy and content that prepares young people to thrive in their futures. A national youth wellbeing measurement programme. Sustainability and the environment, (I like this): Integrating solutions-centred climate change and sustainability content across all subjects and key stages. Flexibilty: Making the assessment system more adaptable to support students’ needs as they arise and may shift over time.

How Do We Ensure A Joined Up System, Not An Even More Fragmented Offer?

Skills England has a mandate to fix this (in England), but SKOPE and EPI were looking at the bigger UK picture. The pattern is clear: we have multiple committees, multiple reports, and multiple bodies all identifying the same fundamental problems from different angles.

If you layer in national priorities, local priorities (we had the Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill this week). How do we ensure that policy makers, nations and also looking locally at devolution this is all joined up and not even more fragmented?

So I hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week.

Epic Exclusives Thought Leadership Articles

Our Top 3 Thought Leadership Articles This Week

Social Mobility Policy: Still Much To Consider By Baroness Manningham-Buller, Chair of the House of Lords special inquiry Social Mobility Policy Committee

Skilled Workers Are Essential to Build Britain’s 1.5 million Homes By Kirstie Donnelly MBE, Chief Executive Officer, City & Guilds

What the 2025 ‘UKSIC Appropriate Filtering and Monitoring Definitions’ mean for FE institutions By Rob Faulkner, VP Prevention & Enablement at Smoothwall

This week, we also had some other Epic Exclusives!

Bridging the Skills Gap in the UK: The Role of Awarding Bodies in Shaping a Skilled Workforce By Helen Maxwell, UK Business Development Manager at NCC Education

We Need to Talk About Menopause By Iman Essadiki, EDI and People Development Adviser, and Mark Fell, Executive Principal, Milton Keynes College.

What’s New in the World of FE?

Announcements

Skills Minister, Jacqui Smith’s Speech From The Skope Skills Summit By Department for Education (DfE)

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill By the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

New £4,500 Tax-free Incentives for Early Years Teachers in Most Disadvantaged Communities By the Department for Education (DfE)

In The Know

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Are you going to join us on the 30th October in Manchester, for the Green Skills, Green Mindset Micro Collective. This is in partnership with our friends at Education and Training Foundation. We've announced the chairs, Toby Perkins MP is coming to speak, he's Chair of the Environmental Audit Select Committee, and as some of you can remember, he used to be Shadow Skills Minister. We also have a cool venue. Check it out and join us on the 30th to help shape the Green Mindset in the sector and help create the report.

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