FE Week

Plans for written coursework will face “far, far more scrutiny” under reformed qualifications to prevent the “AI-fuelled subversion of assessment”, the boss of England’s assessment regulator will say. Ofqual boss Ian Bauckham is set to issue the warning at the Festival of Education today ahead of the planned launch of the first three V Level subjects next year.

Chris Loveday Interim Chief Operating Officer, City of Portsmouth College Concurrent job Deputy Principal, City of Portsmouth College Interesting fact Outside of work, Chris competed in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at a high level and is passionate about using technology to improve education, turning complex challenges into practical solutions for colleges and training providers

It is reassuring to see the growing urgency around the NEETs (not in education, employment or training) challenge in this country. More concerning, however, is the apparent lack of joined-up thinking about how it will be addressed. I have a somewhat unique perspective, having led a national training provider that delivered one of the strongest traineeship programmes in the country. I am now CEO of a small charity that works face-to-face with young NEETs every day.

Recent reform changes in apprenticeships have prompted important conversations across the sector, particularly around the decision for behaviours to be signed off by employers rather than formally assessed through end-point assessment (EPA). It’s understandable that some employers, providers, and sector professionals have questions or concerns about this shift.

We grow up imagining who we’ll become: a doctor, an engineer, a teacher, a writer. We picture a straight line from school to career, as if life moves neatly from one stage to the next. Spoiler: it doesn’t. Developmental psychologists have been saying for years that human growth is nonlinear, messy, and occasionally chaotic. In other words, life behaves exactly like a teenager’s bedroom.

As Andy Burnham sets out his case for moving power out of Whitehall and into places, many of us in further education, skills and youth employment are asking the same question: what would this mean for our work? Would he devolve more power over skills and employment? Would the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate become a national model? Would Alan Milburn’s review be strengthened, adopted or quietly absorbed into something else? And, critically, what would happen to the youth guarantee?

Greater Manchester’s independent training providers will be excluded from an adult skills funding rate uplift offered to colleges and councils next year. The region’s combined authority will boost qualification funding rates by 3.2 per cent in 2026-27 for grant-funded colleges and local authorities. But independent training providers delivering adult skills fund (ASF) provision under procured contracts will only receive one-year extensions, and receive no extra money.

T Level students are only marginally more likely to gain a university place than the first cohort four years ago, and still struggle to enter the top Russell Group institutions. FE Week analysis of data from 85 universities shows 70 per cent of T Level applications resulted in an offer for last September, up from 67 per cent for the first cohort who applied to enter university in the 2022-23 academic year.

Nowadays, Jane Knight is the embodiment of the organisation she founded. Impeccably dressed and rarely seen without one of her trademark wide-brimmed hats – many of which she makes herself – she is an assured networker. But 12 years ago, after leaving her role as a college careers adviser and apprenticeships manager to raise her son Daniel, Knight barely recognised herself. “You’re just known as being someone’s mum instead of being known for you,” she reflects.

There is no denying that the skills challenges facing the government are stark. Today, the UK has close to one million young people aged 16-24 not in education, employment or training (NEET) and in two of the country’s biggest sectors – manufacturing and engineering – apprenticeship starts are well below the level they reached in the early and mid-2010s, with over 500,000 starts a decade ago compared with 340,000 starts in 2023-24.