New paper looks at levelling up post-16 education & skills

A new paper from Campaign for Learning calls on the Chancellor to use his Spring Statement so the post-education and skills system can level up everyone, everywhere.
 
Titled ‘Post-16 Education and Skills: Levelling Up Everyone, Everywhere’, the paper looks at six key considerations for the Levelling Up agenda – national and placed-based strategies, young people, lifelong training, lifelong learning and post-16 providers.
 
The paper also includes a series of 15 recommendations, calling upon the Chancellor to make some key announcements in his Spring Statement regarding post-16 education and skills in England.
 
This includes a review of place-based Devolution of the 16-19 education budget. The government should announce a consultation on both the desirability and feasibility of devolving the 16-19 education budget from institutions to local leaders, noting that the budget funds school sixth forms as well as FE colleges and independent training providers. School sixth forms deliver vocational provision – including T levels – as well as academic provision, and FE colleges / training providers deliver academic qualifications – such as GCSE English and Maths, and A levels – as well as vocational courses.
 
The government should take the post-16 education and skills sector into its confidence and finally intimate whether all or part of the £6.7bn 16-19 education budget should be devolved to local leaders by 2030, especially when the majority of England will be covered by devolution deals.
 
A new mission to increase participation by 16-17 year-olds in learning
The proportion of 16-17 year-olds meeting the duty to participate in England is 93.2%, meaning than 75,000 young people are not participating in recognised education and training. Participation also varies considerably by region, with participation highest in London (96.6%) but lowest in the South West (91.7%). DfE and DLUHC should introduce a new mission to ensure at least 95% of 16-17 year-olds in each of the 152 strategic local authorities are meeting the duty to participate.  
 
NEET-proof the impact of the Level 2 and below on 16-17 year-olds
The Treasury and DfE should guarantee that the restriction of the number of Level 2 and below qualifications does not risk 16-17 year-olds turning away from full-time further education and becoming NEET (i.e. not in education, employment or training).
 
A new mission to reduce 18-24 year-olds in employment on insecure contracts but not in full-time education
Around 2.23m 18-24 year-olds in England are in employment but not in full-time education. Of these, around 12% are in insecure employment – i.e. self-employment, agency or jobs with zero-hour contracts – equivalent to 270,000 young adults. The proportion of 18-24 year-olds in employment on insecure contracts but not in full-time education is 18% in some parts of the north of England. DfE, DLUHC and DWP should introduce a new joint mission to reduce the number of 18-24 year-olds in England on insecure contracts.
 
A living cost support package for the Skills Mission and the adult Level 3 offer to tackle the cost of living crisis
Entitlements to free education and access to income contingent loans means adults on Level 3 and below courses do not have to pay up-front fees. Free education and fee-loans, however, will not be sufficient to secure participation to meet the Skills Mission - an extra 200,000 trained adults nationally driven by 80,000 in low skilled areas, or enrolment on the adult level 3 offer.  
 
The cost of living crisis means adults will need to put earning before learning as they seek extra hours and shifts to pay for higher energy and food bills rather than start level 3 and below courses. To meet the Skills Mission set out in the Levelling Up white paper and the adult level 3 offer, the Spring Statement should set out a package of maintenance loans and grants to adults train and retrain, and allow flexible access to Universal Credit for unemployed and low paid claimants seeking to upskill and reskill.
 
Join up the Levelling Up agenda with the reforms to higher education
16-19 schools and college policy is pulling in a different direction to higher education policy. New 16-19 elite schools and colleges in areas of low educational attainment are bound to offer A levels as the main entry qualification into full-time 3-year Level 6 degrees including non-STEM degrees. On the other hand, the government is seemingly seeking to restrict the number of places on full-time 3-year Level 6 non-STEM degrees. The government should join up its levelling up agenda with its higher education reforms. It must avoid impacting the motivation to learn for 18 year-olds from poor households – living anywhere in England – who achieve the required A level grades to enter three-year full-time humanity degrees only to find a place is not available.