Education Secretary: Further education will be central to our mission of levelling up the nation

• Education Secretary tears up the target to send 50% of people to university
• Pledges to build an employer-led, ‘German-style’ further education system – proposals to be set out in a White Paper this autumn
• Further education vital to economic recovery – and to reskilling and levelling up the nation

Fundamental reform and rebalancing toward further and technical education is vital if our country is to recover after coronavirus and grow economically, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson will say today (9 July).

He will make a personal commitment to stand by the “forgotten 50%” of young people who choose not to go to university, and to invest in long-term change that will transform the post-16 education landscape and level up opportunities for everyone.

In a virtual speech hosted by the Social Market Foundation, Mr Williamson will call time on the idea that higher education is somehow better than further education and will tear up the target to send 50% of young people to university. He will say we should not seek to drive half of young people down a path that, can all too often, end with graduates not having the skills they need to find meaningful work, and instead see FE, apprenticeships and university all as equally valid routes to productive employment.

His pledge comes ahead of the publication of a White Paper this autumn which will set out plans to build a high quality further education system that will provide the skills that individuals, employers and the economy need to grow.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson will say:

“For decades, we have failed to give further education the investment it deserves. Our universities have an important role to play in our economy, society and culture, but there are limits to what we can achieve by sending ever more people into higher education, which is not always what the individual and nation needs. 

“That’s why this autumn I will be publishing a White Paper that will set out our plans to build a world-class, German-style further education system in Britain, and level up skills and opportunities

“As we emerge from Covid-19, further education will be the key that unlocks this country’s potential and that will help make post-Brexit Britain the triumph we all want. I want everyone to feel the same burning pride for our colleges and the people who study there, in the way we do for our great universities and schools.”

Higher education will continue to play a vital role in our economy, society and culture, but it is clear that more needs to be done to make sure more people can gain the skills they need to get the jobs they want.Thirty-four per cent of graduates end up in non-graduate jobs, productivity is just 4% higher than it was in 2008 and businesses in sectors such as manufacturing and construction report some of the highest skills shortages. There is growing evidence that underlines the need to end the focus on taking qualifications for qualifications sake, stop training people for jobs that don’t exist and start training them for the jobs that do exist and will exist in the future. 

Many of the skills that employers are demanding require intermediate or Higher Technical Qualifications - but only 10% of all adults aged 18-65 hold Higher Technical Qualifications as their highest qualification in the UK. That’s compared to around 20% of adults in Germany and as much as 34% in Canada. Five years after completion, the average Higher Technical Apprentice will also earn more than the average graduate.

James Kirkup, Social Market Foundation Director said:

“Britain’s longstanding cultural bias against further and technical education is socially divisive and economically wasteful.  

“Socially, too much of our national conversation is based on the implicit judgement that people who don’t go to university aren’t worth as much as those who do.  Economically, decades of underperformance on technical education and training, for young people and adults alike, has held back growth and productivity.   

“More support for further and technical education, and more respect for the people who benefit from it, would make Britain happier and richer.”

Today’s commitment builds on the significant investment announcement by the Chancellor this week to boost the economy and get more young people into work following Covid-19, including more funding to increase the number of apprenticeship opportunities available and expanding the Government’s Traineeship programme.

Significant work is already underway to transform the post-16 landscape including by providing more high-quality apprenticeship opportunities, and ground-breaking new T Level qualifications which will be taught from this September. 

The first wave of 12 Institutes of Technology are being rolled-out across the country - unique collaborations between further education colleges, universities and businesses offering higher technical education and training (mainly at Levels 4 and 5) in key sectors such as digital, construction, advanced manufacturing and engineering. Later this year the government will launch a competition to ensure that all of England is covered by an Institute of Technology, making sure everyone has the chance to gain higher technical skills and helping unlock growth across the country. 

An additional £1.5 billion will also be invested to upgrade colleges – the largest capital investment in the sector in a generation and will enable colleges everywhere in England to have buildings and facilities that can deliver world class tuition. £200 million of that investment has been made available to colleges this year to enable them to undertake immediate remedial work as early as September.

The new £2.5 billion National Skills Fund will also help get more people into work, as well as giving those already in work the chance to train for higher-skilled and better-paid jobs.