How do we save UK skills? Perhaps start by asking the right people…As another report highlights challenges faced by the UK in improving skills shortages and increasing productivity, I ask the question, who are the right people to ask when we reform VET qualifications ?The UK has been chasing a solid vocational skills system since the mid-1800s, when international competitors first began to steal a march on the successes enjoyed by Britain during the early industrial revolution. Despite reform, after reform, after reform, we seem to continually miss the mark on what the UK needs from vocational and technical education.The reforms for example to apprenticeships, notably the removal of qualifications and mind-blowing complexity of signing students up, have driven down skills recruitment, directing monies from training electricians, hairdressers and mechanics to training senior managers in large organisations in their stead.There are also other consequences, for example, a recent student emigrating to Australia with a completed apprenticeship could not get recognition without an underpinning knowledge qualification. Fortunately, they had achieved a level two qualification on a full-time programme before starting the apprenticeship. Without this fortune, their dream life may well have been cut short. An unintended yet predictable outcome of the removal of formal qualifications.LIMITATIONS OF THE T LEVELThe introduction of T Levels works in certain disciplines, in particular where there are historically low numbers on programmes and high industry demand. Construction: Design, Surveying and Planning is one of these instances, provided of course you reside in a part of the country that has this industry demand and willing employers.Where it absolutely will not work is where numbers are far greater – digital for example – and where geography dictates otherwise. In these areas, as I have written about before, we are putting students at a substantial disadvantage as we are not allowing students in remote locations to ever train as engineers or programmers. The qualification naturally chokes ambition and funnels opportunity to far fewer young people than anything that is currently on offer.Ofsted’s report on T Levels is interesting here. Although the language is predictably cautious, there is recognition of the drawbacks faced by the closing of the Applied General qualification pathways that so many use as a means of progression to higher education. This pathway supports the disadvantaged into university opportunities, where geography is far less important, and industry and opportunity are available in the locale.One notable, but slightly buried recommendation, is to ‘carefully consider the implications and impact of the planned withdrawal of funding for other similar courses to ensure that students are not disadvantaged.’ It seems from this statement, even Ofsted remain unconvinced. Tom Bewick and Matilda Gosling’s latest report on productivity, ‘ Running to Stand Still ’, highlights that there is no evidence a plethora of policies and initiatives have had any positive impact on the UK skills market, but as interesting as the report is, it is just another report in a rhythmic cycle of reports saying the same thing, perhaps slightly differently.THE IMPACT OF AUSTERITYAusterity of course has also played a part in the exacerbation of skills shortages. The decline in adult education funding since 2010 is bleak, denying many second-chance opportunities to re-train in key industrial sectors. The IFS reported that, despite a recent increase in the budget, total adult skills spending in 2024/25 will still, in 2025, be 22% below 2009 levels. In an increasingly fiscally challenging environment, reaching into the back pocket for qualifications will not take precedence over paying the vastly increased energy bills, mortgage payments and rising prices at the pumps faced by millions. Those with the potential to help with the skills deficit w...

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