As life returns to some sort of normality, the labour market is also slowly recovering, with job vacancies at their highest level since the onset of the pandemic and the unemployment rate falling slightly to 4.8% in the three months to March 2021.
However, we know that the employment landscape in the UK is rapidly changing, and the increase in vacancies is reportedly causing concern among employers that they could face staff shortages. This is just one illustration of how important skills and training are in economic recovery, and therefore the key role that the education system plays in providing learners with the skills that employers will need. The Government has been vocal about its plans to transform post-16 and adult education as part of its ‘Build Back Better’ agenda, with the recently announced Lifetime Skills Guarantee focused around providing the skills that people need for high quality jobs and opportunities to train throughout their lives. While it is reassuring to see this commitment to post-16 education and to helping more people get the skills to access employment, we must not be complacent. It will take a sustained effort, appropriate funding, and continued collaboration between the education sector, employers, and the Government to deliver on the promises of the Skills Bill. Now is the time for employers and the education sector to work together more closely than ever, aligning provision with employability needs to create a more productive, fulfilled, and fairer society. Spotlight on skills The Skills Bill promises that adults across the country will have the chance to retrain in later life, albeit through the provision of a loan entitlement, helping them to gain in-demand skills and open up job opportunities. It will also realign the system around the needs of employers, so that people are trained for the current and future skills gaps in key sectors such as construction, digital and manufacturing. Obviously, we welcome the increased emphasis on skills-based learning and the value of further education, but we need to look at the fuller picture. The Government continues to be focused on academic and technical skills, rather than acknowledging that other drivers – such as confidence and a sense of purpose – are crucial in changing lives. To address that, we are continually growing our provision in areas such as learning to learn, mental fitness and wellbeing, creativity, problem solving and critical thinking. We have engaged with employers on the development of these courses, to ensure that individuals have all the meta skills they need to be successful in the labour market, whatever changes and challenges they are confronted with. Reducing the barriers to lifelong learning Over the past year, the inequalities in our society have become starker, with the pandemic proven to have disproportionately affected deprived communities. Benefits claims have risen most in areas that were already seeing high rates of claims, and unemployed individuals are more likely to experience depression and other mental health issues, which can create a real barrier when it comes to getting back into learning and work. The Government is providing opportunities for people to learn, upskill and retrain, but without considering means and motivation, these opportunities simply will not deliver the intended value, economically or societally. People need to be able, willing, informed and mentally fit to take up opportunities, whether that is undertaking a qualification, retraining, switching careers or returning to the workplace. Financially, many people will not be in a position to participate in schemes such as Restart. The pledge to give every adult access to a flexible loan for higher-level education and training goes some way towards redressing the imbalance between higher education and further education, while helping to ensure that adult learners no longer miss out. But what about those who simply cannot afford to take on another debt? Playing our part Clearly, it will take close collaboration between government, awarding organisations, education providers and employers to make the ‘levelling up’ agenda a reality, but I feel confident that the further education sector is up to the challenge. Our shared purpose and vision for a world class technical education system, combined with smartly leveraging our collective resources and intelligence gives me real hope that our ambitions can be achieved. Flexible options for learning that can fit into people’s lives – whatever their background, age and personal circumstances; financial support that makes education a viable option; and the availability of tools to build their meta skills, will all be essential factors in achieving the Government’s plans. Driven by our belief of more than 170 years that no learner should be left behind, we are going beyond the conventional role of an awarding organisation to break down the barriers to opportunity, driving collaborative working and developing a coordinated response. Through our collective work, we will not just mitigate the potential long-term impact of the pandemic on people’s lives and careers, but we will strive to provide every learner with the skills they need to obtain high quality and fulfilling work, playing our part in rebooting a thriving UK economy and creating a fairer, more inclusive society
