This article summarises key policy developments in adult education. It focuses mainly on the reviews and strategies published under the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Government in office from 2010 to 2015, which laid the foundation for current policy priorities. It also sets out the policy priorities published under the Conservative Government since 2016.

Key policy developments 

Leitch Review of Skills 

In 2004, the Government commissioned an independent review of the UK’s long-term skills needs. The final report of the Leitch Review of Skills, published in 2006, stated that the UK needed to urgently raise its skill levels and should commit to becoming a world leader in skills by 2020. It recommended that the Government, employers and individuals should take responsibility for achieving this ambition.

Overarching skills strategies 

Skills for Sustainable Growth, a strategy published in November 2010 under the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Government, continued the commitment to the ambition of the Leitch Review, but abolished its targets and the machinery of centralised control set up to meet them. It set an objective to enable providers to supply the type and volume of training needed in their local area, with increasing flexibility to respond to local needs and to the demands for quality of learners and employers.

New Challenges: New Chances, a reform plan for the further education (FE) and skills sector, which built on Skills for Sustainable Growth, was published in December 2011. Key elements of the reform programme included:

• prioritising government funding on learning for young adults, those who did not achieve basic maths and English in school, and the unemployed
• introducing a system of FE loans to place more responsibility for learning on individuals, and maintaining support for adults to learn at advanced and higher levels
• introducing a National Careers Service to offer high quality information, advice and guidance for learners
• offering a comprehensive range of vocational education and training programmes, from community learning and basic skills, to apprenticeships
• making learning programmes and qualifications more relevant and focused.

In 2013, the Government issued a policy paper building on the policy direction set out in Skills for Sustainable Growth and New Challenges, New Chances. Rigour and Responsiveness in Skills set out how the Government planned to:

• raise standards by making the system more professional and intervening in poor provision
• create traineeships to prepare young people aged 16 to 24 for work
• reform and improve the quality of apprenticeships
• make qualifications relevant and valued
• use funding to make provision more responsive
• give employers and individuals the information to make the right choices.

Qualifications and programme reform 

The Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Government instigated a wide-ranging programme of reform of learning programmes and vocational qualifications, which was supported by a number of fundamental reviews, as outlined below.

• The 2011 Review of Vocational Education (the Wolf report) focused on education for 14- to 19-year olds, and recommended the introduction of study programmes in secondary education, aimed at offering young people a broad range of study options.
• The 2012  Review of Apprenticeships recommended a move away from apprenticeship frameworks based on groups of qualifications towards a more holistic approach driven by high-level standards developed by employers in specific sectors. Plans to develop new standards-based apprenticeships were taken forward in English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision, published in December 2015.
• The 2013 Review of Adult Vocational Qualifications in England led by Nigel Whitehead, which found the system to be over-complex and lacking in clear accountability structures, and that this complexity and lack of stability acted as a barrier to engagement by employers. It recommended that the regulation of qualifications should be strengthened to focus vocational qualifications more clearly on the needs of employers and individuals. The report also noted that, at the time, the system had over 19,000 regulated vocational qualifications available through 176 awarding organisations.

These reviews fed in to Getting the Job Done, the vocational qualifications reform plan published in March 2014. This highlighted as a priority for action the need for alignment of the different parts of the vocational education system (pre-19 qualifications, adult qualifications, and apprenticeships) to ensure that they follow consistent basic and design principles, whenever possible and appropriate, and do not generate unnecessary bureaucracy or conflicting requirements. A Dual Mandate for Adult Vocational Education, published in March 2015, reviewed what had been done since 2010 to promote a high quality system of vocational education and training for adult learners.

Current policy priorities 

Policy priorities for adult education and training are set out in a number of strategies/documents, which are summarised below.

Post-16 Skills Plan 

Following a review of technical education, completed by an independent panel led by Lord Sainsbury, the Government published a strategy to reform technical education in July 2016. The Post-16 Skills Plan sets out plans to replace thousands of courses with 15 Level 3 technical option routes into skilled employment, in order to provide high quality routes for young people pursuing a vocational path. Each route, such as health and science, construction, social care, or engineering and manufacturing, will be delivered either through a two-year, college-based programme including a work placement (known as a T Level), or through an apprenticeship. The Government intends the programmes, which are being introduced between 2020 and 2022, to be suitable for 16- to 18-year-olds, but also accessible by adults aged 19 and over.

In a further move to streamline the possible routes into employment, the Government has launched a review of post-16 qualifications at Level 3 and below (excluding T Levels, A Levels and GCSEs). In March 2019, a three-month consultation was launched. It included proposals for the removal of funding approval for unreformed qualifications, so streamlining possible routes into employment. The government is currently consulting on the second stage of the review. 

Moreover, in July 2019, the Government launched a consultation on Higher Technical Qualifications at Level 4 and Level 5, which are due to be introduced in 2022.

The Department for Education has now published its reforms to higher technical education, following a consultation last year. The first newly approved higher technical qualifications are expected to be available from September 2022.

Industrial Strategy 

In November 2017, the Government published its Industrial Strategy White Paper, setting out how it aims to help businesses to create better, higher-paying jobs with investment in the skills, industries and infrastructure of the future. The strategy is based on five foundations of productivity: ideas; people; infrastructure; business environment; places.

Actions under ‘people’ include the following initiatives.

• Establishing a technical education system of the same quality as the higher education system.
• Further investing in maths, digital and technical education and helping to address the shortage of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills. The Government has since announced the establishment of centres for excellence in maths across the country and the launch of new essential digital skills qualifications, which will be available from 2020 (see the article ‘Main Providers’ and the subheading ‘Provision to raise achievement in basic skills’ in the article on ‘Main Types of Provision’ respectively).
• Creating a new National Retraining Scheme that supports people to reskill, beginning with an investment in digital and construction training.

Funding letter 

The Government publishes an annual funding letter setting out the overall level of funding available to the further education and skills sector, and confirming the policy priorities on which this funding is intended to focus. The 2019-20 letter continues the longer-term strategic direction for the sector for 2016-2020.

The policy priorities set out for 2016-2020 include:

• providing apprenticeships across all sectors of the economy and at all levels, including degree level, and introducing the apprenticeship levy to create an expanded and sustainable funding stream for apprenticeships, which will contribute towards funding the three million new apprenticeships the Government pledged to create in English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision
• providing financial support for individuals aged 19+ studying for recognised technical and professional qualifications at Level 3 to Level 6
• increasing the number of traineeships to improve chances for young people aged 16-24 to gain sustainable employment
• providing funded courses in English and maths for those aged 19+ who need them
• supporting the National Careers Service to refocus on priority groups, including young people aged 19-23 not in touch with schools and colleges; lower skilled adults aged 24+; and adults aged 25+ with learning difficulties and disabilities
• supporting community learning provision which meets adult learning needs and identified local needs (community learning helps adults of all ages and backgrounds gain a new skill, reconnect with learning, pursue an interest, or better prepare for progression to formal courses or employment).

The overarching aim is that of ensuring high quality provision that gives good value for money and focuses on young adults, the low-skilled and those who are unemployed. For further information, including specific funding priorities for 2019-20, see the article ‘Adult Education and Training Funding’.

In November 2020 the government confirmed that it would invest £291 million in Further Education in 2021-22, to ensure that core funding for 16-19 year-olds is maintained in real terms per learner, rising in line with demographic growth and continuing targeted policy measures announced at SR19;

£375 million would also be invested in skills funding from the National Skills Fund, to deliver on the PM’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee and continue the measures in the Plan for Jobs into 2021-22; 

In September the Prime Minister announced that for adults who do not currently have a Level 3 qualification, we will be fully funding their first full Level 3 (A level equivalent), focusing on the valuable skills that will help them get ahead in the labour market. This offer will be funded through the £2.5 billion National Skills Fund and aligned with existing funding streams.  This Level 3 adult offer will be targeted   on areas with high economic value and the strongest alignment with government priorities, to bring the best possible returns for individuals, employers, and the nation. A full list of courses available will be set out shortly.

The offer, and the National Skills Fund more broadly, will support adults to learn and reach their potential in the labour market. We will ensure the National Skills Fund increases skills, productivity and individuals’ resilience, to better respond to a changing labour market.

In September, the Prime Minister also announced six Skills Bootcamps, which are employer-led, to support local regions and employers to fill in-demand vacancies. The bootcamp training courses will provide valuable skills based on employer demand and are linked to real job opportunities, helping participants to land jobs and employers to fill vacancies. Moreover, from April 2021 £43m will be invested through the National Skills Fund to extend Skills Bootcamps further in 2021, increasing the national coverage of this new offer.

Augar review of post-18 education 

Note: In 2018, the Prime Minister launched a review of post-18 education, aimed at providing real choice between high quality technical, vocational and academic routes, value for money for students and taxpayers, and the skilled workforce required by employers. The final report, led by Philip Augar, was published in May 2019 and included a number of recommendations for Government to consider, including increasing flexible learning options and lifetime learning; and reforming and refunding the further education college network so it can play a role in the delivery of higher technical and intermediate level training. As of September 2019, the Government is considering these recommendations. Further background information is available in this House of Commons Library briefing from February 2019.

Article last reviewed December 2020.