We are at a pivotal moment for the education and skills agenda in the UK and if there has ever been a time for transformation, it is now. The government’s forthcoming FE White Paper is an opportunity to take stock and to create a national skills plan fit for the future. At a recent House of Commons Education Select Committee session, I was asked for my views on what the forthcoming FE White Paper should say. Here is my take on the key areas that should be addressed.

A national skills plan that delivers jobs and drives regional economies

Firstly, we need a funding model and overarching national plan that is designed to take on the huge three-pronged challenge of Covid-19, underemployment and Brexit. We want to see an overarching national skills plan with flexible funding, which devolves decision-making to regional authorities to help empower them to deliver on local needs.

Any national skills plan must recognise that the role of further education should be seen as integral to driving local economic growth. Not just to deliver on good outcomes for individuals, but also to deliver on the skills required to grow regional economies.

A good example of where this approach is seeing success is in Northern Ireland, where regional collaboration driven by redefining the college’s role is helping to unlock economic growth, and a strengthened college sector has a seat at the table in the future of economic decision-making. Covid-19’s devastating impact on the labour market means that moving forward, any FE strategy must be geared towards supporting economic recovery, encouraging the learning and upskilling of individuals and, above all, delivering on jobs.

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Transforming the working population into lifelong learners

Lifelong learning should be at the heart of our FE strategy and it must be employer-led, not government-owned. Lifelong learning should be an integral part of a career trajectory and everyone should be entitled to it - be it a full-time student looking for their first job through to older workers seeking a career conversion. Today, this becomes even more important as the jobs market is hugely challenging for people looking for work, whilst the shape of our economy is undergoing a seismic shift. With around 4 million people across the UK expected to be unemployed by the end of the year, it is vital to create a link between industries that are reducing their workforce and growing sectors which require a related skill set. This means understanding and embracing the opportunities that lie ahead.

Meeting this challenge means rethinking how we assess and value skills - looking at future potential rather than prior achievement and placing as much value on short, sharp training interventions that lead to good jobs and progression as we do on more formal qualifications. Broadly speaking, we also need to raise the aspirations of low skilled employees and engage individuals in upskilling to help unlock access to career progression. Lastly, careers, advice and guidance should become an integral part of the lifelong learning cycle, where people of all ages - not just school leavers - are entitled to full support and everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, is aware of the full range of jobs available as well as where they can lead.

An overhaul of FE funding

It’s time to think differently about funding. A more agile system which supports lifelong learning and adapts to the changing shape of the labour market has the potential to transform further education and those it serves. Whilst there are a number of different funding pots - many of these don’t currently deliver on employers’ and individuals’ needs.

The criteria of existing funding pots, such as the Adult Education Budget, must be broadened to ensure they support more flexible, bite-sized and online learning offers that will help people of all ages quickly back into employment. FE loans, currently difficult to access, should be reformed to increase awareness and better support employed individuals to gain new skills or change career.

In addition, the unspent £2.5 billion National Skills Fund should be put to good use whilst funding should be geared to outcomes (instead of outputs) to encourage the FE sector to retain focus on the end goal of keeping people in good work and the skills most needed by employers and our economy.

A ‘digital first’ learning culture

Finally, if there has ever been a moment for more versatile and digitally enabled learning and teaching practices to develop, it is now.

For the foreseeable future, adopting a “digital-first” mentality will enable us to embrace the opportunities ahead. That’s why we’d like to see funding levers pulled to support colleges to shift more of their offer online: this includes better broadband access across the country so that online learning and assessment is a reality for all and funding models to support online learning offers, as well as ways of recognising transferable skills to support entry into new industries.

This is our act-now moment and the sector has proved it can transform at speed. We now need a government committed to creating the right environment for FE to play its crucial role in getting the UK back to work.

Kirstie Donnelly is chief executive of the City and Guilds Group