4 big changes proposed for UK schools – including reviving apprenticeships
Parliament’s Education Committee has laid out a blueprint for how the Government should spread prosperity and achieve its mission of economic growth by investing in the further education (FE) and skills sector.
The cross-party Committee’s new report concludes that the sector has been starved of funding and overlooked for over a decade, despite a growing consensus about the importance of strengthening vocational and technical education and the need for services to support students’ wellbeing.
“15 years of real terms funding cuts and stagnant pay have left colleges struggling to recruit and retain teachers who earn far less than their peers in schools. Far from receiving the parity of esteem it’s been promised in the past, FE continues to be treated like the Cinderella of the education system,” said Education Committee Chair Helen Hayes.
“We call for investment in the sector and the establishment of a statutory pay review body to make recommendations on staff salary increases. New funding should also take into account the prevalence of special educational needs and disabilities, as well as local levels of deprivation.”
Some of the key proposals in the report are outlined in more detail below.
Funding and improving pay
The report found that sector has been chronically underfunded for 15 years and the disparity between the typical salaries of teachers in FE and secondary schools is now 15%. T
his has contributed to a crisis in retention and recruitment of staff and a feeling that FE is undervalued.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said that between the 2010-11 and 2019-20 financial years, funding per student aged 16–18 fell in real terms by 14% in colleges and 28% in school sixth forms.
The Committee recommends that FE teachers’ pay should be overseen by a new statutory pay review body, like those used to advise the Government on pay increases for primary and secondary school teachers, nurses and doctors, and which the Government is now setting up for school support staff.
MPs recommend ending the VAT status for FE colleges – unlike schools they cannot currently recover VAT incurred on their expenses. They also call for the Government to provide targeted funding for colleges and sixth forms and to support disadvantaged students by setting up a ‘student premium’, similar to the pupil premium used in schools.
New ‘Modular’ T Levels
T Levels were launched in 2020 as a technical qualification for 16-18-year-olds which is the equivalent of three A Levels.
Problems have persisted with relatively few students opting for them, concerningly high numbers of students dropping out and the Government finding it difficult to enlist employers to provide work placements that T Level students must complete.
Only 71% of the 10,253 students starting T Levels in 2022 finished their course after two years.
The Committee recommends that the Department for Education (DfE) should consider establishing smaller ‘modular’ T Levels, equivalent to one A Level.
The Education Policy Institute suggested these smaller T Levels would enable students to undertake a mixture of academic and technical subjects.
The report also recommends that the DfE launch a national awareness campaign for T Levels targeting students, parents, and employers. The purpose and benefits of T Levels should be set out clearly from the start of secondary school onwards.
Parity of esteem between A Levels and T Levels should run through all communications, guidance and advice to schools, teachers, parents and students.
Revive apprenticeships
For many prospective apprentices and employers, the pathway to an apprenticeship remains unclear, bureaucratic, and discouraging.
The Committee recommends that to boost apprenticeship enrolment the government should, by April 2026, create a streamlined application and reporting process tailored for businesses, and provide dedicated support and guidance to help small businesses navigate the system.
Foundation apprenticeships have been welcomed by the sector. However, whilst these shorter apprenticeships aim to help young people enter critical sectors, MPs heard concerns about the government’s decision not to target “everyday sectors”, such as the hospitality, retail and care sectors.
The MPs recommend that foundation apprenticeships be broadened to cover those sectors, which often serve as entry points into the workforce.
Don’t scrap Applied General Qualifications
Level 3 Applied General Qualifications (AGQs), such as BTECs, provide an essential alternative to A Levels and T Levels.
Having previously been earmarked for defunding, the report called on government to publicly commit to the long-term retention of these qualifications and to providing sustained funding for them.
Students should be able to pursue a mixture of A Levels, AGQs and T Levels in order to support more tailored and inclusive educational pathways, the MPs said.
