If ‘skills, skills, skills’ is the new mantra, what role for HE?

Anyone playing Labour Party conference bingo this year would not have taken long to put a cross in their box marked “skills”.

Alongside near-ubiquitous mentions of the party’s “missions” for government, the skills agenda was the talk of the fringe, with countless sessions on how it can solve the country’s myriad problems, from its reliance on immigration to the crumbling NHS.

Labour has already created a new quango – Skills England – and Baroness Smith of Malvern has shorn any mention of universities from her job title, instead becoming the all-encompassing “skills minister”.

If the party’s once great mantra was “education, education, education”, it could now almost be “skills, skills, skills”, said Andy Forbes, executive director of the Lifelong Education Institute.

Universities have been quick to attempt to show their worth to this agenda, yet it was notable that one of the few firm policy announcements at the five-day victory party in Liverpool was the omission of level 7 apprenticeships – equivalent to a master’s degree – from the new growth and skills levy in favour of funding more entry-level positions.

This was a concern, according to Mr Forbes, because it is higher-level skills training where investment is most needed. “We’re actually quite good at getting people into the labour market,” he said.

“Our education system seems to generally work well in this way. It is the working adults who need to upskill, to help them keep up with what’s happening in their industry.

“That’s where we think the real productivity gains will come from, that’s what’s holding us back: too many people not able to keep up with the latest innovations. That’s why the role of universities is so crucial.”

Labour’s move appeared to have been influenced by criticism of levy funding being used to fund expensive MBAs for wealthy executives. Some £1 billion was used for this purpose under the old apprenticeship levy but Mr Forbes said there was a need for more managerial training as part of a functioning skills system.

“All the evidence is that effective coordination and therefore management within companies and enterprises is a key part of raising productivity, so you also need a highly skilled management as part of this puzzle,” he said.

Rosalind Gill, head of policy and engagement at the National Centre for Universities and Businesses, agreed, pointing out that level 7 apprenticeships had allowed people to take entrepreneurial courses to learn how to turn academic ideas into spin-out companies, for example.

“Having the flexibility that allows people to develop an additional skill set alongside what they are trained in at later stages of their career, so they can make a real impact on the economy, is absolutely critical. We wouldn’t want to see that lost,” she said.

Ms Gill said she felt that the government did understand the need for higher-level skills, and it did not have to be an either/or approach.

Labour’s ultimate vision puts much emphasis on collaboration between further and higher education and the apprenticeship system so they can work in tandem to meet skills needs.

All three are currently separate and fragmented, said Andy Westwood, professor of government practice at the University of Manchester, who added there also needed to be much more effective coordination with the research and development sector to utilise new ideas and technologies to aid local and national growth.

If the growth and skills levy is being seen as the mechanism to support entry-level skills, Labour could attempt to meet the need for higher-level skills via a revamped Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE).

Speaking at the conference, the minister, Baroness Smith, expressed support for the LLE – an initiative of the previous government that would provide loan funding equivalent to four years’ worth of study that can be used to pay for degrees or individual courses – but hinted that it would be reformed before its launch in 2026.

A central ask, according to the LEI’s Mr Forbes, is that the government introduces grants to stimulate demand in courses that meet the country’s skills needs, alongside the option of taking out a loan.

“We don’t believe it should be entirely based on a loan assumption,” he said. “Adults don’t like loans and will not rush to take one out. We’ve advocated for a tripartite investment: from employers, the individual and the state.”

Ms Gill said the size of the loan being offered via the LLE also needed to be addressed. “It is around £35,000 over a lifetime which, if you have pursued an undergraduate degree, doesn’t leave very much funding to pursue further qualifications at higher levels,” she said. “It is not going to help us grow the scale of people who are educated to those more senior levels.”

Ultimately, according to Professor Westwood, universities will have to align themselves more “to clear economic growth outcomes if they want to win current arguments for influence and resources”, which was “harder than it sounds and requires lots of rethinking about capacity and strategy”.

“Up to now we’ve preferred to just assume that more graduates, more research, will naturally have an impact. Now we have to find ways to make sure that they do, and we will probably be held accountable in some way for doing so.”

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com