Skills and apprenticeships
Year-long postponement of lifelong learning finance mechanism presents opportunity to rethink some of its central tenets, say experts
Wales’ groundbreaking Medr must boldly rethink how education and training work for society and the economy, says Ellen Hazelkorn
Prioritising volume over quality by abolishing master’s-level funding will damage the pipeline of skilled workers, says Tyler Harvey-Cowlishaw
UUK’s Blueprint is right to call for greater FE-HE collaboration so both sectors can complement each other’s strengths, say Sam Parrett and Nick Whitehouse
Labour has put skills front and centre of its plan for government but where does the omission of higher apprenticeships from the growth and skills levy leave universities – and how will these skills be funded otherwise?
Conservative Party conference divided on impact of Labour’s rebalancing of skills funding
Businesses encouraged to fund roles equivalent to master’s degree level outside levy system as government focuses on creating new opportunities for younger people
Institutions must focus on creating ‘well-rounded’ individuals equipped with both skills and knowledge needed for technological-driven world, according to academic-turned-politician
Providing skills, creating opportunity and training the teachers and nurses the UK needs: modern universities stand ready to deliver, says Rachel Hewitt
The UK needs a skills strategy that values the full variety of training and education pathways and reflects regional needs, says Neal Juster
Inventor’s Wiltshire-based training centre is first to go through new Office for Students process
Tory plans to close low-performing degrees to fund apprenticeships ‘miss the mark’, says UK sector
End of prime minister’s two-decade term brings reflection on sector’s rapid development but also its enduring challenges
Sector leaders call for rethink of teaching methods to prepare students for changing world of work
England’s Uni Connect programme has funding reduced to £20 million at ‘exactly the wrong time’, says widening participation expert
Report on ‘voices from the frontline’ aims to dispel degree apprenticeship misconceptions like that of middle-class takeover
Upgraded institutions seen as a way to meet talent demands in the Greater Bay Area
Hesa examines association between productivity and skill levels at local authority level
Strong engagement with students from socially deprived backgrounds rebuts claims of ‘middle-class grab’ of degree apprenticeships, finds audit
LLE can overturn ‘mad idea’ that university must happen between ages 18 and 21, says David Latchman, stepping down as Birkbeck v-c after 21 years
Fee forgiveness or more generous student loans could be used to ensure an area’s skills needs are met, argues MillionPlus
Institutions focused on applied research and employer-informed curricula could be vital part of more coherent post-16 system, says LSBU chief
Strathclyde principal flags growing realisation that greater national coordination is needed between universities and businesses
Late researcher’s reform narrative chimes with Australian accord considerations
Wiltshire-based engineering campus says it needs ‘highest levels of skill and expertise’ to compete globally
Tory conference hears much talk of apprenticeships, with education secretary on mission to ‘change every middle-class mind in country’
Representative body backs collaboration between tertiary education sectors but questions TAFEs’ ‘instrumental’ role in degree-level apprenticeships
Our message is to hold the policy line. The levy has taken time to bed in, but it would be premature to tear it up and start again, say Chris Husbands and Natalie Day
The route will ease the staffing crisis by widening access, but apprentices will have to pass the same professional exams as everyone else, says Nichola Hay
The UK’s trailblazing marriage of academic study and practical training is billed as a win-win for students and employers. But are universities and companies pulling their weight? Are students getting what they want? And what does it all mean for the future of traditional study, asks Tom Williams
Education secretary directs OfS to create ‘competitive degree apprenticeship development fund’ in England
More support and less complex regulation will allow the hybrid qualifications to flourish across more English institutions and sectors, says Dan Lally
