Andy Burnham’s technical education reforms are doomed to fail Opinion Reforming technical education is a laudable ambition but we have been here before. There are three questions Andy Burnham must answer before anyone takes him seriously, says Lord Agnew There is laudable ambition in the Prime Minister’s announcement of technical routes in education from 14, parity with the academic path and employers brought properly into [...]
Students urged to rethink idea of a ‘safe job’ as Labour pledges major education reform Politics A Cabinet minister has warned young people against depending on “safe and secure jobs” as Andy Burnham announced that children as young as 14 will get access to technical education. Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, has said that changes to the education system were “more urgent” given disruption to the jobs market from [...]
Milburn review: Youth unemployment crisis costs £125bn a year due to ‘broken system’ Economics The crisis of nearly a million young people who are out of education, employment or training – known as ‘Neets’ – costs the UK economy up to £125bn a year, the Alan Milburn review has found, as both the government and the private sector were blamed for failing to address youth unemployment. An extensive report [...]
‘Lacking motivation’ – UK employers worry about graduates’ attitude May 8, 2026 Over half of employers are concerned over the professional conduct of graduate hires, according to new research. As many as 52 per cent of companies said they had increased time spent undertaking professional conduct training and supporting employees in the shift from education to employment, according to the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) The Institute, [...]
Lectures in pubs are selling out. Sorry Michael Gove – experts are back May 5, 2026 Once shunned by a populace 'tired of experts', a new generation is embracing intellectualism with personal curriculums and lectures for leisure.
UK eyes AI in classrooms as schools face staffing strain April 27, 2026 Advances in AI are moving higher up the UK education agenda, as ministers look for ways to manage teacher shortages without major increases in spending. While the government has so far erred on the side of caution compared to its global peers, the direction of travel is toward a wider use of AI tools in [...]
UK rejoins Erasmus: British students to study across Europe from 2027 April 16, 2026 Six years after Brexit, British students will soon be able to study and work across Europe again, as the UK formally re-joins the Erasmus programme. The legal text, signed in Brussels on Wednesday, is intended to bring the UK back into the programme in 2027 after the UK pulled out of in December 2020 as [...]
China overtakes UK in AI talent race March 30, 2026 China is overtaking the UK in the global race for AI talent, as a growing share of the world’s leading researchers are trained and retained domestically rather than moving to Britain or Europe. Data cited by The Economist shows that at the 2025 conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, half of all presenting researchers began [...]
James Reed: V-levels are Labour’s best idea yet March 25, 2026 Middle-class prejudice towards vocational paths has held the UK back. I welcome Labour's V-level push, writes James Reed.
New digital V levels aim to bridge Britain’s AI skills gap March 11, 2026 The government’s new digital V-level is meant to solve two problems at once: the confusion of England’s post-16 qualifications system, and the growing mismatch between what young people learn and what employers now need. From 2027, ‘digital’ will be one of the first three V-level subjects offered alongside education and early years, alongside finance and [...]