We welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday of the commitment for two-thirds of young people to either go to university or enrol on a 'gold standard' apprenticeship.

This replaces the previous target of 50 per cent of young people attending university – a clear sign of a change in approach and a recognition of the importance of vocational training as the launchpad for a rewarding career.

We also welcome what the Skills Minister, Jacqui Smith, has said during the Labour Party conference about closer collaboration between universities and colleges, and encouraging more flexible pathways for L4 and L5 qualifications. This will support the ambitions set out in the government’s Industrial Strategy and sector plans released earlier this year.

Much of the detail behind these announcements will be in the forthcoming Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper. However, along with the announcements of more funding for further education, the re-introduction of maintenance grants for students from low-earning households, and more news about the youth guarantee, the government’s direction of travel regarding skills is becoming clearer.

We continue to have questions about the focus on young people as we know there is still much work to do in upskilling and reskilling people already in the workforce across our economy, not least as part of the transition to net zero. Also, ahead of the defunding of Level 7 apprenticeships, we continue to raise our concerns about this policy as these apprenticeships are an important means of social mobility.

Overall, these latest developments are positive and we look forward to more detail, as well as further announcements which address these continuing issues.