AoC responds to Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper

Responding to the government's announcement of new qualifications to support young people and the publication of the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper (due 20 October 2025), David Hughes, Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges, said: "This white paper represents a big positive step forward in the positioning of colleges as central parts of the government’s vision for post-16 education and skills. There is a lot in this we have been seeking, from the ambition for a more joined-up system focused on local labour markets, productivity and helping adults and young people to get into and progress in good jobs, to a renewed focus on ensuring young people do not become or remain NEET – not in education, employment or training.

“The paper’s proposals to introduce new V levels alongside T levels and A levels, plus a new stepping stone level 1 qualification in both maths and English, feel more based in the realities of the students colleges work with and meeting the needs of every young person. They are proposals we will engage with to ensure they work. We know, though, that qualifications reforms are complex, and that this will mean further change over a number of years.

“Although they are limited, the white paper’s commitments on funding are also welcome – in particular the pledge to maintain real terms per-student funding for young people and the confirmation that there will be at least 29 Technical Excellence Colleges (TECs).

“The paper is strong on more collaboration between colleges and universities – something we have been working hard to facilitate - to open up pathways from Level 4 to Level 6 and more flexible modular provision to enable more adults to benefit from further learning.

“I am pleased that there is a recognition of the 'brilliant' work colleges already do, and overall, this white paper is a strategy we can really move forward with. It is not everything we would want, of course, with other areas we still want to see addressed – including the lack of support and funding for the wider role of adult education, low pay in colleges because of long-term underfunding and the absence of collaboration between colleges and school sixth forms. It is definitely a big step forwards, which sets out an ambitious and exciting agenda for colleges and their students.”