Skills England: Everything You Need to Know
Jennifer Coupland, Chief Executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) has provided an update about the organisation's relationship with the newly-formed Skills England.
Coupland has confirmed that "Skills England will have more responsibilities than IfATE" and that the intention of the new body is to "convene employers, unions, education and training providers, and experts with national government" in order to:
develop a single picture of national and local skills needs. Skills England will work with industry, the Migration Advisory Committee, unions and the Industrial Strategy Council to build and maintain a comprehensive assessment of current and future skills needs. This will also inform the Department for Education’s (DfE) policy priorities.
Identify the training for which the Growth and Skills Levy will be accessible. This includes consulting on (and maintaining a list of) levy-eligible training to ensure value for money and that the mix of government-funded training available to learners and employers aligns with skills needs.
Ensure that the national and regional skills systems are meeting skills needs and are aligned, including using local and regional vacancy data as part of a robust evidence base. Skills England will convene mayoral combined authorities and other key stakeholders to identify system issues and provide advice to the Government, leading to a more coherent system.
The full letter can be read here.
Additionally, the IfATE has confirmed that it is supporting the DFE's current review of post-16 qualifications.
The review is expected to be short and qualification defunding decisions for 2025 will quickly follow after its conclusion.
We’ll provide more details when we have them.