FE Soundbite 738 - Levy Reform, Good, Bad or too Late?

Gavin’s Reflective Perspective

Levy Reform, Good, Bad or Too Late?

I thought we’d title Soundbite on the Levy Reform announcement from Monday… as first up… Get in… one thing we have needed for a really, really long time is more incentives to support SME’s and young people into Apprenticeships… it is a natural match made in heaven. .. also 50% of large employers levy pot being able to be utilised makes a lot of sense (rather than going back to Treasury… to be used for whatever, so potholes probably). So for me.. this is a massive great news…. Also… I think the sector thinks the same. I posted something on LinkedIn and I think I haven’t ever had so many views on a post (26,000 on one alone, another had 15,000).

As it isn’t news that Levy funds were going back to treasury (Richard Marsh first wrote about this back in Jan 2020.. so four years ago!).. and last week we had the ONS figures highlighting that youth inactivity is at its highest on record! So this seems pretty logical move… but why wait until now. This is all not ‘news’? So for me… this is great news and a MASSIVE WIN for the sector…. I mean I even wrote about this again in Soundbite last week, 20,000 more Apprenticeships – in SMEs and for young people – massive win!

Even Bigger changes on the horizon for the Levy?

..but what else can be done? Youth inactivity and SME’s… in one swoop, good skills. When it comes to the Levy… I think the language is interesting. Labour are calling for a Skills Levy… the current Conservative Government… if you actually looks at Rishi and Gillian Keegan’s quotes, they do not actually say the word Apprenticeship Levy. So are there even bigger changes in mind for the Levy?

However, putting this into perspective... this is potentially a £60M investment into Apprenticeships, but there was a very interesting report highlighting that education-related exports and transnational education (TNE) was £27.90 billion from £26.2 billion in 2020 ... now that is a lot of money and makes this investment look like a drop in the ocean!

Also, happy Neurodiversity Celebration Week… We have had a really cool range of brilliant articles this week. Here is our tag page to see all of the latest.

Exclusive thought leadership

The FE News team's top 3 this week

Firstly, ‘Latest reforms to American Apprenticeships signal new opportunities for British training providers’ By Tom Bewick, this article outlines how the planned expansion of registered apprenticeship in the USA could more fully open the door to independent training providers and universities from the UK.

Secondly, ‘End point assessments and the potential for more innovative use of technology’ By Stuart Edwards, Here he discusses the potential to use technology for assessment in apprenticeships and highlights features of the End Point Assessment model that may stifle innovation.

Thirdly, ‘Moving from industrialised education to personalised approaches reducing wastage’ By Amanda Kirby, Here she discusses transitioning to personalised education for neurodivergent learners reduces talent wastage and fosters inclusivity.

More great exclusive thought leadership