The Skills Plan

The Skills Minister, Nick Boles, has this month launched ‘The Post-16 Skills Plan’, due to be implemented in 2019.  The Skills Plan, developed in response to an independent report into technical education by an expert panel chaired by Lord Sainsbury, ‎proposes replacing the current outdated system of more than 20,000 courses provided by 160 different organisations‎ with 15 high-quality routes, developed and respected by employers.

At the age of 16, students will have to choose between the ‘academic option’ – comprising A-levels leading to an undergraduate degree – or the new ‘technical option’. In the ‘technical option’, students will embark on one of 15 technical education routes, for example, in agriculture, construction or social care, and can choose between a two-year, college-based programme (including compulsory work experience), or an employment-based programme, such as an apprenticeship.

Read ‘FE Sector Response to Lord Sainsbury’s Skills Plan’ in FE News, by Gavin O’Meara