Colleges have heard a lot of warm words from recent prime ministers. In 2020, Boris Johnson pledged to end the “bogus distinction between FE and HE”. In 2023, Rishi Sunak said, “Technical education is not given the respect it deserves.” In 2025, Keir Starmer said he would make further education a “defining mission of this Labour government”.
Now, Andy Burnham has positioned himself as an further education (FE) champion. In July, when he announced technical education for 14- to 16-year-olds, he said, “From today, Britain will value the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap.”
These statements all represent an enormous shift in priorities from Tony Blair who talked about “education, education, education”, but really should have inserted the word “academic”.
It’s been driven by a number of long-term changes: an ageing population needing more learning into later life, a digital world requiring deeper skills for more people, businesses struggling to recruit skilled workers, lower-skilled migration and the concern that higher education doesn’t guarantee a good job.
Burnham understands all of that and, as mayor in Greater Manchester, he engaged well with colleges. He knows they are vital for his ambitions for economic growth in every postcode, community cohesion and both physical and mental health. Perhaps more than others, he also recognises that the electorate want improved opportunities for technical education much more than they want more investment in higher education (HE).
So how can Burnham unleash the potential of FE colleges to really help him deliver on this vision? There are four big opportunities.
The PM has set out a wide-ranging devolution plan, including devolution of all 16-19 funding to strategic authorities across the country. This is a fundamental shift which could bring enormous benefits for young people and make a major contribution to local economic growth, but it’s complex and easy for mistakes to happen.
We want to see a strong national framework for 16-19 devolution, which puts in place some “guide rails” to help reduce risks and guarantee learning opportunities offered to young people in every postcode.
Colleges will need long-term capital and revenue investment to scale up, and we will need to see the removal of existing national regulatory rules and restrictions as more local accountability is designed to meet local priorities.
Mayors will need to use their convening powers to engage employers and schools to develop a new local ecosystem of education and skills for everyone.
Twenty years ago, adults could access far more chances to learn the skills they wanted and needed to be active citizens and secure good jobs. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), adult education expenditure fell from £5.3bn in the early 2000s to £1.8bn in 2024-25. Over the same time, there has been an increase in spending on apprenticeships, but much of that has gone to privileged people working for good employers and is inaccessible to people in low-paid and insecure work, or for those wanting to retrain.
At the same time, businesses are crying out for skilled workers, with the skill shortage vacancies rising over the last decades. The need for more adults to access relevant skills is growing, but opportunities to learn are not.
The Milburn Review of those not in education, employment or training (Neet) pointed out that in countries with lower numbers of Neet, there is more access to learning into adult life. And whilst that is clear and fundamental for 16- to 25-year-olds, the same argument can be made for all adults struggling in the labour market.
A well-funded, high-quality adult education system is not a cost, but an investment so that everyone can upskill and retrain, to find good jobs, to support economic growth and to address inequalities in our society.
In May 2026, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published an interim review from Milburn, with a follow up report expected this autumn. With Pat McFadden continuing as Secretary of State for DWP, there is likely to be a lot of support for the final report. Milburn and his team understand the central role colleges must play in reducing Neet numbers.
If young people can attend college, they will be learning skills to support them into work.
Two announcements from the PM will help: technical education for 14- and 15-year-olds and devolving 16-19 funding. These could see more young people motivated and inspired earlier, with clear pathways into college that lead onto higher learning and good jobs. That’s an exciting vision, but easier to say than to deliver.
It will need a long-term plan, incentives for schools, investment and clear accountability of all involved. Immediately, we need a simple guarantee that every 16- to 24-year-olds enrolled onto a college course will be fully funded. That is already the case for HE, so why not for FE?
Colleges need more investment to be able to scale up and deliver more. But more than that, they need to be trusted and freed up to meet local needs. We need a long-term plan to bring college pay in line with schools and industry. Currently, college lecturers are paid, on average, £12,000 less than school teachers and in skills priority areas, the gap to industry is even bigger.
We also need simplification of the rules about which learners are eligible for funding and what they are entitled to. With devolution, a simpler set of rules can be developed, but only if the national accountability is removed. While schools and other public bodies are reimbursed VAT, colleges are not and lose over £200 million a year as a result.
As plans for the new pre- and post-16 provision is developed, colleges will be positively engaging to support the reforms. We want more young people and adults accessing the skills they want and need to be successful in life and work.
To deliver that, we need schools, colleges and universities to flourish, working in partnership, with employers and elected mayors. We need a proper local ecosystem that can offer students clear and robust pathways into FE, HE and the workplace. Let’s not miss this opportunity to make that a reality.
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