Skills And Post-16 Education Act 2022

Policy background

2. In addition to the following section, further policy background is included in the section commentary.
3. The Act forms the legislative underpinning for the reforms set out in the white paper Skills for jobs: lifelong learning for opportunity and growth ("the white paper") and aims to improve the functioning of the skills and post-16 education system. The Act includes measures to address recommendations made in the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding, build on the aims of the Review of Post-16 Qualifications at Level 3 and Below and support implementation of the Government’s reforms to technical education qualifications, such as the introduction of T Levels and higher technical qualifications.
4. The Act also supports the ambitions of the Levelling Up the United Kingdom white paper, which set out how the Government will level up across the UK, provide opportunity for children and young people, tackle productivity gaps, create sustainable jobs and grow the economy in every part of the UK. 
5. The 2021 Spending Review Settlement demonstrated the Government’s dedication to level up opportunity for children, learners and their families across the country, in order to build back better from COVID-19. The settlement provides an £18.4 billion cash increase for the Department for Education over the Parliament as a whole, which will boost the job prospects of young people and adults, by equipping them with the skills that employers need, to lead to well paid jobs.

Skills for Jobs White Paper

6. A skills shortage in this country has limited the number of people working in important jobs such as engineering and health and social care. This has held the UK economy back, leaving the country less productive and less competitive compared to some international peers. It has also left people unable to realise their ambitions and fulfil their potential. Adding to this, geographic inequality means that whilst talent is spread equally across our country, opportunity is not. These problems have been exacerbated by COVID-19, which has hit the economy and disproportionately affected young people.
7. The white paper set out the Government’s plan to reform the post-16 skills system and address these challenges. The white paper set out five objectives: 
   1. Putting employers at the heart of post-16 skills 
   2. Providing the advanced technical and higher technical skills the country needs  
   3. A flexible Lifetime Skills Guarantee  
   4. Responsive providers supported by effective accountability and funding 
   5. Supporting outstanding teaching  
8. The Act is intended to support these objectives by introducing measures that affect individuals, providers, regulators, businesses and teachers. The range of measures aims to provide flexibility and protection for the learner, a skills system linked to employer-led standards and high-quality training. The specific measures are detailed in the Act Overview section of these notes. The Act is one part of the wider skills reform agenda and the Government is consulting separately on other aspects of the white paper.
9. Additional measures in the Act aim to improve the overall functioning of the skills and post-16 education system. This includes providing improvements associated with the operation of the further education insolvency regime and making specific provision for the OfS’ methods of assessing quality as part of its regulation of Higher Education providers in England.  

Review of Post-16 Qualifications at Level 3 and Below in England

10. In 2019, the Government launched a Review of Post-16 Qualifications at Level 3 and Below. The review set out an ambition for a coherent technical education system with clear pathways to progress to specific occupations. The Government wants clear, high-quality progression routes to prestigious higher technical education that leads to skilled occupations with good economic outcomes. As part of this, every qualification will be high-quality, forming an effective system that will help students to make good choices. This moves away from the complexities and variable quality within the current system, with over 12,000 qualifications approved for funding for 16 to 19-year-olds at entry level to level 3 and over 4,000 approved at level 3 alone.
11. The Government is consulting extensively throughout the review. The first-stage consultation focused on the principles that post-16 qualifications should adhere to in order to receive public funding – this consultation closed in June 2019. A second-stage consultation on level 3 closed in January 2021. It asked for views on which qualifications at level 3 should be considered for funding approval in England, alongside T Levels and A levels, for students aged 16 and over.
12. In November 2020, the Government held a call for evidence, seeking views on qualifications and study at level 2 and below, for students aged 16 and above. The call for evidence closed in February 2021.
13. In July 2021, the Government published a response to the second-stage consultation on level 3. This set out the types of qualifications that will be considered for funding in the reformed level 3 landscape alongside A levels and T Levels.
14. In November 2021, the Government announced an extra year before reforms to level 3 qualifications are introduced. The extra year allows more time for the growth of T Levels and for providers and awarding organisations to prepare and adapt. The new timetable will commence with the withdrawal of public funding approval for qualifications that overlap with wave 1 and 2 T Levels from 2024–25 and reformed qualifications aligned to these routes taught from 2025–26. Qualifications that overlap with wave 3 and 4 T levels will have funding approval withdrawn from 2025–26, with reformed qualifications taught from 2026–27.
15. In March 2022, the Government launched the third consultation of this review, setting out the proposals for qualifications and study at level 2 and below. This includes which groups of qualifications at level 2, level 1 and entry level – with the exception of GCSEs, Functional Skills and Essential Digital Skills – should be considered for funding approval in England for students aged 16 and over. The consultation closed on 27 April 2022 and a response will be published later in 2022.
16. The Government’s intention is that the Institute takes a leading role in approving level 3 and level 2 technical qualifications that: meet new quality criteria, are based on employer-led standards and have evidence of employer demand. These criteria are being developed and will be published in later in 2022.

Higher education reform and the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding

17. In 2018, the Government launched a Review of Post-18 Education and Funding, which looked at how to ensure that post-18 education gives everyone a genuine choice between high-quality technical and academic routes, that students and taxpayers are getting value for money and that employers can access the skilled workforce they need.
18. The Government’s interim conclusion to the Review, in 2021, addressed some of its key recommendations. The Government has delivered on several of these recommendations, including a new level 3 entitlement, investment in the further education estate and increases to 16–19 funding. Measures in the Act take further steps towards the implementation of the report’s recommendations. These include introducing a lifelong loan entitlement from 2025, so that learning can be more flexible and strengthening the link between qualifications and employer-led standards.
19. In February 2022, the Government brought the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding to a conclusion by setting out reforms to the student loan system to make it fairer for students and taxpayers, while underpinning the sustainability of our world-class higher education system. As part of the reforms, the Government is delivering better value for students by continuing the freeze in maximum tuition fee caps up to academic year 2024/25 and, from September 2023, reducing the interest rates charged on student loans for new borrowers.
20. The Government is backing this up with nearly £900 million of further investment in higher education over the next three years (2022/23–2024/25). This includes a new national state scholarship to support high-achieving disadvantaged students in higher education, further education or in an apprenticeship. This includes the largest increase in government funding for the higher education sector to support students and teaching in over a decade.
21. It is right that we have a sustainable student finance system that is fair to students and fair to taxpayers. The significant reduction in interest rates for new student loan borrowers is enabled by a repayment threshold of £25,000, rising with inflation from April 2027 onwards, and a loan term of 40 years. The repayment threshold for existing (post-2012) student loans will remain at its current level of £27,295 until financial year 2024-25 and rise with inflation from April 2025 onwards. The Government will keep the terms of student loans under review to ensure the system remains sustainable.  
22. The Government believes that higher education is not the only pathway to success and that further education can often be a better choice for some students. We want to make sure our entire post-16 education system is delivering quality outcomes for students throughout their lives.
23. As such, a consultation was launched in February 2022 on the introduction of a lifelong loan entitlement from 2025. This will conclude in May 2022 and seeks views on ambition, objectives and coverage, together with aspects such as modular study, maintenance support, quality provision, credit transfer and previous study restrictions. The Government will consider responses carefully and publish its response in due course.