Government brings mayors, employers, schools and colleges together to reshape technical education and connect young people with regional job opportunities
England’s education reforms are set to take a more localised direction as ministers bring regional leaders, employers and education chiefs into the heart of plans to prepare young people for the labour market.
Education Secretary Lucy Powell is convening regional mayors, business representatives, headteachers and college leaders at No.10 North in Manchester on Thursday, in what the government says will be the first of a regular series of meetings designed to give local expertise a greater influence over national education policy.
The talks will focus on a central government ambition: making England a global leader in technical education while ending the longstanding divide between academic and vocational routes.
Ministers are particularly focused on reforms beginning at age 14, expanding access to vocational education, increasing meaningful work-experience opportunities and using the devolution of billions of pounds in funding for 16-to-19-year-olds to better match education with local economic needs.
The initiative comes days after the latest international PISA results showed England continuing to perform above OECD averages in mathematics, reading and science. While education performance has weakened across much of the developed world, England has either improved or maintained its position. Estonia is being highlighted by ministers as an example of how strong academic performance can coexist with high-quality technical education.
But the government argues that improving educational outcomes must also mean making sure young people can move successfully from classrooms into employment.
Powell is expected to use her opening remarks to signal a shift away from centrally driven policymaking, arguing that reforms should be designed jointly with the people responsible for delivering them.
The Education Secretary is expected to say that the government wants education policy to be developed not solely in Whitehall, but in partnership with local authorities, educators, employers and other regional stakeholders who understand the strengths and economic challenges of their communities.
The approach is closely linked to the government's wider devolution agenda. A forthcoming Devolution White Paper is expected to outline plans to give local leaders greater influence over economic development and opportunities in their areas.
The education reforms are also being positioned as part of the government's response to the persistent number of young people outside education, employment or training, estimated at almost one million.
From the age of 16, the government plans to introduce V Levels while significantly expanding T Levels from next September. The objective is to create stronger technical pathways and give young people alternatives to traditional academic routes without treating vocational education as a second-tier option.
Higher education is also being asked to play a more direct role in the programme.
Baroness Jacqui Smith, the minister responsible for higher education, will use her first major address to the sector at the start of the new academic year to call on universities to become more deeply embedded in regional economic partnerships.
Speaking at Universities UK’s annual conference, Smith is expected to argue that national economic growth will have limited value if its benefits remain concentrated in already prosperous areas.
She will urge universities to work with mayors, colleges and employers to identify local skills shortages, develop relevant courses and expand opportunities for students to gain workplace experience.
The government sees universities not simply as centres of research and teaching, but as regional economic institutions capable of helping translate investment into skilled workers, new businesses and higher-quality employment.
There are already examples of this model operating in practice.
In the Humber region, the University of Hull works with employers including Siemens Gamesa and Ørsted to connect students with opportunities in the rapidly expanding renewable-energy sector. A master's degree apprenticeship developed with Siemens Gamesa is also helping train engineers for the offshore wind industry.
In the West of England, UWE Bristol and University Centre Weston have partnered with aerospace and advanced-manufacturing companies including Airbus, Rolls-Royce and GKN Aerospace. Degree apprenticeships allow students to combine paid employment with university-level study, while employers influence the content of training to ensure graduates acquire skills that businesses actually need.
For ministers, these partnerships offer a potential blueprint for a wider national transformation: education policy shaped around the economic character of individual regions rather than imposed through a single national model.
The political test will be whether devolution can translate into measurable improvements in skills, employment and opportunity — particularly in areas that have historically struggled to attract investment and high-value jobs.
The government says its ambition is ultimately to ensure that a young person’s postcode does not determine the quality of their education, access to work experience or chances of building a successful career.
