Why flexibility will hold the key to resolving the skills crisis once and for all
What we need is a more flexible higher education system
Debates about skills in the UK have long ebbed and flowed, but there has been a steady trend towards dedicated funding and qualifications shaped to what employers say they need for specific occupations.
This now includes the apprenticeship levy — a tax on large employers that can be recovered if they fund apprentices — and new technical qualifications in England designed to provide an alternative to A-levels and degrees.
Then this September, against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Prime Minister unveiled a fresh skills package: the Lifetime Skills Guarantee and a new entitlement to flexible loans to support re-skilling and up-skilling over a working lifetime.