What the party conferences told us about the future of skills

The following article was recently featured on FE News on 29 October 2024.

Tables have been put away, banners have come down, and the media maelstrom has subsided. The Labour and Conservative Party Conferences are always an interesting experience, but perhaps even more so following the changing of power.  

I’ve been to more of these events than I care to admit over the years, but this time around both felt uniquely different. Whether it was Labour getting used to being in Government for the first time in over a decade, or the Conservatives trying to find a new leader to take the party forward, it was an interesting point in time for the country as well as the FE sector. 

Thanks to the Future Skills Coalition, for the second time there was a dedicated Skills Zone at both conferences. This provided a real focal point for all interested parties to meet, share ideas, and engage with people of both political colours. However, I was also left with a sense that we can do more to engage with people and organisations outside of our sector.  

Whilst it was great to bring skills organisations together, there is a risk that our messaging did not reach key decision makers or influence people who don’t work directly in our sector. I would like to see skills on the agenda across other policy areas at party conferences. After all, affecting positive policy change in any area of Government policy will be underpinned by the right talent with the right skills.  

Labour’s focus on its five missions presents a real opportunity to move towards genuinely joined up policy making, and I wonder whether we can do more as a sector to work across different Government departments and policy areas to affect positive change. Here are my key policy takeaways from Liverpool and Birmingham.  

Funding the future 

FE teachers' pay quite understandably dominated many of the Skills Zone conversations. It has been conspicuous in its absence during Labour’s first 100 days in power, with many in the sector concerned that further education is again being forgotten about. We know that longstanding recruitment and retention challenges in FE are difficult to solve without an increase in salary, as it makes college’s bringing in skilled professionals almost untenable.  

One area that did give me reason for optimism was the WorldSkills UK event at the Labour Party Conference. Chaired by NCFE’s own David Gallagher, its focus was on how to build a world class skills economy, including how we upskill our educators and empower them to deliver the best outcomes for their learners. While it cannot plug the pay gap, I was encouraged to hear from Ben Blackledge about the impact the Centre of Excellence initiative is having.  

Another talking point on the topic of funding was the Skills and Growth Levy. I think it’s fair to say it has received a mixed reaction, with some very in favour of the change and others very against it. The St Martin’s Group delivered a session at both conferences around how we stimulate opportunity with apprenticeships, which provided an interesting debate.  

We’re broadly in favour of the changes at NCFE. Foundation apprenticeships have the potential to support learners with social mobility. Some of the changes around flexibility, including shorter apprenticeships, also speak to the points we made in our Transforming Skills report last year around skills training becoming more agile. We look forward to seeing how plans progress and finding out more detail about the changes and working with Government to ensure apprenticeships remain a robust and reliable pathway.   

Curriculum and assessment 

With a live call for evidence underway, the Curriculum and Assessment Review naturally became a focus at both conferences. The UFI VocTech Trust hosted sessions in Liverpool and Birmingham on the role technology can play, and we were honoured that NCFE appeared on both panels. Assessment Reform is a long-standing interest for NCFE, as shown by our partnership with UFI VocTech Trust and the Assessment Innovation Fund.  

One particular focus was the role of technology during the pandemic and how for end-point assessment, NCFE and others were able to quickly rely on existing technologies to assess learners remotely, without compromising the rigour and validity of the assessment.  

As the world thankfully began to return to normal, however, we didn’t take the time to reflect on the lessons we’d learned from that period and bring new innovations to the table. You only have to look at our recent report with The Open University to see how quickly technology develops. 

While innovation moves relentlessly forward, it’s also important to reflect on the timeless skills we all need no matter the training pathway or career we end up in. Essential skills – those uniquely human traits such as creativity, problem solving and critical thinking – have never been more important to being work ready. In a post-review world, how can we make them run like a golden thread through our standards, curriculum and assessments?  

My experience at party conferences gave me many ideas to include in our evidence for the review, where we hope changes to assessment can improve responsiveness, introduce new approaches, and restore trust in those who are experts in assessment.  

Backbench engagement  

A final point I’d like to make isn’t about policy. At both conferences, I was really encouraged to see so many backbench MPs coming along to the Skills Zone and engaging with different organisations and individuals. Our own panel on skills excellence and productivity featured the youngest current MP, Labour’s Sam Carling, who took a keen interest in the role of further education. 

This wasn’t unique to Labour. At the Conservative Party Conference, I had several conversations with backbench MPs who had a genuine interest in understanding more about our education and skills system and how it can be improved. Let’s hope that interest is retained as they progress into more senior roles in the future.