‘A new technical education route is needed post-18’

A new route would achieve fairness in our society through offering flexibility, writes Association of Colleges chief executive David Hughes. There are lots of strongly held views about the current state of the apprenticeship programme in England. The range is wide, with some setting out how disastrous the reforms have been and others applauding the success despite the collapse in starts. I have my own views, of course, but more than anything I think there needs to be more analysis of the changes by sector, by age, by level and by geography before we can get a full prognosis. Any overall assessment will miss the wide variations which in part help explain why views differ so greatly about how things are going at the moment. Read More.