Accountability Agreement 2025 to 2026

Nationally, Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, in conjunction with wider post-18 skills approaches are a critical element of the Government’s ‘Get Britain Working’ agenda with many references made to the importance of skills through key Government policy documents.

The White Paper sets out a plan to educate and train the workforce of the future, ensuring people have the skills and knowledge to succeed.

Key priorities:

• joined-up skills and employment system to support young people, adults, and employers
• high-quality pathways into further and higher education, including technical and vocational routes
• employer partnerships to align training with labour market needs
• commitment to two-thirds of young people entering higher-level education or training by age 25
• expansion of Skills Bootcamps, Lifelong Learning Entitlement (from 2027), and foundation apprenticeships

There is a wider recognition of the benefits of learning. This reinforces the value of ‘First Step’ adult and community learning, bringing it closer to social prescribing models and contributing to the wider ‘Marmot Principles’ approach adopted by many service areas within the City Council. There is also a renewed emphasis on the importance of increasing the overall number of workers within the economy with a minimum of a level 3 qualification.

Taken together, these national approaches indicate that the Adult Education Service will need to further develop its focus on building accessible learning pathways that raise aspiration and enable the acquisition of life changing skills, qualifications and/or wider benefits such as improved health and wellbeing.

Learning pathways will clearly identify learners’ starting points and support progression to positive destinations. In order to increase its contribution to the national skills priorities, the service will actively increase its understanding of the skills needs/demands within the local economy and how those needs can be met through closer links with the Job Shop, DWP Job Centre, Chamber of Commerce, Coventry College and key employers.