This week, presenter Tom Bewick, was asked to question a panel at the Battle of Ideas Festival taking place in London.

This week, we’re in Leeds as we co-produce the show, sponsored by Pearson, with BTEC Media Production students at Leeds City College’s Quarry Hill Campus.

Delivering a keynote speech to the Bruges Group on Monday 3 October, Jenkyns told a gathering of party members that she felt the government had another major fight on its hands, at least equivalent to the Brexit process.
On the FE and skills brief, minister Jenkyns said:

“A skilled modern economy competing on the global stage requires technical skills just as much as it needs graduates. Yet the current system would rather our young people get a degree in Harry Potter studies than an apprenticeship in construction. Now, it doesn't take magic powers to work out that this is wrong, which is why the government is committed to putting the broomstick to good use and carrying out a spring clean of low-quality courses. If a course isn't providing someone with a positive outcome leading to a well-paid job, then it makes no sense why the government should be funding it, especially taxpayers.

“We're injecting more flexibility in the funding system, and we are changing the landscape of how qualifications are funded and making it easier to access education whatever stage in your life.”

The Great Skills Debate at the Labour Party Conference.
For the first time, Skills World Live Radio Show hit the main party political conference season, starting with Labour in Liverpool.

It comes at a time when:

The UK is the second slowest in the G7 for productivity grow (output per hour worked)
British employers have slashed investment in workplace skills by up to a fifth since 2005
2 million adults have fallen off the community education rolls
The number of apprenticeship opportunities for young people under 25 has nearly halved
In England, the government is threatening to axe thousands of qualifications at Level 2 and below
Presenter, Tom Bewick, leads a discussion with a panel of invited guests:
Toby Perkins MP, Shadow Skills Minister
Sonia Sodha, Observer, Chief Leader Writer
Alan Woods, OBE, Co-Chair, Federation of Awarding Bodies
Katie Orr, TQUK

This week, Dr Jo Saxton, the Chief Regulator at Ofqual, makes her inaugural appearance on the Skills World Live Radio Show.

Presenter, Tom Bewick, interviewed the quango chief about four key issues:

The roll out of plans to tackle grade inflation as a result of the pandemic?
What lessons will be learned from the delay to some VTQ results this summer?
One year on from taking on the role, how is her ‘true north’ agenda going and what does it mean in practice for regulation?
How will the Skills Act and IfATE’s new role in approving qualifications avoid a bureaucratic nightmare?

After a short break, the award winning Skills World Live Radio Show is back with its ‘on the road’ format of the podcast!

This week, we’re co-producing the show with Level BTEC Media Production students at Walsall College in the West Midlands. Sponsored by Pearson.

Themed, ‘Levelling-up through further education and skills in the West Midlands’, the students ask all the hard hitting questions of our panel. These include:

Is levelling up just a slogan?
Is free speech compatible with keeping students safe?
Should the government be axing BTEC qualifications?
Will lifelong learning ever become reality?

Presenter, Tom Bewick, is joined by his super informed panel of guests:

Sharon Blyfield OBE, Head of Early Careers, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Limited
Fiona Aldridge, Head of Insight and Intelligence – Economic Delivery, Skills and Communities, West Midlands Combined Authority
James Norris, Assistant Principal, Walsall College
Melissa Tisdale, Advanced Practitioner at Walsall College and FE Lecturer of the Year Winner