The government must invest in lower level vocational qualifications in order to plug the post-Brexit skills gap, the policy lead for the Northern Council for Further Education (NCFE) has said.

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, policy leader at NCFE, said before Brexit the government’s technical education reforms had focused on skills growth rather than skills replacement.

“There has been a lot of effort focused on the former, but little consideration given to the latter, which given the timescale, is of critical importance for our future prosperity,” he said, adding: “If we are to leave the European Union, care must be taken to ensure that domestic skills needs are met. This becomes particularly acute if restrictions are placed on migrant labour.”

Significant wage and employability return

Mr Gladstone-Heighton said the government needs to “secure and enable funding” for learners of all ages to undertake qualifications from entry level to level 3.

“We need to capitalise on these lower-level growth opportunities, he added. “Current technical education and skills reform is focused on higher-level skills growth, but there continues to be significant wage and employability return on investment of qualifications at lower levels.”

The government also needs to clearly set out the status of EU migrants and their access to the UK labour market as soon as possible, Mr Gladstone-Heighton argues. “This will allow industry and educators to align their skills and recruitment strategies accordingly,” he added.

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