Skills policy updates - November 2025

Welcome to the Enginuity Policy Team’s policy update for November 2025. Our monthly update is designed to keep you informed about key developments in skills policy. This edition shares insights into recent government announcements and their implications for our sector, helping you stay ahead of changes shaping the skills landscape.

UK and England policy  

Budget set out by Chancellor 

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out her Budget, confirming the UK is on track to meet her “stability rule” - which is for the current budget to be in balance, with twice as much headroom as before by 2029-30. This is being financed by tax rises, which will pull in an extra £26bn in 2029-30, including through freezing personal tax thresholds. The budget increased the National Living Wage and National Minimum wage, including for apprentices, and froze NI contribution thresholds. The Budget contained commitments across transport, energy and devolution, and on skills: removal of co-investment payments that SMEs are required to pay for apprentices under the age of 25, funding for the new youth guarantee, and a £925 international student levy that will fund the reintroduction of maintenance grants for disadvantaged students. See a full summary from Enginuity of the Budget attached, and our reaction here. 

Autumn Budget 25 - Read Enginuity's summary

Ministers commit to plan for career advisor transfer 

The government has committed to publish a “detailed transition plan” in the next six months for transferring up to 1,000 subcontracted careers advisers and staff into the Department for Work and Pensions by April next year. In responding to Select Committee report, the Government have accepted the recommendations to review the “incentives model” of the outsourced careers service, promising “robust performance measures” that will “align with the government’s wider employment goals”. However, it rejected the suggestion of a national strategy for adult careers guidance which balances universal support with a focus on those who “need the most support”. Pointing out that careers, adult skills and employment support are now “in one place” at the DWP, the response argued careers now needs to be “considered as part of this larger whole”. Government explained their reasoning that “a separate careers guidance strategy therefore could risk our integrated Jobs and Careers Service vision.” 

Review into NEETs announced 

The Government announced former social mobility tsar Alan Milburn will lead an “uncompromising” investigation into the causes of the NEET (not in employment, education or training) rate that has risen to almost one million. Milburn’s review, to be assisted by a panel of expert advisers, has been tasked with “understanding the drivers of the increase NEETs and claiming health and disability benefits, including childhood experience” and will “investigate the root causes of this rise in economic inactivity among disabled young people and those with health conditions”. Milburn said the review will be “uncompromising in exposing failures in employment support, education, skills, health and welfare, and will produce far-reaching recommendations for change to enhance opportunities for young people to learn and earn”. Milburn will submit an interim report to the Department for Work and Pensions next spring, followed by a final report in the summer. 

Delivery of apprenticeship units will require registration from training providers 

Training providers will need to register with the Government to deliver new “apprenticeship units” through the reformed growth and skills levy, that will be available from April 2026. Officials also expect the content of each unit will be drawn from existing apprenticeships instead of brand new or other non-apprenticeship-related courses. Kate Ridley-Pepper, director of work-based skills in the Department for Work and Pensions, revealed these details at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ autumn conference. Ridley-Pepper added the plan was to use the existing apprenticeship provider and assessment register (APAR) instead of developing a separate register. 

Providers already on APAR will not need to re-register. Officials also expect the content of each unit will be drawn from existing apprenticeships instead of brand new or other non-apprenticeship-related courses. Ridley-Pepper confirmed that apprenticeship units will be “built from employer-designed occupational standards using quality assured knowledge and skills”, adding that the “intention there is to complement existing apprenticeships and to offer employers the greater choice in how they invest in their skills in their workforce, which they have been calling for some time”. 

Lifelong Learning Entitlement to focus on “missing middle” 

Minister Jacqui Smith defended the government’s new Lifelong Learning Entitlement focus on qualifications at level 4 and above, when queried about it at the AELP conference. Minister Smith said “the majority of the new skills that we need will be level four and above. We have a high proportion of people educated at level six, but where we have a gap – the missing middle – is in levels four and five. That is holding us back”. 

Government accepts recommendations from curriculum review on English and maths, enrichment offer and T levels 

DfE has confirmed it will “revise” the reinstated 16 to 18 English and maths progress measure and qualification achievement rates in its response to the curriculum and assessment review, led by Becky Francis, published. DfE also confirmed it will work with college leaders to extend planned guidance on a “high-quality” enrichment offer in schools to colleges. The enrichment framework, which the government previously committed to publishing by the end of the year, will now be extended to further education settings, and along the same timeline. The government promised to continue to “refine” content, assessment and industry placement requirements for T Levels after the review recommended the “assessment burden” of the qualifications should be reduced. 

Ofqual awarded new powers to publicly “rebuke” rule-breaking awarding bodies 

Ofqual has updated its compliance policy for more agile regulation, including a new tool called the Chief Regulator’s Rebuke. This new tool can be used when an awarding organisation is found to have breached rules, but not in a way that is serious enough to warrant a financial penalty. The policy does not introduce new requirements for awarding organisations. 

Office for Students interim Director for Fair Access and Participation announced 

The Government appointed Chris Millward, former higher education access chief, as interim Director for Fair Access and Participation at the Office for Students. Millward was the first person to hold the director for fair access and participation post when it was created in 2017. 

DfE sets out apprenticeship intervention rules for new Ofsted regime 

The Department for Education announced will not rely on specific Ofsted grades to place poorly-performing apprenticeship training providers in intervention for the next 12 months. Ofsted’s new inspection regime, which begins next week, will replace single overall headline judgments ‘inadequate’, ‘requires improvement’, ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’. New report cards will instead grade provision along a new five-point scale ranging from ‘exceptional’ to ‘urgent improvement’. DfE confirmed it will not use Ofsted grades in the first 12 months of “transition” between the old and new inspection model. It will instead decide whether or not to take action on a case-by-case basis. 

Devolved Administrations 

Scottish Labour makes manifesto promises on better use of apprenticeship funds 

Scottish Labour said it will address unmet demand in Scotland’s apprenticeship system by boosting funding so that every qualified applicant in priority sectors and occupations can be guaranteed a place. This funding will come from reform of Scotland’s agency landscape, including reviewing the functions of Scottish Enterprise, at least £20 million of reprofiled Skills Development Scotland funding, and pausing elements of the education reform programmes. 

Wales hosts WorldSkills UK finals 

Wales this week hosts the finals of the WorldSkills UK Competition. Learners from the four nations of the UK compete against each other for the accolade of being the best in their field and potentially earning an opportunity to represent the UK at the WorldSkills World Final in Shanghai in 2026. Enginuity and EAL have representatives at the competition.