This summer we ran a series of World Cafés and consultations with City & Guilds Foundation, and spoke with 40 Fellows, Council members, skills providers and funded partners. Those conversations shaped two papers we’ve had the pleasure of writing, now out in the world.
Skills in Place
Living down the road from a college or employer isn’t the same as having access to opportunity. Some places need new pathways built from scratch; others already have them, but people feel shut out. Funding that treats every place the same misses both.
Risk of Transfer
Leaving college, leaving prison, arriving in the UK, returning after a break. Transitions tend to fail in three ways: support that stops at a fixed age rather than when someone is ready (the cliff edge), systems that don’t talk to each other (the broken bridge), and formats that don’t suit how people learn. And the gap is stubborn: 21% of 16 to 24-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds are NEET, against 10% from higher professional backgrounds, unchanged for a decade.
Place and timing are also front and centre in this week’s coverage of the Milburn review, with local leadership and a youth guarantee expected to feature. We’re looking forward to reviewing the full report when it lands later this month.
City & Guilds Foundation drew these themes together in its response to the papers:
“Where you live and when support arrives both shape whether someone gets a fair chance, and that’s why these insights will shape our response to not only the Milburn Review, but the work ahead too.”
Polly Rowe at City & Guilds Foundation also thanked everyone who contributed:
“Both of these papers provide so much food for thought and we are so grateful to everyone who gave up their time to input. Now the real work begins…!”
