Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments following the Prime Minister’s announcement on technical education.
“School and college leaders share the ambition of improving technical and vocational education, including better pathways for young people from 14. More than one million young people were not in education, employment, or training (NEET) as of January to March 2026 – a truly shocking state of affairs, so we’re pleased the government are treating this as an urgent priority. While we therefore support many of the aims announced today, the government must work to sensible and achievable timescales before implementing this policy. Bringing local politicians, school and college leaders and employers together is a noble objective, but to do it properly requires time, a national framework to work within, and investment. Right now there is little detail about what this will look like in practice.
“If the government is serious about parity between academic, technical and vocational routes, then this must be reflected in school and college performance measures. We have already called for the government to rethink its plans for Progress 8, so that it values all qualifications, not an arbitrary list of some subjects; and have lobbied for the new education secretary to urgently review the Ofsted framework to ensure that accountability supports school and college leaders in making the best decisions in the interests of their pupils.
“The timing of this announcement is unfortunate. To make major educational policy announcements in the middle of the summer holiday is wrong, particularly when there is so little detail. While we recognise the unique circumstances surrounding the change of Prime Minister, we hope that greater consideration will be given to the workload and wellbeing of the sector going forward. It is also not yet clear what the government will ask schools and colleges to do less of in the coming years, if they are to prioritise this instead. We look forward to working with the government to understand what this will look like in the future.”