Responding to the Department for Education’s announcement on Technical Excellence Colleges on 12 August 2025, Stephen Evans, Chief Executive of Learning and Work Institute (L&W), said:
“New funding to support construction training in ten colleges in England is welcome. But it comes alongside cuts to other funding like the Adult Skills Fund and Shared Prosperity Fund. Overall investment in skills is still £1 billion lower in real terms than in 2010 so this can only realistically make a modest difference. It does, however, show the Government plans to take a more active approach directing funding to sectors it sees as a priority, with similar sector plans likely. In doing so it should also look at how to increase employers’ investment in training too, given this has fallen 36% per worker since 2005.”
Contact our press office29 June 2026
What enables the effective design, delivery and evaluation of local work and health programmes?
This report presents findings from an evidence review on what enables the effective design, delivery and evaluation of local health and work programmes.
29 June 2026
Scoping report: Labour Market Evidence Programme
This scoping report as part of the Labour Market Evidence programme provides a summary of the work undertaken by IES and L&W between October 2025 and March 2026 including user consultation. It summarises the evidence needs of local policy makers and sets out how these needs can be addressed.
9 June 2026
Final report: Evaluation of the JobsPlus Pilot
This evaluation of JobsPlus builds on the interim findings published in September 2025 to provide evidence on whether the model can be adapted to the UK context and effectively implemented to improve employment outcomes.
19 May 2026
Labour market dashboard
Every month, Learning and Work Institute produces detailed and timely analysis of the latest labour market statistics from ONS. Explore our interactive charts.
1 April 2026
Supporting the progression of low-income workers in Scotland
With funding from the Robertson Trust, Learning and Work Institute has been working in partnership with Edinburgh College to develop a pilot to support low-income workers in Scotland to progress into better jobs.
1 April 2026
Final report: Supporting the progression of low-income workers in Scotland
This report shares findings from the second phase of our programme of work funded by the Robertson Trust and delivered in partnership with Edinburgh College. It sets out a proposed model for a new, evidence-led, in-work progression programme in Edinburgh.
13 March 2026
Training and skills needs: Trends and challenges in UK growth sectors
This report, the second in a series of publications funded by Nuffield Foundation, explores the level of estimated skills needs in UK businesses alongside the level and type of training that employers provide.
13 March 2026
UK’s training and skills ‘tick-box culture’ puts at risk job mobility and future growth, new report warns
New analysis has identified an overreliance on mandatory and compliance training in UK workplaces compared to other countries – at the expense of more in-depth upskilling required for the jobs of the future.
24 December 2025
Falling short: Understanding further falls in employer training
This briefing looks at how employer investment in training continues to fall – now down 36% per employee since 2005 – and argues that we must turn this around to improve economic growth.
