We were pleased to welcome Councillor Helen Hayden from Leeds City Council to officially open Leeds City College’s new Leeds Dock campus.
Initially offering around 250 places to learners, Leeds Dock campus will help meet the growing demand for skilled health and social care professionals across the region, while making some of the college’s more popular courses accessible to even more students.
Cllr Hayden said: “It’s fantastic to see investment into new education facilities that will help more young people access high-quality education and training here in Leeds.
“This new campus is a welcome addition, creating more opportunities for students to gain the knowledge, skills and experience they need to build rewarding careers, while helping to meet the needs of local employers.”
Investing in opportunities for young people
Leeds City College, part of Luminate Education Group, received an £8 million Government grant to support the expansion of post-16 education provision across Leeds.
The investment aims to create more opportunities for young people to access education and training, while helping to address the increasing number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).
Diana Bird, Executive Principal at Leeds City College, said: “It’s wonderful to officially open our Leeds Dock campus. Health and social care professionals play such an important role in our communities, and we’re proud to be creating more opportunities for young people to pursue a career in the sector.”
Bill Jones, CEO of Luminate Education Group, added: “Investing in high-quality education facilities provides our young people with the best learning environment possible.
“The opening of Leeds Dock campus reflects our commitment to expanding access to education and training, ensuring more young people have the opportunity to develop their skills and progress into employment.”
Supporting the future of health and social care
The opening marks another step in the college’s commitment to providing high-quality, career-focused education that responds to the needs of students, employers and the wider community.
It also supports wider government ambitions to strengthen technical and vocational education and aligns with the West Yorkshire Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP), which identifies health and social care as a priority sector for tackling skills shortages and supporting regional economic growth.
When we talk about economic growth, we often focus on major investments, infrastructure projects and ambitious targets. Less attention is given to the people who will ultimately deliver them.
Across Yorkshire, employers tell us that finding people with the right skills is becoming increasingly difficult. At the same time, more than one million young people across the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET) – that’s around one in eight 16 to 24-year-olds. Connecting these challenges presents a major opportunity. As investment in housing, infrastructure and the transition to a greener economy gathers pace, ensuring people have the skills employers need will be essential to delivering growth.
Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), alongside regular employer feedback, continue to highlight shortages across sectors including construction, engineering, housing, manufacturing and professional services. Demand is only likely to increase as investment continues in housing delivery, retrofit programmes, transport and utilities. This is why skills development cannot sit on the sidelines of economic policy.
The new government’s commitment to accelerating housebuilding, alongside regional ambitions to increase the supply of affordable and social housing, will only intensify demand for skilled trades. Ambitious housing targets cannot be achieved without a pipeline of electricians, plumbers, bricklayers, engineers and construction professionals equipped to deliver them.
Responding to what employers need
Across our group, which includes Leeds City College, Harrogate College and Keighley College, we work closely with employers to understand where skills gaps exist and how education can help address them.
That is why we have reintroduced apprenticeships in plumbing and electrical installation following consistent employer feedback about recruitment shortages. These trades will be vital to delivering many of the region’s priorities, from building new homes and upgrading existing housing stock to supporting net-zero targets and wider infrastructure improvements.
By creating apprenticeship opportunities in areas where demand already exists, we can help businesses recruit the talent they need while giving more young people a clear route into skilled employment.
We have also reintroduced the Level 2 Business Administration apprenticeship, reinforcing our commitment to creating accessible pathways into work. Before its withdrawal as part of the apprenticeship reforms, it was one of the most popular apprenticeships in England, attracting around 30,000 starts each year, with the majority of learners aged under 19. Many employers and learners lost an important entry-level route into the profession. Its return provides an important first step into the workplace, combining practical experience with the professional skills that employers value.
This is not an isolated case. We are seeing entry-level apprenticeship routes being removed despite clear evidence that apprenticeships are among the most effective ways to help young people move into sustained employment and reduce the risk of becoming NEET.
The wider impact of apprenticeships
Apprenticeships do much more than help employers fill vacancies. They open doors for people from a wide range of backgrounds, support social mobility and allow businesses to develop talent for the long term.
I’ve seen firsthand the difference apprenticeships can make. Take Emily Hawkes, who was taken on by Byworth Boilers as an apprentice welder after studying at Keighley College. Emily challenged outdated perceptions of the engineering sector while developing the specialist skills employers urgently need. Her journey from college into employment shows how apprenticeships create real opportunities for young people, while giving businesses access to the skilled talent they need to grow.
When training is aligned to genuine workforce needs, the benefits extend far beyond the individual apprentice. Businesses gain skilled employees, communities benefit from increased opportunity and local economies become more resilient. Major projects such as the proposed West Yorkshire Mass Transit system, alongside housing growth, retrofit programmes and wider infrastructure investment, will all require a workforce with the right technical expertise. If we are serious about delivering these ambitions, we must be equally serious about investing in skills.
Working together for Yorkshire’s future
Collaboration between employers, education providers and government will be essential to ensure training remains relevant, responsive and aligned to labour market demand. Initiatives such as the West Yorkshire Promise, which aims to guarantee every young person meaningful work experience before the age of 18 alongside expanded apprenticeship opportunities, are a positive step towards creating clearer pathways into employment.
Ultimately, success should be measured by outcomes: opening up opportunities for individuals, supporting business growth and building the skilled workforce that Yorkshire needs to thrive. We believe that colleges have a central role to play in that mission. By listening to employers, adapting our provision and investing in the skills that matter most, we can help build the workforce Yorkshire needs – not just for today, but for the future.
Leeds City College welcomed Hilary Benn MP to its Printworks campus as part of T Levels Week, with students sharing how their studies are helping them build the skills, confidence and experience needed for their future careers.
During the visit, Mr Benn toured the campus and met with students to hear first-hand about their experiences of studying T Levels, including their industry placements and ambitions for the future.
The visit was an opportunity to showcase how T Levels are helping students take their next steps towards employment or further study, while supporting the skills needs of employers across Leeds and the wider region.
Building skills and confidence for the future
Speaking about his visit, Mr Benn said: “I really enjoyed meeting the students and hearing first-hand about the difference T Levels have made to their lives and the opportunities they’ve opened up for them.
“What really stood out was their confidence, the way in which they spoke and their sense of direction for the future. It’s clear just how much they’ve gained from studying a T Level at Leeds City College.
“We’ve got an important job to do in raising awareness of T Levels and helping more people understand the opportunities they offer.”
Equivalent to three A levels, T Levels are two-year qualifications that combine classroom learning with an industry placement.
Designed in collaboration with employers, they give students the opportunity to develop practical skills, gain valuable workplace experience and prepare for their chosen careers.
Creating opportunities through industry experience
T Levels continue to grow in popularity across Luminate Education Group, with enrolments increasing from 149 students in 2021/22 to 653 in 2026/27.
Gemma Simmons-Blench, Deputy CEO of Luminate Education Group, said: “T Levels play a vital role in addressing skills needs across Leeds and the wider region, and we couldn’t be prouder of our students and everything they’re achieving.
“Employer partnerships are at the heart of making T Levels a success. Our students are gaining invaluable industry experience, developing practical skills and building the confidence they need to take their next steps into employment or further study.”
The visit took place during T Levels Week, a national celebration recognising the achievements of T Level students and highlighting the opportunities these qualifications offer young people and employers.
Chris Thornton, Director of Inclusive Provision and SEND, Luminate Education Group
For hundreds of thousands of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), the education system is not just about learning – it shapes their independence, confidence, and future opportunities. Yet too often, the outcomes they achieve do not reflect their potential.
Nationally, more children and young people than ever are being identified as needing support. Over 638,000 now have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) – an 11% rise from January 2024 to January 2025 – and more than 1.6 million pupils are identified as needing SEND support. At the same time, local authorities are facing mounting financial pressure, with many operating significant deficits linked to SEND provision.
Taken together, this paints a picture of a system at a tipping point. Demand is rising rapidly, expectations are increasing, yet outcomes for too many young people remain far from where they should be. If reforms are to deliver on their promise, success cannot be measured by plans alone, but by what young people go on to achieve after education.
The White Paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, alongside the Putting Children and Young People First consultation, sets out a vision for a more consistent and inclusive system, with earlier intervention and better preparation for adulthood. These reforms recognise the inclusive practices of further education providers and include a commitment to expanding supported internships, alongside more tailored one-to-one support for learners with SEND. By creating clearer pathways into employment and training, the government aims to better support young people with SEND, who are currently around 80% more likely to be NEET than their peers.
Yet just 4.8% of people with SEND move into sustained paid employment nationally. Too many leave education without a clear, supported pathway into work, making supported internships one of the clearest ways to bridge that gap.
Across our group, we see the impact daily. At Keighley College, Dylan Worsnop joined with a goal to follow in his father’s footsteps as a welder. Through his supported internship with Acorn Stairlifts, he developed the skills and confidence to thrive, ultimately securing a full-time role.
Stuart Aveyard, a former Leeds City College student, exemplifies how persistence and ongoing support make a difference. Over several years, he developed skills through a range of placements. When his initial internship did not lead directly to employment, he did not give up – and neither did the support around him. With continued guidance from job coaches, he progressed into a second internship, built his independence, and ultimately secured full-time employment, where he remains today.
At Harrogate College, four students were placed with Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust and Harrogate Integrated Facilities through DFN Project SEARCH. They rotate across departments such as IT, equipment services, and groundskeeping, gaining real-world skills with close tutor support.
Yet nationally, only 9 – 10% of young people with EHCPs access supported internships, and just one in four remain in employment a year later – highlighting the need for structured support beyond the internship itself. The system has historically focused on what is taught academically, rather than helping them prepare for adulthood, employment, independence and becoming part of the wider community. Such skills must be embedded from an earlier stage. Preparation for adulthood – including employment, independence, and community inclusion – must be embedded from an earlier stage.
Supported internships should not be a niche offer but a central pillar of a system genuinely focused on outcomes. This requires sustained investment, stronger employer partnerships, and recognition that support should not end the moment a young person secures a job. Employers also benefit – supported interns bring with them a strong work ethic, fresh perspectives, and tangible value.
As National Supported Internship Day highlights, the model works. The challenge now is to scale it so that for young people with SEND, employment becomes a genuine expectation, not the exception.
For too long, academic and technical education have been treated as separate routes. Yet we should not expect young people to choose between them at an early age. That divide does not reflect what young people need or what employers value.
The Government’s proposals to expand technical education for 14- to 16-year-olds are a step in the right direction. Giving young people access to high-quality vocational learning can widen opportunities and connect education more effectively to the needs of the workforce.
But we should be more ambitious.
Rather than creating a stronger technical route alongside an academic route, we should use this opportunity to rethink the architecture of education itself, creating an integrated tertiary system in which academic knowledge, technical capability, vocational learning and practical experience combine.
Schools, colleges, universities and employers are often incentivised to operate in isolation. Building an ecosystem with a shared ambition will allow for seamless progression between education, training and employment, with strong regional accountability.
We also need to challenge long-standing assumptions. Technical education should not be seen as the only option for practical learners, or those who have not thrived in mainstream education. Equally, those who pursue an academic route should not miss out on practical opportunities.
Employers increasingly need people who can combine different types of skills. Engineers need mathematical and theoretical knowledge, health professionals need academic knowledge and practical competence, and designers need theory, creativity and technical capability. Modern work is increasingly interdisciplinary, yet our education system still asks young people to make artificially binary choices.
Skills England’s 2026 Annual Skills Report shows that more than a quarter of job vacancies are hard to fill due to skill shortages. This highlights the importance of developing the transferable skills that enable young people to succeed in the workplace – from communication and teamwork to problem-solving and adaptability.
It also underlines the need for an education system built around the workforce of the future, where academic, technical, vocational and occupational learning are complementary. The ambition should be about progression, not just pathways, where young people can move between these routes without being labelled or trapped by a choice they made at 14 or 16.
The new V Levels policy by Skills England is encouraging as it creates greater scope for learners to blend academic and vocational learning, allowing combinations of qualifications that better reflect individual interests. We now have the opportunity to embed that principle across the wider education landscape, so qualifications become components of one system.
We need clear, mapped progression routes to higher apprenticeships, university and employment, ensuring that every stage of learning connects meaningfully.
Nearly one million young people aged 16 to 24 in the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET), highlighting the need for education providers and employers to work together to smooth the transition from education to the workplace.
At Leeds City College, our 14+ Academies, which offer a direct-entry option for young people in Years 10 and 11, provide an opportunity to build connections early by creating an environment where real-world and employability skills sit alongside academic learning.
Universities must be part of the conversation too, working closely with FE providers to widen access and remove barriers to learning. Our strategic alliance with Leeds Beckett University, alongside our own HE provision at University Centre Leeds and Leeds Conservatoire, is based on that ambition: retaining our distinctive identities and strengths while deliberately designing provision, progression and collaboration so that learners experience a coherent educational journey rather than institutional silos.
This matters because skills needs vary across different areas. A successful tertiary system should reflect local economies and communities, with employers helping shape the provision and local businesses and institutions all working together to help young people progress.
The economy doesn’t need more technical education at the expense of academic education. It needs people with the right blend of knowledge and skills.
We should stop asking which route a young person is on and start asking whether the system is giving them the tools they require to progress. If we get this right, the reforms could help accelerate the building of an integrated tertiary skills ecosystem that our young people, employers and region need.
Kelly McAllister, Group Head of Apprenticeships at Luminate Education Group
Our health and social care system stands at a crossroads. In the midst of a growing workforce crisis, shaped by an ageing population, an ageing workforce, and chronic staff shortages in hospitals, community services and support settings face unsustainable strains. It is clear to me that if we don’t place apprenticeships at the heart of our health and social care workforce strategy, this crisis will only deepen.
The scale of the challenge is stark. Across the NHS and adult social care, vacancy rates have remained alarmingly high for some time. In England there are more than 110,000 NHS vacancies, excluding primary care roles, and over 150,000 unfilled adult social care posts These rates are far higher than the wider job market average.
This pressure is compounded by demographic shifts. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan shows the number of people aged over 85 – the group most likely to need intensive health and care support – will grow by more than 50% by 2037, with a projected shortfall of up to 360,000 staff by the mid-2030s if action isn’t taken.
Yet despite this, more people leave the sector each year than join it. Many young people and career-changers are unaware of the breadth of rewarding roles available beyond traditional clinical pathways. Meanwhile, employers struggle to attract talent into health and care occupations, and the non-regulated care workforce suffers both low qualification levels and high turnover.
Apprenticeships must be part of the solution
Apprenticeships offer earn-while-you-learn routes into the workforce that are accessible and practical. They attract new entrants who might not otherwise consider a career in health and care, providing real-world experience alongside recognised qualifications.
Employers benefit too. Due to the nature of apprenticeships, apprentices are motivated to learn, can be developed in line with organisational needs, and are more likely to stay with their employer on completion of their programme.This all helps to build a workforce that is job-ready and resilient.
And we’re seeing that employers value this route into health and care roles. In the NHS, the number of clinical and non-clinical apprenticeship standards has more than doubled in the last decade.
At Luminate Education Group, a Yorkshire-based education group that includes Leeds City College, Harrogate College and Keighley College, we work closely with NHS partners including Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Bradford Royal Infirmary. Our apprenticeships span Level 2 to Level 5 and cover a broad range of clinical and support roles, with clear progression routes that help individuals build lifelong careers.
Investing in our young people to support an ageing population
National Apprenticeship Week, held between 9 and 15 February, is a chance to challenge misconceptions about careers in health and social care. Too often, apprenticeships are viewed as a secondary option to university for breaking into the health and care sector. In reality, they provide an effective and practical route into meaningful, long-term careers that sustain our most vital public services.
But these opportunities need continued investment. Without sustained support for high-quality apprenticeship provision, the workforce gaps in health and social care will continue to widen, putting services under further strain and compromising care for our most vulnerable.
Solving the health and social care workforce crisis will require bold thinking, collaboration across sectors and a renewed commitment to the people who deliver care every day. Apprenticeships should not be a peripheral part of that solution, they must be central to it.
