Last month saw a series of skills and employment policy announcements, backed by major investment, including a £2.5 billion Youth Deal and an increase in the apprenticeship budget to £3.3 billion by 2026-27. Taken together, these reforms signal a renewed focus on…
Last week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, delivered her response to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) Spring Economic Forecast. Unlike the Autumn Budget, the Spring Forecast was not intended to introduce major fiscal changes. Instead…
As a longstanding member of The St Martin’s Group, IBM UK is demonstrating what meaningful employer leadership in technical education truly looks like. Their commitment to T-Levels goes far beyond placement provision. IBM has played an instrumental role…
The St Martin’s Group (SMG) welcomes the ambition of the Government’s new Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, which sets out a vision for a more coherent and responsive skills system, focused on creating closer alignment between skills development…
This year’s Labour Party Conference placed skills firmly on the national agenda, with the Prime Minister setting out a new target designed to widen access to training and create more opportunities for people across the country. One of the Prime Minister’s key…
The Education Select Committee has published its Further Education (FE) and Skills report, following an inquiry into how post-16 education can be better supported. After providing evidence during this inquiry, the St Martin’s Group is proud to be included…
The St Martin’s Group reflects on the last year of Government skills policy. In July 2024, the outcome of the General Election marked a pivotal moment for strategy and reform in England’s skills landscape. Labour’s victory ushered in a mandate to implement its…
The St Martin’s Group has today (4th June 2025) published a new report calling for inclusive, employer-led skills reform. The report, Skills for All: Ten Key Insights from Employers, reveals that when addressing a skills gap, more than half of employers surveyed…
On Wednesday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, laid out her Spring Statement to the House of Commons. This followed the Autumn Budget in October 2024, which saw the Chancellor raise £40 billion in taxes, a significant chunk of which…
Economic growth is the UK government’s top priority, recognised as fundamental to improving living standards, boosting prosperity and securing long-term national success. A thriving economy leads to better job opportunities, higher wages and increased investment…
The most consequential development for the skills, apprenticeships and further education sectors in 2024 was, of course, the General Election in July. The Labour Party’s landslide victory gave the Government a mandate to take forward reforms promised in its manifesto…
The first Labour Government budget in 14 years has finally been delivered by Rachel Reeves, the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer. This historic moment had been trailed in the press for weeks, with announcements around tax increases and public spending…