OU Vice-Chancellor comments on Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper

Posted on 21 October 2025 • The OU speaks out, University news

Following the publication of the Government’s Skills White Paper, Professor Dave Phoenix, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University, said:

“At The Open University, we welcome the Government’s commitment to increasing participation in higher-level learning to 66 per cent of people by the age of 25, whether through academic, technical or apprenticeship pathways. The White Paper includes some important steps towards this goal by seeking to move to a tertiary education system that utilises partnership and a combination of vocational and non-vocational qualifications to create stronger and more flexible routes that help people progress to and through higher education.

“Particularly welcome is the emphasis on collaboration between Further and Higher Education as a key pillar of a refreshed skills agenda that is accessible to all, regardless of age, background or location and which supports improvements to the skills pipeline. Advanced skills training is vital if local economies are to thrive, attracting new businesses and supporting existing ones to grow. The Open University has been at the forefront of this work through funding from the UK Government, which has enabled us to work with further education colleges across England to enhance their technical higher education provision in local communities.

“There is an ever-increasing need to meet learners where they are: in their homes and in their local communities. Giving people the opportunity to earn while learning, and to undertake shorter, more focused study rather than committing immediately to a full degree, is central to ensuring that everyone has the chance to embrace education and flourish. The focus on staged awards and modular funding through the Lifelong Learning Entitlement is therefore welcomed.

“For too long, higher education has been perceived as a rigid system: complete your A-Levels, leave home at 18, and go to a university far from where you live. While the sector has adapted, it hasn’t always kept pace with the changing needs and expectations of learners. The Open University has led the way in offering flexible learning throughout people’s lives, yet has often been constrained by the current higher education framework. If new approaches are to be developed a fundamental review of how success is measured will be required alongside the work of universities to reimagine how qualifications can be designed– especially given proposals to increase the work of the OfS.

“The UK’s productivity challenge is well known. Improving adult skills is critical to the UK Government’s dual missions to kickstart economic growth and break down barriers to opportunity. Flexible higher education through part-time distance learning will be very important in delivering on this. However, the number of adults aged 21 and over accessing higher-level skills courses has fallen dramatically since 2008. There is limited focus on these learners and how changes to the system will help address declines in part time study, other than through skills-based developments such as the Growth and Skills fund. Given adult participation is now far lower in England than in the rest of the UK, this is an area that requires specific focus. We cannot know what skills the nation will require in thirty years’ time, but we can build pathways that allow people to retrain and adapt seamlessly throughout their working lives. The Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) can and must be a major step towards achieving this, just as this White Paper represents an important milestone in its own right.

“However, we must go further and faster if we are to unlock the UK’s productivity puzzle and create the truly flexible educational pathways that modern society and the modern workforce both demand and deserve.”