Further education in 2026: a new era of reform, accountability and opportunity

As National Apprenticeship Week 2026 celebrates the achievements of learners, employers and training providers nationwide, it’s also a moment to reflect on how further education equips people with skills for life – not just for their first job, but for long, adaptable careers. Colleges continue to deliver strong outcomes despite ongoing policy change and rising demands on staff, supporting young people, career‑changers and adult learners alike to build confidence, capability and progression pathways that last well beyond qualification completion.

This year’s celebrations highlight not only the value of apprenticeships, but also the growing importance of systems and support structures that enable learners to succeed at every stage of life. As the sector moves through a period of significant reform, technology that genuinely supports educators, learners and employers is becoming increasingly critical.

A new Ofsted framework for colleges

From late 2025, Ofsted introduced its most significant reform in a decade. The updated approach replaces single‑word grades with a five‑point scale, introduces detailed report cards, and expands judgements to include areas such as inclusion and staff wellbeing.

The new framework places greater emphasis on how colleges support, develop and retain their people. OneAdvanced’s Performance & Talent helps institutions demonstrate this through continuous feedback, clear objectives and structured development pathways. For leaders, it provides the visibility needed to meet strengthened expectations around culture, wellbeing and workforce development.

These reforms sit alongside changes to accountability agreements and the work of Regional Improvement Teams, creating a more data‑driven and evidence‑focused environment for college leadership. In this context, demonstrating how staff and learners are being equipped with transferable, long‑term skills is becoming just as important as short‑term performance metrics.

Functional Skills: English and maths requirements

Reforms in late 2025 and early 2026 have also reshaped expectations around English and maths. Colleges must now offer 16 to 19‑year‑olds without a GCSE grade 4 or above at least 100 hours of in‑person, whole‑class teaching in each subject. This new requirement applies from the 2025–26 academic year and will be monitored for compliance.

While these reforms are often discussed in terms of funding and inspection, their wider significance lies in employability and resilience. English, maths and digital capability remain core skills for life – enabling learners to adapt to new roles, progress within work and re‑enter education when industries change. For apprentices in particular, these foundations support confidence in the workplace as much as technical competence.

At the same time, the government has removed the compulsory Functional Skills exit requirement for apprentices aged 19 or over. Adult apprentices can now choose, with their employer, whether to continue studying English and maths. This change applies to both new starters and existing apprentices.

This flexibility is especially relevant as more people turn to apprenticeships later in life – whether to reskill after redundancy, progress into management, or transition into new sectors. Apprenticeships are increasingly a vehicle for mid‑career upskilling, supporting individuals to build new skills for life while remaining economically active.

Although this change removes a barrier to completion for many adults, it also increases the importance of robust starting‑point assessments. Colleges and employers still need clear insight into each learner’s English, maths and digital capabilities to plan appropriate support, meet workplace demands and evidence progress to Ofsted and EPAOs.

A more unified post‑16 system – and higher expectations

Wider reforms planned for 2025 and 2026 aim to create a more coherent technical education system. These include a single funding model for Levels 4–6 across FE and HE, expanded awarding powers for colleges, the introduction of V Levels and the phased removal of BTECs, alongside deeper alignment with Local Skills Improvement Plans.

Although these changes bring greater consistency, they also raise expectations. Colleges are being positioned as central players in meeting local labour‑market needs and delivering high‑quality technical pathways. Increasingly, those pathways are not linear, supporting learners who may enter, exit and re‑enter education over the course of their working lives.

What this means for FE colleges in practice

Together, these reforms create both complexity and opportunity. Colleges must navigate new inspection arrangements, evolving apprenticeship rules and strengthened expectations around English and maths. They must also demonstrate clearer alignment with local employers and regional economic priorities, while supporting learners with increasingly diverse starting points and career goals.

To respond effectively, providers need systems that can:

• adapt to shifting inspection and funding requirements
• support reliable assessment and personalised learning in English, maths and digital skills
• manage apprenticeships and study programmes in a connected way
• deliver inspection‑ready data on quality, safeguarding and learner progress
• provide real‑time visibility of attendance, achievement and compliance

Generic technology cannot meet these needs. FE requires systems designed around its specific operational realities and its growing role in lifelong learning.

Why flexible, FE‑focused technology matters

Colleges operate within some of the most complex environments in education. Rolling enrolment, blended delivery, employer engagement, apprenticeship evidence, attendance monitoring, diagnostics and compliance all create significant administrative pressure.

When designed well, digital systems do more than support compliance. They enable personalised learning, timely intervention and clearer progression. This is critical in a system focused on skills for life, where learners may balance study with work, return to education later in their careers, or use apprenticeships as a route to upskill in response to changing economic conditions.

Technology designed for FE can help institutions to:

• manage diverse learner starting points
• deliver consistent assessment and targeted learning
• meet Ofsted’s 2026 expectations for apprenticeships and wider provision
• produce accurate, transparent data for leaders and inspectors
• scale securely through cloud‑based infrastructure

OneAdvanced Education

OneAdvanced Education is designed to help colleges meet these growing demands by bringing together the digital capabilities needed to strengthen teaching, learning and workforce development. Its FE‑focused ecosystem supports high‑quality assessment, meaningful learner progression and clear visibility of staff development and wellbeing – all areas that feature more prominently within Ofsted’s updated framework.

By unifying these elements in a sector‑specific platform, colleges can respond more effectively to reform, enhance quality and create the conditions for both learners and staff to thrive throughout their careers.

A sector in transition – and an opportunity to lead

If 2025 was the year major FE reforms emerged, 2026 is when they must be put into practice. Colleges that adopt flexible, FE‑focused digital solutions will be best placed to navigate this transition – whether meeting new Ofsted expectations, interpreting updated apprenticeship requirements, or strengthening English, maths and digital delivery.

As National Apprenticeship Week 2026 highlights the value of skills, opportunity and progression at every stage of life, further education stands at the centre of that mission. With the right digital infrastructure, colleges have the opportunity not only to keep pace with reform, but to ensure learners are equipped with skills for life that support lasting employability, adaptability and growth.