Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their proposed timescale for achieving the aim of having two-thirds of young people in higher level education or apprenticeships.

The department published the Post-16 education and skills white paper on 20 October 2025, which sets out our reforms to the skills system to support the development of the skilled workforce our economy needs, delivering on our Plan for Change and driving national renewal.

This includes how we will make progress towards our ambition of two-thirds of young people participating in higher-level study across universities, colleges or apprenticeships. This is supported by a sub-target of at least 10% of young people going into level 4 or 5 study, including apprenticeships, by 2040.

The reforms include further investment in further education, with an additional nearly £800 million extra invested into 16 to19 education for 2026/27 above previous plans.

The government is also slashing red tape to ensure businesses and training providers can focus more time on apprenticeships, such as making apprenticeship assessment simpler and introducing new foundation apprenticeships in key sectors such as construction and social care.

To support students on higher level provision the department is reintroducing maintenance grants for disadvantaged students studying priority courses aligned with the government’s mission and the industrial strategy at levels 4 to 6.