In order to ensure that everyone can obtain the education and training required for life, the British Ministry of Education issued Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity and Growth on January 21, 2021. The White Paper on Employment Skills (hereinafter referred to as the White Paper) describes the blueprint of future continuing education and vocational education, and applies the principle of employer-led standard created by apprenticeship to the continuing education and training system for young people over 16 years of age, aiming at promoting the bright road of continuing education and vocational education to the future. The white paper describes how the UK will reform vocational skills education to support people to acquire lifelong skills required by the national economy. It mainly includes five measures:
1. Put employers' needs at the core of the continuing education system
One of the main objectives of the reform is to ensure the provision of technical education and training that meet the needs of employers. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to strengthen the participation of employers in the whole skill system, from identifying skills needs to developing training and qualifications. At present, employers do not have enough influence on local skills training and have enough voice on how to carry out all technical training and qualification training. Therefore, the reform will solve these problems in the following ways:
(1) Ensure that the skills provided can support the development of the economy and meet the needs of the local labor market, and achieve this goal by formulating a new employer-led "local skills improvement plan". The plan will be formulated by employers and education providers, and employers will conduct a reliable, clear, evidence-based assessment of skills needs.
(2) Through the development of the "local skills improvement plan", the participation of employers will help universities and other providers to strengthen their partnership with employers, which
