The Department for Education wants local areas to be strong and for employers to take a leading role in establishing a post-16 skills system that is responsive to local economic priorities, financially resilient and able to offer high quality education and training. A series of area-based reviews are being carried out to establish how local areas can set up institutions that do this.

Colleges will be invited to specialise according to local economic priorities, to provide better-targeted basic skills alongside professional and technical education. Some of these will be invited to become prestigious Institutes of Technology which will be sponsored by employers, registered with professional bodies and aligned  with apprenticeship standards.

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