Now that all the noise and excitement has died down a little, we look back at the Labour Party conference 2026, the first for Andy Burnham as Prime Minister. What stood out for the world of FE and skills? What direction is the new Prime Minister charting for education in general? Edge Senior Policy Adviser James Gordon is joined by Simon Parkinson, General Secretary and Chief Executive at the WEA and Fiona Bardell, Senior Public Affairs Officer at the Association of Colleges to discuss.

In this episode of Insights from the Edge we’re looking back at what’s happened in FE and Skills policy so far this year. We’ll also look forward at what the remainder of the year might hold in store. This follows on from our first episode back in January, where we asked Ben Rowland from Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) and LJ Rawlings from Youth Employment UK what they were anticipating for the world of FE and Skills in 2026.

A lot has changed since then and we have a new Prime Minister and a new Education Secretary in post so it seemed like a good idea to pause and take stock. We're joined again by Ben Rowland and by LJ’s colleague Baz Ramaiah, Director of Policy and Research at Youth Employment UK and hosted by Edge Senior Policy Advisor, James Gordon.

England’s post-16 qualifications landscape is entering another significant period of reform with the introduction of V Levels. A new report from Edge Foundation draws on research with FE practitioners and a recent roundtable discussion held with FE stakeholders including, teachers, college principals, employers, awarding bodies and more. The roundtable constitutes a snapshot of a moment in time that reflects the reaction in June 2026 to the planned introduction of this qualification.

Edge Education and Senior Policy Researcher Dana Dabbous, and Education and Digital Skills Consultant Mark Campbell from Ada. National College for Digital Skills discuss the report with Olly Newton, Executive Director at Edge Foundation.