“No one will be shut out from these opportunities…we will support everyone who has the desire and ability to go to university.”
UK Government, Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper GOV.UK
We know from research that access to higher education has a transformative impact, improving life chances, promoting life satisfaction, and reducing social inequality. Yet for many young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, the path to higher education is far from straightforward. In Kent and Medway, factors such as the grammar school system, economic cold spots, and limited resources for impartial careers guidance on education pathways remain persistent barriers to progression.
In collaboration with our partners, Kent & Medway Progression Federation (KMPF) launched its 2025–2028 Strategy, Inclusive Pathways to Higher Education, in September last year. The strategy sets out how, as a regional partnership, we will work collectively over the next three years to increase progression to higher education opportunities, with a clear focus on learners who are currently under-represented. The UK government has also responded to the disadvantage disparity by introducing several recent policy changes aimed at ensuring that higher education is accessible to all learners, regardless of background.
In this blog, KMPF Programme Manager Irma-Jane Caggiano outlines key policy changes, focusing on widening access and the impact on schools and further education colleges. She also explains how KMPF’s strategy aligns with and actively responds to current government priorities.
Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper
Ensuring that every young person has the chance to succeed after school is at the heart of the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper. The government’s reforms, which aim to open pathways to higher education, apprenticeships, and skilled employment, with a particular focus on disadvantaged learners. The government aims to have two-thirds of young people participate in higher-level learning by age 25. These goals are intended to broaden the definition of ‘higher-level participation’ in education, beyond traditional degrees to include Level 4 and 5 advanced technical and work-based learning pathways. The White Paper sets out a vision where more students, regardless of their circumstances, can access the opportunities they need to thrive.
Qualification Reform and V-Levels
The government is introducing V-Levels, a new Level 3 vocational qualification, launching in 2027 alongside A-Levels and T-Levels, replacing existing Level 3 vocational courses such as BTECs. Offered as single-subject courses, V-Levels allow disadvantaged learners, depending on each provider’s curriculum, to combine academic and vocational study, keeping multiple pathways open. This flexible approach aims to break down barriers, broaden opportunities for longer, and support social mobility by widening access to higher education and a greater choice of subjects.
Flexible Modular Higher Education: Lifelong Learning Entitlement
Starting in September 2027, learners will benefit from a lifelong learning entitlement, offering up to four years of higher-level education or training over their lifetime. This flexible system features modular Level 4 and 5 courses that can be taken in manageable blocks, leading to a Level 6 top-up qualification for a full degree. Courses are expected to align closely with vocational opportunities and local skills needs, supporting individuals in upskilling and reskilling as careers and industries evolve.
The Lifelong Learning Entitlement provides an alternative path to higher education for non-traditional and disadvantaged learners by offering a modular, flexible route. It aims to help all learners access higher education, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds who might not feel able to do so via a more traditional route or who might not be able to commit to a full-time three-year degree. Further Education colleges will play a leading role in delivering this modular approach. It remains unclear at this stage whether universities will adopt the same model. Still, they will likely work in collaboration with further education colleges to support and validate the top-up Level 6 qualifications.
More Targeted Support for Disadvantaged Learners
The Post-16 Review introduces measures to provide targeted support for learners who need it most, ensuring equitable access to education for underrepresented or disadvantaged students. This includes financial support for modular higher education and strengthened loan offers, with care leavers receiving the maximum loan support.
The review also focuses on reducing the number of 16–24-year-olds not in education, employment, or training (NEET) by guaranteeing a place in further education (FE) for all unplaced students. Level 2 pathways support learners to re-sit English and Maths while developing the skills needed to progress to Level 3 options, including a two-year occupational pathway or a one-year further study route. The Paper also introduces the extension of tracking up to age 25, aiming to ensure that no young person is lost to the system, enabling early support for those at risk of disengagement and reducing the likelihood of becoming long-term NEET.
The Curriculum and Assessment Review: Building a World-Class Curriculum for All
The Curriculum and Assessment Review focuses on strengthening foundations in core subjects, including literacy, oracy, and numeracy, noting that too many students from disadvantaged backgrounds leave post-16 education without achieving a grade 4 in English or Maths GCSE, limiting their opportunities in education and future employment.
The review is also revitalising subjects in the arts and increasing the availability of enriching activities in arts, sport, nature, civic engagement, and volunteering. All these activities are crucial for fostering creativity, critical thinking, and team building, which are essential skills that ensure a well-rounded development for future success. This also builds cultural capital, which, for disadvantaged learners, raises aspirations for higher education and fosters a sense of belonging and confidence in academic environments.
There is an increased focus on supporting teachers to adapt their teaching methods so that students with SEND and other additional needs can fully access education, therefore reducing long-term disengagement and improving access to mainstream education.
Ofsted’s New Inspection Framework: Inclusion at the Forefront
Commencing from November 2025, Ofsted launched a new inspection report card, with inclusion, personal development, and wellbeing graded separately for the first time. The inspections now follow a case sampling model that evaluates the educational experience through the lens of the most disadvantaged students. This approach ensures that schools are assessed not only on outcomes but also on how well they support learners facing the most significant barriers to success.
Ofsted’s inclusion priority learners are those:
- with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
- who are disadvantaged (including those who have been eligible for free school meals)
- who are known (or were previously known) to children’s social care
- without level 2 English and/or maths (for Post-16)
Ofsted also places greater emphasis on personal development and wellbeing, recognising that education is about more than academic achievement. Schools and colleges are evaluated on how well they support students’ emotional wellbeing, resilience, social skills, and broader life experiences, helping them thrive both in and out of the classroom.
Widening Access: How Recent Changes Align with KMPF’s Strategy
The KMPF 2025–2028 Strategy, Inclusive Pathways to Higher Education, declares a commitment to supporting priority learners that mirror Ofsted’s inclusion priority learners, for example, KMPF collaborates on projects supporting SEND students, low-income students with a focus on boys (Kent and Medway Boys’ Impact hub), and Care Experienced young people. By working with schools, colleges, and universities, KMPF strengthens opportunities for disadvantaged students and helps them navigate their pathway options.
Boys Impact
KMPF, in partnership with the University of Kent, launched the Kent and Medway Boys’ Impact Conference in Spring 2025, which has since developed into a working group hub and strategic committee focused on improving educational attainment and progression for boys from disadvantaged backgrounds. In Spring 2026, the collaboration will offer CPD opportunities drawing on evidence-based research and practice from the national Boys’ Impact movement and Dr Alex Blower’s work, supporting systemic change across partner schools and colleges in Kent and Medway.
Care Experienced Young People
KMPF works in partnership with Canterbury Christ Church University, the University of Kent, and the University for the Creative Arts to deliver the Opening Doors programme, a collaborative outreach project for care-experienced young people. Through a three-part programme, Opening Doors aims to upskill foster carers and professionals with knowledge and confidence about higher education. It also delivers a direct intervention for care-experienced young people through the Spring School programme, providing meaningful exposure to university life and helping them view higher education as a realistic and achievable option for their future.
SEND PP
KMPF, in partnership with the University of Greenwich, will host a SEND Transition Conference in July 2026. Recognising the strong link between school absence and the risk of becoming NEET, the conference addresses rising neurodiversity and increasing mental health challenges. The focus of the conference is on strengthening transition support and widening access to higher education. It is a call-to-action for educators, policymakers, practitioners, and sector leaders to collaborate, share evidence-informed practices, and commit to systemic change. This includes building stronger networks, creating a smoother transition between education settings and into higher education, and reducing NEET outcomes.
Attainment Raising
KMPF has been actively involved in oracy programmes delivered in partnership with our university outreach teams for several years, supporting students to develop the communication skills, confidence, and academic language needed to thrive in education and beyond. In addition, KMPF is supporting Canterbury Christ Church University’s outreach team and academics with an oracy plan for the region. Alongside this, KMPF is developing targeted programmes to increase mathematical confidence among Key Stage 3 students, with a particular focus on strengthening foundational skills, addressing gaps in understanding, reducing maths anxiety, and fostering positive learner attitudes. Together, these initiatives reflect KMPF’s commitment to attainment raising, inclusive practice, and improving long-term educational outcomes.
A Shared Commitment
Recent policy changes are a welcome and timely addition to underpinning KMPF’s work, reinforcing our shared commitment to improving outcomes for disadvantaged students. Through continued collaboration with our partner schools, colleges, and universities, we strengthen a collective focus on widening access, raising aspirations, and removing complex barriers that can prevent the most disadvantaged learners from progressing. Together, we are working to ensure that every learner is supported to make choices about their future with dignity and confidence, enabling opportunity, whatever their background.
By Irma-Jane Caggiano, Programme Manager (FE)
If you would like to know more or would like to be involved, please get in touch with us at KMPF@canterbury.ac.uk