Former Education and Skills Ministers call on Chancellor for an ‘Apprenticeship Levy 2.0’ to Level Up Britain

With perfect timing, coinciding with National Apprenticeship Week, the Government has announced the creation of four new government departments, recalibrating its commitment to a programme of growth and technological advance, driven by innovation and research.

A visit to Northumbria University by Justine Greening, Chair of the Purpose Coalition and former Education Secretary, confirmed its position as a modern university which has embedded quality research at the centre of everything it does, alongside a clear social mobility mission.

Getting a stronger plan in place is crucial for the Prime Minister and it has to be about working with and through local communities.

Staffordshire University were an early signatory to the Social Mobility Pledge and are committed to working with This Is Purpose on a mission to break down the potential barriers to aspiration.

Purpose Coalition businesses, universities and the wider public sector have reacted to the cost of living challenges looking at how they can support their communities, their customers and colleagues internally.

Hosted by the Purpose Coalition and the Adecco Group, one of the world’s biggest recruitment companies, it is the latest in a series of Opportunity Roadshows taking place at universities across the country over the next few months. The events bring together employers and students with the aim of improving their recruitment experience.

Cardiff Met University has launched a new report that sets out its social impact on its communities, staff and students.

Rt Hon Justine Greening visited the University of Bolton’s National Centre for Motorsport Engineering (NCME) and the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, to see for herself how students are learning practically, preparing them for the world of work.

Northumbria University is one example of a modern university which has embedded quality research at the centre of everything it does, alongside a clear social mobility mission, and alignment to business and the demands of the regional and local economy.

The Purpose Coalition is working with some of the best purpose-led NHS organisations to address the range of challenges the NHS is currently facing.

In a year of political turmoil and economic uncertainty, our higher education sector has continued to play its part in finding the potential in every community, nurturing it to produce graduates who have the skills that employers need and forging local partnerships to encourage investment and entrepreneurship across their regions.

In partnership with former Education Secretary Rt Hon Justine Greening, the University of Stirling will produce an impact report that will map its activities against the Purpose Goals framework.

Loughborough University has partnered with the Purpose Coalition and former Education Secretary Rt Hon Justine Greening by signing up to an innovative framework that will measure Loughborough’s social impact.

Glasgow Caledonian University has committed to spreading opportunity by signing up to a new framework to measure its social impact.

The most recent Roadshow was held at Southampton University during Freshers’ Week. Students had a chance to hear speakers from the University and Adecco talk about the importance of purpose in an organisation and how that translated into real action.

The University of Greenwich is a multi-campus university with bases in Greenwich, Avery Hill and Medway. While each campus has a unique identity, everyone on our campuses has a shared purpose: to create opportunities and change lives for the better.

Recruitment specialist Pertemps has launched a Levelling Up Impact Report highlighting its social mobility across the country.

The report, developed in partnership with Rt Hon Justine Greening and the Purpose Coalition, sets out best practice and makes recommendations on where further action can be taken.

Rt Hon Justine Greening and Lord Walney have today launched the Cost of Living Taskforce, made up of businesses and public sector organisations committed to helping their customers, colleagues and communities through this difficult time.

Yet some of the biggest steps forward in the past 20 years in driving social mobility have come from universities working hard to open up higher education to more people and communities, often those the first in their family to go to university, as I was, and it must continue.