National Apprenticeship Week brings together businesses and apprentices across the country to shine a light on the positive impact that apprenticeships make. Read a collection of stories about some of our incredible learners.

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When Jason Faulkner, fresh out of the army, started work as a Prince’s Trust Team leader at the then Stockton and Billingham Technical College he could have had no idea of what lay ahead.

“I certainly never imagined being here 23 years later as the deputy chief executive officer of what is now the Education Training Collective,” he said.

Looking back at a career jam-packed with highlights, it makes walking away all the more difficult.

But after over two decades of helping the group achieve its ‘Outstanding’ potential, Jason is preparing to bid a fond farewell to the organisation that gave him new direction.

As the newly appointed Principal and Chief Executive of Burnley College, he is looking forward to the new challenge and exciting opportunities ahead.

“It is quite emotional, and I don’t think it has truly sunk in yet,” said the Middlesbrough dad whose roots are firmly forged on Teesside. “But I am optimistic about the future and being able to share the skills I have developed with another college and the surrounding communities there, and add value to their, and my, next chapter.”

Today the Education Training Collective encompasses Stockton Riverside College, Bede Sixth Form College, NETA Training, Redcar and Cleveland College and Innersummit, and Jason has been there every step of the way.

Proud to have played such a substantial part in the Etc.’s evolutionary journey, he said: “I remember the previous chair of the governing board saying to me, ‘we are custodians of the college for a point in time and, as such, we should aim to leave it in a better place than we found it’.

“I always remember that and as I sit and reflect, I would like to think I have made a positive contribution.”

Looking back, for Jason, one of the biggest achievements, both personally and for the group, has been the turnaround of Redcar and Cleveland College.

He said: “That’s not just about the achievement data or student numbers. It is the work that has been carried out with supportive partners, the capital investments that have led to massive innovation at the college, and the relationships built with the local authority and employer partners.

“For me, the biggest thing is that Redcar and Cleveland now has a college back at the heart of its community, with a sustainable future, that people can be proud of.”

It’s no surprise the college should feature among his proudest achievements, for after working his way through the ranks to assistant principal at Stockton Riverside College, he was appointed Redcar and Cleveland College’s principal in 2018 following merger.

Since then, the college’s relationship with major employers investing in the region has flourished, particularly with developments on the doorstep.

While Jason is quick to point out that he’s no expert in the likes of renewables, carbon capture and hydrogen as an alternate fuel source, he has made it his job to do his research to better understand the skills demands that are coming and be ready to respond to them.

It’s given him a seat at the table for some top-level discussions and keen to give back to the community he’s found himself on the boards of the South Tees Development Corporation and the local Town Deal, as well as giving his time as a governor for schools in the area.

Appointed Etc. deputy chief executive in 2024, Jason said: “None of this is what I expected when I joined the college as an introduction back into civilian life.” He applied for that first job because he had experience in the likes of teamwork and outdoor education. It turns out he had lots of transferable skills too, not least in leadership.

Practising what they preach, he has continued to study himself as an adult learner, achieving his degree in education and leadership and management qualifications.

Forever attached to Teesside – “it is home” – the 53-year-old will now continue to follow the developments happening in the Tees Valley and how the skill pipelines he has helped to create continue to deliver.

After all, more than the accolades and more than the Etc. Outstanding Ofsted rating that came early this year, that’s got to be the best part of working in education, knowing the impact the individual colleges and providers have on so many lives.

While saying goodbye to the Etc. will be tough, the research into Burnley, Lancashire, its current position and demands, has, of course, already begun.

Jason said: “Leaving the Etc. is going to be hard. I have forged so many relationships with incredible colleagues, external partners and stakeholders.

“But I am inherently competitive in nature and always wanting to continue and improve. Burnley feels like a place where my skills and experience align, and I can add real value. This feels like the right fit.”

By Grant Glendinning, Chief Executive Officer, Education Training Collective (Etc.) 

We are living through one of the most profound transformations in the history of work. In the space of five years, our relationship with work may have changed more than in the last 50 — not only through technology, but through shifting attitudes, new expectations and a growing realisation that the future will be defined by how well we adapt. 

For those of us working in further education, this is more than an academic conversation. Our colleges sit at the junction between education, employment and innovation. We are preparing people not for a single job or career, but for a lifetime of change. 

So, what does the future of work really look like? I think there are three interlinked strands shaping it – how people’s attitudes to work are changing, the types of skills we’ll need in the years ahead and the unstoppable revolution of artificial intelligence (AI) that will influence almost every role. 

Attitudes have shifted 

The pandemic was a watershed moment for how people view work. In a matter of weeks, millions of workers moved from offices to kitchen tables and “hybrid” became the new normal. But this was more than a logistical change — it was a psychological one. People began to reassess what work meant to them – especially in the wider context of the whole that is their life and the other roles they play. 

According to Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, younger workers are now more focused on wellbeing, flexibility and purpose than on pay or promotion. They want feedback, transparency and authenticity from their leaders. McKinsey’s research adds that Gen Z employees actively seek work that reflects their values — and they are prepared to leave if it doesn’t. 

That’s a big shift from earlier generations who tended to define themselves by their work. Today’s workforce is far more likely to question, “Does this work fit into my life?” rather than, “How do I fit my life around work?” 

And as Generation Alpha — today’s school children — begins to enter further education and the workplace, those expectations will change again. This is a generation that has grown up with Alexa, spent their play time with smart devices and increasingly with AI companions. They’ll expect instant access, personalisation and flexibility as standard. For them, digital tools aren’t “technology” — they are just life. 

Just over the weekend I witnessed a child ask their parent if they still had hold of the phone – but they didn’t signal this with the hand to ear gesture I know, instead used their thumbs to indicate typing on a screen. Life is different. 

All these changes, mean that for employers, work must be meaningful, inclusive and aligned with personal values. For educators, it means our learners need not just skills, but clarity of purpose — a sense of who they are and what they want to contribute. 

All of this needs to fit within the realms of the world they know and operate as part of. 

In short, people now want work that matters. And that has deep implications for how we design curricula, shape careers guidance and define success in further education. 

Future skills and the human advantage 

If attitudes to work are changing, then so are the skills that matter most. 

The World Economic Forum predicts that 44% of workers’ core skills will change in the next five years. Technical competence remains essential, but the ability to learn, unlearn and relearn will be even more valuable. 

Employers increasingly talk about “hiring for culture and training for skills.” What they mean is that behaviours — adaptability, collaboration, curiosity, empathy — are now the most enduring differentiators. 

McKinsey’s Future of Work report notes a steep rise in demand for social and emotional skills, even in technical roles. It’s not that technical skills are becoming obsolete — they’re just evolving too quickly to be the only focus. 

For FE, that’s both a challenge and an opportunity. Colleges have always been strongest when learning is applied, practical and connected to real work. But the next phase of that evolution is to weave meta-skills — learning agility, problem-solving, communication, ethical reasoning — through every programme. 

That doesn’t mean we should abandon technical content. Far from it. But we do need to teach it in ways that prepare learners for reinvention. The reality is that the qualification someone earns at 19 might not match the job market at 29. What matters is that they know how to keep learning, adapting and contributing. 

The FE sector is already leading this change, responding to Local Skills Improvement Plans and through initiatives such as digital bootcamps and T Levels. But we must go further – by embedding cross-sector projects, real-world AI tools and employer co-design into our courses, we can create learning experiences that are as dynamic as the world of work itself. 

The unstoppable rise of AI 

I used to say that Chat GPT is only as old as the shoes I wear. I’m not sure that’s now the case, but it’s impossible to talk about the future of work without talking about AI. 

Artificial intelligence is not a distant threat or opportunity — it’s part of the world of work right now. McKinsey’s State of AI 2024 report found that 78% of global companies are already using AI in at least one business function, compared with 55% just a year earlier. That is an astonishing rate of adoption over the lifetime of a pair of shoes. 

AI is already capable of performing a vast range of tasks once thought to require human intelligence — from legal research to customer service, from medical diagnostics to writing code. Amazon Web Services, for example, can now automate entire finance or HR functions. 

What does that mean for work — and for education? 

Some jobs will certainly disappear. McKinsey estimates that roughly a quarter of current roles could be largely automated in the next decade. But it must be true to say that nearly every job will change. 

At its best, AI has the potential to make work more meaningful. It can take away the dull, repetitive, administrative parts of our roles, freeing people to focus on creativity, collaboration and care. Imagine the world where teachers spend very little time on paperwork and almost all their time inspiring learners; or when healthcare workers’ time is entirely with patients, with virtually none on data entry systems. 

But the transition won’t be painless. Not all sectors or communities will benefit equally.  

That’s why FE’s role as the bridge between education and employment has never been more important. We are the system best placed to help people retrain, reskill and reinvent themselves. But we will need to be as agile as the world we serve. 

The risk of forgetting the human 

In outsourcing more and more of our thinking to machines, are we at risk of deskilling ourselves? 

I think of the brain as like a muscle: if you stop using it, it weakens. You need to use, access and strengthen neural, synaptic pathways. This is why musicians practise and the more you do mental arithmetic the better you get at it.  

AI can make our work more efficient, but it can also make us intellectually passive if we’re not careful. If technology does all the planning, analysis, problem-solving and even creativity, I am genuinely concerned we risk dulling our own cognitive abilities. 

That’s why education must remain fundamentally human. Technology should augment, not replace, our capacities. 

For FE, that means teaching digital and technical fluency alongside critical thinking, ethics and creativity. It means ensuring that learners understand not just how to use AI, but when to use it — and when to rely on their own judgement instead. 

When the first Large Language Models became available to all, understandably, this prompted a moral panic about plagiarism. But this was such a narrow focus. The benefits of AI in education are enormous, and colleges are already showing how to get this balance right. They are experimenting with AI tools for teaching and assessment, but they’re doing so with a focus on pedagogy and purpose.  

The challenge now is to embed that same balance across the curriculum: human plus machine, not human versus machine. 

5. Implications for Further Education 

So, what should we take from all this? 

First, FE providers must keep scanning the horizon. The world of work is evolving faster than our systems can currently respond, and curriculum lag is a real risk. Strong partnerships with employers, local authorities and regional skills boards will be essential to stay aligned with future demand. 

Second, staff development is paramount. Educators need confidence not only in digital tools but in the pedagogy of digital learning. Professional development should focus as much on curiosity and experimentation as on compliance. 

Third, we must design our offer around the whole learner. Gen Z and Gen Alpha students want meaning, autonomy and belonging. FE is well placed to deliver that through authentic learning experiences, industry placements, and supportive college cultures. 

Finally, we should not lose sight of FE’s moral purpose. Our sector has always been about inclusion — giving people second chances, new starts, and pathways to meaningful work. That mission is more important than ever. As technology reshapes the economy, FE must remain the system that ensures no one is left behind. 

Sources referenced: 
Deloitte (2025) Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey; McKinsey & Company (2024) The State of AI and A New Future of Work; World Economic Forum (2023) Future of Jobs Report; Vantage Circle (2024) Gen Z Expectations at Work; Goldman Sachs (2024) Jobless Growth and AI.