In 2019 the GLA commissioned education specialists Mime to provide an up-to-date picture of supply and demand of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) provision for 16-25 year olds in London. The Area Reviews of London’s Further Education provision and the London Adult Community Learning (ACL) Review recommended that more work should be done to determine future SEND demand to ensure that an evidence-based approach can be taken to planning post-16 SEND services. Mime, who specialise in obtaining insight from educational data to improve the life chances of young people, was appointed to conduct a London-wide SEND review. The purpose of the review was to identify the gap in post-16 SEND provision in London and produce a sustainable methodology for projecting demand that could inform future planning cycles. The project team included SEND specialists and was supported by a steering group that included a range of experienced stakeholders from across London. The project consisted of five parts; a demand model that projected the number of 16 to 25 year olds with EHCPs with different levels of learning support, an analysis of current supply, a gap analysis, an EHCP review, and stakeholder interviews. Key findings from the analysis were used to derive recommendations for the SEND sector in London. The review took place between January and July 2018.

The Greater London Authority (GLA) commissioned Learning and Work Institute to undertake a mapping exercise of social prescribing to adult education to improve Londoners’ mental health. This report focuses on how social prescribing to adult education works in London, the challenges faced and ways to improve it. The Learning the way to improve mental health and wellbeing guide accompanies the Social prescribing into adult education in London research. This guide aims to bring health and social care services and adult education providers closer together and is both for managers and practitioners who provide social prescribing and who provide adult education.

The GLA commissioned independent research into the green skills which are expected to grow in demand as London moves to net zero. It uses GLA Economics’ Identifying Green Occupations to identify green skills currently being funded through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), along with relevant Level 4 and 5 qualifications and apprenticeship data. The report includes interviews with employers and providers which capture some of key challenges and opportunities to growing demand and supply for green skills provision. It sets out a number of recommendations to support the further growth and development of green skills provision in the capital.

Alongside the Skills for Londoners Strategy, in 2018 the Mayor published his Skills for Londoners Framework. The Framework outlines how the objectives of the Strategy will be delivered in the context of the devolution of the Adult Education Budget (AEB) in London to the Mayor from the academic year 2019-20, transferring responsibility from the Department for Education for the delivery of adult education provision to London’s residents. It sets out the implementation plans for the AEB, as well as the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Skills for Londoners Capital Fund. The Framework is consulted on annually as changes to the AEB are made. The annual consultation reports can be found below. Please also find the Skills for Londoners Strategy evidence base, which supports the Skills for Londoners Strategy and Framework.

As London looks ahead to a skills devolution deal, the capital has ambitions to create an adult skills system that is more responsive to the needs of the local economy. This work reflects on the area based review which will shape the future of the Further Education sector in London. Analysis by GLA Economics sets out what drives London’s economy, and what this means for future skills needs. In this series of papers we analyse the demand for jobs and skills to inform the Government’s area reviews of post-16 education and training, covering four London sub-regions (working papers 76-79). Thanks to London’s excellent transport links, the job opportunities available to learners are wider than a particular sub-region. The 2011 Census shows that less than half of all workers in London (48%) live in the same sub-regional area as their place of work. This calls for a broader, pan-London view (working paper 75). https://www.london.gov.uk/business-and-economy-publications/skills-londons-economy