Podcasts

This episode reflects on the 2026 Autumn Budget – the first fiscal event of Andy Burnham’s premiership – and what it means for education and skills. Edge Executive Director Olly Newton is joined by Simon Ashworth, Deputy Chief Executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers and Julian Gravatt, Deputy Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges.

Season two, episode 4

This episode explores the pre-apprenticeships system in England and how it could be re-modelled to better prepare young people and employers for apprenticeships. Edge Senior Policy Advisor James Gordon hosts Joe Dromey, General Secretary of the Fabian Society, and Lizzie Crowley, Senior Public Policy Manager at the CIPD.

Season two, episode 3

Now that all the noise and excitement has died down a little, we look back at the Labour Party conference 2026. 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.

Season two, episode 2

Looking back at what’s happened in FE and Skills in 2026 and what's next. This follows on from our first episode in January. A lot has changed since then. We're joined by Ben Rowland, AELP and Baz Ramaiah, Director of Policy and Research at Youth Employment UK. Hosted by Edge Senior Policy Advisor, James Gordon.

Season two, Episode 1

A new season of Insights from the Edge kicks off with Edge Foundation's Dana Dabbous and Mark Campbell from Ada. National College for Digital Skills discussing the latest Edge research report on V Levels, with Olly Newton, Edge Executive Director.

Episode 8

In this episode, Edge Executive Director Olly Newton hosts Beryl Henshaw, Managing Director, B&E Together Ltd and Nick Newman, Founder & CEO, National Careers Week CIC, to discuss National Work Experience Month.

Episode 7

In this episode of Insights from the Edge, we’re looking at the findings of the recent first report from the Milburn Review with a particular lens on what young people themselves are telling us. With Olly Newton, Ayesha Baloch and Lauren Mistry.

Episode 6

What is meaningful modern work experience? How do we re-imagine work experience for the 2020s? Edge Executive Director Olly Newton is joined by John Yarham, The Careers & Enterprise Company and Chris Mayne, Electech Innovation Cluster.

Episode 5

This episode is hosted by Dr Andrea Laczik, Director of Research at Edge Foundation, with Søren Kristensen, Researcher Techne, Denmark, and Salvador Sala, Head of the European Space for Citizenship Education Unit, Council of Europe, France.

Episode 4

Ahead of "Breaking Barriers" a collective event from FE News in partnership with Edge Foundation, this episode looks at what we can learn from the day to day experiences of young people not in employment, education or training. With Hannah Barnett, Nicolette Campbell and Olly Newton.

Episode 3

In this episode we reflect on the Government’s approach to V Levels, announced earlier this week. Host Sorah Gluck, Edge Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager, is joined by guests Noni Csogor from the Sixth Form Colleges Association and Paul Steer from OCR.

Episode 2.

It’s National Apprenticeship Week, so we’re shining a light on apprenticeships in SMEs in line with our Apprenticeships Work campaign. We're joined by Anna Morrison CBE, founder and director of Amazing Apprenticeships and Christa Bridges who's just completed an apprenticeship at Pebblepad, a software SME.