Warning that austerity cuts and ill-considered further education reforms will lead long-term to damaging if unintended consequences.

The article discusses the potential risk posed by austerity cuts and ill-conceived further education (FE) reforms on the British government's efforts to enhance the employment prospects of school leavers and raise the bar of FE. Topics covered include the reskilling of young adults, the results of the Policy Consortium's annual state-of-the-FE-nation annual survey, and the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills' paper, "Apprenticeships Levy: employer owned apprenticeships training."