RollaDome All Skate – Position Statement on the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper

Making Post-16 Reform Work for Every Young Person

As a Black-led, community-driven charity that has worked for over 15 years to connect learning, sport, and employability, RollaDome All Skate welcomes the government’s ambition to create a post-16 education and skills system that is fit for the future.

For more than a decade, our work has shown how community-based, employer-led, and relationship-centred learning can transform lives. The White Paper signals overdue recognition of those principles but also highlights familiar risks that, if left unaddressed, could deepen the divide between advantaged and disadvantaged young people.

 

1. Foundation Apprenticeships and Early Career Routes

The introduction of Foundation Apprenticeships with a £3,000 employer incentive has clear potential to open doors for NEET and early-career young people.

At RollaDome, this aligns closely with our Degrees of Opportunity programme, which supports young people aged 16–24 who are often furthest from traditional education.

However, for these new apprenticeships to succeed, they must be a gateway, not a glass ceiling.

We urge the Government to:

• Guarantee that Foundation Apprenticeships lead into sustained Level 2 and 3 progression;

• Allow charitable and social enterprise employers to access the same incentives as corporate employers;

• Recognise the value of wrap-around mentoring and wellbeing support, which is central to progression for disadvantaged learners.

 

 2. Growth & Skills Levy and Modular Learning

Replacing the Apprenticeship Levy with a new Growth & Skills Levy presents both opportunity and risk.

Modular learning could make training more flexible, but it must not erode the depth and stability of full apprenticeships.

RollaDome’s experience in delivering micro-credentials and modular training in areas such as coaching, digital media, and youth leadership demonstrates that short courses work best when they are community-embedded and linked to real employment outcomes.

We recommend that the Growth & Skills Levy:

• Enables partnerships between SMEs, charities, and colleges to co-design modular training;

• Prioritises community-based providers who understand the lived realities of their learners;

• Recognises sport, wellbeing, and youth work as legitimate growth sectors contributing to both the economy and public health.

 

3. Devolution and Local Skills Improvement Plans

RollaDome supports the shift toward local control and collaboration through Technical Excellence Colleges and Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs).

However, inclusion cannot be assumed.

Small, place-based organisations, especially those led by and serving Black and minoritised communities, are often excluded from formal planning structures.

We call for:

• Representation of community and voluntary sector organisations on all LSIP boards;

• Explicit inclusion of the sport, health, and creative sectors in local workforce strategies;

• Flexible commissioning frameworks that value social outcomes and inclusion alongside qualifications achieved.

 

4. Lifelong Learning and Family Progression

The new Lifelong Learning Entitlement offers a chance to bridge generations.

For families engaged in our clubs and programmes, this could mean parents gaining new qualifications while their children progress through youth programmes.

To unlock this potential, community providers must be licensed and funded to deliver adult upskilling, not just youth interventions.

 

5. Inclusion: Turning Ambition into Accountability

The White Paper’s promise to support those “furthest from the labour market” is welcome but will only succeed if inclusion is measurable.

We recommend that the Department for Education and local partners adopt equity-based success indicators, including:

• Confidence and wellbeing gains;

• Progression from NEET to education, employment, or volunteering;

• Sustained participation in community life.

RollaDome stands ready to share data, practice, and lived experience to support this accountability framework.

 

🛠 6. Why RollaDome’s Model Matters

For fifteen years, we have used roller sports as a tool to develop confidence, employability, and belonging across London’s most diverse boroughs.

Through our Degrees of Opportunity programme, sports leadership pathways, and community apprenticeships, we have demonstrated that learning rooted in trust, wellbeing, and creativity leads to real social and economic mobility.

Our approach reflects exactly what this White Paper seeks to achieve:

• Employer-led, place-based design

• Wrap-around mentoring and care

• Diverse, community-centred leadership

• Progression from sport and volunteering into work and enterprise

We invite government and sector partners to work with organisations like RollaDome to ensure that these reforms truly reach those who have been left behind by previous systems.

The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper represents a crucial opportunity to reimagine learning for the next generation.

But real reform will not be achieved through new qualification names or short-term incentives alone.

It will be measured by whether a young person from a marginalised community can:

• Access training that reflects their strengths,

• Progress into meaningful work, and

• Stay rooted in the community that helped them grow.

That is the vision RollaDome All Skate embodies every day, and the future we will continue to build.