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At the Association of Colleges (AoC) Annual Conference and Exhibition 2025, NCFE hosted a breakout session bringing together senior leaders, educators, and practitioners to explore how devolution is reshaping adult skills delivery and what this means in practice for providers, learners and employers.

Titled Navigating Devolution: Local Skills Solutions for a Changing Funding Landscape, our session examined the move from national to regional funding decisions, and how colleges and training providers are responding. Discussion focused on emerging local opportunities, delivery challenges and the changing expectations placed on providers, learners and employers.

This was not the first time NCFE had convened the sector around devolution. For several years, we’ve worked closely with centres and providers in devolved areas to understand regional needs in adult education and where further support is required.

For example, in early 2025 we hosted a workshop at the Apprenticeships and Training Conference (ATC), bringing together product leads, colleges, independent training providers, and cross-regional organisations to share practical experience of delivering within devolved systems.

Building on these discussions at AoC in November 2025, NCFE returned with a refreshed panel including Emzi Mills-Frater (Product Manager, NCFE) and Andrew Barton (Product Manager NCFE), alongside Suzanne Slater (Commercial Director, NCFE), and sector leaders from Learning Curve Group, NCG and Pro Excellence Partnership.

Devolved adult funding: shared insight from the sector

While the audiences in March and November differed, several themes were consistent. Using Slido (a live polling platform) to capture anonymous feedback, 76% of respondents in March reported that only 0–25% of their adult funding came from devolved sources.

By November, this figure had reduced to 63%, indicating gradual movement but also highlighting a system still in transition.

With seven additional areas due to take on devolved responsibility by 2026–27, this picture aligns with AoC funding intelligence. While no overall increase in adult skills funding is anticipated in the short term, AoC has suggested that by the end of the decade up to 90% of the adult skills budget could be devolved.

As a result, providers across many regions are actively considering how they will operate in a funding and accountability landscape that looks very different from the one they are used to.

The impact of devolution on provider organisations

Delegates were clear that devolution brings both opportunity and challenge. In March, commonly cited impacts included ‘collaboration’, ‘opportunity’, ‘change’ and ‘positive’. By November, responses focused more on ‘changing priorities’, ‘responsiveness’ and ‘flexibility’.

These reflections demonstrate the sector’s ambition to work closely with employers and local stakeholders, while also recognising the pressures that accompany change.

Increased complexity, stretched resources and uncertainty around differing regional processes were recurring themes, reflecting the practical realities providers are facing.