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🗞️Diversity and inclusion news🗞️ |
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🍲🎓 V Levels: Britain’s new “mix & match” for post-16🍱
TL;DR: The government is ditching ~900 overlapping Level 3 vocational courses and introducing V Levels — modular, employer-aligned qualifications you can combine with A Levels (unlike T Levels, which already equal three A Levels on their own). There’s also a new stepping-stone for students who need help getting that vital GCSE English & Maths pass. Oh, and tuition fees in England are set to rise with inflation from 2026, with full fees tied to “quality” of provision.
What actually changed (in plain English)
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V Levels are the new third route alongside A Levels (academic) and T Levels (full-fat technical).
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You can “mix and match”: e.g., V Level (Media) + V Level (Craft & Design) + A Level (Music) — or stack three V Levels in areas like Sport, Digital, Health.
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Why bother? Because the current post-16 map looks like spaghetti. V Levels replace a confusing pile of Level 3 vocational quals so students (and employers) can understand what’s what.
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Maths & English fix: A new stepping-stone qualification aims to help lower-attainment students pass GCSE English & Maths instead of the demoralising annual resit carousel.
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Money moves: Undergrad tuition fees in England will track inflation (from 2026) and full fee caps will eventually be conditional on quality. Maintenance loans also rise with inflation.
How V Levels differ from T Levels (and A Levels)
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A Levels: academic, pick 3–4 subjects, classic uni route.
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T Levels: one big 2-year technical programme (≈ 3 A Levels) plus a substantial industry placement.
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V Levels: modular and combinable — designed to be taken with A Levels if you want breadth, or stacked for a more applied pathway without committing to a single, all-consuming technical course.
Translation: V Levels are for the “I want practical + options” crowd. T Levels are for the “give me the full technical immersion + placement” crowd.
Who should be happy😅
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Students who want a credible applied pathway without losing the option to keep an A Level or two in the mix.
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Employers who want clearer signalling of skills (fewer look-alike quals with mysterious acronyms).
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Colleges & schools that have argued for years that forced GCSE resits needed a smarter, confidence-building alternative.
Who’s side-eyeing this
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Awarding bodies & colleges already mid-reform (T Levels, apprenticeship changes, etc.). This is another big lift — new specs, staff training, delivery models.
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Sector unions warning that without better FE pay and staffing, “build Rome, but with two bricklayers” won’t fly.
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Parents/students who still remember other grand “simplifications” that… didn’t.
What we still don’t know (but really need to)
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Subjects & sequencing: Which V Levels launch first? When and where?
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Assessment & parity: How will V Levels be assessed and recognised by universities? (Admissions clarity is everything.)
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Funding & staffing: Will colleges get enough money (and time) to build quality from day one?
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Transition from BTECs/Applied Generals: How will current learners be protected during the phase-out → phase-in?
So what? (Why this matters)
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Clarity beats chaos: If designed and rolled out well, V Levels could finally make the post-16 map readable — and directly aligned to jobs, apprenticeships, and HE.
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Equity with traction: The GCSE stepping-stone could stop the annual churn of demoralising resits and actually raise attainment where it counts.
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But: This rises or falls on execution — teacher capacity, employer input, university recognition, and proper funding. Get those wrong and we just renamed the spaghetti.
Read more here
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🎓 “The great graduate rethink”?🎓
Graduate hiring is down 8% year-on-year, according to new figures from the Institute of Student Employers (ISE). It’s the first decline since the pandemic — and while graduates are sending more applications than ever (an average of 140 per role), the jobs simply aren’t keeping pace. Meanwhile, apprentice hiring is up 8%, continuing a decade-long rise.
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The ratio of graduates to apprentices hired by large employers has dropped from 2.3:1 to 1.8:1 — and is expected to fall again next year.
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Graduate salaries crept up 2% to £33k, but inflation has eaten the real value. School leaver pay rose 3% to £24k.
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Employers are increasingly recruiting via apprenticeships and technical routes, partly due to skills shortages and apprenticeship levy incentives.
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There are signs of strain: NEET rates (not in education, employment or training) are rising again, per ONS data.
The shift reflects a deeper rebalancing. After years of “university or bust” narratives, the government is now pushing its new two-thirds participation goal: by 2040, two-thirds of young people should be in higher education, technical education, or an apprenticeship.
At Labour conference, Keir Starmer called this part of a plan to create “gold-standard apprenticeships” and “multiple pathways to success.” Translation: fewer Oxbridge pipe dreams, more on-the-job pipelines.
The DfE even dropped mandatory English and maths requirements for apprentices over 19 earlier this year — freeing up an estimated 10,000 new completions annually.
This isn’t just a hiring stat; it’s a cultural correction.
For a decade, universities have been marketed as the default route to success — but fees have stagnated, living costs have soared, and over 40% of universities are now running deficits. At the same time, employers are questioning whether degrees still deliver job-ready talent.
So as graduate programmes shrink and apprenticeships expand, the power dynamic is shifting: vocational is finally fashionable again.
Still, there’s irony here — Britain is celebrating “skills diversification” mainly because degrees have become too expensive and too disconnected from the economy. The risk? We just rebrand underemployment as “choice.”
🔗 Read more:
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🧠Things that make you go hmmm🧠 |
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🫱🏾🫲🏻AI weekly🫱🏾🫲🏻
In this week’s AI circus: ChatGPT wants to get steamy, Sora’s been caught deepfaking MLK, and Trump’s back — this time, as an AI-generated monarch dropping sludge on protesters. We regret to inform you: it’s only Tuesday.
🍑 1) “Treat adults like adults” — said every tech bro ever
OpenAI is planning to let ChatGPT write erotica — but only for verified adults, because nothing says “responsible innovation” like digital foreplay behind an age gate.
Sam Altman insists it’s about “treating adults like adults,” not “usage maxxing,” which is definitely what someone trying to juice subscriber numbers would say.
UK regulators are chilling (since written erotica isn’t age-restricted), but in the US, lawmakers are already clutching pearls about what the kids might see. The FTC, ever the party pooper, is circling.
It could be interesting for folks as potentially chat GPT could be your gateways cross the internet to that age verification that otherwise may restrict your view of erotic content.
👉 BBC: ChatGPT to allow erotica for verified adults
🕊️ Sora’s “I have a dream” moment didn’t age wellAfter users started pumping out AI deepfakes of Martin Luther King Jr. doing very non-civil-rights things (shoplifting? speeding? really, internet?), OpenAI finally said “maybe not that.”
Sora has now blocked MLK depictions entirely after his estate called the videos “disrespectful.”
OpenAI says it’s strengthening guardrails for historical figures — which is corporate-speak for “we didn’t think this one through.” But where does this go next. How prominent does someone have to be before it is fare play and is it fair to take it down away. People have satiated and mocked historical figures for well as long as time? What happens for those living and if anyone and everyone can ask their likeness to to be used is that ok or is it just to domain of those with enough money and capital to have a line to OpenAi
Meanwhile, IP lawyers are quietly drafting the “I told you so” emails of the century.
👉 NPR: OpenAI blocks MLK Jr. videos on Sora
Trump's AI
Donald Trump dropped a new AI-generated video of himself as a king bombing protesters with brown goo during the “No Kings” rallies.
Subtle.
It’s part performance art, part political trolling, part “how is this real life?” moment. And yet — this is now standard-issue campaign content in 2025.
We’re officially through the looking glass: deepfakes have gone from existential threat to democracy to standard press office B-roll.
👉 Sky News: Trump mocks ‘No Kings’ protesters in AI video
📉 So what?
AI content moderation is now like nightclub security — one hand stamping IDs for “verified adults,” the other kicking out deepfakes of MLK.
Meanwhile, politicians are commissioning propaganda straight out of Midjourney, and the rest of us are stuck watching Silicon Valley pretend this is “innovation.”
If 2023 was the “AI gold rush,” 2025 is the hangover — where the robots are horny, the deepfakes are litigious, and democracy’s on beta testing.
Want more? We can’t promise sanity, but we can promise receipts.
📚 Read more:
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☁️ When Virginia sneezed and the internet caught the flu
One quiet Monday morning, Amazon’s US-EAST-1 data centre in Virginia—basically the beating heart of the internet—decided to take a nap. The result? Snapchat couldn’t snap, Alexa forgot how to speak, Fortnite stopped forting, and even the UK’s Government Gateway went on a tea break.
Welcome to 2025, where one glitch in northern Virginia can stop your coffee app, your cloud files, your crypto wallet, and your accountant’s career exam all at once.
🕳️ So what actually happened (in human terms)?
The culprit: a DNS error.
That’s the bit of tech that translates names like bbc.co.uk into machine addresses your laptop can find. Imagine if the internet’s phone book suddenly lost half its pages — you could still “call” your friends, but your phone wouldn’t know their number anymore.
AWS’s internal directory went sideways, so even though websites and apps were alive and well, no one could find them. Cue chaos, memes, and millions of “is it just me?” tweets.
🧩 Who went down with the ship
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Banks: Lloyds, Halifax, Bank of Scotland — people couldn’t transfer money, some literally couldn’t buy baby formula.
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Government services: HMRC, Universal Credit, pensions — a thrilling new form of tax suspense.
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Apps and games: Snapchat, Reddit, Roblox, Fortnite, Zoom, Duolingo, Coinbase, Alexa, Ring… basically, if you touched the internet, you felt it.
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Even alarms: Alexa forgot to wake people up. Some poor bloke found out about the outage because his Echo didn’t.
💸 The irony: Amazon’s stock went up
Yes — the outage that broke a third of the web raised Amazon’s share price by 1%.
Because investors, apparently, think “too big to fail” now means “too big to care.”
It’s not the first time either. AWS outages in 2020, 2021, and 2023 already showed us the fragility of the web’s plumbing. And yet… here we are again, still acting surprised when the world’s biggest landlord forgets to pay its own electricity bill.
🇪🇺 Europe’s having a sovereignty moment
Brussels took one look and said: “See? This is why we need our own cloud.”
EU policymakers are now renewing calls for “digital sovereignty” — tech independence from the US giants that literally host Europe’s economy.
One official even joked: “Why is my robot vacuum in Paris waiting on a server in Virginia?”
Fair question, honestly.
POLITICO reports the outage has reignited plans for Eurostack — a European cloud ecosystem meant to reduce dependency on Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.
🔧 The bigger lesson: convenience has consequences
AWS is popular for a reason — it’s easy, fast, and cheaper than building your own infrastructure. But when a third of the internet relies on one company’s servers, “cloud computing” starts to look more like “cloud monopoly.”
Even the BBC called it “a textbook illustration of what happens when you put all your eggs in one S3 bucket.”
And The Guardian put it bluntly: we’re “at the mercy of too few providers.”
🧠 What to do (before the next wobble)
For businesses:
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Diversify your cloud: use multiple regions or even multiple providers.
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Keep a backup that’s actually offline.
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Host your status page somewhere else — because “we’re down” pages shouldn’t also be… down.
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Plan for graceful failure: better to show “temporarily limited features” than “404 not found.”
For everyone else:
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Maybe don’t rely on Alexa to wake you up.
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And yes, write down your passwords somewhere that isn’t also in the cloud.
Read more here
📉 So what?
This wasn’t the internet collapsing — it was a reminder that the internet is basically three companies in a trench coat.
The convenience of cloud computing has made life easier for startups, governments, and the average person streaming Bake Off — but it’s also made the whole system hilariously fragile.
When AWS hiccups, the world holds its breath.
Maybe it’s time we build systems that can survive a sneeze.
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🔍The internet's new gateway🔍
OpenAI has officially launched ChatGPT Atlas, its shiny new AI-powered web browser that promises to “personalize the web experience.” Translation: Chrome, Safari, and Edge now have a new cousin that can talk back.😅
Atlas, currently rolling out on macOS (with Windows, iOS, and Android to follow), comes with an embedded ChatGPT sidebar that can summarize pages, compare products, analyze data, and — for the passive-aggressive among us — “make this sound more professional” when you’re rewriting emails.😂
It also introduces Agent Mode, which lets users delegate multi-step tasks like “research and book a trip” or “find and compare electric cars” to ChatGPT. In other words, the chatbot now shops for you, edits for you, and might soon cancel your subscriptions if it’s feeling bold enough.
On the privacy front, OpenAI insists Atlas users will have “complete control” over data and memory. You’ll be opted out of training data collection by default, but Atlas will still “remember facts and insights from your browsing” if you enable Browser Memories — which sounds suspiciously like “We promise not to look, but we might glance.”🤔
Atlas is entering a crowded field: Google’s Gemini is already baked into Chrome, and startups like Perplexity AI are racing to define what “AI-native browsing” looks like. But OpenAI’s entry shook markets — Alphabet stock dropped 4% after the announcement, with investors fearing Chrome’s throne might wobble📉
This isn’t just another app drop; it’s a signal. The browser wars are quietly becoming AI assistant wars — where “search” becomes “conversation,” and your web history becomes your model’s memory bank.😑
📉 So what?
If ChatGPT’s goal was to live rent-free in your browser and your brain, mission accomplished. Atlas could redefine how we navigate the web — or just add another tab to the chaos.
It’s also OpenAI’s clearest shot yet at Google’s dominance. Chrome was the gateway drug to Search. Atlas could be the gateway to an AI-first internet, where every page is annotated, personalized, and monetizable through your interactions.
Just don’t be surprised if the next time you Google “cheap flights,” Atlas interrupts: “I’ve actually gone ahead and booked those for you — you’re welcome.”
📖 Read more:
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📈 The tools behind the tech📉
📦Product📦
📏Design📏
👩🏿💻Code👩🏿💻
🏢The business behind the tech🏢
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🌐Partner Events & Opportunties 🌐 |
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Below are the top opportunities we want to highlight to you this week! If you want to see more, then check out our new website where we have a whole page dedicated to events and opportunities from us and our partners:
https://www.colorintech.org/events
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AI Learning sprint
CALLING THOSE IN/NEAR BIRMINGHAM:
Do you have a challenge or ideas that can be built using AI
At Colorintech, we believe you don’t need to be an expert to start building with AI🚀
With many possible no-code solutions, anyone can explore AI, develop a solution to a real-world problem, and build a working prototype using no-code AI solutions… All you need is the right support😊
That’s why we created the…
AI Learning Sprint
After our first successful trial of the Sprint in London, we’re excited to launch the second Sprint in Birmingham with our brilliant facilitator and educator André Skepple!
What does the programme look like:
Over the course of a full day session in Birmingham, you’ll:
🔍Identify a problem you care about or a challenge you’re facing;
💡Understand and build the skill sets needed to effectively use AI tools;
🧠Create a solution for your idea / challenge using innovative 🤖AI Tools that do not require coding experience;
🙋Meet, build and network with other cohort participants;
🔧Walk away with a certificate, a prototype you can share, and future-ready skills.
What are the programme logistics:
In order to take part in the programme, you must:
✅Have an idea / challenge you’d like to work on;
✅Attend our full day session on the 24th October 2025 in Birmingham;
✅Complete the pre-work so you can make the most out of the day!
This isn’t just a programme, it’s a chance to make an impact in your life.
If you’re interested, applications are open now! Apply using the link below before the 13th Oct (11:59pm):
Application link: https://form.typeform.com/to/cmnmPCsD
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Pioneer and Protect with BAE Systems
On Nov 6th, we’re working with BAE Systems to run a recruitment focused event for mid-senior roles (3+ years experience) in:
🚀Systems Engineering;
🚀Cyber Security;
🚀Data Analytics and Sciences!
This exclusive evening event will provide you with great insights and understanding into what it’s like to work in the world of defence and security through a brilliant keynote and an enlightening panel!
Following our talks, there will be dedicated networking time so you can meet and connect with the speakers, employees, talent acquisition, and other members of the Colorintech community.
If you want to explore career opportunities in the defence and security industry and be inspired by leading voices at BAE Systems, then be sure to check out the key details below:
📅Date: Thursday 6th Nov 2025
🕐Time: 18:30 - 21:30 UK Time
📍Where: London (Zone 1) - Venue Confirmed 24 Hours Before
As this event has limited and selected spaces, we'll need you to register your interest to attend using our application form below which closes on the 28th October:
https://form.typeform.com/to/ZSo5HtJ4
After applying, we will reach out to you and provide you with next steps if the BAE Systems team has invited you along!
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🙌🏾The latest from the Colorintech team🙌🏾 |
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