A university for Wakefield? Professor leading new study says ‘nothing is off the table’

Professor Sir Chris Husbands said “nothing is off the table” when it comes to likely outcomes of the six month study, including a possible recommendation that a university be established in the city.

Wakefield is England’s largest city without a university and less than 29 per cent of local people over 16 have a qualification above A-Level.

Part of the work of the Wakefield Futures Commission will consider how best to increase participation in further education.

Sir Chris said: “Wakefield is a really interesting place.

“It’s got a proud history and it’s got great people.

“But it is currently suffering because the skills provision and the access to higher-skilled qualifications that lead to good, better and resilient jobs are not in place.

“We absolutely know that there is no growth without skills.

“Ultimately, economic growth and social improvement depends upon people.”

Research will also focus on how the district can support people to access high skilled jobs to the area.

Sir Chris added: “My job is to do some thinking with the community, on how we design and implement a better high skills route through further and higher education for the people of Wakefield.

“In particular, the young people of Wakefield.

“It’s called the Wakefield Futures Commission because it is a reminder that, for all of us, how well we succeed depends on how well we invest in the skills and the people of the future.

“We need to ask what’s going on. We have relatively low participation in higher education in Wakefield – it’s about 12 percentage points shy of where you would expect it to be, given the demographics.

“We have to unpacked that a bit but I don’t know the answer to the question.

“This is not about the attributes, the abilities or the aspirations of people in Wakefield.

“It never is. It’s about how effective the skills system is in meeting their needs.

“People in Wakefield need places where they can go to get a high level of skill and qualification and ideally deploy that to drive the economy of Wakefield, so it is more successful for all of its residents.”

Asked if the commission’s work could lead to a recommendation for a university for the city, Sir Chris replied: “Nothing is off the table. Let’s have a really serious think about that.

“This is absolutely about how we get better skills provision in Wakefield.

“If we do that, everybody will gain. I don’t want to take anything off the table.

“We are putting together a really interesting group of people.

“Some from Wakefield, other people with national policy remit, and I think gives us a really good opportunity to say something that makes a difference and is intelligent.”

The Wakefield Futures Commission includes:

Professor Sir Chris Husbands, Lead Chair Commissioner.

Councillor Michael Graham, Wakefield Council’s cabinet member for regeneration and economic growth.

Mark Ridgway OBE, from Wakefield-based engineering company Group Rhodes.

Wesley Bush, headteacher at Castleford Academy.

Dr Ruth Adams, from South East Employers.

Justine Andrew, head of education, skills and productivity at KPMG.

Julie Tam, deputy director of policy at Universities UK.

John Widdowson, from Newcastle College Group.

Paul Swinney, on behalf of Centre of Cities.