Join us at UVAC’s Innovation Exchange and be part of a national conversation shaping the future of technical, vocational and professional education in the UK — inspiring inclusion, boosting innovation and building a workforce ready for the future.

The UK’s rapidly evolving skills landscape presents both challenge and opportunity. The engineering sector alone is facing a projected shortfall of up to 1 million engineers by 2030 due to retirement, skills mismatch and persistent diversity gaps — a clear call to action. Despite an increasingly diverse population of over 69 million, vast talent across genders, socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, religions and beliefs remains under-represented in priority STEM and wider growth sectors. Industry demand for diverse talent continues to rise because it delivers results, with employers recognising the link between inclusion, innovation and sustainable economic growth.

UVAC’s Innovation Exchange is a high-impact, in-person event exploring how to widen participation, build workforce capacity and co-develop inclusive pathways that will ‘unlock’ talent across all ages and levels — aligning with the Government ambitions on post-16 reform, skills-led productivity and workforce sustainability.