Policy Exchange recently released a report recommending that the government redistributes some of the wealth of our education sector by taking from “the rich” (universities) and giving to “the poor” (the further education sector). The thinktank says this would help to cultivate the high-level technical skills the country so badly needs.

The report, entitled Higher, Faster, Further, More, calls on the chancellor to use this month’s spending review to redirect £532m from university grant funding into further education. I’m sure many in higher education will find the suggestion contentious, but it is one that many of us in further education fully support and the argument for doing so is a strong one.

The report notes that UK universities currently have unrestricted reserves of £12.3bn; their overall income has risen by 26% since 2009-10. Meanwhile, further education budgets have been decimated, dropping by 24% in the same period. As a result, the sector is in crisis – the National Audit Office predicts that a quarter of colleges could face bankruptcy within the next year.

Yet this is happening just as the benefits of vocational education are finally beginning to be appreciated again, in the wake of the government’s pledge to create 3 million new apprenticeships. The further education sector delivers the bulk of current apprenticeships – almost 300,000 were studied last year – and it is battling critical skills shortages by training half of the country’s apprentices in construction, manufacturing and engineering.

And further education colleges offer more than just apprenticeships. They provide high-quality professional and technical education to millions of people in the UK every year. In 2014-15 alone, more than 800,000 16- to 18-year-olds and 2 million adults were trained in colleges.

That’s not to say that further education is not without its issues. For too long the sector has had to prioritise creating and running courses that attract funding rather than taking the time to really understand the skills needs of local and national employers. But a financial boost would allow for a renewed focus on the delivery of vocational education that equips people with the right skills for employment.

The pendulum has swung too far in higher education’s favour, despite the sector not fulfilling its promises to those it serves. For years we have told young people that they need a degree to get a well-paid job, but the statistics simply don’t bear this out.

The average student now graduates with £44,000 of debt, but a recent study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that that nearly six in ten (59%) are in non-graduate jobs. It concludes that many young people would be better off with an apprenticeship.

That’s not to say that higher education isn’t right for some, but we need a balanced system that offers young people real choice. We need both halves of the tertiary education system to be healthy.

Redirecting money from universities to strengthen further education would mean that teenagers would have a genuine choice between academic study and professional training that prepares them for work. And it could be a lifesaver for the austerity-hit adult learning sector, which is vital to maintaining an agile workforce in an age where there is no such thing as a job for life. What’s more, further education colleges are already vital to the infrastructure of higher education; some 27% of all full-time A-level students in 2014-15 are studying in such institutions.

Further education is the neglected middle sibling of UK education, but it shouldn’t be. It’s in everyone’s interest to train people to fill the growing skills gaps. Ensuring that the sector is financially sustainable has to be the starting point.

Policy Exchange is right to argue that technical excellence in the UK will only be achieved through greater equality in education. With the right resources, colleges will be able to innovate and improve just as effectively as universities. A £532m boost for the sector would be absolutely invaluable in ensuring our efforts are directed towards the right areas and meet the needs of the economy and the country.

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