Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many applications they have received from groups wishing to become apprenticeship trailblazers and how many employers are involved.
Answered by Lord Nash
Since Trailblazers began, we have received 556 expressions of interest. As a result of this, 202 groups of employers have developed or are in the process developing 441 standards. There are over 1,400 employers directly involved in the Trailblazers.
A list of employers involved in standards that are still in development is available in the attached document and at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/530096/Employers_and_other_Organisations_Involved_in_Trailblazers.pdf
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to encourage employers and universities to become involved with the university technical colleges programme.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Department for Education awards an annual grant to the Baker Dearing Educational Trust to provide advice, guidance and support for employers and universities wishing to become involved with the university technical colleges programme.
We have seen many examples of universities sponsoring good schools and that is why we have set out in the Schools that Work for Everyone consultation our proposals for universities having a greater involvement in the establishment and sponsorship of schools including UTCs.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of university technical colleges on improving the supply of British workers with high quality science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, and in reducing the skills shortages experienced by UK businesses.
Answered by Lord Nash
We know that university technical colleges (UTCs) can be a popular choice with young people who want to follow a technical curriculum and we anticipate that as UTCs become more established and more young people choose to attend them, they will help to meet the needs of our science, technology and engineering industries. At full capacity, the UTCs currently open or in development will offer around 35,000 places for young people to help them gain skills for the world of work.
The UTC programme is relatively new and the destination data we hold is limited. Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 destination data for all schools is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/destinations-of-ks4-and-ks5-pupils-2015-provisional
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the changes that have transferred policy on apprenticeships and the responsibility for the Institute for Apprenticeships to the Department for Education, how they plan to ensure that employers and business leaders are involved in future development of policy on apprenticeships.
Answered by Lord Nash
Prior to recent Government changes, the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills were jointly responsible for apprenticeships policy. The Department for Education remains fully committed to working with and involving employers and business leaders in the development and implementation of apprenticeships policy.
The Institute for Apprenticeships will be employer-led and have responsibility for ensuring the quality of apprenticeship standards in England. The board will comprise primarily of employers, business leaders and their representatives. This will ensure that employers are fully engaged and continue to play a key role in improving apprenticeship quality.
Employer-led groups will continue to develop apprenticeship standards that meet their skills needs. Over 1,400 employers are currently involved in designing the new apprenticeship standards.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their careers Inspiration Vision Statement published in September 2013; and whether its implementation has led to significant improvements in providing young people with the skills required in the world of work.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Inspiration Vision Statement encourages schools and employers to work together to better prepare young people for the world of work. We know that many schools and employers have taken up the challenge and that there are many examples of positive engagement between employers and schools.
However, the evidence is that all young people do not yet have equal access to excellent careers advice, guidance and inspiration. That is why the Government has made available £20 million to support improvements in this area in the Autumn Statement, and, further announced on 10 December, the creation of a new employer-led careers and enterprise company. The new company will support much greater engagement between employers on the one hand and schools and colleges on the other, to create inspired and skilled young people ready to engage positively with the world of work.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of University Technical Colleges in providing young people with the skills required in the world of work.
Answered by Lord Nash
To date, 30 university technical colleges (UTCs) are open across the country and a further 26 plan to open by 2016. UTCs contribute towards our aim of raising standards for young people by introducing increased competition, innovation and choice. They provide high quality technical education for those 14-19-year olds that choose to follow a more practically orientated education. The involvement of universities and employers in UTCs provides more opportunities for young people than ever before. The UTCs open and in development will offer around 35,000 places for young people to help them gain skills for the world of work.
Global Academy UTC, for example, is in development and once open will offer 800 young people from across London with opportunities to gain the technical skills needed in the creative and digital media business.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of introducing data on post-school destinations in addition to academic achievements as an indicator of school performance.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Department for Education intends to publish destination measures data for both key stage 4 (KS4) and key stage 5 (KS5) in performance tables once we are satisfied that the data are robust enough. KS4 education destinations are already included in performance tables, and have been since 2013, but before we publish full destinations data we have to test and evaluate it fully to ensure its reliability.
We published the KS5 destination measure for the first time as experimental statistics in the 2014 destinations statistical first release[1] because of the inclusion of new institutions, such as independent schools and special schools. The employment, training and characteristics data need to be fully tested and evaluated before they can be published on the performance tables website. Tables, including employment data and breakdowns of the data based on student characteristics for former KS4 students, have also been published in the destination measures statistical first release (experimental statistics) alongside the KS5 data.
[1] www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-destinations