Vocational GCSEs

Lord Hampton Excerpts

Wednesday 28th October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

My noble friend makes an important point. These qualifications must align with and be informed by what the industry sees as important, because that is what provides the opportunity for the young person to know that they are on a pathway that can lead to good work. That will be a key element of the consultation starting soon.

[Lord Hampton (CB)]

My Lords, as with the UTC Question last week, the Government are in danger of asking questions that they should know the answer to. Does the Minister agree that there already is an intellectually rigorous vocational subject? It is called design and technology, and I teach it. All they need to do is reopen the workshops, recruit specialist teachers and get parity of esteem with parents and metrics.

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

I am sure the noble Lord does a very good job of delivering design and technology classes. He will have noted that, in response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the Government have been clear that we want to create both more space and more value to some of the courses that have been lost over previous years. In delivering this broad curriculum, we want to be clear—this will be part of the consultation—about what is necessary in terms of equipment, the estate of the school and the training of teachers.