Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on ensuring that the UK continues to attract international students to British universities after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Ministers within the Department for Education have regular discussions with the Home Office on ways to ensure the UK remains an attractive study destination, and the UK already has a strong offer for overseas students who graduate in the UK. International graduates can remain in the UK to work following their studies by switching to several existing visa routes, including Tier 2 (skilled worker) visas.
As you will be aware, the Immigration White Paper, published in December 2018, proposes increasing the post-study leave period for international students following completion of studies to 12 months for those completing a PhD, and to 6 months for all full-time postgraduate and undergraduate students at institutions with degree awarding powers. These proposals go beyond recommendations set out in the Migration Advisory Committee’s report and will benefit tens of thousands of international students. During the Home Office’s 12-month engagement programme on the Immigration White Paper, business and stakeholders from a wide range of sectors, including the Higher Education sector, will be able to feed in their views on white paper proposals.
In addition, the International Education Strategy, published on 16 March 2019, sets out actions to continue to provide a welcoming environment for international students, and includes our ambition to increase the number of international students we host to 600,000 by 2030. One of the actions within the strategy includes considering where processes could be improved to improve the visa experience for international students.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps he has taken to encourage more students to study STEM degrees.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Overall numbers of students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are rising. The share of students studying science subjects at English Higher Education providers has increased from 41% in 2010/11 to 45% in 2016/17.
Despite rising STEM student numbers, we are far from complacent and we know that employer groups continue to point to an unmet demand for higher level STEM skills. This issue seems to be particularly acute in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, engineering, science and technology. We are therefore implementing a number of initiatives across government to increase the numbers of STEM graduates. For example:
Effective careers guidance and advice is also key to supporting young people to undertake learning in areas that will give them the skills employers are looking for. The government’s careers strategy sets out a long-term plan to build a world class careers system to achieve this ambition. We are increasing the information available to students to ensure they can make informed choices about what and where to study.
As set out in the Industrial Strategy White Paper, the Skills Advisory Panels (SAPs) programme aims to ensure that the local provision of skills, and the delivery of skills policy in local areas, meets and responds to changing employer needs. SAPs analysis will inform Local Industrial Strategies and local post-16 skills provision, so that skills provision better meets labour market needs.
Degree apprenticeships also allow universities to build partnerships with businesses and employers and to work together to create a skilled workforce. Employers are working in partnership with universities and professional bodies to meet the high-level technical skills that employers and our economy need to prosper.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the level of (a) female and (b) BAME representation in top university positions.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Diversity and equality in higher education is a priority for this government. Higher education institutions are independent bodies and responsible for decisions about who they employ. Like every employer they must ensure they meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010.
Important progress has been made on the number of women in leadership roles in higher education, particularly in the increase in the proportion of female Chairs of Governing Bodies and female Vice-Chancellors. Sector-led gender initiatives, such as the Athena SWAN Charter and the Aurora development scheme, demonstrate the importance the sector attaches to tackling the barriers that hinder women’s progression in higher education careers.
On 1 February, the government announced measures to tackle ethnic disparities in higher education including encouraging higher education providers to make use of tools such as the Race at Work Charter and the Race Equality Charter to drive forward a step-change in the recruitment and progression of ethnic minority employees.
The government has also consulted on ethnicity pay reporting in order to inform future government policy.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of companies who have transferred the apprenticeship levy in London.
Answered by Anne Milton
As at 31 January 2019, there were 200 commitments in England entered into the apprenticeship service, where the transfer of funds between apprenticeship service accounts has been approved (a commitment is where a potential apprentice, who is expected to go on to start an apprenticeship, has been recorded with the Apprenticeship Service). Of these transferred commitments as at 31 January 2019, there were 130 transferred commitments that had materialised into apprenticeship starts. More information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeship-and-levy-statistics-february-2019.
Information on companies transferring apprenticeship levy funds in each region of England is not held centrally. Many levy-paying employers are headquartered in one region but operate across the country meaning that we cannot attribute levy-funds transferred in individual locations. Individual employers have control of the expenditure (and transfer) of apprenticeship levy funds based on their current and future skills needs.