Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the number of (a) work experience and (b) apprenticeship opportunities in (i) existing and (ii) emerging sectors.

The department is committed to ensuring that all pupils are provided with at least two weeks' worth of work experience over the course of their secondary education, by the end of this Parliament. We are piloting the delivery of this guarantee through our delivery partner, the Careers and Enterprise Company. This includes exploring improving the supply of work experience opportunities in all, including emerging, sectors, such as life sciences, advanced manufacturing and digital, ensuring equitable access to activities and placements. We are looking at ways to reduce the administrative burden on both employers and schools to encourage greater uptake of work experience amongst pupils. Piloting work began in October 2024, with end of pilot reporting in August 2025.

Our levy-funded growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at the heart, will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers in England, aligned with our industrial strategy creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries. As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors. From August 2025, three trailblazers in the key priority sectors of green energy, healthcare and film/TV production will be among the first to pioneer, and benefit from, the flexibilities that new shorter duration apprenticeships offer. These will support more people to gain high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country.