Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the alignment between degree subject provision and priority occupations identified by Skills England.

The Skills England report, ‘Assessment of Priority Skills to 2030’ sets out that in higher education (HE) over half (53%) of employed recent education leavers are in priority occupations (see table below).

The HE sector is independent and individual institutions are responsible for deciding which courses to deliver. The government is not involved in these decisions but does support delivery of high-cost courses through the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG). We are reforming the SPG to ensure alignment of funding with the priority sectors which support the Industrial Strategy and the Plan for Change and future skills needs. In addition, Priority Additional Entitlement under the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) will be available for courses that align with industrial strategy priorities. From January 2027, LLE funding will all also be available for level 4, 5 and 6 modules from full level qualifications in subject groups that address priority skills gaps and align with the government’s industrial strategy.

Top 10 first degree (level 6) higher education subjects into priority occupations:

Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/assessment-of-priority-skills-to-2030/assessment-of-priority-skills-to-2030#education-supply-for-priority-occupations.