Yesterday morning, I gave evidence to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee about people and skills in UK STEM.
At the recent Mais Lecture, the Prime Minister said that “providing our young people with a world-class education is one of the Government’s greatest responsibilities…education is the most powerful weapon we have in our fight to level-up.”
As I outlined to the Committee, this vision that education must be a central experience throughout life to ensure our students and adults have the skills to match the changing workforce needs is one that I share, and strongly support.
The Department for Education is boosting skills across the country through a £3.8 billion investment over this Parliament by:
• Working with employers to create more apprenticeships
• Offering more Skills Bootcamps
• Establishing the Unit for Future Skills
• The Lifelong Loan Entitlement
A major part of the Committee’s questions focused on the provision of Degree Apprenticeships in STEM subjects and I was pleased to report that there are now:
• 98 degree level STEM apprenticeships available
• 7,960 apprentices undertook a degree level STEM apprenticeship in 21/22
• Provision of Higher Technical Qualifications will help boost STEM learning through quality qualifications
