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Category: Education

  • Robert Halfon – 2023 Speech at the National Education Opportunities Network

    Robert Halfon – 2023 Speech at the National Education Opportunities Network

    The speech made by Robert Halfon, the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, on 6 July 2023.

    It’s great to be back in Exeter for the first time since I was re-appointed as Higher Education and Skills Minister. And in such great company! To be addressing the organisation of professionals for widening access to higher education is to address a crowd that shares my outlook. I want to thank Professor Graeme Atherton for inviting me here today, and for founding NEON back in 2012. The attendance today illustrates how access and participation has evolved from a peripheral tick-box exercise, to a central professional endeavour that all higher education (HE) institutions should take seriously.

    As far as I am concerned, social justice is fundamental to higher education. Universities should exist to facilitate the studies, progression and graduation of all students – including those from disadvantaged backgrounds – so they can go on to get good jobs and pursue worthwhile careers.

    Today, I want to talk to you about the golden thread of social justice that runs through my brief of Higher Education and skills. But I’d like to say at the outset that I’m not offering this summary of measures as the complete solution.

    While areas of deprivation and low achievement still exist, there will still be more work to do. And I really welcome your insights on how we’re doing. When it comes to sharing opportunities fairly, we haven’t reached the point where we can lean on our spades and say ‘job done’. Access and participation measures are not about patting ourselves on the back. Social justice demands we remain open to how we could all do better – and I include myself in that.

    Skills education is incredibly important to social justice – because gaining recognised skills helps a person succeed in the labour market when they don’t have other things that can help you get ahead, such as an education that maximises academic performance, family connections or an understanding of different work sectors.

    That’s why skills make-up the greater part of the Ladder of Opportunity. This framework outlines what we need for the skills system to support people of all backgrounds to ascend to the top rung: well-paid, secure and sustainable employment. This should be an attainable goal for everyone, not just those who start with some advantages in life. One of the pillars that holds-up the Ladder is opportunities and social justice. These need to be our foremost considerations in making quality, skilled employment widespread.

    And I won’t deny that there’s an economic argument for this too. Delivering skills for the country is central to driving the economy. Skilled jobs have the potential to contribute 1/3 of our future productivity growth. In short, there’s no downside to upskilling the nation.

    The Chancellor has his 4 ‘E’s for economic growth and prosperity: Enterprise, Education and Employment Everywhere. His focus is productivity – but we can’t have that without maximising opportunities to reach widespread abilities. The Lifelong Loan Entitlement will be a major catalyst for broadening the opportunity to train throughout a lifetime, which I’ll come to later.

    For now, given that ‘three is the magic number’ of this conference,

    I have three ‘P’s for social justice – Place, Privilege and Prestige.

    Let’s start with Place. Social justice is fundamentally rooted in the places people come from – where they grow up, gain their education and find a job.

    A virtuous cycle of growth can have a remarkable effect on a place. An area with great education and skills training will attract businesses looking for their future workforce. They set-up and invest in the area, which in turn creates more jobs and higher tax receipts – allowing for higher investment in local public services.

    Harlow College has an advanced manufacturing centre and renewable energy facility, which is doing exactly that – attracting relevant businesses to the skills pipeline it has created.

    That is why this government is focused on delivering for places that need a sustainable jobs and skills ecosystem. Last year’s Levelling Up white paper included a clear skills mission: by 2030, 200,000 more people each year will be completing high-quality skills training in England. But it’s not enough to raise skills levels if it only re-enforces current pockets of economic prosperity. So this number will include 80,000 annual course completions in the lowest skilled areas.

    Our 38 local skills improvement plans will support this, covering the whole of England. Each plan is led by an employer-representative body, ensuring that skills provision matches the needs of local employers. Wherever they are in the country, learners will have confidence that the skills they’re developing match those sought by local businesses.

    In all places, people need high-quality careers advice from an early age to help them fulfil their potential. This is the first rung of the Ladder of Opportunity, the beginning of their journey to good employment. We have worked hard to lay the foundations of a coherent careers system, with strong collaboration between educators, training providers and employers.

    The Careers and Enterprise Company work through local Careers Hubs to support schools, colleges and training providers to develop and improve their careers provision. Part of the battle is raising awareness of what’s on offer, so that young people aren’t given a false, binary choice of work or university. Our Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme communicates the benefits of apprenticeships, T Levels and other technical learning routes to older school pupils. It’s available nationwide but focusses on disadvantaged areas – places where its message could make the most difference.

    Later in life, the National Careers Service can provide free online guidance. But it also has community-based advisors to provide personal support to adults with recognised barriers to finding work. This includes career routes guidance on apprenticeships, traineeships, university and other technical and vocational routes. Last year it celebrated supporting 1 million adults into a job or learning outcome in 2022. These local, one-to-one interventions make a real difference to the paths taken by those who most need guidance to get back into education, training or work.

    Overall, we are determined that ‘place’ should strongly determine where additional funding is channelled. So, for example, where young people are taking the new T Levels in an economically deprived area, providers now receive additional funding to support their attainment.

    Focussing on place is absolutely necessary for social justice, but it is not sufficient. Because within places, there can be disparities in the opportunities available to different groups – such as those with disabilities or learning difficulties.

    My second P is privilege. Because the privilege of quality education and training opportunities should just not be for the privileged few. It should be available for everyone, regardless of their background or circumstance.

    Schools play a part in this, as I’ve described – but employers, FE colleges, universities and training institutions also need to reach down into their communities to lift the veil on post-16 routes. We’ve seen some great practice right here in this city, with Exeter University’s tutoring pilot run by undergraduates in St James School. This saw a 100% improvement in writing ability following a nine week intervention – a great example of universities working closely with schools to raise attainment. It is crucial that pupils are supported to achieve to a high standard before they’re required to make choices about their future.

    You’ll be aware that the Office for Students recently launched the Equality of Opportunity Risk Register, with 12 key risks to equality of opportunity across the student lifecycle. These have used evidence to determine where interventions can really move the dial on social justice. They’ll be an important tool for designing future initiatives to broaden access to HE, and I look forward to providers rewriting their upcoming Access and Participation plans to incorporate them.

    We should recognise where progress is being made. While a substantial gap remains between the most and least advantaged students, more disadvantaged English 18-year-olds than ever secured a university place last year. And black pupils have seen the greatest increase in the proportion going to university by age 19 – 62.1% in 2020-21, compared to 44.1% in 2009-10.

    In 2020, we met our targets to increase the proportion of apprentices who have learning difficulties and disabilities, or are from an ethnic minority background. This encouraging trend is continuing; halfway through this academic year, both groups’ apprenticeships starts had risen again by nearly 15% on last year.

    We want to further build on this momentum, so that no young person rules themselves out of positive future prospects because of their background or personal circumstances.

    Young people with learning difficulties and disabilities may need extra support to manage their training and complete their apprenticeship. Following some fantastic examples, we want to work with providers and employers so that they can offer more mentoring opportunities for these apprentices.

    My ambition is for every apprentice with a disability to benefit from access to a suitable mentor throughout their apprenticeship. This is why I am today announcing a new mentoring pilot, where a group of trailblazing providers will commit to expanding their mentoring offer to all disabled apprentices, enabled through a bespoke training and support offer. The pilot, which will launch later this year, will mean we can better understand what works for this cohort and set a clear direction of travel to expand the mentoring offer more widely across the sector.

    We are also investing up to £18 million to build capacity in the Supported Internships Programme, which hosts 16 to 24-year-olds with SEND in a substantial work placement. We aim to double the number of these internships to around 5,000 per year by 2025, supporting more disabled young people into employment. Again, this is about targeted support that brings opportunities to people who might otherwise be reluctant to take them. The Chancellor additionally allocated up to £3 million in the Spring Budget to test whether this might be an effective model for other learners.

    Apprenticeships offer a package of wages, training and sector induction which can be instrumental for a young person who has had a very difficult start in life. That’s why from August, we will increase the apprenticeships care-leavers’ bursary from £1,000 to £3,000. This allows these young people to start a new career, confident they can cover the living costs usually met by family. This is on top of the £1,000 available to both the employer and training provider who take on a care-experienced apprentice – making a total of £5,000 additional funding available to boost outcomes for this group.

    So I’ve described measures to spread opportunity across the country, and extend the privilege of quality education and training to everyone, regardless of background.

    But those interventions are not enough. We also need to do something that is in some ways more difficult – to revolutionise the way skills training is perceived.

    The perception is often that vocational education, such as apprenticeships, are somehow worth less than academic education or a university degree. This has always struck me as odd. These courses and training options give learners transferable skills that they can take to a hungry jobs market. Regarding them as ‘lesser’ is both illogical and slightly absurd. Anyone who wants to employ skilled people – whether in a restaurant, a silicon chip factory, or to rewire their kitchen – cannot afford to be dismissive of this education.

    That is why my third P – prestige – is crucial. I want technical education and training routes to have parity of prestige with academic routes. For parents to want their child to do an apprenticeship as much as they want them to go to university. For students to be excited at the prospect of learning a real technical skill that can get them a job. And for teachers to value pupils’ success equally, whether they accomplish a T Level or three A levels.

    I really believe degree apprenticeships can bridge this gap in a way that other initiatives haven’t managed – through their name, their course content, and the institutions that run them. As I said recently in another speech, HE needs to allow FE to leverage some of its prestige. And that is exactly what will happen if more great universities such as Exeter collaborate with industry to create new degree apprenticeships. I was very honoured to speak at the graduation of the first Exeter University Degree Apprentices back in 2021.

    We’ve seen year-on-year growth in these prestigious courses, with over 185,000 starts since their introduction – but we want to go much further. Up to £40 million will be available over the next two financial years [2023-24 and 2024-25] for Higher Education providers to expand degree apprenticeships and widen access to them. This funding will enable institutions to deliver degree apprenticeships for the first time, and broaden the existing range – prioritising new routes to professions previously reserved for traditional graduates.

    The Office for Students will conduct a competitive bidding process for funding later this year. I urge everyone here to look into this for your institution. Great universities like this one have already gone before you, demonstrating the success and social justice these courses can bring about.

    I also want to end the perception that FE colleges are somehow second-rate institutions.

    And that to finally emerge from the shadow of academia, there must be a ‘Skills Oxbridge’ we can point to. I have great respect for the academic excellence of Oxford and Cambridge, but we need to stop using them as a benchmark for everything else.

    I have visited colleges all over the country, from Harlow to Loughborough to Oldham – and I’m looking forward to visiting Exeter College tomorrow. I’ve seen the great work they’re doing – how for example, state-of-the-art T Levels in healthcare are creating a pipeline for future NHS medical staff.

    FE is supplying education solutions to real-world challenges. Its great institutions should be celebrated on their own merits, for preparing their students for good jobs and great careers.

    The way people access further and higher education also plays a part in how it is perceived. From next year, young people will be able to apply for apprenticeships through UCAS alongside undergraduate degree applications, putting technical and vocational education on an equal, accessible footing with academic routes. Our eventual aim is a one-stop-shop, where everyone can explore their career and training options at any point in their lives.

    To further break down the barriers between HE and FE, we are introducing the Lifelong Loan Entitlement to unify education finance under a single system. From 2025, financial support equivalent to 4 years post-18 education (£37,000 in today’s fees) will be available for individuals to use over their working lives. Learning and paying by module will present new opportunities for those unable to commit to a long course. Like getting on and off a train, learners can alight and board their post-school education when it suits them, building qualifications at their own pace. Each learner’s personal account will display their remaining education finance balance, but also act as a portal to guide their learning pathway.

    The LLE’s positive impact is likely to be greatest for disadvantaged students, who are 9 percentage points less likely than their peers to have a sustained education destination after 16-18 study. As a traditional three-year degree is not always a viable option, the Lifelong Loan Entitlement will provide an alternative to train, retrain and upskill, alongside other opportunities in the Government’s broader skills offer.

    I hope I’ve been able to demonstrate that channelling education measures to bring about social justice is a real mission for me. It’s not just about an ‘uplift in spending’ here, or a token initiative there. A coherent strategy runs through my department’s work, where we carefully consider what the key barriers are and how we address them – in order to spread opportunity to everyone, regardless of their background.

    And aside from the social good we can accomplish, there is a really positive story to tell about the tremendous technical and economic power of skills education in this country. Further Education is not second best – it’s at the centre of innovation, preparing young people for the jobs of the future. There are now almost 160 freshly developed apprenticeship standards at degree level, attached to roles at companies like Goldman Sachs and BAE systems.

    I know you are as keen as I am to bring about a future where education and social justice are synonymous. To make sure that talent from every background can find a path up the Ladder of Opportunity, we will persist with the 3 Ps:

    Ensuring that every place has skills training opportunities available.

    Spreading the privilege of quality education and training to everyone, not just the few.

    And raising the prestige of technical education routes to be valued equally with academic ones.

  • Gillian Keegan – 2023 Speech at the Local Government Association Conference

    Gillian Keegan – 2023 Speech at the Local Government Association Conference

    The speech made by Gillian Keegan, the Secretary of State for Education, in Bournemouth on 5 July 2023.

    Thank you, Kevin.

    It is a great pleasure to be here to address the LGA conference for the first time.

    I know how important the work, and the voice, of local government is.

    My first step into public life after a long business career was as a local councillor where I was also trained by the LGA.

    And now as an MP, a Minister, a Secretary of State, I see every day the hard work that councils up and down this country do.

    I often get asked what a “good” or a “great” start in life is for children and that looks like.

    Every child, every family, is different. But to me, there is a common thread.

    Every child needs stability plus parents or carers around them that are fully engaged, so that they can grow, they can learn, and they can thrive.

    This is something that we all worry about, how can we make sure that all children get the stability they need to set them up for life?

    You are often the first line of defence for children in your area and I want you to know that I know how vital your role is.

    What you do changes lives. You can’t ever be thanked enough for this.

    I want you to know that I am right behind you in your efforts.

    It is not lost on me that I am addressing you today while children and young people in schools across the country face disruption from industrial action.

    This disruption is undermining the stability we have been working so hard to recover after the pandemic.

    Let me be clear, we should not be having these strikes. In general, but certainly not now.

    Children have been through so much in the pandemic; I can’t think of a worst time to be willingly keeping them out of school.

    And we know that it’s critical to ensure children spend as much time in school as possible.

    Because we know that time spent in school is time well spent. School provides stability, it provides education, it provides support, it provides community.

    But there are significantly more children missing school than before the pandemic.

    Sadly, tragically, too many children are not attending school regularly, are persistently absent or, are missing education altogether.

    Some have labelled these “ghost children” – but I don’t like that label – they are real children, and their potential is being cut short.

    I’m determined we fix this, and I am grateful for the work you have already done with schools and families to ensure that they and their children get the right support.

    We are clear that the system needs to work together to improve attendance, focusing on a “support-first” approach.

    When we can we will put these new expectations on a statutory footing. Because this really matters.

    In the meantime, we continue to support you in your efforts.

    Our new data tool means you can respond quickly to trends in near real time, our attendance advisers are already working with around 115 local authorities, and our Attendance Action Alliance, which I chair, and which includes the Children’s Commissioner, the President of the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Children’s Mental Health lead from NHS England. Championing good attendance is top of our agenda.

    I’m delighted to say that bit by bit, little by little, our approach is working.

    And this is critical in the next few months as we know that children who miss the first few days of the new term, without good reason, are much more likely to miss long periods of their schooling than their peers.

    This is a critical period, but it is also an opportunity.

    By September we want to be welcoming as many children back to school as possible.

    I believe, truly, that not only can we get this right, but that working together, we will get this right.

    By supporting children, and families, to get kids into school, to get them learning.

    To get them the support they need, and the stability the deserve.

    Of course, there are children who face bigger challenges than others.

    When you look at vulnerable children, whether it’s because of their home life, a disability, or a previous experience, it’s often the same children, who are being counted and treated as vulnerable in three, four, five different systems.

    Nearly half of our children in need also have special educational needs, as do 57% of children who were looked after for at least 12 months.

    Those children, they are just as smart and have just as much potential as their peers. The only difference is that they got dealt a tougher hand in life.

    We all know that they need the support, the stability, and the help that will allow them to reach their potential.

    The reality is that for children with more complex needs, support often takes too long to arrive – and when it does – it is not always of the quality or consistency that they deserve.

    Families have to jump through hoops to get their children what they need, and providers and services are under increasing pressure to deliver.

    That’s why we’re investing, doubling high needs funding in the past four years, so that it now stands at a record £10 billion, and putting £2.6 billion into special and alternative provision school places.

    But it’s not just about funding. It’s about how we use this and that’s why our SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement plan outlines a mission to transform the system so that all children, whatever their needs, can fulfil their potential.

    These children face many challenges, not just one. This creates more need for support, even though they have less to draw on.

    That is why we are working with you to deliver consistent high-quality support, providing more social workers, more educational psychologists, and more support staff.

    We are going to deliver new national standards and practice guides, that will not only show what excellence looks like, but will provide a benchmark of support that every child with special needs can expect.

    We will set out clear roles and responsibilities across the system and end the bureaucratic battle that prevents families and children getting the support they need.

    A standardised EHCP template and national digital requirements will mean families can get the support your teams and partners provide, more simply and quicker.

    We will work with you, and with families, to develop and test these resources over the coming months.

    We will also announce details of how we will work together on testing our reforms through our Change Programme and the establishment of new Regional Expert Partnerships.

    So the good news is, we are definitely going in the right direction.

    But there will always be more to do, and I’m so grateful for your support on this journey.

    That brings me to the second area of partnership I want to speak about – and that’s our work together supporting families.

    You may well have heard the Prime Minister speak about how central family is to our vision of the future.

    But it’s hard for young families to balance both their children’s education and their own careers, especially with financial challenges and especially in the early years.

    Parents in 2022 were paying nearly 6% more for childcare for under 2s and 6.4% more for 2-year-olds than they were the previous year.

    This is why the Chancellor pledged the single biggest investment in childcare this country has ever seen, and why by 2028 we will have doubled spending on childcare with more than £8 billion every year on early years education. But I know you need extra support to deliver this.

    I know you want precise figures, and I’m pleased to say we’ll be confirming funding allocations for each local authority later this week.

    We have also announced £289m of investment to help you set up and deliver wraparound childcare, available from next year. And we’ll be seeking your views on how we make this scheme work effectively.

    This investment will make a real difference to families up and down the country, so that they can balance their lives and support their children.

    This is the support I would like every child to have. But the reality is, family life is often complex. Sometimes there are challenges, and families need extra support.

    In February this year, we set out how we will provide this and ensure children are kept safe and stay happy.

    We called it ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, because love and stability are what every child craves and what they deserve.

    Our strategy sets out how we will work with families to help them manage challenges.

    We’ll shortly be announcing which local areas will participate in the first wave of our Families First for Children pathfinder.

    These areas will provide a vision of the future system, supporting families through new Family Help services and an expert child protection response, to ensure frontline workers have the knowledge and expertise to support children and their families. Where children need protection, we will ensure that services, we will give staff the skills and support to take decisive action.

    Where children cannot stay with their parents, we should look first at wider family networks and support them and care for the child.

    And, where a child needs to enter the care system we will provide the same foundation of love, stability, and safety.

    There are 82,000 children in care. They are in our family, they are in our care, and we owe it to them to ask ourselves everyday – are we doing the best we can?

    We must always be ambitious for children in care and care leavers and I’m proud of what we’re doing in Government to help these children thrive and achieve their potential in adulthood.

    One of my most rewarding parts of this job is seeing this first-hand and chairing our cross-government Care Leavers board.

    And I am proud to work in a Government that care so deeply about this and it is great to be working with my colleague Johnny Mercer who is working on taking the lessons we have learnt about supporting veterans, and joining-up support for care leavers in the same way.

    We have increased the leaving care allowance from £2,000 to £3,000 and have consulted on expanding our corporate parenting responsibilities, so that more public bodies provide the right support to care leavers and also businesses.

    These young people need support when they start out on their own. Our Staying Close and Staying Put programmes will enable young people to  stay with their foster carers or close to their children’s homes when they leave care.

    Working together is a huge part of the making sure that all children get the future they deserve.

    I have seen this myself whether through Family Hubs and Start for Life, working with 87 councils in England; or the Supporting Families programme which has helped over 650,000 families already.

    When we get it right, and work together, it leads to incredible outcomes.

    Let me take fostering for example.

    I know first-hand the role foster carers play because many of my aunties fostered children.

    I have also been privileged to meet plenty of inspiring people who open their homes and their hearts to children.

    People like Marites. Marites is a dedicated foster carer – like many other across the country.

    She told me about one of the children she fostered. A seven-year-old boy.

    When he first arrived with her, he didn’t say a word. In fact, he didn’t speak for weeks. They didn’t know what he had gone through in his short life, but his silence spoke volumes.

    But Marites never gave up in the time she supported him. She gave this silent little boy the love and care he needed and slowly he began to recover.

    Years passed and then by chance she caught up with him walking through her borough. Her silent little boy was now the mayor.

    What a story, and what a life changed because one person took a chance on one child.

    You will all have had similar rewarding stories.

    Our job is to make sure every child gets the stability and foundation in life they deserve.

    A child, wherever they are, should be able to feel safe with unconditional love. They should be supported so that they know anything is possible.

    I know we ask a huge amount of you; I know that you wrestle with difficult decisions and pressures every day.

    But let’s just think about the prize. Together, we can create a world where all children, regardless of where they come from, can get the start in life they really deserve.

    Where it truly doesn’t matter where you came from, only where you are going.

    Together, we have started to make that future possible. But there is a lot more work to do.

    Work we must do. Because those children deserve nothing less.

    For me and many of your I know this is personal and I know we’re doing this for the right reasons, and together we can change lives.

    And I promise you, when we see those children grow up, thrive, and deliver that same love and support to their own families.

    We will know that all of the effort we have put in will have been worth it.

    Indeed, it may be the best thing we ever do.

    Thank you.

  • Gillian Keegan – 2023 Speech at London Tech Week 

    Gillian Keegan – 2023 Speech at London Tech Week 

    The speech made by Gillian Keegan, the Secretary of State for Education, at London Tech Week on 14 June 2023.

    Good morning,

    I’d like to start by wishing London Tech Week a happy 10th birthday. So, 10 years, an awful lot happens in tech in 10 years, even in 2 years…

    10 years ago, for instance, Goldsmiths, University of London had just published a study that said 1 in 5 Brits were so worried about privacy that they wanted to ban Google’s new wearable tech Google Glass.

    Fast forward to the present day, we seem to have got over somewhat our reservations about sharing and tracking data, even if we didn’t all get behind Google Glass.

    Last year the market for wearable tech was worth around $61billion and is expected to grow 15% a year between now and 2030.

    But, as you know, the tech revolution isn’t just helping us to track our daily steps – it’s transformed every aspect of the way we live and the way we work.

    Take farming – it’s hardly the first industry you think of when you think of tech, but this week I was learning about how farmers are now using satellite imaging to analyse crop quality, and data modelling to predict when to move their livestock from one field to another to get the best grazing. Another example is medicine, where simulations in interactive wards help train the nurses and doctors of tomorrow. The speed, cost and increasingly ubiquitous nature of tech is extraordinary.

    I recently visited City of Liverpool College, where they have a mind-blowing state-of-the-art Mo-Cap or motion capture suite which is used to develop the next generation of games and animated films as well as many other utilities across business.

    When Walt Disney was creating animations in the 1930s, every second of film involved 20-30 drawings. The speed at which Mo-Cap allows current animators to produce content is breath-taking.

    Tech is reaching further and deeper than ever before.

    But if we are to harness its potential, our workforce has to be flexible and ready. Upskilling so that we can use tech to its full potential is one of the biggest challenges we face if we are to keep our economy growing and competitive in a global context.

    Artificial intelligence is transforming the world around us and will help grow the economy. The workforces that are best equipped in AI with the skills they need will be the ones that ride the wave. We must make sure education is not left behind.

    For that potential to be realised, we need to understand the opportunities, as well as the real risks new technology brings.

    That’s why we want to kick-start a conversation with experts from across education and technology to hear their views and learn from their experiences.

    From today we are opening a call for evidence, seeking the views and experiences of business leaders like you on the use of generative artificial intelligence. The scope of this review includes Large Language Models such as ChatGPT, Google Bard and others. We are also seeking views on the benefits and concerns around its use in education.

    And this will help us make the right decisions to get the best out of generative AI in a safe and secure way. So, I ask you, please, get involved with this conversation.

    Your experience and insights are essential to our mission to create an agile and responsive skills system, which delivers the skills needed to support a world-class workforce and drive economic growth.

    The UK is already a world leader in technology with the largest tech sector in Europe and the third largest in the world. We have a focus on the key growth sectors of digital, green industries, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and creative industries, which is where we really excel. How are we going to make sure we stay ahead of the curve and are not playing catch-up? That will be the challenge for everyone in this room.

    In March this year, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology published a framework that sets out our approach to make the UK a science and technology superpower by 2030.

    We want to make sure there are more opportunities for people to enter the science and technology workforce.

    One of the reasons I went back to study in my 40s was because there’d been a digital tech revolution and I wanted to understand how to deal with it. Suddenly harvesting data about your customers was way more valuable than the actual product or service you were selling. I needed to take the time to understand this change and I spent a year at London Business School to upskill myself.

    For this reason, IT technicians and data scientists are among the professions that are going to be in very high demand, and we have already started to expand routes to these careers by investing in education at all levels to meet the need for these skills.

    Take T levels for example, T standing for tech. Thanks to our close relationship with industry, young people now have far more options to get further qualifications or into actual jobs.

    Yandiya Technologies for example, are among our T level flagbearers. They make sustainable heating solutions. They take T Level students on industry placements, 45-days, and they have done that for the past two years. They now have five apprentices, two of them purely as a result of these T Levels programmes. They are using T levels to make sure they get the pick of the crop. And many smart employers will do the same.

    But getting the skills that lead to great jobs isn’t just for young people. There is already a shortage of people who are coming into computing professions and this gap will only get bigger.

    Thanks to a skills bootcamp in coding, Dan Watson was able to upskill from a career as personal trainer to one as a digital project manager for tech company Wise. He said the experience was ‘priceless’ and has enabled him to future-proof his career.

    We have bootcamps all across the country in many different areas, including digital, which is the most popular bootcamp.

    Let’s not forget that worldwide there’s a massive need for more software engineers… 40 million of them. That’s equal to the entire population of Poland.

    If you think this sounds alarming, by 2030 this gap is expected to reach 85 million – bigger than Germany’s current population.

    Although AI will also have an impact on these numbers.

    This is why we have created the Digital and Computing Skills Education Taskforce. Its role will be to spot what computing and digital skills are needed for the economy, where the gaps are now, and what they’re likely to be in the future and how technology may change these.

    Most importantly the taskforce will make it easier for students to choose computing and digital pathways at school, colleges, Institutes of Technology and universities and we have invested over £100 million in the National Centre for Computing Education.

    To navigate these changes, we are determined to ensure that education and business work really closely together. The taskforce will call on a number of industry experts, from cyber security, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and big data.

    We have 12 Institutes of Technology across the country today with nine more in the pipeline. They are currently working with over a 100 employer partners, including world-leading businesses such as Microsoft, Nissan, Bosch, Babcock, Fujitsu, Siemens and many, many more. This number will continue to grow, ensuring we deliver the STEM skills that the industry needs – now and for the future. We’ve also made it easier for employers to recruit apprentices, as well as introducing a new Level 7, a masters level Apprenticeship Standard in AI and data science.

    I’ve already mentioned T Levels and we’re rolling out more of them including additional digital routes. Eleven T Levels are now available in STEM subjects, including Digital Business Services, which includes specialist content on data analysis.

    Digital skills matter. As tech accelerates, they’re likely to become as important to a person’s employability as English and maths, eventually being on a level pegging with those two core subjects. This will be the cornerstone of how we prepare people for the world of work.

    As part of these reforms, from September students will be able to study our new Digital Functional Skills Qualifications. These will provide a benchmark of digital skills for employers and will give everybody the opportunity to get the full range of essential digital skills they need to participate actively in life, work and society.

    Whether you’re a business or an investor, I want to assure you our workforce will be ready for the future, whatever that future looks like.

    Tim Berners Lee once said “The web as I envisage it? We have not seen it yet. The future is still so much bigger than the past.”

    For me, that is a challenge but an exciting one.

    None of us has a crystal ball but one thing I can promise you, we won’t be settling for anything less than a world-leading role.

    Last night it was announced that a French start-up developing generative AI products has raised a record-breaking seed funding of over 100 million euros. The start-up is only one month old.

    We have innovation woven into our DNA in this country, but in the global tech race, we can’t afford to slow down.  We must work together now to ensure that UK companies and organisations are at the forefront of AI and technological developments, and in the best possible position to take advantage of the transformative opportunities that these generate.

    The Department for Education is ready for that challenge, and we will be there as you face that challenge too.

    Thank you very much.

  • Claire Coutinho – 2023 Speech to the National Day Nurseries Association Conference

    Claire Coutinho – 2023 Speech to the National Day Nurseries Association Conference

    The speech made by Claire Coutinho, the Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, on 9 June 2023.

    I have spent a large chunk of my career working out how we can help families and give children the best start in life. I first started working with disadvantaged children when I was about 16, and I’ve continued doing that throughout my career.

    The evidence is very clear. The earliest years are the most critical stage of child development, something that everyone in this room knows. That’s the time when young children are learning most rapidly. It’s the time that’s going to shape the people that they become, and that doesn’t just happen by chance. The early education and care that you provide in nurseries across the country, that I go and see every week, is supporting those children in their critical years and also allowing their parents to continue work and earn money which helps them develop their own lives and careers.

    One of the best parts of my job is going on those visits. I see all of your passion and dedication in practice. I get to spend time with children that I may have found to be my intellectual equals in life, and they are absolutely wonderful. Seeing all the things that you do is such an inspiration.

    But young children can be many things. Even the most adoring parents will admit that they’re not always easy. It takes hard work to steer the next generation and yet that is our generation’s biggest task. I have nothing but admiration and respect for the endless patience, kindness, encouragement and expertise that I see that you provide for children in your care. I’m incredibly grateful for the work that you do.

    I know the past few years have been challenging, which is an understatement. During the pandemic, it was nurseries that opened quickest after the first lockdown. You stayed open, getting on with the job of providing excellent education and care. I don’t think you can ever be thanked enough for this. I saw this myself as a constituent MP, just how important it was. Not only to make sure that people could go to work in the NHS, I’m the only person in my family that doesn’t work for the NHS, but also making sure that children got that vital education that they needed.

    I also know just how hard recruitment and retention is at the moment. It’s one of the things that I hear the most when I go out and speak to all of you. And that finding and developing the staff – those talented, qualified staff – that is crucial for you to deliver the high quality care your children and parents need.

    Supporting the early years sector and those who work in it is a priority for me, it’s a priority for this Government. But obviously don’t take my word for it. In the Spring Budget, we set out a commitment to the early years sector. The Chancellor pledged that by 2028, we would double our spending on childcare – aiming to spend more than £8 billion every year on those vital early years. That will fund the 30 hours of childcare per week for eligible working parents of children from nine months old, right to when they start primary school.

    It is the single biggest ever investment in childcare in this country. And it’s in part thanks to the work of many people in this room, including Purnima and the NDNA, who I would just thank you so much for everything that they’ve done to campaign on this issue, make sure that it’s a hot political issue, make sure that we well understand the challenges that you face. I thank you all for everything that you’ve done on that basis.

    But we heard loud and clear that those plans will come to nothing if we don’t make sure that you’ve got funding and support you need to deliver this offer.

    So we will be spending an extra £4 billion a year by 2028. From September, we’re going to provide £204 million of extra funding to local authorities to increase the hourly rates they pay you now, and we’re going to make sure these rates go up each year. So that means in September, the average hourly rate for two year olds is going from £6 to £8 – a 30% increase. The average three to four year old rate will be going up 7% year on year, this year. And from 24/25, which will be the first time that a rate will kick in for under twos, that will be £11 an hour.

    Before the end of the summer break, and one of the reasons that I’ll be going back for those meetings, we will be confirming the September rates for each local authority for 2023, so you can have some certainty on that. I’ll be asking you for views on how we distribute the funding for the new entitlements from April 2024, including the rules that local authorities will have to follow when distributing the funding to providers.

    One of the things that comes up in my conversations with managers is concerns about top slicing. I know that access to SEND funding can also be a challenge. That’s something else which I’m passionate about – I also have special educational needs in my brief. We’re looking at the situation really closely to make sure we get that balance right in how the money flows to providers and ultimately to the children your care.

    But of course money isn’t everything. I’ve heard from so many people working in and managing nurseries that there are parts of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework that stop you from making the most effective use of your staff. For instance, are you able to give your best people the responsibilities that match their abilities? That’s why the first thing that I wanted to look at is how to give you more flexibility and address some of those barriers while maintaining the high level of quality that you’re working so hard to provide. We’ve been engaging with lots of you to do this. That’s why we launched a consultation on changes to a range of Early Years Foundation Stage requirements.

    We’re suggesting removing the requirement from level three staff to have level two maths to count within ratios. Now I’m an out and out maths nut, and you won’t find a greater champion for the subject than me, apart from possibly the Prime Minister. But this is about pedagogy and feedback that we’ve had in our conversations with you and the sector, and educational experts, suggest that the level two maths requirement doesn’t necessarily reflect the skills needed to support children’s early mathematical development.

    You may have seen last year when we did the £180m Early Years Recovery Fund, we put in place some programmes for continued professional development (CPD) around early years numeracy and I’m very interested in that model, but we think removing the level 2 requirement for ratios could help the staffing situation and ease some of the pressure, make sure that you’re getting the right skill sets the right points.

    Another thing that we’re looking at is the qualification requirements for ratios not applying outside of peak hours to give you flexibility on how you use staff across the working day and relieve pressure for hours outside of core learning, where level two or level three knowledge might not always be needed, to focus your time and education expertise during core hours. We’re also consulting on the rules around percentage of level 2 qualified staff per ratio. Leaders do often tell me that some of their best people often don’t have level two or level 3 qualifications. Of course, it’s important to raise standards across the board, but we also want to give you some flexibility so you can put your best people in roles where they can make the most difference.

    There are many other proposals in the consultation and every single one of them has come from conversations with you held at my level across the Department. But we want to hear more. The deadline for responses is the 26 June – just under 7 weeks from now. I would love if as many of you as possible, go online and tell us what you think.

    We’re also running a consultation engagement event with the NDNA in the next few weeks, so do keep an eye out for that. Again, we really want to hear from you. The approach we’re taking following this consultation as we move forward will reflect on what we hear from you because it’s your expertise that will make it a success.

    Some of these new measures will also help free staff up to pursue their own professional development. We have an Early Years Education Recovery Programme, some of you will be familiar with that, which offers a package of training qualifications, guidance and targeted support for everyone working in the sector. And that includes opportunities from NPQs in early years leadership and professional development programmes, to the Experts & Mentors Scheme and Online Child Development Training. We know we need more graduates – I’m very concerned and looking at ways that we can create different routes in for people. We’re also training up 5,000 Early Years Special Educational Needs Coordinators. I know we’ve had huge appetite for that and it’s one of the things that gets raised with me a lot when I go and speak to nurseries.

    I recently visited a specialist early years setting for children with SEND in Berkshire, and the parents told me there that  the support that they’re providing is a lifeline with them. I could also see how transformative it is for those children if they can get that specialist support at the right time in life. This funding will help us carry on supporting those parents with getting the right diagnoses. I know that it’s a massive challenge and it’s something which is a huge priority for me and for the Government at the moment.

    All those training opportunities are brilliant, but the only way we’re going to get more people trained up is to get more people in. You all know why you work with a sector. I know there’s been some challenges, but everywhere I go when I meet people, they tell me how rewarding and wonderful it is. That’s why we’re going to go full steam ahead next year with the national campaign to promote the sector, support the recruitment and retention of talented staff. I’d love to hear from all of you about the things that you’d like to see us talk about at the national level on that.

    And finally, I just want to acknowledge the hard work done by Purnima and her colleagues at the NDNA. They have been pushing for a government-backed recruitment campaign for some time. We are going to work very closely with you on how to design that. The NDNA’s ‘First Five Years Count’ campaign is an excellent platform for us to build off, but we want to learn all the lessons that you’ve seen to make sure that we can make this a success.

    So we’ll be working closely with you and others and we’re going to consider how else we can support you. This is the time to do it. We now have childcare and early years right at the top of the political debate. So as we roll forward with these plans over the next few years, there’ll be lots of opportunities for us to talk and work together. That’s why I’m going to spend as much time as possible travelling up and down the country, visiting as many of you as possible. That’s why I want my officials to get out and visit settings. If you don’t know where the DfE people are, could you all stick your hands up? Right. So if I’m not here, please go and tell these people everything that you think we need to know. That’s why I’m here today.

    All I want to say is please, please, continue to talk to us. We really care about this area.

    Thank you so much for having me.

  • Robert Halfon – 2023 Speech to the Times Education Summit

    Robert Halfon – 2023 Speech to the Times Education Summit

    The speech made by Robert Halfon, the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, at the Times Education Summit held at News UK in London on 8 June 2023.

    Good morning, and thank you for that introduction.

    I was honoured to be asked to take part in the Times Education Commission in 2021, to consider questions such as the purpose of education, and how it should interact with social and economic institutions. I returned to government last autumn, to discover there was still quite a lot of work to be done! But it was also gratifying to see reforms from my first term as Skills Minister bearing fruit, some of which support elements of the Commission’s recommendations. As I will describe, we are now getting serious about technical education to 18, with the continuing roll-out of T Levels. And I am determined that pupils will have earlier and earlier opportunities to see industries and occupations up close. They need to understand the world of work as something to build towards, rather than encounter it abruptly at the end of their schooling.

    Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge admirer of JRR Tolkien.

    The best known Tolkien apprentice is of course Samwise Gamgee, an apprentice gardener in Lord of the Rings. I want to frame my thoughts using another Tolkien story that is less well known, Smith of Wootton Major.

    It features a character called Alf, an apprentice who receives both good and bad training in the village of Wootton Major. Though he receives three years excellent training, when his master departs the villagers do not trust him to take over. ‘He had grown a bit taller, but still looked like a boy’ – and was not one of their own. Instead, an idle and incapable local man is appointed as Master Cook of the village, who spends his tenure taking credit for the apprentice’s work and talking down to him. Alf’s talent is wasted on absurd tasks like stoning raisins. I won’t tell the whole story, but eventually Alf assumes his rightful position and the older man has a comeuppance of sorts. Finally, Alf is revealed to have understood all along something fundamental to the nature of the office of the Master Cook, something that only the true master could have passed down to him.

    What is the relevance of this story to today’s apprentices? Well, quite a lot actually. An appreciation of skills education, and how it’s perceived by those who haven’t acquired it. The skills required to become a Master Cook are underestimated by the villagers, who choose a bad trainer for Alf.

    Examples of good and bad training – how an apprentice can be expertly trained in just three years, but side-lined and given little responsibility because of his obvious youth.

    The tacit acknowledgement of his trainer that the apprentice has something to offer, but also reluctance that he should get the credit for their work.

    It’s a good parable for modern times. For too long, the acquisition of vocational and technical skills has been undermined. It is not respected in the same way that academic education is.

    I have always found this a false hierarchy. We will always want to know the names and types of fishes, how they spawn and miraculously breathe through gills. But in every generation, people must also be taught how to fish.

    That’s why I’ve always argued we need more skills-based post-16 education. And that is what we’re now doing.

    You may have heard about my Ladder of Opportunity. It is not just a slogan but a way of thinking about what we need as a country, to create a skills system that supports people of all backgrounds up the ladder into secure and well-paid employment.

    The Ladder has 2 pillars:

    Opportunities and social justice, and strengthening Higher and Further education.

    These aren’t just two slogans slotted into a framework. They are fundamental and interconnected.

    On the one side, Higher and Further education need to do a lot more collaboration.

    The Lifelong Loan Entitlement, which I’ll come to later, will help to bind these strands together.

    Both Higher and Further education cannot be said to be truly succeeding as a meritocratic endeavour, until the opportunities they bring are distributed widely, to everyone who can make use of them – but particularly to those who need them most.

    When the most disadvantaged groups in our society are finally taking-up their fair share (or more) of university courses, apprenticeships and other technical education places, that is when the system will be at its strongest – nurturing talent wherever it is found, rather than just the talents of those who happen to find it. That is when Further and Higher education can truly be said to be serving social justice.

    And that is the lens through which I see all the work we’re doing to bolster skills education in this country.

    The first rung on the Ladder of Opportunity is careers guidance and information. We cannot hope to change attitudes about skills education unless it is seen as a route to progression. And it needs to be considered much earlier in school than the adolescence afterthought it’s been recently. Evidence shows that pupils start to develop stereotypes that can limit their educational and occupational aspirations at a very young age. That’s why we’re funding a £2.6 million programme to target 2,250 primary schools in the most disadvantaged areas. Running until March 2025, it will inspire pupils to consider the world of work, drawing positive role models from a range of industries and sectors. The aim is to raise aspirations, challenge stereotypes, and help children link their learning to future jobs and careers. Teachers will be supported with professional development and resources to continue delivery beyond the programme.

    At the same time, our ASK programme is raising older pupils’ awareness of the benefits of apprenticeships and T-levels. And through the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, we have strengthened the provider access legislation, known as the Baker Clause. We now stipulate that every school must provide pupils with a minimum of six education and training provider encounters. We are working with The Careers & Enterprise Company to support schools to comply, and will take tough action where there is persistent non-compliance.

    Overall, we invested around £100 million in 2022-23 in careers provision for young people and adults. It’s money that I’m determined we will continue to spend in a focused, meaningful way.

    The second rung on the Ladder of Opportunity is about championing apprenticeships and the skills employers need. Apprenticeships are at the heart of this government’s skills agenda. They are about widening the skills pipeline to drive economic growth, and bringing paid opportunities for progression to those who may not otherwise choose further training.

    Our aim is that every occupation should have a quality apprenticeship attached to it. That is why we moved from apprenticeship frameworks to standards. These are carefully designed in partnership with industry, in order to truly serve their utility for the employer and their value for the apprentice. There are now accredited routes to over 660 occupations, from entry-level to expert.

    To support the creation of more of these opportunities, we are increasing funding to £2.7 billion by 2024-25. In 2021-22, we spent 99.6% of the £2.5 billion apprenticeship budget handed down to us by Treasury. And despite what you may hear, it isn’t being spent on MBAs, which we removed from the Level 7 Senior Leader standard in 2021.

    70% of all apprenticeship starts are at Levels 2 and 3 [2021/22 AY], and young people under the age of 25 make up more than half of all starts. But we still want older people to consider apprenticeships among their options to retrain or return to work. Hence our ‘returnerships’ initiative, announced in the Budget, to encourage adults over 50 to consider these routes back into training and employment.

    Degree apprenticeships are the crown jewel within our offer. Or to Tolkien fans, the Faery star. They combine the best of vocational and academic education at some of our best universities. They hold particular value for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, giving them knowledge, training and industry insight in one complete package. That last point is particularly valuable if you lack personal connections in the area where you want to work – those invisible career foundations that you only notice if you don’t have them. Degree apprentices earn while they learn, but don’t pay tuition fees like other students. It is so important we promote these routes to those who could benefit most: young people whose social and financial position currently deters them from degree-level study.

    There are now almost 160 apprenticeships offered at degree level. And contrary to what sometimes is misreported, they’re not all in management. Degree-level apprenticeships prepare students for careers in the Police, nursing, aerospace engineering – and, yes, even journalism. There have been over 185,000 starts on these prestigious courses since their introduction in 2014. They’ve made up 16% of all starts so far this year [August 2022 -Feb 2023], with numbers up 11% compared to the same period last year – building on year-on-year growth.

    There is much more to do to meet rising demand – and to spread the word to build demand still further. We’re working with higher education institutions to increase both employer vacancies at degree apprenticeship level, and applications from young people. We’re providing an additional £40 million to support providers to expand degree apprenticeships over the next two years, and to help more applicants access these incredible opportunities.

    While raising apprenticeship standards, we saw a gap at Level 3: a qualification to prepare students for skilled work at 18 that also provided a solid foundation for further study or training. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education worked with employers, providers and industry experts to identify what such a qualification would look like, and the different progression routes that could follow-on from it. In 2020 we introduced T Levels, a new gold standard in technical education. These courses have a rigour gives them parity with A levels, and include a meaningful 9 week placement in industry. This reflects my belief that students should be shown the workplace well before the age of 18, to build understanding of its expectations and their own aspirations. Oldham College has been among the first to offer Supporting Adult Nursing and Supporting Midwifery T Levels, providing an incredible pipeline for the future local healthcare workforce.

    We will have made £1.6 billion of extra funding available for 16-19 education by the 2024-25 Financial Year [compared to 2021-22]. This includes up to £500 million for T Levels each year, once they’re fully rolled out in 2025.

    The fourth rung of the Ladder of Opportunity is lifelong learning.

    So far, my focus has been on young people, and those at the beginning of a career. But the latter can of course include people who want to switch careers later on, a move we want to encourage to help the working population keep pace with the shifting labour market. To support people to study and retrain for better employment, the Lifelong Loan Entitlement will unify Higher and Further education finance under a single system. From 2025, financial support equivalent to 4 years post-18 education (£37,000 in today’s fees) will be available to use over the whole course of a working life. Crucially, this can be drawn down in modular increments to build qualifications over time. This flexibility will enable older learners to fit their study around life events and daily commitments. Like getting on and off a train, they will be able to alight and board their post-school education when it suits them – building qualifications at their own pace, rather than being confined to a single ticket.

    I want the Lifelong Loan Entitlement to signify an inclusive change in how we view skills education, and the pace at which we acquire education in general. The name suggests to me (as I hope it does to you) that education has no finish line. That your fate is not cast in stone by the age of 25. It may also encourage young people to get some experience of work that interests them, rather than go straight to university, in order to inform the use of their finance allowance.

    And while I have great respect for the history, traditions, and academic excellence of Oxford and Cambridge, we need to get away from this obsession with using it as a benchmark for everything else. Instead of talking about the Oxbridge of skills education, people should be pointing to colleges like Loughborough, Oldham and universities like Staffordshire. They are serving students exceptionally well, fitting them for good jobs and great careers. Their degrees give students what they need to propel them up the Ladder of Opportunity. And yet they are not among the bywords for a ‘good’ education – the age-old establishments that served many of the people in this room. Those who value education on outcomes, rather than reputation, should seek to change this.

    I’ll finish by returning to my favourite Oxford professor, who could write with insight about the misconceptions that surround skills education. His apprentice heroes defied low expectations.

    Samwise Gamgee not only helped Frodo deliver the Ring to Mount Doom. He was eventually elected Mayor of the Shire seven times, and became an advisor to the King.

    And Alf, the apprentice of Wootton Major, is finally revealed at the end of the tale be the Elven King of Faery himself.

    Tolkien once said that true education is:

    “A matter of continual beginnings, of habitual fresh starts, of persistent newness.”

    We want more and more people to build the skills needed for good employment in this age of ‘persistent newness’ – skills for new and shifting industries, that business leaders are crying-out for.

    Successfully matching high quality training with the talent found in all walks of life will not only enhance our country’s skills and economic profile. It will allow people to truly thrive at work and in their communities.

  • Robert Halfon – 2023 Speech to the UCAS Admissions Conference

    Robert Halfon – 2023 Speech to the UCAS Admissions Conference

    The speech made by Robert Halfon, the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, at the Midland Hotel in Manchester on 24 May 2023.

    Hello everyone. I’m very sorry that I can’t be with you today as planned – because I think UCAS is brilliant. It’s one of our great institutions, alongside all the other great institutions it serves. It helps young people to bridge the gap between school and the great unknown, supporting them to navigate all their options for further study. Like myself, it’s passionate about providing applicants with the path that’s right for them.

    As offers season draws to a close, teenagers across the country are now lining-up their post-school options as they finish revision before exams. I know your role can sometimes be almost pastoral – particularly on results day – advising young people on what’s available to build the best education foundation for their future. I’d like to thank everyone here for the work you do to facilitate this progression, by guiding thousands of young lives each year.

    I also want to thank you for your support of students and applicants during the pandemic. This episode of unprecedented disruption is now, thank goodness, behind us, but I know its effects will be felt for some time. This is reflected in your student-centred approach to admissions, and in how we’re returning to pre-pandemic grading this summer. Where national performance is lower than prior to the pandemic, senior examiners will make allowances in grade boundaries to acknowledge the last 3 years’ disruption. This means a UCAS applicant should be just as likely to achieve a particular grade this year, as they would have been in 2019.

    As you know, I believe higher education should serve society with high quality degrees, that lead to jobs, skills and social justice.

    UCAS is helping this government to propel the skills revolution, righting the balance between academic and vocational qualifications. Young people need to leave education with skills the jobs market is demanding, which will in turn power economic growth. In 2023, higher education is a considerable investment. For those who choose to give it their time and future earnings, a good job must be the pay-off.

    And universities should do all they can to welcome those who need good jobs the most – applicants with great capability but the least advantages in life. And certainly not the family connections to show them the sectors where they could thrive.

    Higher education should perpetuate social justice – not reinforce the status quo, passing privilege hand-to-hand down the generations. It should extend its intake wherever it can, and leverage its prestige to acknowledge the high career value of high-quality technical education.

    This is where degree-level apprenticeships come in. No one should be surprised to hear me championing these prestigious courses, which offer superb vocational and academic education at some of our best universities. They hold particular value for less well-off students, preparing them for a successful career, whilst allowing them to earn while they learn without tuition fees.

    There are now almost 160 apprenticeship standards at Levels 6 and 7, for occupations including nursing, aerospace engineering and journalism. Word is spreading. Degree-level apprenticeships make up 16% of all starts so far this year [August 2022 -Feb 2023], with numbers up 11% compared to the same period last year. This follows year-on-year growth, with a total of over 185,000 starts since their introduction in 2014.

    There is much more to do to meet rising demand – and to spread the word to build that demand still further. We’re working with higher education institutions to increase supply of both employer vacancies, and applications from young people. Over the next 2 years we are providing an additional £40 million to support providers to expand degree apprenticeships, and help more applicants access these opportunities. Building on our £8 million investment last year, this funding could transform the uptake of degree apprenticeships. More people, from more diverse backgrounds, entering professions that might have been closed to them without a traditional, expensive, undergraduate degree. That would be real social justice in action.

    As with Levels 6-7, technical education for sixteen-year-olds has long been seen as the poor relation of academic courses. In 2020, we brought in T Levels to change that. These offer a credible alternative to A levels, drawing on the best of Level 3 technical education from around the world.

    We know universities may take time to get to grips the performance standards of T Level grades, particularly in comparison to other vocational qualifications. T Levels were designed to ensure rigour and quality, and their performance standards are more aligned with A levels to reflect that.

    I appreciate T Levels represent a significant change, which means recalibrating offers to recognise the difference between their grades and existing vocational qualifications. I’d ask you to recognise just how stretching these qualifications are in your admissions policies, particularly when considering which students to accept onto courses this year.

    Last summer many universities embraced T Levels’ value, and the achievements of the pioneering students who’d studied for them. For those yet to do so, I would urge every institution to do justice to these young people’s efforts, and provide a clear online statement of relevant courses and entry requirements for T Levels.

    Although it’s primarily known for university admissions, UCAS shares our vision to demystify and promote all the options available to 18-year-olds. Their next step could be higher education. But it doesn’t have to be, particularly for someone who thrives in the workplace rather than the library, and enjoys putting their tuition to immediate use. We want to raise young people’s awareness of the many routes up the Ladder of Opportunity, to good jobs and higher wages.

    With a million young people expected to be able to apply to UCAS by the end of the decade, we need high quality provision of all kinds to await them. My ambition is that UCAS will eventually stand for the Universities, Colleges, Apprenticeships and Skills service.

    The UCAS Hub already does a brilliant job of engaging users with many of the choices relevant to their career aspirations, including links on where to go next. From this autumn, apprenticeships will sit alongside degree courses on the Hub, with subject searches displaying all relevant routes. Apprenticeships from Level 2 through to degree level will be displayed, giving them new visibility on the platform and functional parity with traditional degrees. Search results will also show affordability, duration of training or study required, and likely career outcomes. Presenting all this information in one place will better inform applicants’ decisions on the right course for them.

    And from next year, young people will be able to apply for apprenticeships via the UCAS Hub, creating a comprehensive gateway for post-16 options. This forms part of our broader vision to integrate skills into the formal systems that direct people through education towards the labour market. We want to eventually create a one-stop-shop, where citizens can explore their career and training options at any point in their lives.

    At the start of that journey, school pupils will be fully appraised of all their post-16 choices and where these could lead. We’ve recently formed a partnership with UCAS to raise 18 year-olds’ awareness of apprenticeships, in order to increase starts in this age group. Students will be better supported to apply for apprenticeships, and employers given access to promote vacancies to local schools and colleges. This will create a talent pipeline for businesses, enabling them to fill skills gaps and offer further apprenticeships. It will result in improved opportunities for under-represented groups, and a virtuous circle of apprenticeships demand and supply.

    None of these big ambitions would be possible without your collaboration. I know everyone here is united in supporting the ambitions of the young (and not so young) people who apply through UCAS each year. I believe these ambitions are intrinsically linked; our plans could make a seismic difference to the prosperity of future generations, our society and the economy.

    I want to thank you again for your remarkable work with government in the past, present, and future.

    I hope you enjoy the rest of today’s events, building bridges to bright futures for upcoming generations.

  • Gillian Keegan – 2023 Speech to the Education World Forum

    Gillian Keegan – 2023 Speech to the Education World Forum

    The speech made by Gillian Keegan, the Secretary of State for Education, at the Education World Forum in London on 8 May 2023.

    Good afternoon everyone.

    I’d like to welcome you all to this annual gathering of education ministers.

    You find us all in a celebratory mood and many world leaders from your countries joined us to celebrate.

    The coronation of His Majesty King Charles showcased what this country is known for around the world.

    Pageantry, tradition, our history, the importance of continuity. But it is not just a celebration of the past. We’re also focused on the future, even an ancient monarchy like ours is constantly evolving.

    Who would have thought back in 1953 when we last held a coronation that the next monarch would be one of world’s original environmental champions?

    Curiosity and flexibility are vital at any time but especially when the world is changing so fast.

    That is why we need education – it allows us to change, it allows us to adapt, it ensures we can meet the future head on.

    Many of us will be facing the same challenges. Others will have to tackle problems that are particular to them.

    But one challenge we all face is this: How do we make sure our young people leave school or college with the skills to prepare them for a life of opportunity?

    We have all found ourselves in situations when our skills didn’t go far enough. I once found myself on a plane travelling to Japan for a major negotiation with nothing but a book on etiquette.

    What saved me was a huge appetite to learn from my hosts and my new-found karaoke skills.

    Every child has an inbuilt sense of curiosity. None of them want to be left behind, they want to learn and do well.

    It’s our job to give them the opportunity to do so. And if we do, we all benefit.

    Give people the opportunity to learn and the end result almost always sparks innovation.

    The more we collaborate and work together to solve our problems, the more we’re likely to see the power of innovation.

    Take the pandemic for example. Look at what the power of global unity achieved when it came to vaccinating our populations. It showed that those who were quickest to innovate in a crisis were more likely to be the first out of it.

    So, how do we make this work in education.

    I learnt in business, you may not always be first but you can learn from the best and that is what we have done in the UK. We’ve learnt from all of you, and we want to continue doing so.

    To inform our Skills for Jobs White Paper, we looked at world leading technical education systems, like in Germany and the Netherlands and those which have implemented more recent reforms, such as Ireland.

    Our new vocational qualifications, T-levels, drew heavily on evidence from the Norwegian, Dutch and Swiss technical education systems.

    Our reforms to the national curriculum in 2014 have given us world-class standards across all subjects and have drawn on best practice, such as how maths is taught in Singapore and Shanghai.

    We benchmark ourselves against all of you – to drive improvement and instil innovation in our education system.

    Working with thousands of businesses, we are learning all the time as we partner to design qualifications and provide work experience and training for young people.

    But we don’t just want to take excellence from others, we want to share our own too.

    The Teaching for Success Tunisia is a project with the British Council, the Ministry of Education and the British Embassy which will give teachers the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to teach English more effectively. So far it has resulted in more than 5,000 primary school teachers learning simultaneously online.

    While Heriot-Watt Dubai was the first campus of an overseas university to open in Dubai International Academic City in 2005. There were 120 students to start with. Now there are nearly 4,000.

    I hope that this conference can be the first of many conversations I have with you about how we can work together to innovate and improve our education systems further.

    Innovation and collaboration are essential for economies at every level and in every corner of the Earth.

    No country has a monopoly on bright ideas so the more we talk to one another, the greater the scope for coming up with solutions.

    One of the most fruitful ways of doing this is by encouraging international students.

    We are proud that the UK remains a destination of choice for so many students. With four out of the top 10 universities in the world, the UK’s higher education sector is truly world class. In fact, 55 current world leaders were educated right here in the UK, only one country is educating more world leaders and that is the US.

    International mobility is increasing but so is global competitiveness for talent. We are in a global race, not just for talent but for technology. The industries of the future, whether AI, quantum computing, green technology or life sciences, rely not just on having talent in our own countries but on deep and lasting partnerships.

    For example, I am proud that Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn was able to come from Australia and study here in the UK at Cambridge. Her research on enzymes and genetic material could pave the way for people to live longer, healthier lives.

    Human rights advocate Ambiga Sreenevasan, travelled from Malaysia to graduate in Law from Exeter University in 1979. She eventually became president of that country’s Bar Council and has been awarded the US International Women of Courage Award.

    So I am hugely proud that we are welcoming more than 600,000 international students every year.

    International education is popular. It makes us all richer. We all benefit as we build partnerships and lasting bonds. That’s something we value hugely.

    And of course, we are equally keen to see our students go and study abroad. Which is why I am delighted that the Turing Scheme, our global programme to study and work abroad, is now approaching its third year.

    This year the scheme is unlocking opportunities for more than 38,000 UK students and learners who will gain international experience, developing skills and expertise.

    I’m especially pleased that this scheme is extending the horizons for students who might never have had that chance. 51% of the international placements across 160 countries all over the world have been earmarked for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

    The Turing Scheme is truly global in scope, with every country in the world eligible as a destination for UK students, including EU countries. This is great news for all students, including those studying languages, as many more countries, cultures and languages are within reach for UK participants.

    Thanks to Turing, Lanchester Primary School in Durham was able to take 16 children to their partner school in India.

    The children found themselves immersed in a totally new world and as their head teacher Jane Davis said: ‘they experienced more in a week than some of us experience in a lifetime’.

    Whether it’s construction students from South West College in Northern Ireland, who went to Canada to improve their knowledge of green building techniques, or budding entrepreneurs from Nottingham Trent University getting to sample work and study, and probably some dance moves, in Latin America, the Turing Scheme is unlocking international opportunities for students, pupils and learners across the UK.

    Actually Turing who also taught and studied internationally was, as many of you will know, widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence.

    Which brings me to a subject that divides opinion and that is the use of Artificial Intelligence, particularly in education settings.

    I know in some countries there is a knee-jerk reaction to AI. It’s going to be the end of mankind as we know it, some cry.

    To challenge this response to a future technology I want to call on a voice from the past. Winston Churchill once said “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

    We’ve had the difficulties. Now let us make the most of our opportunities.

    Which is why here in the UK, AI is making a difference in schools and universities already but there is far greater scope for really transformative change.

    AI could have the power to transform a teacher’s day-to-day work. For example, it could take much of the heavy lifting out of compiling lesson plans and marking. This would enable teachers to do the one thing that AI cannot and that’s teach, up close and personal, at the front of a classroom.

    We need to respond to it just as we have to other technical innovations in the past like the calculator, or more recently Google. We’ll learn about it, then apply it to deliver better outcomes for students.

    We’re excited to learn about what it can do. Whether it could radically reduce the amount of time teachers spend marking, how effective it could be for personalised and adaptive learning and how it might be used as an assistive technology to improve access to education.

    My department has already begun this journey by publishing a statement that examines the opportunities, as well as the risks, that generative AI brings to education.

    We have a lot more thinking and learning to do to understand the potential here and I am committed to working hand-in-hand with experts, educators and all of you in this room as we do that thinking.

    I’d like to thank you Dominic and your team for all your hard work in organising EWF and enabling ministers from so many countries around the world to meet today.

    Innovation, resilience, a desire to learn. This is how we will be stronger after the pandemic. We must embrace change and learn from each other.

    Alexander Graham Bell, a man whose innovation, resilience and desire to learn, have totally transformed life for all of us, once said: “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened.”

    Sometimes a door opening can lead to the most extraordinary places which is how I find myself here before you today.

    Let us overcome our fear and open these doors and be ready to embrace the opportunities that are waiting there.

    Thank you.

  • Amanda Spielman – 2023 Comments on Improving Ofsted

    Amanda Spielman – 2023 Comments on Improving Ofsted

    The comments made by Amanda Spielman, the Chief Inspector of Ofsted, on 21 April 2023.

    In recent weeks there has been much debate about reform of school inspections. The media has carried stories from teachers about their past Ofsted experiences and calls for change from unions and others. I want to acknowledge the continuing debate and the strength of feeling, and I want to set out some of the things we’re doing and reflect on the suggestions of more radical reform.

    The Secretary of State for Education has been clear that Ofsted inspection is a vital part of the school system. As she said, our independent assessments provide important assurance to parents, the wider community and to government that pupils are receiving a high-quality education and are being kept safe. Our current inspection process was introduced in 2019 after extensive consultation with the education sector, and we have had good feedback from the vast majority who have experienced a new-style inspection.

    Looking for ways to improve

    However, Ofsted is always looking out for ways it can improve. Just as every headteacher knows there are always things that can be done better in schools, so our inspectors – mostly former heads – know that about Ofsted. We regularly discuss changes with representative groups, unions, Ministers and others – I met the Secretary of State just this week to discuss our plans. Since the tragic news about Ruth Perry first broke these conversations have intensified, and I want to bring some of that out into the open.

    We are making changes. One of the most critical areas we look at on inspection is safeguarding. Keeping children safe is so important that a school can be graded inadequate if safeguarding is poor – even if everything else in a school is done well. The Secretary of State said this week that safeguarding is vital. We won’t be soft on safeguarding, but it’s an area which isn’t always well-understood. It’s sometimes mis-characterised as an exercise in paperwork, but as everyone who works in schools knows, it’s much more than that. We need to see that schools understand and manage the risks of children coming to harm. We need to know that prompt action is taken when it happens.

    However, we do recognise that some gaps in schools’ knowledge or practice are easier to put right than others. We are looking at how we can return more quickly to schools who have work to do on safeguarding but are otherwise performing well. That should enable us to see fast improvements and reflect them in our judgements.

    It’s also important that when school leaders disagree with our judgements there is a robust system of review. We are currently piloting changes to our complaints process which I hope will make it more responsive – so that issues can be addressed during the inspection rather than considered afterwards, which creates delay and frustration. I also want to ensure that when a complaint is made about our work, people feel that they have had a fair and thorough hearing.

    Supporting school leaders during inspections

    We want to emphasise some of the things that can be done to support school leaders during inspections. We recognise that there is some uncertainty about who can sit-in on meetings between inspectors and school staff, to provide that support. So we want all heads and teachers to know they can have a colleague from the school or trust join discussions with inspectors if they wish. Also, while we strongly recommend provisional inspection outcomes aren’t shared with parents before the report is finalised, headteachers and responsible bodies can share that information with others in confidence. We’ve asked headteacher unions and school trust representatives to help us share this information with their members.

    Now that we can routinely inspect all schools graded outstanding after government lifted the exemption, many are facing inspection having not been through one for some time. To help heads in those schools, we are arranging seminars to talk them through the process, and for those yet to be inspected we will provide additional clarity about the broad timing of their next visit. This builds on many briefings we have given about inspection over the past few years, attended by thousands of teachers and leaders. We really want to de-mystify the process and do what we can to reduce the pressure that we know headteachers feel about inspection.

    Debate around grading

    However, I also want to be honest about some of the more far-reaching suggestions that have been put forward. Four weeks ago I described the debate around grading as a legitimate one. I certainly recognise that distilling all that a school is and does into a single word makes some in the sector uncomfortable, particularly when there are consequences of the grade awarded.

    But as I’ve said previously, the overall grade currently plays an integral part in the wider school system. Ofsted inspects, showcases good practice and, where necessary, diagnoses if there are significant issues at a school. That’s where the role we have been given stops. School improvement is the role of schools themselves, and school trusts, facilitated and supported by government. It can take many forms, and government uses Ofsted’s overall grade to determine how best to support improvement. We also know that many parents find the grading system useful, whether that’s in choosing a school or to understand the one their child attends. So any new approach would need to meet the needs of the whole system.

    I would like there to be as much attention paid to the full report and the 4 sub-judgements as the overall judgement. Taken together, the sub-judgements present a rounded picture:

    • How good is the education at this school?
    • What’s behaviour like?
    • How well does the school support children’s personal development?
    • How well is it led and managed?

    These are the questions parents want answers to.

    I’m grateful for the thoughtful contributions I’ve had from many people within the education world. We are not deaf to the calls for change, or insensitive to the needs of schools and their staff; we will continue to listen carefully to the experiences and views of those we inspect. I’m sure the changes described here do not go far or fast enough for some, but I’ve also tried to explain the complexities and boundaries within which we do our important work.

    Education is the greatest gift any society can give its children – and teachers deserve our gratitude for the invaluable job they do. Inspection doesn’t exist to do teachers down, far from it, it exists to help children get the education they deserve and to celebrate great practice, of which there is plenty. The part we play is small in comparison to those who work in our schools – but it’s in children’s interests that we work constructively together. In that spirit, we will continue to explore ways to make our work as effective and collaborative as it can be.

  • Gillian Keegan – 2023 Statement on Maths Teaching

    Gillian Keegan – 2023 Statement on Maths Teaching

    The statement made by Gillian Keegan, the Secretary of State for Education, in the House of Commons on 17 April 2023.

    The Prime Minister has set out a campaign to transform our national approach to maths. We are one of the few countries in the OECD where young people do not routinely study some form of maths up to the age of 18. Without a solid foundation in this subject, our young people risk being left behind and shut out of the careers to which they aspire and the lives they want to lead. We plan to change the way our system works so that everyone will study some form of maths to 18.

    So, today I am announcing an expert advisory group to advise the Prime Minister and me on the essential maths knowledge and skills that young people need to study. To support the group, the Government will commission research on post-16 maths provision around the world, ensuring the curriculum in this country rivals that of the highest performing countries. Alongside this, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education will work with employers to review the maths content in apprenticeships.

    Since 2010, the Government have transformed the way maths is taught in schools, based on the best available international evidence, including approaches from the highest performing countries in the world. Supported by 40 maths hubs—exemplary schools in the teaching of maths—and the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, mastery-based pedagogy from south-east Asia has been adopted by more than half of England’s primary schools. In the 2019 TIMSS international survey, year 5 pupils in England achieved their highest ever maths score.

    To complement evidence-based approaches to maths teaching and content, the Government introduced more challenging assessments at both primary and secondary schools, including the times tables check in year 4, new key stage 2 maths tests, and reformed GCSEs and A-levels. These assessments ensure that children are taught and master the basics of mathematics, before tackling more demanding content. The success of these approaches was reflected in England’s highest mathematics PISA results for 15-year-olds in 2019.

    To continue this progress, the Government are today also announcing:

    An increase in the number of schools supported by the maths hubs Teaching for Mastery programme to reach 75% of primary schools and 65% of secondary schools by 2025. We will introduce intensive maths hubs support for the schools that need it most. We will also provide further support for teachers of 16 to 19-year-olds who are resitting their maths GCSE or functional skills qualifications.

    An expansion of the Mastering Number programme, which helps children in the first years of primary school master the basics of arithmetic, including number bonds and times tables. This programme will be delivered by maths hubs, reaching over 8,000 schools by 2024. We will also expand the programme into years 4 and 5 to bolster fluency in times tables.

    An expansion of the Taking Teaching Further programme, delivering funding for further education (FE) colleges to recruit and offer early career support to those with the relevant knowledge and industry experience to retrain as FE teachers. We will launch a financial incentive pilot this year for up to 355 teachers, targeted at some of the hardest-to-fill subjects, including maths.

    A new fully funded maths National Professional Qualification for those leading maths in primary schools, teaching participants how to train other teachers to embed mastery pedagogy. We expect to make this available to all primary schools from February 2024. We will offer an updated targeted support fund for the 2023-24 academic year, providing additional funding to incentivise primary school teachers and leaders, including in the smallest schools.

    Today’s announcement sets out how we will deliver the Prime Minister’s ambition to see all young people study maths to the age of 18 and ensure they are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the modern economy.

  • Rishi Sunak – 2023 Speech on Mathematics

    Rishi Sunak – 2023 Speech on Mathematics

    The speech made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, in London on 17 April 2023.

    It’s great to be back at the London Screen Academy to celebrate the global powerhouse that is our film and television industry.

    From Star Wars to Game of Thrones…

    …007 to Top Gun Maverick…

    …you name it, we make it.

    And right here is where we’re training up the next generation of BAFTA winners…

    ….the producers, set designers, visual effects specialists…

    …who are going to ensure the UK remains one of the most creative countries in the world.

    Now the reason I’ve come here to talk about maths, is not just because I like maths.

    But because what I am setting out today is a fundamental part of how we need to change our country for the future.

    Now, one of my five priorities is economic growth.

    And if we are going to grow our economy not just over the next two years, but the next twenty…

    …we simply cannot allow poor numeracy to cost our economy tens of billions a year…

    …or to leave people twice as likely to be unemployed as those with competent numeracy.

    So, we have to fundamentally change our education system…

    ….so it gives our young people the knowledge and skills they need…

    …and that our businesses need…

    …to compete with the best in the world.

    And there’s no better example of that than in our creative industries.

    Because what’s the biggest skills shortage holding our film industry back?

    As you heard from Gillian, it’s a shortage of technical skills.

    And so what have the London Screen Academy put on the curriculum for their 16-to-19 year olds?

    Maths.

    Why?

    Because you can’t make movies without maths.

    You can’t make visual effects without vectors and matrices.

    You can’t design a set without some geometry.

    You can’t run a production company without being financially literate.

    And that’s not just true of our creative industries. It’s true of so many of our industries.

    In healthcare, maths allows you to calculate dosages.

    In retail, data skills allow you to analyse sales and calculate discounts.

    And the same is true in all our daily lives….

    …from managing household budgets to understanding mobile phone contracts or mortgages.

    We also know the benefits of maths for employability and earnings.

    Even just basic numeracy skills can increase your earnings by around £1,600 a year.

    Put simply, without a solid foundation in maths, our children risk being left behind…

    …shut out of the careers they aspire to; and the lives they want to lead.

    Now in the decade or so, we’ve gone up 10 places in the international league tables.

    And maths has become the most popular of all A-Levels.

    But it’s still the case that the UK is one of the least numerate countries in the developed world.

    More than 8 million adults have numeracy skills below those expected of a 9 year old.

    And around a third of our young people don’t pass maths GCSE.

    And it’s not just that we’re not good enough at maths…

    ….there’s a cultural issue here too.

    I’ll be honest, when my daughters first heard me talk about them doing more maths they weren’t too excited.

    And that’s just it.

    We make jokes about not being able to do maths.

    It’s socially acceptable.

    We say things like: “Oh, maths, I can’t do that, it’s not for me” – and everyone laughs.

    But we’d never make a joke like that about not being able to read.

    So we’ve got to change this anti-maths mindset.

    We’ve got to start prizing numeracy for what it is – a key skill every bit as essential as reading.

    So my campaign to transform our national approach to maths is not some nice to have.

    It’s about changing how we value maths in this country.

    And changing the way our education system works to deliver it…

    ….so that all our children get these vital skills for life.

    Now, parents and teachers listening to this will want to know what that means for our children today.

    So let me tell you.

    We’re in the process of making maths more accessible, building our children’s confidence, so they don’t fear maths.

    We’re creating more sector specific content that can excite young people about the relevance of maths for the careers that they aspire to…

    …to help teachers bring maths to life in the classroom…

    …from building sets for school plays to calculating the angles of free kicks or the speed of a formula one car.

    We’re extending our Maths Hubs – unique partnerships of expert schools that support maths teaching.

    And we’re strengthening maths in primary schools…

    …including with a new fully funded professional qualification for those that are teaching it.

    But we also need to address a very specific problem that’s causing us to fall behind the rest of the world.

    We are one of the few developed countries where young people don’t routinely study some form of maths up to the age of 18.

    They do it in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Finland, Japan, Norway and America.

    Why should we accept any less for our children?

    Of course, we shouldn’t.

    That’s why I set out in January we are going to change the way our system works…

    …so that everyone in our country will study some form of maths all the way to 18.

    Now let me be absolutely clear – I am not saying the answer is A-Level maths for everyone.

    But we do need to work out the maths our young people should study.

    So we’re going to look at what 16-18 year olds around the world are learning.

    And we’re going to listen to employers and ask them what they say the maths skills are that they need.

    That’s why today I am appointing a new expert group….

    …who will help us identify that core maths content that our 16-to-18 year olds need…

    ….and whether we need a new specific qualification to support that.

    But to repeat: that will not be A-Level maths for all.

    And let me also be clear that we’re not going to deliver this change overnight.

    We’re going to need to recruit and train the maths teachers.

    We’re going to work out how to harness technology that we need to support them.

    And we’ll need to make sure this maths is additional to other subjects – not instead of them.

    Just as here at the London Screen Academy, they don’t teach maths instead of the arts – they teach both.

    Because they are complementary not contradictory.

    So it will take time to implement this change.

    But we are taking the first step today by identifying the maths content that will give our 16-to-18 year olds the skills they need to get on in life.

    And when we have that, then we’ll come back with a detailed plan to deliver it.

    I’ll just finish on a personal note.

    Every opportunity I’ve had in life began with the education I was so fortunate to receive….

    …and maths was a critical part of that.

    And I knew it was important then.

    And when I look at how the world is changing, it’s only going to be more important for my children – and yours.

    So I won’t sit back and allow this cultural sense that it’s ok to be bad at maths to put our children at a disadvantage.

    We’ve got to change this.

    We’ve got to value maths, and what it can do for our children’s futures.

    Giving our children a world class education is the single most important thing we can do.

    It’s the closest thing we have to a silver bullet….

    …the best economy policy, the best social policy, the best moral policy.

    That’s why I’m proud that it’s our policy, and I will never stop striving to achieve it.