The press release issued by the Department for Education on 15 June 2012.

Outstanding headteacher Charlie Taylor was today appointed as the first permanent Chief Executive of the new Teaching Agency.

The Teaching Agency, based within the Department for Education, came into existence on 1st April 2012. It is responsible for ensuring the supply of high-quality teachers and training and for teacher regulation.

It also delivers policy for teachers and instructors; those working in Early Years; classroom-based school support staff; special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs); educational psychologists and examinations officers.

Mr Taylor will take up the new post from 3rd September 2012, taking over from Lin Hinnigan, who was appointed as an interim Chief Executive.

He is currently the department’s Expert Adviser on Behaviour. Previously he was the head teacher of The Willows, a special school for children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties in West London. During his time at the school, he received two ‘outstanding’ Ofsted ratings.

Charlie Taylor said:

I am delighted to be able to take on this new role at such a key time.

Ensuring we have the very best professionals in our classrooms and schools, and working in Early Years, is vital. I am looking forward to the challenges ahead and being part of the Teaching Agency team.

Mr Taylor has been a behavioural specialist for more than 10 years and has also worked as a freelance behaviour consultant, coaching teachers in behaviour management techniques. He has taught every age group, from nursery to 16-year-olds, working in tough inner-city primary and comprehensive schools. He lives in London and is married with 3 children.

Welcoming the appointment, Education Secretary Michael Gove said:

I am delighted that Charlie Taylor has accepted this vital role. The skills and experience he brings will ensure the success of this new and important agency.

I would also like to thank Lin Hinnigan for her excellent work setting up the agency and guiding it through its early days.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 14 June 2012.

• Extra bursaries for primary maths teachers and trainee teachers who work in the most challenging schools
• Weeding out poor teacher training providers

Schools will soon get more of a say in how teachers are trained, including taking on new trainee teachers themselves, under new plans to be unveiled today (Thursday 14 June).

The new School Direct programme, starting this September, will allow schools to train top graduates as teachers in the subjects and phases they need, in the way they want them trained. They will also be able to choose which accredited provider – such as top universities or Teaching School partnerships – they want to work with.

This will give schools greater control of how new teachers are recruited and trained, encourage more school-led partnerships for teacher training, and will help drive up the quality of teacher training.

The plans include:

• Extra financial incentives for trainee primary maths teachers and trainee teachers who work in the most challenging schools
• More collaborative school-led teacher training for top graduates
• Weeding out poor-quality initial teacher training (ITT) providers while guaranteeing allocations for outstanding ones
• A new employment-based training programme for high-calibre career changers

Speaking at the National College annual conference in Birmingham, Education Secretary Michael Gove will say:

The idea is a simple one: take the very best schools, ones that are already working to improve other schools, and put them in charge of teacher training and professional development for the whole system

The impact of these changes on initial teacher training will be revolutionary. By the end of this Parliament well over half of all training places will be delivered by schools

Each year around 30,000 teacher training places are allocated to a network of ITT providers for qualification-based courses. School involvement in the way the courses are designed or managed is limited and varies between providers. Schools do not always have an influence over who is recruited and how they are trained. Too many trainees are also on courses which Ofsted considers as only ‘satisfactory’.

From this September there will be more than 900 places on the new school-led School Direct programme – nearly double the expected level. The programme will be expanded massively over the next few years as it is opened to all schools. It is expected that Teaching Schools, academy chains and outstanding schools will take the lead, working with other schools in their area.

By the end of the Parliament we expect that as many as 10,000 students a year could be trained by schools that are either offering Schools Direct places or are full providers of teacher training.

New dedicated training route for high-calibre career changers

Starting in September 2013, around 5000 teacher training places will be made available for high-calibre career changers, through a new employment-based strand of School Direct. This scheme will replace the current Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP) which has been in place since 1998.

Whilst the GTP has delivered some superb training, and recruited some brilliant teachers, it has also suffered from serious flaws. Recruitment has not always been targeted at high-fliers, it has been difficult to access and apply to the programme, and some schools have been left frustrated by restrictions over salary and training.

The new School Direct route will build on the GTP’s strengths and give schools greater control. Those who have already gained at least 3 years’ valuable experience in the world of work will be able to apply for the programme via a single website.

Other plans include:

• Extra £2,000 incentive on top of current bursaries for top graduates who train to become primary specialist maths teachers. Trainees with a grade B or above in A level maths would qualify for this additional bursary.
• Driving up the quality of initial teacher training (ITT) providers. ITT providers rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted will get guaranteed allocations of places for two years at least, at their current level. Good providers will receive some allocations, but no places guaranteed, whilst satisfactory providers will receive no allocations. All providers will be able to supplement their central allocations by working with schools to train their School Direct trainees.

Providers rated as ‘requires improvement’ under the new Ofsted framework will not get any central government places and if they receive two consecutive ratings in this category, they will be closed down.

• Incentivising the best trainee teachers to work in the most challenging schools. If a School Direct trainee spends the majority of their training in a challenging school, they will receive an extra 25% in bursary payments. For those starting this September, they will receive up to £5,000 extra. Challenging schools using the employment-based School Direct route will receive 10% extra – up to £2,000. This additional funding will allow them to offer higher salaries or better training.

The speech made by Michael Gove, the then Secretary of State for Education, on 14 June 2012.

Thank you Steve for that introduction and thank you for all the great work you and the College have done over the past year.

Can I also take this opportunity to thank Steve’s tireless deputy Toby Salt – who is about to take up a new challenge as Chief Executive of the Ormiston Academy chain – and Andy Buck, who has done a brilliant job in establishing Teaching Schools – who is going to work for ULT?

It turns out that a downside of devolving power from the centre is that is creates great career opportunities for some of our best people.

But I think that’s a price worth paying…..

Those of you who have heard me speak before are probably expecting a brief tour around the educational policies of those countries that dominate the OECD’s PISA league table.

And it’s true we have looked all over the world in developing our policies.

Our curriculum reforms were inspired by the high expectations for all children in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The success of Finland and South Korea has informed our focus on getting more of our very best graduates into teaching.

The example of charter schools in New Orleans and New York – which have transformed the life chances of poorer children in those cities – have been critical in developing free school policy.

London

But while I’ve been inspired by Singapore, Finland and New Orleans another success story has perhaps had an even greater influence on my thinking. And it’s one that’s closer to home. London.

Until 2004 London always underperformed the rest of the country in exams. In the seventies and eighties inner London schools were seen by many as a by-word for failure. While some were, in fact, doing well in difficult circumstances there were serious problems. Poor behaviour was endemic, aspiration was low, life chances were stunted.

But over the last few decades there has been a transformation.

The difference between London and the rest of the country may not seem that great at first glance. 62 per cent of children achieve five good GCSEs with English and Maths compared with 58 per cent nationally.

Dig a little deeper, though, and there are some startling results. Across the country just 35 per cent of children on free school meals achieve five good GCSEs with English and Maths – a scandalously low figure – but in inner-London 52 per cent meet it – just a few points off the average for all children.

And this gap between the achievement of children in the capital and elsewhere exists for all ethnic groups and all income bands. For instance almost half of London’s poorest white pupils get five good GCSEs with English and Maths compared with 37 per cent nationally.

Nor has the success been patchy – there have been big improvements across the capital. There is now just one London secondary school below the floor standard.

So how has this happened?

Of course London has many advantages – it is a dynamic city with a fantastic cultural heritage. It benefits from a diverse mix of, often highly aspirational, communities. As the centre of so many professions – politics, media, the law – it is much easier to identify role models for young people than in other parts of the country.

But those things have been true for many years and London’s success is a more recent phenomenon. What’s really made the difference is that London has been the laboratory for educational reform over the past decade.

The last Government launched the London Challenge in 2003. There were several elements to this but the three most important were:

• Sponsored Academies
• The use of outstanding schools to mentor others
• A focus on improving the quality of teaching – especially through Teach First

Each of these strands has had a profound effect on performance and on my thinking. In each case this Government has learnt the lessons and is spreading the benefits of these reforms across the rest of the country.

The sponsored academy revolution began in London. Until 2010 there were more in London than the rest of the country put together – and there are still more than in any other region.

Nearly all of them have seen massive improvements from their predecessor school – given a new lease of life by a committed sponsor and the independence to innovate. But some in particular have been so incredibly successful that they’ve had a transformative impact on expectations in their area.

There are a small number of schools where children on free school meals both represent more than a third of all pupils and achieve above the national average. These are the jewels in the crown of the state education system – a standing rebuke to everyone who claims poorer children are destined to do worse than others. And when you look for them across London you start to see a pattern.

In Hackney there is one such school. It won’t surprise anyone to learn that it’s Mossbourne Academy.

In Southwark there are two – ARK Walworth Academy and Harris Bermondsey Academy.

In Westminster there are three – Pimlico Academy, Paddington ULT Academy and one non-academy: St. Marylebone Church of England School.

In each of these local authorities the incredible performance of new sponsored academies has acted as a spur to others. In Southwark the percentage of free school meal children achieving five good GCSE with English and Maths has increased by 23 percentage points in 4 years; in Westminster 18 percentage points; in Hackney by 15.

Since the election this Government – inspired by these successes – has turbo-charged the sponsored academy programme. By this September we will have increased the number we inherited by well over 100 per cent. And, crucially, we have expanded the programme into primary schools – more than 200 have now been brokered and 34 are already open.

I know this has been one of our more controversial reforms – some of the usual suspects have sought to protect underperforming schools from necessary change. But it seems deeply irresponsible to me to allow schools to fail year after year when organisations, like Harris, that have proven their ability to turn round schools time and time again are willing to help.

Academies, though, are only part of what made the London Challenge successful. The leadership strand of the programme focused on identifying “system leaders” to support weaker schools. This proved extremely successful. Schools in Tower Hamlets and Newham – like Swanlea and Rokeby – have been amongst the fastest improvers in recent years – and have done so by working closely with each other to drive up standards.

The legacy of this success is widespread support for system leadership as the best method of school improvement. As former chief inspector Christine Gilbert put it in a recent speech: “we’ve reached a tipping point in favour of schools, school leaders, and teachers themselves, as the primary drivers of systemic improvement”.

That is reflected both in the National Leader of Education programme – which is being massively expanded by this Government – as well as the great work being done by good and outstanding schools that have converted to academy status to help others.

Indeed one of the Tower Hamlets’ schools originally identified as requiring support under the London Challenge – Bethnal Green Technology College – converted to academy status as an outstanding school in January this year and is, as a condition of that status, supporting Dartford Technology College, a school currently in special measures.

Increasingly the very best schools are going beyond ad hoc support for weaker schools and establishing their own chains and federations – in the same way Harris, Haberdashers and John Cabot City Technology Colleges did in the early years of the academy programme. 85 outstanding schools are now signed up as academy sponsors.

The third key strand of the London Challenge was a focus on increasing the number of outstanding teachers through professional development and recruitment of the best graduates via Teach First – which was in its first few years a predominantly London centred programme.

Of the 1,000 Teach First trainees who completed training under the last Government over three-quarters were based in a London school.

While these 750 plus teachers represent a small percentage of the London workforce they have had a disproportionate impact. It is notable that the schools I mentioned earlier that help children on free school meals outperform the average have all relied heavily on Teach First in their recruitment.

Indeed many Teach Firsters have already reached leadership positions in these schools and others like them. They are often young people who would not have considered teaching without the additional prestige of Teach First, or the opportunity to start working in a challenging school straight away, but who have now decided to commit their lives to helping some of the most disadvantaged children in our society match – or supersede – their own achievements.

The Importance of teaching

Their success emphasises one of the key messages of international research over the past few years: no education system can outperform its teachers and the most successful jurisdictions, though they may differ hugely in other aspects, share a focus on recruiting the very best graduates and training them in outstanding institutions.

Under this Government Teach First have been given the funding to grow in commensurate proportion to their ambitions. By the end of this Parliament they plan to train 1,500 graduates a year; three times as many as they were doing at the beginning. They have developed a bespoke primary programme and expanded to all parts of the country.

But we are not just growing Teach First itself we are also applying the key lessons of that programme to the whole teacher training system. And how we’re doing that is what I want to focus on today.

Some changes we’ve already made.

One lesson from Teach First, as well as of PISA, is the importance of attracting the best graduates.

So we have introduced bursaries of up to £20,000 to attract the very best science and maths graduates. And we have raised the bar for potential trainees – they now need at least a second class degree to receive a bursary – to signal to undergraduates the intellectual rigour required to become a teacher.

We know that a big reason for Teach First’s success in recruiting hundreds of graduates from our best universities is the sense of prestige attached to a programme badged as elite. We now need to extend that sense of prestige to teaching as a whole.

As a result of these changes we have already seen a 12 per cent increase in the proportion of candidates with a 2:1 or first class degree accepted on to maths, physics, chemistry and modern foreign languages teacher training courses.

In physics – traditionally the hardest subject to recruit for – there has been an incredible 29 per cent rise in the proportion of graduates with a good degree accepted on to courses.

And attitudes are changing too.

In their annual survey of final year undergraduates the Teaching Agency found that:

81 per cent agreed that teaching had real status and kudos – up 4 per cent since 2010.

72 per cent thought their friends and family would react positively to them becoming a teacher – up 6 per cent since 2010.

And, encouragingly, 71 per cent thought the image of teaching is improving.

Schools at the heart of teaching training

But it’s not just about ensuring that we recruit the very best talent available. We also need to make sure that our very best educators are at the heart of training each new generation of teachers.

And the best vehicle for doing this is something else that started in London as part of the Challenge – the Teaching School – pioneered by George Berwick the visionary headteacher of Ravens Wood School.

There were just a handful of Teaching Schools in 2010 but the potential was obvious. The idea is a simple one: take the very best schools, ones that are already working to improve other schools, and put them in charge of teacher training and professional development for the whole system.

Via the great work of the National College this Government has already set up a network of 200 Teaching Schools – with the aim of opening 500 by the end of the Parliament. Their impact has been immediate and profound.

Fantastic projects have popped up all over the country – not driven by the demands of Government or by Ministers’ prejudices but by school leaders.

Whether it’s Fairlawn Primary in Lewisham supporting Maths teaching across the borough.

Or Wroxham school in Hertfordshire working with Cambridge University to develop a new pedagogy that breaks free of previous obsessions with ability-labels.

Or the network of Teaching Schools across the North-West who are developing their own school improvement programme for local schools.

And, of course, nearly all Teaching Schools are getting much more involved in teacher training.

Pushing more teacher training through schools has been an aim of successive Governments since the late eighties. And there have been important initiatives. The last Conservative Government allowed groups of schools to form together to offer teacher training. The Labour Government introduced the Graduate Teacher Programme – allowing typically older trainees to learn on the job – as well as Teach First.

In fact this is a global shift. As the OECD’s head of education Andreas Schleicher put it in a speech last year “many countries have shifted the emphasis from academic preparation to preparing professionals in schools instead. Teachers now get into classrooms earlier, spend more time on-site in schools, and get more and better support in the process”.

But previous efforts in this country have always been piecemeal – hamstrung by the lack of a proper network of outstanding schools to deliver training on a serious scale.
Now we have the Teaching School network.

Earlier this year we launched a pilot version of a new programme called School Direct. Teaching Schools were offered the opportunity to bid for teacher training places.

Those participating will be able to recruit their own trainees and develop their own training programme in partnership with a university. In return for this additional control the schools will be expected to find a job for the trainee once they finish their training. As such it represents a better deal for both schools and trainees.
Because of the short notice and the select group of schools involved we expected a maximum of 500 places would be bid for – instead it was over 1,000, of which 914 were allocated. We were blown away by schools’ enthusiasm.

Now these places have been allocated, the schools involved are already recruiting trainees; and working with a wide-range of universities to develop high-quality training programmes; and putting teacher training at the heart of their plans for the future.

For example Harris academies have decided to partner with Canterbury Christ Church university and have worked closely with them to select trainees and design a training programme. Harris staff will be as closely involved as possible in the core teaching days on the programme, and will increase this involvement as the programme evolves. Staff from Harris have already accompanied staff from Canterbury Christ Church on a research trip to Finland.

And Cabot academies have developed a programme that will see each trainee mentored by an existing outstanding teacher in their chain – following a bespoke 10 day induction in their schools before Autumn term begins.

As we grow the Teaching School network, many more heads have come to us, asking to be involved.

So we are going to expand School Direct significantly over the next few years.

Schools won’t have to be part of a Teaching School alliance to get involved but we envisage that most will – because of the advantages of training across a group of schools.

And while we anticipate that the majority of schools participating will want a strong partnership with a higher education institution, we expect that some of the very best schools will want to become their own provider.

Indeed some of the most forward thinking Teaching Schools and academy chains have already gone down this route.

Like the Kemnal academies trust who will use the wealth of experience in teacher training across their member schools to offer courses in English, mathematics, physics, chemistry and MFL from September.

Or Tudor Grange Teaching School alliance who will offer courses in the same subjects from September 2012 with Masters level credits awarded by Cumbria University.

By the end of the Parliament we expect as many as 10,000 students a year could be trained by schools that are either offering Schools Direct places or are full providers of teacher training.

So there will be a spectrum of engagement for those schools that want to get involved. Some schools may not want to get involved at all. Many will want to participate in School Direct – having the opportunity to recruit staff and develop training programmes with the support and assistance of existing providers. Others will want to run the whole show – taking control of the process from start to finish.

As these programmes grow, more and more schools will be able to recruit, train and hire their own teachers; working in partnership with other schools and top-quality ITT providers to give new teachers the best possible start to their careers.

New recruits will learn and train in schools, working with experienced teachers and putting their lessons into practice from day one.

And they will be recruited with the expectation that they will be employed at the school at the end of their training – something which the traditional, university-based PGCE could never offer.

Of course, for existing providers involved in teacher training this will mean some big changes.

We want to ensure the very best providers remain committed to teacher education so universities, and others, rated “outstanding” by Ofsted will be guaranteed their existing level of places for the next two years.

But we will no longer guarantee places to institutions rated good or lower. They will compete for training places through School Direct, designing courses in collaboration with schools. If schools don’t rate their provision, they will go out of business.

And we’re going to work quickly in identifying and shutting down providers which simply aren’t good enough. If they receive two “Requires Improvement” judgements under the new – tougher – Ofsted framework – they will be swiftly de-accredited.
If an ITT provider isn’t delivering the sort of high-quality, highly-respected training which each new teacher deserves and needs – then they have no place delivering training at all.

Recruiting the best career changers

Along with recruiting the best university-leavers and ensuring they are trained in the best schools and universities, I also want to do more to attract more of the best and brightest career-changers.

The Graduate Teacher Programme, or GTP, has been in place since 1998. In that time it has delivered some superb training, and recruited some brilliant teachers.

But it has also suffered from some serious flaws. Recruitment has been ad hoc – there has never been a sense that the programme is targeted at high-fliers.

There has never been a central website that any career-changer interested in becoming a teacher could go to to find places.

And sometimes schools have felt frustrated by restrictions over salary and training.

So we are going to close the GTP, but build on its strengths to launch a new, school-led teacher training programme for the best career-changers.

From September 2013, a new employment-based strand of School Direct will be available for candidates who have already gained at least three years valuable experience in other careers.

Any school that wants to participate will be asked to advertise places on a single website which will allow the Teaching Agency to better market the programme to the target audience.

Schools will have much greater control of funding – they will be able to decide how much to spend on trainees’ salaries and how much on training – giving them the autonomy and flexibility to decide how to get the biggest possible bang for their buck.

And to help schools in deprived areas to recruit and train the very best teachers, schools with 35 per cent or more of their pupils on free school meals will receive a 10 per cent funding premium.

In 2013-14, we will fund up to 5,000 places on employment-based School Direct- more than the number of places on the GTP this year.

Conclusion

The cumulative impact of these changes on initial teacher training will be revolutionary. By the end of this parliament well over half of all training places will be delivered by schools whether through direct provision; Teach First; School Direct; or our new employment-based route.

Most of the rest will be doing PGCE courses in existing providers rated outstanding.

The weakest providers will no longer be in business. They will have been de-accredited following Ofsted inspections or unable to persuade schools to commission support from them.

This represents a huge opportunity for school leaders – to take control of teacher training – to create programmes that reflect their school’s ethos – to recruit better trainees.

I was delighted to read in the National College’s independent survey of 2,250 school leaders that 98 per cent think it’s a great job. It is a great job and one that makes such a difference. I want to thank you for all that you have done so far as leaders to improve the life chances of the children and young people in your care. I know that your roles are challenging and that this government is asking even more of you but that is because I believe the children and young people in this country deserve the very best.

I am asking you to work with me to move these important proposals forward. It is a big responsibility – you will need to show that you can manage the development and improvement of the profession rather than looking to others to do it for you. But if London’s improvement has taught us anything it is that putting schools in control of their own destiny is the key to success.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 14 June 2012.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has today (14 June) announced that the government will provide further funding to accelerate the expansion of Teach First – the successful charity which recruits top graduates to work in the most challenging schools.

Tens of thousands of children across England will benefit from a £32.4 million government investment in the programme next year – an increase of more than £3 million. The majority of this funding goes to Teach First’s 14 university training partners.

The funding will help the charity train 1,250 top graduates, from 70 different universities, next year before they go on to join schools in the most challenging circumstances – double the number who took part in the charity’s Leadership Development Programme in 2010.

The Government has also announced its support of Teach First’s goal to train 1,500 participants in 2014 to 2015 – triple the number who took part in the Leadership Development Programme in 2010.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said:

The countries which give their children the best education in the world are those which value their teachers most highly and where the profession attracts the brightest graduates.

Our priority is to deliver robust standards and high quality teaching to all pupils, whatever their background. To do this we must attract highly talented people into education because the quality of teachers has a greater influence on children’s achievement than any other aspect of their education.

By expanding Teach First, the government is delivering on this commitment.

Teach First works in primary and secondary schools where more than half of pupils come from the poorest 30 per cent of families in the UK.

This expansion will mean that Teach First would be able to reach 90% of eligible schools by 2016, boosting the government’s commitment to recruit more top teachers across England.

It will also make Teach First the largest graduate recruiter in the country. It recruits exceptional graduates – those having at least a 2.1 degree – who go through a thorough assessment process and intensive 2-year training programme.

The announcement comes as part of the coalition government’s drive to raise standards in our schools, by making it a highly attractive career for top graduates.

Welcoming the additional Government support, Brett Wigdortz, CEO and Founder of Teach First, said:

I’m delighted that in our 10th anniversary year the coalition government has confirmed this significant contribution to support the growth of Teach First.

We have always been extremely grateful for the cross party support Teach First has received from governments over the past decade, as well as the support of our other partners, including schools, universities and businesses, who collectively ensure that we can achieve our goals.

This decision will help us to get one step closer to our ambitious aim to ensure that no child’s educational success is limited by their socio-economic background.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 11 June 2012.

Plans to restore rigour in the key primary subjects are today set out by Education Secretary Michael Gove.

The draft primary national curriculum programmes of study for English, maths and science are more demanding than the existing national curriculum. They align England with those countries that have the highest-performing school systems.

By raising standards in basics such as reading, grammar, fractions and basic scientific concepts, children will be equipped to do more advanced work once they start secondary school.

The draft programmes of study published today will be subject to an informal consultation so they can be widely discussed. Some will think aspects are too demanding, others that they are not demanding enough, and there will be debate about what is appropriate at different ages. The Department for Education will consider the public debate and re-draft the programmes before re-publishing them later in the year for formal consultation. The final programmes will be introduced in primary schools from September 2014.

The drafts include the following:

Higher standards in maths

• Pupils will be expected to be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions in primary school so they can progress to more advanced topics like algebra when they go to secondary school. These four operations are not in the current primary curriculum. The proposed change is consistent with expectations in the high-performing education jurisdictions of Singapore and Hong Kong.
• By age 9, pupils should know their times tables up to 12×12. This is in line with expectations in the high-performing jurisdiction of Massachusetts. Currently pupils only need to know up to 10×10 by the end of primary school.
• By age seven, pupils should know “number bonds” up to 20. These are simple addition and subtraction facts that pupils should be able to recognise and use instantly (e.g. 9+9=18 or 16-7=9).

Higher standards in English

• Pupils will be taught to read fluently through systematic phonics. There will be a much stronger emphasis on reading for pleasure.
• There will be a focus on spelling – for instance, there will be a list of words that all children should be able to spell by the end of primary school. There is currently no such list in the national curriculum.
• There will be a focus on grammar – for instance, children will be expected to understand how to use the subjunctive and correct use of the apostrophe – for example, not using it to indicate plurals such as “I went to buy some apple’s” or using “it’s” as a possessive.
• There will be an expectation that pupils master formal English through poetry recitation, debate and presentation.

Higher standards in science:

• There will be a greater focus on the acquisition of scientific knowledge with new content on the solar system, speed and evolution.
• There will be an increased focus on practical scientific experiments and demonstrations, similar to the approach taken in Alberta and Massachusetts.

Additionally, there will be a consultation later this summer on our plan to introduce foreign languages from age seven at the start of key stage 2.

There will be no other changes to the structure of the primary curriculum. The government will maintain the requirement for the teaching of art and design, design and technology, geography, history, ICT, music, and physical education across all the primary years.

Programmes of study for these subjects will follow later this year. They will be much shorter than the drafts for English, maths and science being published today. This will give teachers much more freedom in these areas.

Education Secretary Michael Gove also announced today that the current system of levels and level descriptors – which is confusing for parents and bureaucratic for teachers – will be removed and not replaced.

The publication of the draft Programmes of Study for English, Maths and Science follow a report by an expert panel, chaired by Tim Oates, which made recommendations on the framework for a new national curriculum, and a parallel report by the Department for Education which identified the key features of curricula for maths, science and English in high-performing jurisdictions.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 11 June 2012.

The Richard Review of Apprenticeships will look at how to build upon the record success of recent years by:

• Ensuring that apprenticeships meet the needs of the changing economy
• Ensuring every apprenticeship delivers high quality training and the qualifications and skills that employers need
• Maximising the impact of Government investment.

Looking to the future, the review will examine how apprenticeships can continue to best meet the needs of employers, individuals, and the wider economy; which learners and employers can and should benefit most from apprenticeships; and what the core components of a high quality apprenticeship should be.

Mr Richard was selected by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Education for his strong reputation in the spheres of both business and business education, enabling him to provide an independent analysis of the future priorities of the Government’s scheme.

A senior figure in the UK and global business communities, with over 20 years’ experience in the development and leadership of start-ups and established businesses, Mr. Richard will bring unrivalled commercial insight to the study.

His commercial expertise is matched by hands-on experience in the teaching of business skills. Through his social enterprise, School for Startups, Mr. Richard has delivered practical and theoretical instruction to more than 10,000 business owners and in 2009 he received the Enterprise Educator of the Year award for the excellence of his teaching.

Today’s announcement marks the continuation of Mr. Richard’s involvement in enterprise policy. He previously published the Richard Report in 2008, his investigation into the British government’s support of small businesses. Earlier this year he partnered with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to stage his ‘Web Fuelled Business’ initiative – a nationwide series of bootcamps helping small businesses exploit and leverage the internet.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said:

“To build a prosperous economy we need a skilled workforce. The apprenticeship programme has been a real success, not only boosting chances for young people, but also helping businesses to address their skills gaps.

“However in the past vocational youngsters have been let down by weak courses and our competitors have stolen a march. I have just come back from a fact finding mission to Germany where two-thirds of young people take some form of apprenticeship by the time they are 25.

“To keep pace it is vital that we build on our initial success and continue to look at how apprenticeships can adapt to meet our future needs in the fast-evolving global economy.

“The Richard Review will do just that, establishing the core principles that will keep apprenticeships relevant to the future needs of individuals, employers and the wider economy. Doug Richard’s experience as a business mentor and setting up his School for Startups make him the perfect candidate to complete this task.”

Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove said:

“Doug Richard is a proper entrepreneur not a corporate bureaucrat. That’s why he’s the right man to get apprenticeships right. It’s great that the numbers taking up apprenticeships has grown. But there are still serious issues – there is still too much bureaucracy getting in the way of small firms taking people on, too much money appears to be going to middle men and the quality of some vocational qualifications taken by apprentices is still not good enough. Doug will help us get that right.”

Mr Richard said:

“I am delighted to have been given this commission to lead the review into the future of apprenticeships. In today’s challenging climate, apprenticeships will and must play a vital role in equipping our young people with the skills they need to succeed.

“As an entrepreneur, but also as an educator, I am convinced of the importance of business education in helping not only individuals but society at large. For our economy to recover and flourish, we need a workforce that possesses the requisite skills of twenty-first century commerce and industry. A strong apprenticeship programme is essential in delivering that.”

Skills Minister John Hayes said:

“The government has built the biggest and best apprenticeships programme of modern times. Last year there were over 457,000 apprenticeship starts and we have set out rigorous new standards to guarantee all apprenticeships are of the highest quality. Apprenticeships have never before been given the status or significance that I, as the Minister responsible, has afforded them.

“However, if we are to ensure that apprenticeships continue to meet the skills needs of our constantly evolving economy then we must take every opportunity to re-examine the why, what and how of apprenticeships, to ensure they are equipping learners and employers for the future.

“I’m delighted that Doug Richard will be leading this review. His personal commitment and track record in training, developing and inspiring people speaks for itself, and as an entrepreneur and educator who has helped thousands of fledgling businesses get off the ground, his insight and expertise will be invaluable.”