Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to encourage provision of public sector work experience placements for 14 to 19 year-olds in education.

Nick Boles

We encourage all employers, including those in the public sector, to provide quality work experience opportunities, and government guidance is available.

Additionally, the government works in partnership with Movement to Work to offer placements in the Civil Service and we encourage all public sector bodies to offer traineeships, which include a quality work placement, and are available for 16-24 year olds.

In January, the Prime Minister gave a speech focusing on life chances during which he expressed his wish to set out a plan for using work experience more creatively. We are well aware that work experience can be a transformative opportunity, and we look forward to receiving the Lord Sainsbury-led Independent Panel Report on Technical and Professional Education which we expect will make recommendations in this area.