Tag: Robert Halfon

The speech made by Robert Halfon, the Education Minister, in Birmingham on 27 February 2024.

Hello – I’m sorry I can’t be with you today as planned.

I hope you’ve had a brilliant couple of days discussing every aspect of apprenticeships delivery.

I want to say thank you to Shane [Mann] and FE Week for organising this conference.

I always say that FE Week makes the life of a Skills Minister difficult – but it makes complacency impossible!

Whenever I want to find out what’s going on in the DfE, I read FE Week.

My whole political life has been about championing apprenticeships and skills.

I’ve done this because I’ve seen the good they can do in my own constituency.

They are the greatest tool we have for advancing social justice.

A range of complementary training options, from Level 2 to degree level, will allow people of all backgrounds to climb the Ladder of Opportunity – gaining the skills they need to improve their income and their future.

Recently I took a journey from West to East, from St Austell to Ipswich.

The Proclaimers may have walked 500 miles, but I covered 843 over the course of National Apprenticeship Week.

I met apprentices, employers and training providers who were full of enthusiasm for the programme, keen to demonstrate their skills and teaching.

They really want skills education and industry to succeed in this country.

More importantly, they are putting in the hard yards to make it happen.

My 3 Goals for Apprenticeships

The government’s reforms and investment have seen a transformation of the skills landscape.

This has already brought about incredible dividends.

There are now nearly 690 apprenticeship standards – each one designed by employers with IfATE to teach the skills that employees really need.

While a lot has been achieved – with the help of many here today – there is still much to do.

My 3 goals I’d like to discuss today are:

• Building an Apprenticeships Nation
• Prioritising quality over quantity, and
• Making sure apprenticeships serve social justice, by bringing opportunities to those who need them most.

Building an Apprenticeships Nation

Building an Apprenticeships Nation means integrating apprenticeships into the way that everyone sees work, study and recruitment. They are not a minority pursuit for people who didn’t choose university, or just a pathway dedicated to ancient, guilded trades (though they’re great for those too!) They are about spreading opportunities to enter every trade possible, in away that allows the employer to specify your training. Currently nearly 70% of occupations can now be entered via an apprenticeship – and we intend to build on this! Apprenticeships should be part of the conversation at every Sixth Form careers fair, and whenever businesses seek to hire specific skills.

The Levy

To build an Apprenticeships Nation, these qualifications needed to be fully and intelligently financed. We met this challenge by asking the employers with the deepest pockets to contribute to high quality training. The Apprenticeship Levy came into effect in 2017; it has allowed us to double apprenticeships spending in cash terms, from £1.2 billion in 2010-11 to £2.5 billion in 2022-23. To keep pace with the cost of living last year, IfATE awarded funding uplifts to almost 80 apprenticeship standards, by an average of 35%. And to ensure apprentices gain vital skills, we recently increased the apprenticeship funding rate for English and maths tuition by 54%.

In 2024-25, we will spend £2.7 billion on high-quality apprenticeships.

I’m passionate about the Apprenticeship Levy, and not just because of the money it brings in!

Putting a statutory obligation on big companies to contribute to the programme has really helped shift the culture in how apprenticeships are perceived and who offers them. It’s why I don’t agree with calls to spend the Levy on other skills training. Fewer apprentices would be employed, with more people doing shorter qualifications of varying quality. Using half of Levy funds in this way could have resulted in around 60% fewer apprentice starts last academic year.

I’m determined that it will remain the Ronseal Levy that does what it says on the tin: supports employers to take-on more apprentices and invest in the high quality training needed for a skilled workforce.

Degree Apprenticeships

An Apprenticeships Nation means extending this training up to degree level, at the best universities. Degree apprenticeships are so important because of their unique offer. Students benefit from brilliant collaborations between top businesses and world-class universities which fit them for a great career, pay them a wage, and don’t charge tuition fees. This is particularly valuable to people from disadvantaged backgrounds. A degree apprenticeship can act as a launchpad to a highly-paid job for someone without any background in that industry. Level 6 apprentices have median earnings of over £34,500 once they complete – demonstrating just how valuable these workers are to employers.

Over 222,000 people have started on these prestigious training pathways since 2015. That’s remarkable – but I’m determined that these opportunities reach many, many more people. It’s why we’ve made up to £40 million available for universities to expand degree-level apprenticeships.

Careers Education

But to really build an Apprenticeships Nation, we must continue our revolution in careers provision.

School pupils should have awareness of apprenticeships, and where they can take you, well before their tertiary choices at 16. That is why we strengthened the provider access legislation, known as the Baker Clause, via the Skills and Post-16 Education Act in 2022. We now stipulate that every school must provide pupils with a minimum of six education and training provider encounters, to build their understanding of what technical routes can offer.

I am determined that students have more opportunities to see industries and occupations up close, and to learn about the benefits of technical routes and skills education. Over 95% of schools and colleges are now part of The Careers & Enterprise Company’s network of Careers Hubs, working with almost 400 major employers.  Our ASK programme is raising older pupils’ awareness of the benefits of apprenticeships and T Levels. It had 625,000 interactions with young people in over 2,400 schools in 2022/23.

I’ve met with Sir Martyn Oliver since his appointment as the Chief Inspector of Ofsted, and he is fully onboard with this vital aspect of skills reform – that careers education fully educate pupils on all their options.

Quality over Quantity ..but we still want more!

My next goal for apprenticeships is quality over quantity. There is no point wracking-up huge numbers of participants if the training people receive is not second to none.

To raise the prestige of vocational, technical education, we must ensure that these employer-led qualifications are to the highest standard.

If you compare pre-2010 apprenticeships with 2024 apprenticeships, you’re not comparing apples and pears. You’re comparing apples with tortoises.

There were fewer than half a million people participating in apprenticeships in 2009/10.

Those training programmes had no requirement to last at least a year, and no minimum guided learning hours.

Last year over 750,000 were participating – and training to the more rigorous, industry-designed standards we introduced from 2014.

I know participation has fluctuated over the last decade, as high quality standards and the Levy were introduced.

But quality matters more than quantity because it serves everyone in the long term – businesses, the economy and learners’ outcomes. Quality will help us to achieve our ambition of reaching a 67% achievement rate for apprenticeship by 2025.

Government is sometimes accused of not thinking about the long term.

I’m glad we did 10 years ago, at about the same time as the first Annual Apprenticeship Conference was being organised.

Now, although I prioritise quality over quantity, quantity comes a close second.

This academic year we’ve already seen over 160,000 apprenticeship starts, up 3% on the same period the previous year. Among those, the number of young people under 19 starting an apprenticeship is up by 6%, to over 50,000 starts. Overall, 65% of these starts are at Levels 2 & 3 – the crucial point at which young people may finish their education. An apprenticeship allows them to build to higher levels later if they chose.

There have been nearly 27,000 apprenticeship starts at degree level in the first quarter, up 4% on same period last year. And the number of achievements is up 22% so far this academic year, with 37,400 people passing their apprenticeship.

But that’s not enough!

It won’t surprise you to hear I want as many people as possible to do apprenticeships.

Social justice

My final goal for apprenticeships is that they serve social justice.

This is a core part of my personal mission in politics, and why I have such enthusiasm for this training.

It is not fair that opportunities to enter good work, with progression and a rising pay scale are often not given to those who need them most.

Apprenticeships provide a Ladder of Opportunity for people to climb to a better life – that’s why I champion them.

I’m keen that we present apprenticeships to all kinds of candidates as an attractive, supported option. This includes young people who’ve spent time in care, and haven’t enjoyed a stable family life to guide decisions about their future. In August we raised the bursary for care-experienced apprentices to £3,000. These young people can now begin their training 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. It’s total of £5,000 additional funding for each young person who’s spent time in care, which will boost these apprentices’ outcomes.

We know there are specific challenges to hiring younger apprentices, and those with health and learning conditions. That’s why we also provide an additional £1,000 of funding to employers and training providers who hire apprentices aged 19-24 with an Education, Health and Care Plan.

The same subsidy is also available for hiring younger apprentices aged 16 to 18.

And to further assist hiring candidates with an EHC plan, we have recently lowered the English and Maths requirements to ‘entry level 3’ for these apprentices.

I also want to explore how we can help more disabled people to progress and complete their apprenticeship. That’s why we’ve begun a pilot scheme to help training providers offer quality mentoring to these individuals. It will give participants tailored support from someone who understands the apprenticeship programme, as well as their individual needs and circumstances.

Social justice means making sure apprenticeships are offered as a choice to everyone who could benefit from them – particularly those unlikely to apply unless encouraged by their school or college.

Conclusion

We set lofty goals when we began reforming the apprenticeships programme 10 years ago.

I’m determined that we continue to set our sights high, to make apprenticeships better and better throughout the 2020s and 2030s.

I have a picture in my office of John F Kennedy – the 35th President of the United States.

Back in the 1960s, he also had high ambitions.

He said: “We choose to go to the Moon … and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

His point was – that’s what makes it worthwhile! We could spend less money and time and effort, but we wouldn’t have a space programme – or an apprenticeships programme – to be proud of.

I know this because I’ve been campaigning for these reforms for a long time.

We’re doing it not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard.

We know that every apprenticeship undertaken, and every apprenticeship taken-on, means better prospects and security for the apprentice, and better business outcomes for the employer.

Let me leave you with that high-flying thought.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy today’s conference.

The speech made by Robert Halfon, the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, in Liverpool on 7 December 2023.

Times Higher Education is such an important voice for the sector, and I’m delighted to be speaking to you again.

I want to start with a personal story about my relationship with higher education.

I was born with a form of cerebral palsy, spastic diplegia. The doctors told my father I’d never be able do anything – to walk, live independently or, for example, go to university.

Thanks to a Great Ormond Street doctor, I did learn to walk and went on to do things no one would have predicted – included going to university. I never imagined I’d be able to walk or cycle up the steep hills of Exeter, but I did. Going to university was the greatest time of my life. I greatly enjoyed getting my degree, and then staying on to do a masters.

My experience taught me not just to highly value higher education – but to cherish it.

A sector to be proud of

I’m proud that Britain has some of the best universities in the world.

4 in the top 10, and 17 in the top 100. Students travel from over 200 nations to study here. And our universities lead the world in producing valuable research:

We rank 1st in the G7 for publications’ impact.

We also have excellent technical and vocational universities, which are expanding the concept of degree education. They are equipping students with premium skills for high-powered jobs, and collaborating with further education to deliver sought-after degree apprenticeships.

And data released todRobetay shows that we’re flinging wide the doors to university like never before. Thanks to the commitment you’ve shown to access and participation, disadvantaged English 18-year-olds are now 74% more likely to enter higher education than they were in 2010.

I want to congratulate everyone in this room for their contribution to the picture I’ve described: the deans, lecturers, admissions tutors – all the academic teaching and research staff. And I also want to thank all those who aren’t in the room, but are just as important to making a university successful: the support staff, administrators, student counsellors and caterers. Everything that all of you do has made this sector what it is today.

I recognise the financial pressures universities are under – and appreciate the work you are doing to manage these and deliver outstanding outcomes for young people.

We’re working in a very challenging financial context across government. This means we must continue to make tough decisions to control public spending – but also try to help students with the cost-of-living, and ensure they receive value-for-money.

Beveridge’s 5 Giants

Last year I laid out my 3 aims for higher education: jobs, skills and social justice.

This year, to look to the future, I want to first look back to December 1942.

Twentieth Century historians among you will recognise the year that Sir William Beveridge published his report on Britain’s social ills. As you will know, the Beveridge report went on to become the founding document for the welfare state.

Beveridge described 5 giants that were standing in the way of the nation’s progress.

They were idleness, ignorance, disease, squalor and want.

Although the report was a blueprint for social security, Beveridge also acknowledges the evils he considered just as bad as income, housing or healthcare deficits.

Namely, lack of education and employment.

Beveridge described ignorance as something “no democracy can afford among its citizens”, and idleness as a force that ‘destroys wealth and corrupts men, whether they are well fed or not’.

My 5 Giants

So taking my cue from Beveridge, I want to talk about my 5 giants – the 5 challenges I believe higher education faces in this decade and beyond.

They are higher education reforms, HE disruptors, degree apprenticeships, the lifelong learning entitlement and artificial intelligence and the fourth industrial revolution.

I will end by talking about an unwelcome shift in culture on campus this autumn, and what we must do about it.

HE reform

I want to start with our ongoing higher education reforms, and the challenge they present to universities.

The sector has evolved in the last 25 years to a widely-accessed, fee-paying model. Data from the Office for Students shows that students overwhelmingly progress to good employment, further study or other positive outcomes. However, government has a duty to monitor provision funded by tuition fees, to ensure that students receive value-for-money from the finance it provides – and which they must eventually pay back.

Jobs, skills and social justice are what drives our higher education reforms. By legislating on what courses should cost and the outcomes students should expect, we are ensuring the sustainability and efficacy of the market. The challenge is for institutions to anticipate student needs and outcomes, and adapt their courses accordingly.

One example is checking the rapid rise in foundation years in classroom-based subjects, such as business and management. We were concerned that lower delivery cost, rather than student need, was driving this growth. That’s why we’ve announced that from next year, we will reduce the maximum tuition fees and loans for foundation years in classroom-based subjects to £5,760.

This lower fee limit represents a fairer deal for students.

I believe this comes back to social justice.

I’m glad to say that we have the highest completion rate in the OECD.

But all courses that cost this much should have good continuation, completion and progression.

Why should only those in-the-know, who apply for the right courses, go on to reap the greatest rewards from their HE investment? While others paying the same money receive poorer teaching with poorer outcomes. Everyone should be able to approach this market clear-eyed about what they can expect for their time and money.

Disruptors of HE and tertiary education – Institutes of Technology and the Dyson Institute

The second challenge is that presented by the new disruptors to higher education.

Institutions that ensuring that students’ studies at university boost to their professional lives afterwards.

The movement to link degrees with graduate jobs is exemplified by the Dyson institute of engineering and technology. As the first private employer in the country to be granted its own degree-awarding powers, the institute has streamlined students’ route to their graduate roles. They believe it’s worth teaching and awarding their own degrees, because it’s clearly the best way to get the candidates they need. And they’re not short of applicants vying for places! I commend Dyson’s extraordinary investment in their campus, where students are reaping the rewards of their work-focussed programmes. Everyone involved knows it’s worth their while.

On a regional level, our government-backed Institutes of Technology (IoTs) are also challenging the status quo. As collaborations between business, HE and FE, they are a fast-track to good jobs.  They provide higher technical training in STEM specialisms, using the industry-standard equipment that colleges and training providers find prohibitively expensive. IoTs are employer-led, offering specialised courses tailored to local business needs, for local students. These multi-way relationships benefit all concerned, including the universities. Undergraduates who’ve experienced IoTs’ unique employer relationships arrive in their first job with higher occupational competency than traditional degree students.

Degree Apprenticeships

The third challenge for HE is degree apprenticeships.

They epitomise jobs, skills and social justice by eroding the false divide between further and higher education. Maintaining partition does nothing for either sector – particularly when there is so much to be gained from collaborating.

Degree apprenticeships allow universities to reach students who could not otherwise afford undergraduate study. They offer a unique package of earning while learning at world-leading universities, and working for some of Britain’s top employers. 94% of Level 6 degree-apprentices go onto work or further training upon completion, with 93% in sustained employment. And all with no student finance to repay. With 170 to choose from, degree apprenticeships are opening-up professions previously closed to those not studying a traditional degree – a brilliant outcome which speaks for itself.

What do degree apprenticeships have in common with the previous challenge – the disruptor institutes? They’re about preparing students for the world of work, so they’re ready to grab it with both hands.

Many of you agree with me on how important this is. The University of East London encourages every student to do a work placement, no matter what they’re studying. Teesside University had over 2,000 degree-level apprentices on roll last year. And Warwick University’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Stuart Croft, has said he’d like 10% of his student body to be degree apprentices within the next decade. I applaud this, and encourage others to follow his lead. But I want a time to come when degree apprentices match the number of academic students on campus.

I don’t see why we can’t get there. Degree-level apprenticeships have enjoyed year-on-year growth since their introduction, and now made-up 14% of all apprenticeships. But we need to diversify beyond the programmes that have fuelled expansion. That’s why I’ve made £40 million available for degree apprenticeship growth in the next two years – to get new courses off the ground, and engage with new candidates and businesses.

It will take time, but the demand is already there! UCAS reports huge interest in these courses.

The lifelong learning entitlement, and what it means for HE

The fourth challenge is the lifelong learning entitlement.

William Beveridge said of adult education:

The door of learning should not shut for anyone at 18, or at any time.

Ignorance to its present extent is not only unnecessary, but dangerous.

To open wide the door of learning we will expand student finance in 2025, creating parity between higher and technical education. The loan entitlement will be equivalent to four years of higher education funding (£37,000 in today’s fees) to use throughout a person’s working life.

As well as conventional higher technical or degree level studies, it will be redeemable against high-value modular courses such as higher technical qualifications. HTQs are designed in collaboration with employers, giving students confidence that they provide the required skills for associated careers.

This will galvanise people to train, retrain, and upskill across their careers, fitting shorter courses around their personal commitments. Like getting on and off a train, learners will be able to alight and board their post-school education when it suits them, rather than being confined to a single ticket. These are the students of the future, a new market seeking high quality tuition that universities are well-placed to provide.

AI and the fourth industrial revolution

The fifth and final challenge is Artificial Intelligence and the fourth industrial revolution.

It is difficult to comprehend how much the world will change in the working lives of today’s undergraduates – much as it would have been difficult to explain the internet to our younger selves. Eventually, almost every daily transaction and interaction will have a digital archetype.

The government is taking a proactive approach to AI research, with HE playing a pivotal role. The department for science, innovation and technology has funded over 2,600 postgraduate scholarships for underrepresented students to study AI and data science. Since 2018, UK Research and Innovation has invested £217 million in 24 Centres for doctoral training across the country, supporting over 1,500 PhDs. This investment is creating a new generation of researchers, developing AI usage for areas like healthcare and climate change.

The fourth industrial revolution is already underway, creating new jobs and extinguishing others. Universities UK estimates that we’ll need 11 million extra graduates by 2023 to fill newly-created roles. Unit for Future Skills’ research shows that professional occupations are more exposed to AI, particularly clerical work in law, finance and business management.

To build a workforce for this revolution, we need to expose undergraduates to real-world work whilst building a culture of lifelong learning and re-training.

Sophie Scholl and antisemitism

I want to turn now to someone else who, like William Beveridge, was trying to make the world a better place in 1942. Someone who ultimately paid for it with her life.

My political hero is a young woman called Sophie Scholl. Again, I expect 20th Century historians will recognise the name. She was a member of the White Rose resistance group who distributed anti-Nazi leaflets in Germany. She was a university student in Munich, where her final act of defiance led to her arrest and execution.

The White Rose called on citizens to resist the Nazis and denounced the murder of Jewish people. But Sophie wasn’t Jewish – one of the reasons I admire her so much. She didn’t lose her life through any self-interest. She and her comrades knew what was happening was wrong, and did something about it.

So why mention Sophie today? Because the antisemitism in our universities this autumn has been horrific. Since the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, the University Jewish Chaplaincy has documented threatening door-knocking – “we know where you live” – verbal and physical abuse, graffiti, Palestinian flags draped over Jewish students’ cars..

I have welcomed statements condemning antisemitism from vice chancellors across the country. But we need to be proactive, not just reactive. That’s why the secretary of state and I have written twice to universities on this. And why we’re looking introduce an antisemitism charter to give teeth to the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism.

Sophie Scholl once said that the real damage is done by “those with no sides and no causes… Those who don’t like to make waves – or enemies.”

I want Sophie Scholls to exist in every university. Non-Jews prepared to stand-up for their Jewish friends, who’s done nothing to deserve the stigma and hatred they’ve endured.

Government can only do so much. Action against antisemitism needs to come from within.

I‘ve laid-out 5 – or rather 6 – challenges to you today.

They are substantial, but I have full faith in your ability to meet them.

While it’s right that the government holds the sector to account, your universities are an enormous source of national pride. You contribute £130 billion a year to the economy, supporting three quarters of a million jobs. The Liverpool universities here alone contribute £2.7 billion, and support nearly 19,000 jobs.

I want to thank you again – all of you – for making our system the envy of the world.

The speech made by Robert Halfon, the Higher Education Minister, in London on 21 November 2023.

Thank you, Edward (Peck), and to Universities UK for the opportunity to speak at this important conference.

The World Health Organisation defines good mental health as:

‘a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community’

Every single part of that definition has relevance to students’ time at university. But particularly having sufficient mental wellbeing to realise their abilities and learn well.

Students cannot fulfil their potential, and study for a degree on which to build future success, if their wellbeing is unsupported. Mental ill health is not something students should be expected to push through or attempt to ignore – because we all know that can lead to tragic consequences. Today is about confronting this – and examining what more can be done to help students thrive.

I’d like to begin by paying tribute to all the student services staff who work on the frontline, day in, day out, to support students. You are there for them on their hardest days at university. You strive to help them find a way through. You do it because you care – because you want the best for your students.

You, more than anyone, will be aware that increasing numbers of students are needing support.

In 2022, 23% more students declared mental health conditions when they applied through UCAS. It takes bravery to ‘own up’ to an ongoing mental health issue when you’re about to embark on a new stage of your life, hoping to make new friends, and perhaps even present a new version of yourself. We need to reward this bravery by ensuring the support is there when they arrive at university.

So on an individual level, mental health support for students is important for their personal academic success.

But I think it’s important on a societal level too. I see mental health not just as a personal issue, but a matter of social justice. It’s about making sure the opportunity to enter, thrive and graduate from university is open to everyone with the ability to do so.

We know that today poor mental health reduces the chance of progressing to a graduate job or further study. This shouldn’t be the case. No one should be held back from achieving in higher education because of their background or personal challenges. When we create the right conditions for good mental health, we are in turn allowing students to climb the Ladder of Opportunity to sustainable employment and prosperity.

This is clear progress. But I know you don’t want to sit back and rest on your laurels, and that is why you are here today.

Because we have all been deeply affected by the loss of bright, capable and loved young people to suicide at university.

And we owe it to the memories of those we have lost to take strong and effective action to prevent further tragedies.

In my year as Minister for Higher Education I have made this an absolute priority. There are 3 pillars to our approach:

Funding vital services and projects; spreading and implementing best practice; and clear responsibilities for providers and protection for students.

The first pillar is about investing in the wellbeing of students.

To provide nationwide access to free mental health resources and confidential support, we provided Student Minds with £3.6 million to set up Student Space. Over 450,000 students have now benefitted from this service, including those who recently braved the “freshers” experience.

Those early stages of university life bring new opportunities, but also new responsibilities, and the transition isn’t always easy. We are backing university wellbeing services to support these students as part of this year’s £15 million investment in mental health by the Office for Students (OfS).

Of course it’s not just about the level of investment, but about being clear-headed on which interventions will genuinely transform students’ lives. And that’s why the launch of TASO’s (Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education) Student Mental Health Evidence Hub last month couldn’t have been more timely. As part of our grant to the OfS, it’s the first step towards understanding ‘what really works’ in higher education settings so we can make timely and effective interventions to help students, rather than let problems escalate. You will hear more about this in the afternoon.

One thing you have told us needs to work better is the join-up between university services and the NHS. I want us to be in a position where a student comes into hospital, and the doctor already knows if that student has seen a university wellbeing officer.

That’s why the OfS has brought together higher education (HE) providers and NHS trusts across each region in England to address the challenges of joined-up working. It’s about having a single clear view of a student across universities and the NHS so they have a smooth experience of transitioning between services. The outputs of this work are due to be shared by the OfS in the coming weeks.

The NHS mental health care services that many students rely on are already benefitting from an additional £2.3 billion a year, through the NHS Long Term Plan.

And the government has gone further, with guaranteed increases through the Mental Health Investment Standard that have brought our total investment to nearly £16 billion in 2022/2023.

Our second pillar is about best practice.

We need to create the right conditions on campus for students to thrive through a whole-university approach to mental health. This means not just relying on student wellbeing services. It means everyone, from the Vice Chancellor down to the librarian takes responsibility for creating an environment and culture that supports positive mental health and wellbeing.

The principles for achieving this are laid out in the University Mental Health Charter. This importantly includes the principle that good staff wellbeing should be supported, recognising the challenges those in the room face on a day-to-day basis.

The associated Charter Programme supports providers to embed these important principles and follow a process of continuous improvement as they work towards the Charter Award. It is already raising standards within the sector.

Thanks to the hard work of university staff, and the backing of your leaders, you have delivered an incredible 50% increase in University Mental Health Charter Programme membership over the summer. We’re now at 96 universities, which is a big step – perhaps even a giant leap – closer to our target of all universities joining by September 2024.

This is the cornerstone of our plan to improve student mental health. I am fully committed to reaching the full target and providing support for the fantastic Student Minds to see it through.

We also owe a lot to Universities UK. By working closely with charities and experts, it has made great strides in recent years in developing clear mental health support frameworks. And I would like to pay tribute to John de Pury who has led the charge on mental health for UUK so valiantly and who I know is coming to the end of his time in post this week.

To capitalise on this progress, I wrote to university leaders in June to ask them to take ownership of mental health at an executive level. The sector needs to come together to finish the job of embedding the guidance that has been set out.

Just a reminder about why we need to do this – why it’s so important:

Callum Dineen wrote to me last month about the tragic case of his friend, Theo Brennan-Hulme, who took his life at the University of  East Anglia.

Callum had a simple ask:

That universities have clear information-sharing policies to protect students and prevent further tragedies, following the UUK Trusted Contacts guidance. That families are given the chance to step in and provide much needed help to their loved ones.

This was a powerful campaign, with strong support from cross-party MPs – which I wholeheartedly supported.

I now want to turn to the work of Professor Edward Peck, and take this opportunity to thank him for all the progress he has made since his appointment as HE Student Support Champion. This summer I asked Edward to build on that work and chair the Higher Education Mental Health Implementation Taskforce – a vehicle for delivering real change.

Firstly, the taskforce is developing a plan for effectively identifying students who need university wellbeing support, so no one falls through the cracks. This needs to include greater data sharing as students make the transition from schools or college to university. There is the opportunity here for exploring whether UCAS could widen the breadth and depth of information collected on mental health.

Secondly, the taskforce will ensure there is accountability and transparency around the adoption of best practice.

Thirdly, it will develop a ‘student commitment’, so that students are dealt with sensitively when they face course dismissal or receive difficult assignment results.

I was delighted to open the inaugural taskforce meeting in July. I saw common cause across a group bringing together different parts of the higher education sector, with Professor Steve West representing UUK, as well as health services, the charity sector, and – crucially – students and parents.

The recently appointed FE Support Champion, Polly Harrow, will shortly be invited to join the taskforce to ensure we are joining-up our approach across colleges and universities.

The taskforce will conclude its work in May next year, providing an interim update in early 2024.

In recent months I have had the privilege to speak directly to families who have lost loved ones to suicide. I have been humbled by their strength and determination to prevent further tragedies, whilst facing the most unimaginable pain and loss. We stand with these families.

This Government has pledged to reduce suicide rates within five years – with young people, including students, a priority group. We have set out over 100 actions to meet this pledge as part of our comprehensive Suicide Prevention Strategy.

This includes learning lessons from suicides that have occurred in universities. We will do this through a National Review of Higher Education Student Suicides.

We are looking to appoint an organisation with the expertise and track record to deliver this important review and we hope to announce further details very shortly.

I’m sure the sector will embrace this review as a positive endeavour to do better by students. Serious incident reviews will be submitted on an anonymised basis, using UUK’s postvention guidance template.

We have heard the heartfelt stories from families and friends who have lost loved ones. All eyes are now on those who have the power to make a real difference to students’ wellbeing.

I will be hosting a roundtable with HE leaders at Leeds Trinity University later this week to discuss how we can answer this call to action.

As I’ve said before, I am confident we have a strong plan in place, but I don’t rule out going further if needs be. If we do not see the improvements we need, I will not hesitate to ask the Office for Students to look at introducing a new registration condition on mental health.

Ultimately, we must do what it takes to provide the safety net that students and their loved ones expect and deserve as they embark on the amazing privilege of university life.

The speech made by Robert Halfon, the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, in London on 15 November 2023.

The speech made by Robert Halfon, the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, in Birmingham on 14 November 2023.

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

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.

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.

The statement made by Robert Halfon, the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, in the House of Commons on 29 March 2023.

Today, as part of phase 2 of the post-16 qualifications review of English qualifications, we have published an update to the final list of qualifications that overlap with wave 1 and 2 T-levels, to include qualifications that overlap with health and science T-Levels. These qualifications were included in the provisional list published in May 2022 but confirmation was not included in the final list published in October 2022, due to the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s review of the outline content of the health and science T-levels. This review has now concluded. Today’s update adds 28 qualifications to the list and as previously stated these will have 16 to 19 funding removed from 1 August 2024.

The removal of funding from these qualifications follows rigorous assessment by independent assessors and an opportunity for awarding organisations to appeal their decisions. The awarding organisations who will have funding removed from these 28 qualifications have been notified, as have the Federation of Awarding Bodies and Joint Council for Qualifications. My Department will also engage with further education providers on this matter.

T-levels are rigorous qualifications that provide a great progression route into a range of occupations in the health and science sector. They are based on the same standards as apprenticeships and have their content set by employers. Students that take a health and science T-level are well placed to progress into careers in the sector, including as health professionals, technicians and researchers.

We have backed providers with significant additional revenue and capital funding so that they are well prepared and have the resources to deliver T-levels to a high standard. We have made around £400 million available to improve buildings and buy state-of-the-art equipment. We recently announced a short-term 10% uplift in T-level revenue funding to help providers as they transition from study programmes and scale up and a new £12 million employer support fund to help providers deliver quality industry placements. This comes alongside a range of practical support measures that we have put in place to support providers to implement T-levels, including investing over £31 million in the T-level professional development programme (TLPD) to provide free training and support to FE providers, teachers and leaders to successfully plan and deliver T-levels.

The changes to post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below are designed to ensure that our qualifications system provides a ladder of opportunity for young people from all backgrounds. T-levels are a key part of that ladder of opportunity, helping young people climb rung by rung toward a fulfilling career. The T-level transition programme provides a high-quality pathway onto T-levels.

In addition to T-levels, students will also benefit from a range of choice in order to access careers in the health and social care and science sectors. This will include high-quality reformed qualifications at level 2 designed to support progression to apprenticeships, further study, and employment. At level 3, students will also be able to choose to study a health and social care-related qualification as part of a mixed study programme.

I am pleased that we have taken this next step in ensuring our post-16 qualifications system provides young people with the skills employers need and which are fit for the future.