Qualifications
Baroness Garden of Frognal Excerpts(3 years, 5 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
The 12-month minimum period was brought in, as I said to the right reverend Prelate, when we had shorter apprenticeships and had to ensure that, by law, an apprenticeship meant a certain qualification. We have seen an increase in longer-term apprenticeships, such that we amended the regulations so that, if you were made redundant during your apprenticeship but had completed 75%, you could go to the endpoint of the apprenticeship without an employer.
Baroness Garden of Frognal (LD)
My Lords, qualifications of value to employers are often work-based. I declare an interest as a vice-president of City & Guilds. I know that their qualifications have to meet very high levels of quality assurance, currency and relevance. Following on from the question from the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay, what are the Government doing to give schools incentives to encourage their less academic pupils, who may be technically and practically gifted, to pursue vocational qualifications and develop much-needed skills, which will benefit them, employers and the country?
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, as I have outlined, schools are promoting this. If students at the transition point at age 14 want to go to a university technical college, the local authority and schools are now under a duty to promote that route to students. The consultation is about those City & Guild qualifications that do not overlap with level 3 T-levels and/or A-levels. We recognise their role, but all these qualifications must give the student the appropriate skills and the employer the confidence that that person is equipped for the job.
Higher Education (Fee Limits and Student Support) (England) (Coronavirus) (Revocation) Regulations 2020
Baroness Garden of Frognal Excerpts(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness Garden of Frognal (LD)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing these regulations. Our A-level students this year were so messed about with changes to their teaching and examinations that we must be as indulgent as possible over their university opportunities. When state and disadvantaged pupils missed out on their universities through government incompetence over a flawed algorithm, it was right for universities to try to put it right. Of course, collegiate universities such as Oxford and Cambridge did not have the flexibility to admit more students once they had admitted their first tranche, in spite of some bitter disappointments from bright, disadvantaged students who missed out through no fault of their own but the system.
I have two questions for the Minister. Where universities recruit above their original target, what assurances are there that sufficient teaching facilities will be available? Classes and classrooms have finite capacity, although with so many now resorting to online teaching only, this is not such an issue for many subjects. However, for practical, technical, scientific and artistic subjects, there is a need for laboratory, workshop and studio capacity and in-person teaching. What assurances are there that universities have enough equipment and laboratory space for all the additional students they may have enrolled?
We know from our Chamber that personal presence is far more effective than looming on Zoom. Yet very many students will not have any personal teaching this academic year. Tutorials, seminars and lectures seem destined to be virtual. My grandson, who is in his third year at Glasgow, has been told to expect virtual teaching for all this academic year. This is a far cry from students’ expectations and will inevitably be an inferior form of university experience. So my second question is: what plans do the Government have to reduce tuition fees to reflect such different teaching and learning? To pay £9,000 for a year of Zoom seems very poor value for money.
Covid-19: Catch-up Premium
Baroness Garden of Frognal Excerpts(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
I have already outlined the considerable support that is given through the pupil premium. Over the course of the pandemic the Government spent £380 million on food vouchers, but most schools are back now—approximately 89% of children are back in school—so the traditional way of delivering free school meals via the kitchens in the schools has been up and running and responding to those pupils who are self-isolating. I assure the noble Lord that 25% of the £650 million has been allocated to schools, and the reason why 100% has not been allocated is because we want to do that on actual pupil numbers, not on pupil-number data that is out of date.
Baroness Garden of Frognal (LD)
We are a far cry from the Liberal Democrat pupil premium policy, which really targeted disadvantaged children. Can the Minister say what support is being given to teachers to enable them to give more face-to-face time to hungry, disadvantaged pupils without proper technology to help them to catch up on all the education they missed during lockdown?
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, part of the catch-up fund is £650 million that is going directly via schools, with an increased allocation, of course, to AP and to special schools. That assists in the delivery of education, and it is up to schools that we trust the most to be able to deliver that. As I say, it is a tribute to teachers and school leaders that approximately 89% of students are back in school.
Lifetime Skills Guarantee and Post-16 Education
Baroness Garden of Frognal Excerpts(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, in relation to reskilling, there are, as I have outlined, the digital boot camps that we have offered so that people can gain training as they do that work. If they lack that level 3 qualification, they will be able to do that, but, as I say, there has been a particular focus on young people, who are more vulnerable to the effects of what is happening at the moment.
Baroness Garden of Frognal (LD)
My Lords, I declare an interest as a vice-president of City & Guilds, for whom I worked on vocational qualifications and skills for 20 years. Statements like this have been made by successive Governments for very many years, yet little has been done to promote vocational, practical and technical education and training in schools, where the message must start. Can the Minister say whether league tables will cease to be based on A-levels and GCSEs? Will schools be encouraged to celebrate their apprentices, BTEC and work-based leavers with the same enthusiasm they give to their university entrants? Until schools are proud of all their successes, there is little hope of any real change.
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, these are not just statements of intention; today, I have outlined that the numerous initiatives that have been started by the Department for Education and the Department for Work and Pensions are matched by funding. They will be a reality—some of them are already. The noble Baroness is completely right: in relation to the UTCs, which are important in promoting technical education, there is now a duty on the local authority and on schools to make sure that young people are made aware of that offer. The careers service has a link with employers locally so that they are brought into schools to outline the needs and skills that they have.
Teachers have been assisted to make sure that they are also aware of the apprenticeship offers because, unfortunately, as the noble Baroness will know from a Select Committee we both sat on, many teachers have not gone through these routes. We have been helping and training them and giving them the links so that they can make people aware of these offers. We want a greater take-up of level 3 and, particularly, levels 4 and 5 qualifications and for them to be validated by employers as making people qualified for jobs.
Education: A-level Results
Baroness Garden of Frognal Excerpts(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Baroness Garden of Frognal
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they made of external expert advice prior to the use of the algorithm to determine A-level results for the 2019/20 academic year.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Department for International Trade (Baroness Berridge) (Con)
My Lords, the independent qualifications regulator, Ofqual, is responsible for securing qualification standards and promoting public confidence in regulated qualifications. As part of the development of the grading system introduced in place of exams this summer, Ofqual drew on the advice of experts from the exam boards and convened an external group of well-respected assessment experts to advise on the principles, main features and details of various aspects of the standardisation model.
Baroness Garden of Frognal (LD)
My Lords, expert advice early on identified the algorithm as flawed and particularly damaging for state school and disadvantaged pupils. We have been told that the Secretary of State was fully in charge of his department throughout this debacle, yet two senior officials have resigned, which is outrageous. When I tabled this Question four weeks ago, I thought that he might have fallen on his sword by now—but no. So can the Minister confirm that the Conservative Government, with the exception of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Keen, have abandoned the principles of ministerial honour and responsibility?
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, on the standardisation model, Ofqual is a non-departmental body. It is important in principle that our examinations are not subject to government interference. While the department was in contact with Ofqual during this process, the decisions made on the algorithm were Ofqual’s. That respects the appropriate relationship between a department and independent bodies such as Ofqual.
Industrial Training Levy (Engineering Construction Industry Training Board) Order 2020
Baroness Garden of Frognal Excerpts(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Baroness Garden of Frognal (LD)
My Lords, this order is not contentious, but it is worthy of some discussion. The construction industry is alone in continuing a training levy, as the noble Lord, Lord Hain, just set out. Some years ago, industry training boards were transformed from statutory to non-statutory bodies, and as the Minister stated, the Construction Industry Training Board, or CITB, and the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board, or ECITB, retained their statutory status and powers. They make annual proposals for the levy for their respective industries. The Secretary of State, having been satisfied that the proposed levies meet the statutory criteria, lays orders before Parliament to give effect to the proposals. This is the routine order we are now considering. The ECITB training levy is specific to the engineering construction industry. The ECITB determines how the money is invested in training and other projects for the benefit of the sector and is a registered charity. There might be advantages in other industries having such well-regulated training requirements.
However, issues now arise with the introduction of the apprenticeship levy. I agree with what the noble Lord, Lord Bourne, said. Employers with a pay bill of more than £3 million per fiscal year relating to employed labour have been required to pay the apprenticeship levy since April 2017. This payment is made to HMRC through the PAYE process and is in addition to any industrial training levy charged by the ECITB. The apprenticeship levy is ring-fenced to support apprenticeships in England across all sectors and occupations. However, we know there have been many issues with this levy, with it being applied to programmes of learning which could in no way be described as apprenticeships, such as master’s degrees and other advanced learning. In my book, an apprentice is somebody who is starting out on their career. Employers have long asked to be able to use the levy for a wide range of training, not just apprenticeships. Does the Minister have any update for us on whether that change might happen?
As we have said before, the apprenticeship levy system means that the electrical and construction industries have a double bill of training levies. Can the Minister say whether this is contentious in the industry? What discussions are held to ensure that those in the engineering and construction industries are happy to pay twice for training in this way? We know that the ECITB consults widely and we hope that it would pick up such concerns.
We know that the construction industry’s workforce is around only 2% female, yet women who are practitioners can earn an excellent living and enjoy their work. What efforts are the Government making to attract more women and girls into construction? How, for instance, does careers advice and guidance in primary schools, as well as in secondary schools, portray this industry as attractive and accessible to all? The image of construction is of burly men with hods in muddy fields, and of engineers with spanners and greasy overalls. The reality is so very different. My daughter was an oil engineer for a number of years, yet she never had greasy overalls. Early in her career, she was the most senior woman at Esso’s refinery, which said less about her meteoric career and more about how very few women there were at the refinery—yet most of the jobs there could equally have been done by men or women.
The Prime Minister has expressed his intention to “build, build, build”, but without qualified builders, this is a hollow promise. Vocational, practical, technical education should be right at the heart of the political agenda, yet this Government have driven a coach and horses through long-standing, well-understood, highly-respected vocational qualifications by bringing in the untried, untested and flawed T-levels. I declare an interest as a vice-president of City & Guilds, an organisation for which I worked for 20 years. I am very well aware of the value of and respect for City & Guilds qualifications, and indeed of BTECs, which are highly regarded but are sidelined by curious, non-expert decisions with this new qualification. How do the Government hope to encourage and train construction workers when they are set on destroying the very training and qualifications which have been the bedrock for generations?
A further aspect of the apprenticeship levy is that Liberal Democrats would seek to expand its scope to a wider skills and training levy and to add flexibility that works for employers and trainees. While keeping the contribution at 0.5%, we would use the cash raised not just for apprenticeships but for a wider training programme, and ensure that 25% of the funds raised would go into a social mobility fund, which we would use to feed into the regions and the cold spots and to make sure that we have diverse apprenticeships in the parts of the country and the sectors where they are most needed.
The electrical and construction industries are vital to our economic revival. As we agree this order—because we have no other option—can we keep in mind the vital importance of explaining and selling these exciting industries to children and adults? If we continue the obsession with academic qualifications and achievement, we shall never be able to restore the economy as the country needs.
Schools and Colleges: Qualification Results and Full Opening
Baroness Garden of Frognal Excerpts(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, I have outlined to noble Lords that once issues were raised about the Scottish results, there were concerns that they should not be repeated in England. That was the moment at which that could be compensated for by the introduction of an additional appeal based on a valid mock. There was a response; it is not that nothing was done once we were aware. When issues were brought to our attention, matters were dealt with.
Baroness Garden of Frognal (LD)
My Lords, this summer’s debacle threw up a massive disadvantage gap between state and independent schools. The latter continued with online teaching and learning to far greater effect than the former. Following the question from the noble Baroness, Lady Bull, and the Minister’s answer, independent schools are always ready to play their part, so can the Minister say why the National Tutoring Programme has a minimum of 500 students to access, when most independent schools have only about 390? They would be asked to tutor more pupils than they actually teach.
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, the National Tutoring Programme is to deliver small-group tutoring, envisaged to be for groups of about four or five pupils. I will have to write to the noble Baroness about the details of the disparity and the numbers she outlines.
Education Settings: Autumn Opening
Baroness Garden of Frognal Excerpts(3 years, 9 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge
The noble Lord is correct. When you have £1 billion, it is important to make sure that it gets to where it needs to go and delivers what it should. That is why £650 million will go directly to schools. Part of that is to enable them to purchase the subsidised tutoring. We trust the school system; giving the majority of the money to the schools is best. Only they know who, of the pupils in front of them, need what. We will publish further details on the £350 million for the national tutoring service. We are looking at making the best use of that money, including remote learning, without forgetting that, in certain schools, there will be a demand for a physical presence. There will be flexibility in that fund. Noble Lords will learn more about the £350 million tutoring fund soon.
Baroness Garden of Frognal (LD)
My Lords, I pay tribute to the inventive work that our hard-working heads, teachers and support staff have done over the lockdown period to encourage learning and to try to keep pupils in contact with schooling. As the noble Lord, Lord Baker, said, pupils have lost a great deal of learning time, so surely it is only fair that exams are cut back in 2021, as head teachers are calling for. As the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, mentioned, will we also see the cancellation of school league tables, which cause damage at the best of times and would be truly harmful now?
Baroness Berridge
My Lords, as I am sure the noble Baroness is aware, there will be no exam data and performance tables for 2020, for precisely that reason. Ofqual is consulting at the moment to see how we can deliver exams next year. One issue is that the effect on children has been disparate. We are getting reports that, for some of the vulnerable children who have been in school, there have been small class sizes since February and some of them are excelling. Some children with English as an additional language have thrived. At the end of the day, we have to trust that schools know how best to deal with their children when they come back. Of those vulnerable children who have been in school, some of them have had an excellent experience.
Schools: Disadvantaged Pupils
Baroness Garden of Frognal Excerpts(3 years, 10 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge [V]
My Lords, narrowing the attainment gap for students on free school meals is obviously a long-term project but, since 2011, there has been a narrowing of the gap at every stage; we are keen to ensure that the pandemic does not widen that gap again. Through this crisis, we have therefore had breakfast clubs delivering breakfast at the request of over 1,000 schools. This project has been funded to £35 million. Also, working tax credits and universal credit have gone up by over £1,000 during the crisis; we are keen to ensure that those who need help the most get it.
Baroness Garden of Frognal (LD)
My Lords, I am sorry that the Minister is not here with us in the Chamber. Many teachers and children have worked hard during lockdown with virtual lessons, but many disadvantaged children do not have the technology to join in and have lost out. The Minister has mentioned sums of money, but can she say how far the Government have got in actually supplying computers, tablets or other equipment to disadvantaged children, and what other provision is being made to help them catch up during the summer?
Baroness Berridge [V]
My Lords, I can confirm that, from the £100 million, more than 150,000 laptops and tablets have been delivered; we are on track to deliver the remainder by the end of the month. Tens of thousands of 4G wireless devices have also been delivered, which should enable children to access education where there is no wi-fi. More than 2,500 schools have applied to the department’s fund to enable them to access Microsoft Education and Google Classroom. That will result in over a million students having an account and being able to access education in that way.
Free School Meal Vouchers Scheme
Baroness Garden of Frognal Excerpts(3 years, 10 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge [V]
My Lords, the latest statistics show that around 15% of vulnerable children are in school. The noble Baroness is correct that we are concerned about the sedentary nature of many children at the moment. On the phased reopening of schools, there has been specific guidance to encourage the use of outdoor space, and even team sports, where the appropriate hygiene measures are carried out among the different groups of children involved. DCMS now also has guidance on the phased reintroduction of outdoor activity and recreation.
The Deputy Speaker (Baroness Garden of Frognal) (LD)
My Lords, I regret that the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. I apologise to the noble Lords, Lord Blunkett and Lord Empey, and the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, that we were not able to get in their questions. I thank all noble Lords; that concludes the hybrid proceedings on Oral Questions.