Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Gavin Williamson and Chris Clarkson

Monday 26th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Chris Clarkson (Heywood and Middleton) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that all students taking T-levels receive a high-quality industry placement.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Gavin Williamson)]

The Government have invested £165 million to help providers to prepare for and deliver industry placements, building capacity in their relationships with employers. We have invested nearly £7 million so far in direct support for employers, and we are also exploring what short-term funded support may be appropriate to enable employers to offer placements.

[Gavin Williamson]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. It is so vital that we see the roll-out of T-levels. These qualifications have been designed hand in glove with employers to make sure that they are delivering not only for students, but for the employers themselves. As we roll out our skills accelerators across the country, we are putting in £65 million-worth of further investment to ensure that we start to link up jobs, skills and young people, to ensure that we are getting the workforce right for the future.

[Chris Clarkson]

Each T-level comes with a 45-day placement in industry, which is a fantastic opportunity for young people to get some real-life experience of their chosen sector. However, owing to competing pressures on business at the moment, some businesses are reluctant to commit to these qualifications, so will my right hon. Friend meet me and the principal of Hopwood Hall College to discuss how we ensure that young people can access these qualifications and that they turn out to be the success that they clearly should be?

[Gavin Williamson]

I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend and the principal of Hopwood Hall College to discuss that. It is incredibly important to ensure that we get this right and that it works, and for T-levels such an important element of that is the industrial placements that those young people will be able to benefit from. I think that there is agreement on both sides of the House on the importance of getting this right, and I very much hope that we can continue to build on the original consensus about the vital role that T-levels can play in ensuring that our young people have the right level of technical skills to meet our future economic needs.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Gavin Williamson and Chris Clarkson

Monday 1st March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

Obviously, Scottish universities are benefiting from bringing in additional fee income as a result of the changes that have happened. We have set out, as part of our international education strategy, a very ambitious plan to benefit all universities right across the United Kingdom. I would be very happy to send the hon. Lady a copy of the plan. Hopefully, she will see the real benefits of being part of the United Kingdom: we can market on a global level—not just in the European Union, but right across the world—to attract international students.

[Chris Clarkson (Heywood and Middleton) (Con)]

Diolch yn fawr, and dydd gŵyl Dewi hapus, Mr Speaker. I put on record my thanks to the Department for Education’s ministerial team for all the work that they have done, especially in my Heywood and Middleton constituency, to put the rights of vulnerable children first during the pandemic, but may I ask for an assurance that they will continue to champion the rights of children as we leave the pandemic?