Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made in producing a unified framework of employability skills as agreed to in the Government’s response to the Taylor review of modern working practices.
Answered by Anne Milton
We have developed guidance for T level panels, including an employability skills framework, to ensure a consistent approach to integrating employability skills in T levels. As part of the government response to the Taylor review, we have committed to publish the guidance in due course. Through this, a framework will be made openly available for other organisations (such as employers and higher education providers, where successful frameworks are already in use) to use if they wish.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of students whose classes have been cancelled as a result of the recent strikes by university staff.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Universities are autonomous institutions and it is for them to consider the number of their students whose classes have been affected by strike action. No assessment has been made by the Department for Education, but we remain concerned about any impact of the strikes on students and are pleased that the action has been suspended.
We note that the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, which represents UK higher education organisations as employers, polled the 56 universities that were the focus of strikes on 22 and 23 February 2018. Results of this polling indicated that the overall impact in four out of five institutions was between ‘none’ and ‘low-medium’.
The new regulator for higher education in England, the Office for Students (OfS), has recently issued guidance to students stating that it expects universities to take all reasonable steps to reduce the impact of any future strike action on teaching, learning and assessment, and to communicate clearly to students the impact of any industrial action. Universities should make clear to students how they intend to avoid or mitigate the impact of the disruption caused by strike action.
The OfS will also have the power to request information from registered higher education providers.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect on students of the loss of teaching hours as a result of the university lecturers’ pension strike.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Universities are autonomous institutions and it is for them to assess the impact of the strike action on their provision. While the Department for Education has not made its own assessment, we remain concerned about any impact of the strikes on students and expect universities to put in place measures to maintain the quality of education that students should receive.
We note that the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, which represents UK higher education organisations as employers, polled the 56 universities, which were the focus of strikes on 22 and 23 February 2018. Results of this polling indicate that the overall impact in four out of five institutions was between ‘none’ and ‘low-medium’.