Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the Growth and Skills Levy enables people to retrain in (a) technology and (b) digital skills.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is developing a comprehensive strategy for post‐16 education and skills to break down barriers to opportunity and support employers to develop the skilled workforces they need to help drive economic growth.

Skills England has been established to form a coherent national picture of skills gaps and to help shape the technical education system so that it is responsive to skills needs. It will work closely with the Industrial Strategy Council and the Migration Advisory Committee to achieve this.

The government’s new Industrial Strategy will channel support to eight growth-driving sectors. Digital and Technologies has been identified as one of the eight growth-driving sectors and the department is considering how it supports this sector to develop the skills needed now and in the future.

Additionally, the government is reforming the apprenticeship levy into a new growth and skills levy that will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers in England, aligned with the Industrial Strategy. As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country and providing high quality entry pathways for young people.

Skills England was asked to engage with employers and other key partners regarding early priorities for the new growth and skills offer over the autumn. It has spoken to over 700 stakeholders, including representatives in the digital and technology sector, and has shared its findings with the department. Skills England will publish its findings from this engagement process in early 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of functional skills requirements on access to apprenticeships; and what the cost of Functional Skills training for people who already have a degree was in each of the last five years.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government has announced changes to the rules relating to achievement of English and mathematics qualifications as part of an apprenticeship for those aged 19 or over at the start of their programme. Upskilling in English and mathematics will continue to remain a key feature of all apprenticeships, and we have listened to employers and will be offering more flexibility over when a standalone qualification is required in addition to this.

All apprentices will be required to secure and be assessed on the job-specific skills English and mathematics they need, but moving forward employers will have more flexibility over whether adult (19+) apprentices are required to achieve a standalone English and mathematics qualifications.

In future, adult apprentices will be able to complete their apprenticeship if they have demonstrated they have the skills, including relevant English and mathematics skills, to be effective in the role without undertaking a standalone English and mathematics qualification.

All apprentices who are aged 16 to 18 at the start of their apprenticeship will continue to be required and funded to secure up to a level 2 qualification in English and mathematics if they do not hold one, consistent with our expectation that all young people should have a meaningful further opportunity to secure a level 2 qualification in English and mathematics post-16.

This delivers the flexibility that employers have long called for and we expect it to lead to thousands more qualified apprentices in a range of key sectors, including in social care and construction.

The changes were made effective from 11 February 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to review compulsory functional skills requirements for apprentices who do not hold a GCSE or Level 2 equivalent qualification in English and maths.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government has announced changes to the rules relating to achievement of English and mathematics qualifications as part of an apprenticeship for those aged 19 or over at the start of their programme. Upskilling in English and mathematics will continue to remain a key feature of all apprenticeships, and we have listened to employers and will be offering more flexibility over when a standalone qualification is required in addition to this.

All apprentices will be required to secure and be assessed on the job-specific skills English and mathematics they need, but moving forward employers will have more flexibility over whether adult (19+) apprentices are required to achieve a standalone English and mathematics qualifications.

In future, adult apprentices will be able to complete their apprenticeship if they have demonstrated they have the skills, including relevant English and mathematics skills, to be effective in the role without undertaking a standalone English and mathematics qualification.

All apprentices who are aged 16 to 18 at the start of their apprenticeship will continue to be required and funded to secure up to a level 2 qualification in English and mathematics if they do not hold one, consistent with our expectation that all young people should have a meaningful further opportunity to secure a level 2 qualification in English and mathematics post-16.

This delivers the flexibility that employers have long called for and we expect it to lead to thousands more qualified apprentices in a range of key sectors, including in social care and construction.

The changes were made effective from 11 February 2025.

Certificate of Common Sponsorship

Found: Member from Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee present: Lauren Edwards.

Found: Liberal Democrat; Ely and East Cambridgeshire) Sam Carling (Labour; North West Cambridgeshire) Lauren Edwards

Submit Evidence (by 14 Apr 2025)

Over the course of this Parliament, we will have an ongoing focus on the Civil Service that the UK needs and how we get it. We will be pursuing this through a series of targeted inquiries. The first of these of these inquiries is into Mission Government. The Government has announced a series of five “missions” on which policy will be focussed. This focus on missions will, it claims, enable government to operate in a less siloed and more long-term manner.