Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timetable is for delivery of the first T-levels.
Answered by Anne Milton
The Post-16 Skills Plan set out our plan to reform technical education including the introduction of 15 new technical routes to skilled employment, new college-based training programmes (T Levels) based on employer-designed standards, and high quality T Level work placements.
Delivering these reforms will be transformational; and we are determined to ensure they are a success and achieve their overall aims: to transform technical education and create a high quality system that delivers the skills, knowledge and behaviours that employers and the country need.
The only way to deliver this challenge successfully is through genuine partnership between government, business experts/leaders and education professionals.
My officials have now carried out extensive testing of the current delivery plans, including in relation to work placement provision, in discussion with employers, providers and awarding organisations. Following that assessment, we have concluded that we will deliver a small number of T levels from September 2020, with all routes available as planned in September 2022.
Over the summer, we will continue to refine and develop our plans working with business and the providers, and we will provide an update on progress in the autumn.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether sixth form colleges that choose to become academies will be able to enter into contracts with the Skills Funding Agency.
Answered by Nick Boles
Sixth form colleges which become 16-19 academies will be able to enter into funding agreements with the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), providing that they are enabled to do so at the time when the college becomes an academy. Applications from sixth form colleges which wish to hold SFA contracts will be considered in the light of forthcoming detailed guidance. This guidance will be published in February, and will set out the full criteria and process for sixth form colleges to apply to become academies as part of the post-16 area review process.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that sixth form colleges provide students with a high quality education.
Answered by Nick Boles
We are introducing reforms to ensure that sixth form colleges are providing high quality academic and technical education. We are reforming A levels and technical qualifications to ensure that young people are gaining the skills and knowledge they need to progress into employment, apprenticeships or further study.
We want A levels and technical qualifications to be robust and rigorous, so that they match the best education systems in the world and keep pace with universities’ and employers’ demands. A levels are therefore being reviewed to ensure that the qualifications equip students for higher education and to make them linear (i.e. with the exam at the end of two years), allowing more time for teaching and learning. In addition, all technical qualifications approved for inclusion in 16-19 performance tables now meet rigorous standards and are backed by employers.
The government has recently announced an ambitious plan for reforming technical and professional education which will simplify the skills system and work with employers to ensure that young people develop the skills most needed for the economy. To deliver the reforms, the Government will work closely with an independent panel, headed by Lord Sainsbury, former Minister of Science and Innovation.