Oral Answers to Questions

Virendra Sharma Excerpts

Monday 25th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)]

18. What steps he is taking to improve social mobility in post-16 education.

[The Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills (Anne Milton)]

We published a plan last year for improving social mobility through education, which set out the actions we are taking to increase social mobility. A crucial part of that is a career strategy, which I launched last year. Legislation came into force this year, including a requirement to allow further education technical and apprenticeship providers to have the opportunity to talk to young people. At the heart of the career strategy are those Gatsby benchmarks, which will make sure that young people get good careers advice.

[Mr Sharma]

In a country with world-leading education, why is there such a significant attainment gap for those with English as a second language?

[Anne Milton]

This is absolutely crucial. Obviously, someone who cannot speak English will be at a disadvantage. We have done a great deal more to improve the roll-out of ESOL. On the work we are doing in primary schools, the proportion of six-year-olds meeting expected standards in the phonics screening check has risen dramatically.