Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to 30.5 percent of people with no qualifications in Benwell from 2021 ONS census data, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of people with qualifications in Newcastle Upon Tyne Central constituency.

The government is investing £3.8 billion more in further education (FE) and skills over the Parliament to ensure people across the country, including in Newcastle Upon Tyne, have access to the skills or qualifications they need to build a fulfilling career in jobs the economy needs.

The department is investing a further £125 million in 16 to 19 education in the 2023/24 financial year and an extra £1.6 billion in 2024/25, compared with 2021/22. This is the biggest increase in 16 to 19 funding in a decade.

Learners in the area have a wide choice of providers. This includes the Newcastle College Group (NCG) which is a large group of 6 general FE colleges and a sixth-form college, as well as Gateshead College and a range of independent training providers.

T Levels are new high-level technical qualifications and are already available in the Newcastle area, including at Gateshead and City of Sunderland Colleges and will be available at NCG from September 2023.

The department is increasing investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024/25 and supporting employers in all sectors and all areas of the country, including Newcastle Upon Tyne, to use apprenticeships to develop the skilled workforces they need. Since May 2010, there have been a total of 9,690 apprenticeship starts in Newcastle Upon Tyne Central.

Skills Bootcamps are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with an employer. Adults can benefit from a number of Skills Bootcamps being delivered in Newcastle upon Tyne, including green retrofit, creative industries, coding, data engineering as well as many online courses on offer.

Colleges in Newcastle upon Tyne are also delivering Free courses for Jobs, which enable learners without a level 3 qualification, or learners with any qualification level but earning below the National Living Wage, to gain a qualification for free. Newcastle Upton Tyne City College offer level 3 qualifications in various subject areas, including business and textiles and Newcastle College offer level 3 courses in accounting, adult care, and counselling.

The department is continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the adult education budget (AEB) at £1.34 billion in the 2022/23 academic year. This fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to help them gain the skills or qualifications they need. The AEB supports learners aged 19 to 23 obtain their first full qualification at level two or three, as well as full funding for all adults in England who do not have a standard GCSE pass or level 2 functional skills qualification to study maths and English courses up to level 2. It also funds adults with no or low digital skills to undertake improved digital qualifications up to level 1 to provide the digital skills needed for life and work.

To help learners choose the right qualifications for them we are streamlining and improving the quality of the post 16 qualifications system at level 3 and below, strengthening the pathways for students to progress into further study or skilled employment and training.