Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to help increase the number of students entering the civil nuclear sector.

Nuclear power production is making a crucial contribution to the UK’s Clean Energy Superpower Mission. This contribution relies on a highly skilled workforce. The government and industry are working together to increase the number of students across academic and technical education that enter the nuclear sector. The government’s reforms of England’s skills system, including through the Growth and Skills Levy, the work of Skills England and the Post-16 Strategy, will support the sector’s access to the talent that it needs.

The National Nuclear Strategic Plan for Skills, which the government developed in partnership with industry, will also help address the workforce needs of the civil and defence nuclear sectors. The Plan, published by the Nuclear Skills Delivery Group, is available here: https://nuclearskillsdeliverygroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/NSDG-National-Nuclear-Strategic-Plan-For-Skills.pdf.

The government’s current skills offer in England is already helping meet the needs of the nuclear sector. There are seven nuclear-specific occupational standards which underpin apprenticeships. Other apprenticeships are also crucial to the construction and operation of nuclear power plants, including project manager (level 6), and maintenance and operations engineering technician (level 3).

The ‘Free Courses for Jobs’ offer includes two nuclear sector-specific qualifications: the ECITB level 3 Certificate and Diploma in Nuclear Engineering and Science.

A range of Skills Bootcamps are available in nuclear specific and nuclear supportive courses.

Higher education plays a key role in supplying the civil nuclear sector with the skills it needs. Sector specific provision is important, particularly at postgraduate level, but more general courses are also vital to a healthy skills supply for the sector.