Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the progress made by each English education authority in the implementation of the Baker Clause; and if he will make a statement.

The department is reviewing the implementation of the ‘Baker Clause’ which requires all maintained schools and academies in England to allow apprenticeship and technical education providers to talk to pupils about a range of education and training options.

Since the duty came into force in January, we have been raising awareness with all schools and making it clear what they must do to comply fully with the new requirements.

We have published new statutory guidance which explains in detail what schools are required to do. We have promoted the statutory guidance to school governors, head teachers and careers leaders through a range of channels including regular newsletters and circulars. The Careers & Enterprise Company held a series of regional roadshows to inform schools about the government’s careers strategy and included information about the new duty. We also recently published an article in which the importance of this new legislation to schools is outlined and this can be accessed on the GOV.UK website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/skills-minister-highlights-new-provider-access-law-for-schools.

Officials are reviewing the legislation, to look at how well it has worked during the first two terms of operation and identify any issues with compliance.

Any changes found to be necessary to improve the implementation of the law will be implemented from the beginning of the 2018/19 academic year.