Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure the supply of T-level industry placements in the science sector.

It is important that employers from all industries are supported to deliver industry placements. We believe employers will benefit from offering industry placements, but recognise that this is a big change given the scale needed. We have already worked with a number of employers, including those from the science sector, to identify the main barriers and challenges to delivering industry placements. We also learnt more about these and the type of support that employers need from the industry placements pilot evaluation. As a result, we have invested £5 million into the National Apprenticeship Service to raise awareness and promote industry placements through their employer networks. This will include creating a streamlined ‘matchmaking’ service putting employers in touch with providers in their area.

We are also considering what additional support employers require on a route by route basis to effectively plan and implement industry placements. Equally, we recognise that different placement models might be needed to accommodate different industries, students and locations. We have been carrying out extensive stakeholder engagement across different challenging industries, including employers from the science sector, to ensure industry placement policy generates placements that are meaningful, reflective of current industry practice and meet the needs of employers.