Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the correlation between the number of students studying (a) design and technology and (b) the English Baccalaureate.

Following an assessment, the Department has found no evidence to demonstrate that entries to the design and technology (D&T) GCSE have fallen as a direct consequence of an increase in students taking the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). The gradual decline in the proportion of pupils entered for D&T GCSE started in 2001, when the subject became non-compulsory at Key Stage 4. The EBacc was first introduced in 2010.

The EBacc encourages young people to take core academic subjects, keeping their options open for further study and future careers. The Department is clear that it should be studied alongside other subjects, such as D&T, and it has been designed to allow pupils to do this.

The Department has reformed D&T GCSE so that it has a greater emphasis on the iterative design process, something that subject experts advise is at the core of contemporary industry practice. It also includes more on the technical knowledge required, including cutting edge technology and processes. These structural changes make it more accessible to pupils and easier for teachers to deliver whilst maintaining the rigour and challenge the Department expects of a GCSE subject. It will take time for the new GCSE to embed given the significant changes. The Department continues to attract more graduates into teaching and have increased the bursary offered for most D&T teacher trainees through the introduction of a £12,000 bursary for trainees with a 2:2 or higher. Previously those with a 2:1 received £9,000 and those with a 2:2 received no bursary.