Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking encourage the take-up of STEM subjects at further education level.

Developing the skills of young people, especially in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is a critical enabler for the government’s missions to break down barriers to opportunity and drive economic growth.

To support young people with careers information, advice and guidance, the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC), backed by over £30 million of government funding in 2024/25, coordinates a national network of careers hubs which now includes 95% of secondary schools and colleges.

The network includes 400 leading employers and around 4,000 business volunteers, including many representing STEM occupations. Our careers framework, the Gatsby Benchmarks, includes a clear expectation that all 11 to 18 year-olds should have at least one meaningful interaction with employers per year. This should include an encounter with a STEM employer or workplace, or a careers event focused on STEM, before year 11.

The CEC has also worked in partnership with employers and multi-academy trusts to co-design curriculum resources linking a range of careers to specific curriculum points across all national curriculum subjects, including STEM subjects. This helps students to understand how STEM subjects are the pathways to certain careers.

The government’s Skills for Careers website brings greater coherence to the careers offer. This provides a single platform to access information about skills training options and careers, illustrating pathways to STEM occupations, including via further education.

The department is also setting up Skills England to bring together central government and regional and local organisations, businesses, training providers and unions, to help meet the skills needs of the next decade, aligned to the government’s Industrial Strategy.

This will be underpinned by Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) that support our aim to make technical education and training more responsive to local labour market and employer needs.

We also continue to support learners who wish to have a career in STEM through our technical education offer. This includes making available:

• T Levels in STEM subjects, including in engineering, science, digital and media. Thousands of young people have succeeded on T Levels and progressed to university, employment or apprenticeships.
• Over 350 employer-designed apprenticeship standards in STEM subjects.
• Higher Technical Qualifications in STEM occupations, for example a foundation degree in Biomedical Sciences, HNC in Electronic Systems or HND in Space Technologies.