Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2017 to Question 57578, on apprentices, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect of advances in robotics on job opportunities for apprentices.

There are currently no plans for the Department to assess the potential effect that advances in robotics will have on job opportunities for apprentices.

One of the key principles in our 2020 Vision for Apprenticeships in England is that employers are in control of designing apprenticeships so that they focus on exactly the skills, knowledge and behaviours that are required of the workforce of the future.

Employers are developing new high level standards in a wide range of sectors and in many occupations where there was previously no apprenticeships provision.

New standards such as the degree level Embedded Electronic Systems Design or Development Engineer are vital for the robotics sector.