Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on developing tech skills in the workforce.

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent and skills are a vital strand of the government’s UK Science and Technology Framework, published in 2023, which aims to cement the UK’s status as a science and technology superpower by 2030.

The department is working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, including through government-industry groups such as the Digital Skills Council. This brings together government and industry to address current and future demand for digital skills, including promoting routes into digital careers and the range of opportunities to re-skill and up-skill.

The department is making it easier for people of all ages and backgrounds to access the STEM training they need through the ladder of opportunity provided by our skills system reforms, including:

• Investment of £3.8 billion over the course of this parliament to strengthen higher education (HE) and further education (FE).

• Scaling up delivery of apprenticeships, T Levels, Skills Bootcamps, and Higher Technical Qualifications, and establishing our network of 21 Institutes of Technology.

There are over 350 high-quality, employer-designed STEM apprenticeships and from 2024 students will be able to apply for apprenticeships on the UCAS website. The number of digital, ICT practitioner apprenticeship starts have increased year-on-year since 2019/20, with 24,140 starts in the 2022/23 year (over 40% increase compared to starts in the 2019/20 year).

Over 1,000 Skills Bootcamps are available across the country, offering training in tech subjects such as software development, cyber security and data analytics.

The introduction of a Lifelong Learning Entitlement will transform access to FE and HE, offering all adults the equivalent of four years’ worth of student loans to use flexibly on quality education and skills training over their lifetime.

These programmes are achieving the vision set out in the UK Science and Technology Framework to boost the supply of tech skills.