Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that British school-leavers have the necessary business skills to attract employers.

The Government is determined to make sure that every child, no matter where they live or what their background, has the skills they need to succeed in work and life. Strong literacy and numeracy are central to this, but other skills and qualities are essential, including the development of well-rounded and resilient individuals. It is also vital that schools provide high-quality careers guidance to pupils on their options. They have a legal requirement to inform pupils about apprenticeships and other vocational options.

Every child should be taught to read well and read widely and write with accuracy and confidence. The new English language GCSE places greater emphasis on demonstration of accurate, spelling, punctuation and grammar. Students must be able read a wide range of texts fluently, write effectively, and demonstrate sound use of Standard English.

There is a much stronger emphasis across the mathematics curriculum on the essential arithmetic knowledge that employers value and which underpins calculations with money and percentages. Children must be fluent in written and mental arithmetic by the end of primary school. At secondary school pupils are taught about functions and uses of money including about wages, taxes, credit, debt, financial risk and a range of more sophisticated financial products and services at GCSE.

The Government has introduced new “core maths” qualifications that will help students develop their mathematical skills further through real world examples from business, research or everyday life. Core maths content covers financial maths such as learning how to build a financial model to understand an investment or calculating ways to improve a process. These are the practical maths skills that are needed in a wide variety of business careers, from marketing to manufacturing and banking.

Supporting schools to develop well-rounded and resilient pupils is a high priority – we know that these skills make young people attractive to employers. The Department carries out a range of activity to develop young people in this way, working with the National Citizen Service and celebrating those organisations that are working to instil positive traits in young people through the Character Awards.

Furthermore, the Government has established the Careers & Enterprise Company to play a lead role in transforming the provision of careers, enterprise and employer engagement experiences for young people, to inspire them and prepare them for the world of work. Apprenticeships are an essential part of this, which the Company is promoting through its nationwide Enterprise Adviser Network. This network has been set up to broker strong and extensive links locally between schools and colleges and employers, focusing on areas where provision will have the most impact. The Network now has 1190 Enterprise Advisers and 78 Enterprise Coordinators, connecting over 900 schools in 37 out of 38 Local Enterprise Partnership areas in England.

The National Curriculum focuses on the essential knowledge that must be taught, but all schools are required to teach a broad and balanced school curriculum which prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.