TIGA, the trade association representing the video games industry, has today published a Parliamentary activity update for the education sector.
Written Answers and Statements:
Video Games: Qualifications
Department for Education
12 February 2021
Jonathan Gullis (Con): To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of removing funding for Applied General Qualifications on the number of people studying for degrees in gaming.
Jonathan Gullis (Con): To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of removing funding for Applied General Qualifications on the UK video games industry.
Gillian Keegan (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State): The department has consulted widely on proposals for reforming post-16 qualifications at level 3. The second stage of consultation ran from 23 October 2020 to 31 January 2021, and asked for views on the range of qualifications that will sit alongside A levels and T Levels in future. These include qualifications designed to support progression to higher education. No decisions have been made about individual subjects or the potential removal of funding for existing qualifications.
The impact assessment published alongside the consultation looked at the potential impact of the review on employers and the economy, but it did not look specifically at the games industry or student progression to games degrees. We are analysing responses to the consultation and will publish a final impact assessment as part of the response to the consultation.
News
National Skills Fund
Department for Education
24 February 2021
Overview:
Starting this Parliament, the government is investing £2.5 billion in the National Skills Fund. The National Skills Fund will help adults to train and gain the valuable skills they need to improve their job prospects. It will support the immediate economic recovery and future skills needs by boosting the supply of skills that employers require.
The Chancellor announced £375 million for the National Skills Fund at the Spending Review in November 2020. This includes £95 million of additional funding for a new level 3 adult offer and £43 million to expand skills bootcamps.
Level 3 adult offer
From April 2021, any adult aged 24 and over who wants to achieve their first full level 3 qualification, which is equivalent to an advanced technical certificate or diploma, or 2 full A levels, will be able to access hundreds of fully-funded courses.
19 to 23 year olds will continue to be eligible for their first full level 3 via the adult education budget, and for any additional qualifications made available through this offer.
The level 3 adult offer is part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee announced by the Prime Minister in September 2020. This offer is a long-term commitment to remove the age constraints and financial barriers for adults looking for their first level 3 qualification so that they can access training to enable them to progress.
Courses will be available in a variety of lengths, to support adults to get the skills they need to boost their careers.
Sector subject areas and courses available
The qualifications on offer will deliver a wide range of skills in many jobs and sectors.
The qualifications have been carefully chosen to help adults improve their job prospects. They have good wage outcomes and address skills needs in the economy.
Qualifications will initially be available in:
- engineering
- building and construction
- health and social care
- childcare and early years
- digital
- business management
- accounting and finance
- public services
- medicine and dentistry
- environmental conservation
- forestry
- agriculture
- horticulture
- mathematics and statistics
- science
- teaching and lecturing
- warehousing and distribution
- manufacturing technologies
- transportation operations and maintenance
We will keep the qualifications list under review to ensure that it responds to changing labour market needs.
Awarding organisations, Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority will be able to suggest additions to the list through the qualifications funding approval process if they meet the criteria.
Funding arrangements for providers
Funding for the level 3 adult offer will be routed via Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority for residents in those areas of England.
Funding for the level 3 adult offer for residents in all other areas of England will be routed via the adult education budget and administered by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). More information on funding for the level 3 adult offer for 2020 to 2021 is available in:
- adult education budget (AEB) funding rules for 2020 to 2021
- AEB funding rates and formula 2020 to 2021
- 19+ funding allocations for 2020 to 2021
Funding uplift
The government is providing an uplift for each qualification delivered as part of this offer, to support providers to scale up the delivery of level 3 provision for adults. The following uplifts will be applied to the funding rates for all qualifications included in this offer:
- £600 per-qualification uplift for qualifications of 360 guided learning hours or above
- £150 per-qualification uplift for qualifications of 359 guided learning hours or below
We want to enable providers to deliver these qualifications for adults, even if there is a higher demand than expected. ESFA-funded providers are able to over-deliver on their level 3 adult offer allocation by up to 50% from April to July 2021.
Arrangements are also in place to ensure Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority can fund additional demand in April to July 2021. Details about arrangements to enable providers to expand capacity in line with demand from August 2021 will be provided in the funding rules for the academic year 2021 to 2022.
Skills bootcamps
As part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, the Prime Minister also announced the skills bootcamp programme.
Complementing the level 3 adult offer, skills bootcamps offer free, flexible courses of just 12 to 16 weeks. They give people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer.
Subject areas
Skills bootcamps are available to develop digitals skills including:
- software development
- digital marketing
- data analytics
Skills bootcamps will now also include courses in technical skills such as:
- welding
- engineering
- construction
- Locations
Skills bootcamps are available in:
- Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire
- Greater Manchester and Lancashire
- Heart of the South West
- Leeds City Region
- Liverpool City Region
- West Midlands
Eligibility
The courses on offer are open to adults aged 19 and over in each location. Visit the websites of the local authority for details on eligibility and availability of the courses on offer in each area.
We will expand the skills bootcamp programme into other areas in 2021. An investment of £43 million from the National Skills Fund, will enable greater availability across the country and a wider range of course subjects on offer to meet the skills needs of local areas.
Providing apprenticeships during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
Department for Education
23 February 2021
This document is for providers, employers, assessment organisations and apprentices.
It describes:
- the temporary flexibilities which have been applied during the coronavirus (COVD-19) outbreak
- how and when apprentices can safely train and undertake an assessment in the workplace and educational and assessment settings.