TIGA, the trade association representing the video games industry, has today published a Parliamentary activity update for the education sector.
Written Answers and Statements:
Skilled Workers
Department for Education
8 April 2021
Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated): To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that local skills improvement plans will meet the skills gaps in each local authority.
Baroness Berridge (Parliamentary Under Secretary): Business representative organisations will be given the leading role in developing Local Skills Improvement Plans in trailblazer areas, informed by key stakeholders such as local authorities, so that they provide credible and evidence-based assessments of local skills gaps and priorities. The plans will bring colleges and other providers together to agree how skills gaps can best be filled, and our Strategic Development Funding will support colleges and other providers to do this in trailblazer local areas.
It is our intention to legislate to put the employer leadership of Local Skills Improvement Plans on a statutory footing, strengthening the voice of employers in local skills systems across the country. We will also consult on introducing new accountability structures to underpin their delivery.
Graduates and Work Experience
Department for Education
8 April 2021
Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with universities regarding (1) the technical skills, and (2) the employability, of graduates; and what steps they are taking to increase practical work experience opportunities for young people.
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: Since the announcement of our Higher Technical Education reforms in July 2020, we have engaged with a number of universities. Whilst we want to see further education colleges expanding their higher technical provision, we also want universities to offer more higher technical qualifications or apprenticeships, which are a more focused and better targeted route for students, employers, and the economy.
Many universities are already delivering higher, level 6 plus, and degree apprenticeships. We regularly engage with the higher education sector, including via higher education provider representative bodies, to encourage more universities to work with employers to deliver apprenticeship training wherever there is employer need.
We recognise that a number of education leavers will face challenges gaining employment due to the ongoing adverse impact on the UK labour market and economy of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government is doing all it can to help people who are at the start of their career journey. The Department for Work and Pensions has successfully recruited over 13,500 new work coaches by end of March 2021. This will ensure that high quality work search support is available to those who need it. The Office for Students’ Local Graduates competition has awarded £5.6 million to 16 projects across England to help graduates into local employment opportunities.
As part of the government’s Skills Recovery package plan for jobs announced on 8 July 2020, we are investing an additional £32 million in the National Careers Service up to March 2022. This investment will provide individual careers advice for 269,000 more people whose jobs or learning have been affected by COVID-19.
The Skills Toolkit has free courses to help graduates to learn new skills, including general skills that apply to all sectors and more specialised skills. In September 2020 we added additional courses to The Skills Toolkit with new content including a range of courses to develop ‘work readiness’ skills that employers report they value in their new recruits.
The Department for Education is working with Universities UK, the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services, the Institute of Student Employers, the Office for Students, and the sector to understand what more we can do to support graduates who are looking to enter the labour market or continue their studies at this challenging time. The Office for Students’ Local Graduates competition has awarded £5.6 million to 16 projects across England to help local graduates into local employment opportunities.
Work experience is important for getting into any career. The careers statutory guidance makes it clear that schools should offer work placements, work experience and other employer-based activities as part of their careers strategy for year 8-13 pupils and that secondary schools should offer every young person at least seven encounters with employers during their education.
We are providing valuable support to schools and colleges to provide work experience through The Careers and Enterprise Company, which has been given the task of increasing access to work experience for young people. Guidance around work experience can also be found on the National Careers Service website.
Video Games: Qualifications
Department for Education
19 April 2021
Alex Sobel (Lab): 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 people that hope to study degrees in gaming.
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 closed on 31 January 2021 and set out proposals for a range of qualifications that will sit alongside A levels and T Levels in future. These include academic qualifications designed to support progression to specialist higher education. No final decisions have been made about individual subjects or the future of existing qualifications. The impact assessment published alongside the consultation looks at the potential impact of the review on students, providers, employers, and the economy but did not look specifically at student progression to degrees in gaming. We are analysing responses to the consultation and will publish a final impact assessment as part of the response to the consultation later this year.
Oral Answers and Statements
T-Levels: Industry Placements
Department for Education
26 April 2021
Robert Largan (Con): What steps his Department is taking to ensure that all students taking T-levels receive a high-quality industry placement.
Gavin Williamson (Secretary of State): The Government have invested £165 million to help providers to prepare for and deliver industry placements, building capacity in their relationships with employers. We have invested nearly £7 million so far in direct support for employers, and we are also exploring what short-term funded support may be appropriate to enable employers to offer placements.
Robert Largan: I welcome the Government’s plan for jobs, which rightly prioritises technical education. Does the Education Secretary agree that investing in further education and T-levels in places such as the High Peak is vital for our economic recovery, for improving skills and training, and for increasing opportunity, helping local people of all ages and backgrounds into good-quality jobs?
Gavin Williamson : I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. It is so vital that we see the roll-out of T-levels. These qualifications have been designed hand in glove with employers to make sure that they are delivering not only for students, but for the employers themselves. As we roll out our skills accelerators across the country, we are putting in £65 million-worth of further investment to ensure that we start to link up jobs, skills and young people, to ensure that we are getting the workforce right for the future.