Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock
announces 77 new Tech Levels backed by
businesses.
More than 200 gold-standard Tech Levels will now be
available for young people to study from September this year.
In
a speech to
the Institute for Public Policy Research yesterday, the minister said
the new Tech Levels - high-quality qualifications that put vocational education
on a par with A levels - would bridge the gap between education and
employment.
The
new Tech Levels, including qualifications in agriculture, engineering andIT,
are backed by a wide range of top employers including Siemens, BAE and
Canon.
Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock
said:
Tech Levels ensure young people are prepared to compete
in the global jobs market, and give employers a crucial say in what skills they
need.
The
previous system had become bloated with qualifications that were of no
value.
These have been stripped out of the league tables and
now, under this government, young people can clearly see which courses will
give them the vital skills they need to get on in life.
These new Tech Levels come as the latest figures show
too many young people have been leaving education without the knowledge or
skills needed for further study and employment.
The
introduction of Tech Levels goes hand-in-hand with action to raise maths
skills. As well as piloting new level 3 core maths qualifications from
September this year, focusing on problem solving in real life situations, the
government is requiring all young people who do not secure a C grade or higher
in GCSE maths to carry on studying it after the age of
16.
Experimental data from the Department for Education for
the academic year 2011 to 2012 showed why this was necessary as just 17% of the
244,231 students who failed to secure a C in maths GCSE pre-16 went
on to study it post-16 and only 7% subsequently passed.
The
Skills and Enterprise Minister said:
Maths and English are the basic qualifications employers
demand and without them a young person’s career is
stunted.
This government is ensuring that these crucial subjects
are at the core of a vocational education - meaning young people have the
foundations they need for further study and employment.
In
his speech the minister said the challenge of helping young people transition
from education to employment was a global one and he called on
the OECD to undertake an in-depth study into the
problem.
He
said:
I
believe we need to look again at how the best countries in the world support
their young people through the transition from education to
work.
We
need updated and rigorous OECD analysis into policies helping young
people to make the transition from education to employment.
I
am not calling for a one-size-fits-all template but for high-quality global
analysis, which we can share, discuss, and interpret in whatever way best
suits.
Notes to editors
- Read the
minister’s speech.
- See the
full list of Tech Levels.
- See details
of core maths.
- See statistics on post-16
English and maths attainment.