Since my appointment as the skills and apprenticeships minister, it’s been great to meet young people and education providers across the country. I have been struck by the inspiring stories they have told me about the routes they’ve taken into employment through technical education.
What has surprised me, though, is that there are still many who consider a non-academic route to employment to be unconventional. So I am delighted that, last week, we took another step forward to put in place an overhaul of technical skills by publishing the new T-level action plan (bit.ly/Post16ActionPlan).
This is another important step in our mission to put technical education on a par with other routes to employment. To make sure this happens, we will be investing £500 million per year into T levels, once all the routes are up and running. We have announced the first three T levels that we will put in place in 2020 - construction, digital, and education and childcare - and the full suite of T levels will be running by 2022.
In introducing these routes first, we are responding to the clear economic challenges as the country looks ahead toward a future outside of the EU. We are determined to make sure people have the skills we need.
What sets these qualifications apart is the way they are being developed. The only way to successfully put these reforms in place is through genuine partnership between business, government and educators. One team for skills.
Diverse panel
Employers will take a lead role, and it is absolutely right that they do - after all, these are the people who know exactly what skills are required for the future. However, I am also clear that at every stage the process must be informed by education specialists. That is why I am delighted that the T-level panels include a diverse range of industry representatives sitting alongside education specialists to develop the core content.
This commitment to the spirit of co-creation will help design T-level content that is world class and reflects the needs of our economy. We will ensure that quality is at the forefront of this new qualification by offering each subject under exclusive licensing, in line with the recommendations of the Independent Panel on Technical Education.
Additionally, as part of their T-level programme, every student will undertake a structured, high-quality work placement to put into practice what they have learned in the classroom.
Making sure that technical education achieves the same level of esteem as its academic counterpart has been a key area of focus for me. T levels will sit alongside our continued investment in apprenticeships and the creation of prestigious new institutes of technology in our plan to achieve this.
I look forward to working with members of the sector and hearing their contributions. I also look forward to collaborating with employers, providers and assessors to implement these routes and to understand how we can support the sector in its preparation for delivering T levels.
Anne Milton is the minister for skills and apprenticeships
