We are the country of Michael Faraday, William Robert Grove, and Tim Berners Lee - whose technical brilliance led to the electric motor, the fuel cell and the World Wide Web. Britain had the first trains, toothbrushes and television - the Industrial Revolution started here.

So, with our remarkable history, it makes no sense that a technical education in this country is seen as second best to an academic one.

Technical education should be about learning the skills you need to do a job, whether that’s as an engineer, a web designer or a beautician. But although local colleges offer thousands of courses for people leaving school at 16, too often the qualification they end up with isn’t rated by them or by businesses. Nor does it give them the skills they need to get a quality job.  

No longer second best

This has to change. Whenever I ask who does technical education best, everyone points to Germany, a country that also has one of the most highly skilled workforces anywhere. 

As education secretary, I don’t see why Britain, the world’s fifth-biggest economy, should be second best to Germany or anyone else.

That is why we are kicking off a revolution in our education system that will mean all young people have great choices and access to a world-class education, not just those doing A levels and going to university. I’m today announcing the first 52 colleges across the country that will offer T levels. These new qualifications will combine classroom study and real-world industry placements, and are backed by £500 million of government investment.  

Proper choice

With T levels offered from 2020, young people will have a proper choice between continuing their academic studies or learning the technical skills they’ll need for the job they want. The first T levels will cover industries including construction and childcare, and the next waves, introduced in 2021 and 2022, will include finance and accounting, and engineering and manufacturing. They will eventually replace the thousands of confusing courses currently available.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reform technical education in this country and put it on par with the best in the world. We’re making sure young people can gain the skills they need for the jobs of tomorrow - and that our economy has the skilled workers it needs to compete globally.

We know businesses understand best what skills they need, so that’s why we’ve asked companies themselves to design T-level course content, working with leading colleges and universities. 

As well as T levels, the government is investing in high-quality apprenticeships, which allow people to learn and earn. In the future, we want those doing T levels to use these to unlock higher level apprenticeships, just as A levels are used to qualify for a university degree. Already, we are seeing a marked shift to higher-quality and more substantial apprenticeships than in the past.

Vital skills gap

And we are establishing Institutes of Technology that will offer top-quality technical training to degree-standard, helping to fill a vital skills gap in our economy in areas like advanced manufacturing and digital. Colleges, businesses and universities have put in joint proposals to create one of these institutes, and I’m announcing bids from around the country that will go into the final stage of the competition today.

These big investments in technical education form part of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy; our long-term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK. We are making sure that people have the skills they need for the jobs of tomorrow.

So Britain can continue our proud history as an industrial power, we will keep working with our schools, colleges and universities to build the highly skilled, home-grown workforce this country needs.

Damian Hinds is the education secretary