The UK has a shortage of technicians and without significant and sustained action this shortage will worsen in the coming decades, threatening our future economic prosperity.
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We support science in secondary schools and colleges through initiatives which encourage innovation and engaging practical activity in science lessons and STEM clubs and by piloting new approaches to teacher recruitment and professional development.
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We support a few key national initiatives which aim to increase coordination and collaboration between the wide range of organisations and projects promoting STEM education and careers, and improve communication between government and STEM communities on policy issues.
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In late 2015 David Sainsbury was asked by government to chair a panel of experts that would provide clear recommendations for measures that would not only improve, but transform, technical education in England. The panel’s report was published alongside the government’s Post-16 Skills Plan in July 2016.
Good career guidance is critical if young people are to raise their aspirations and capitalise on the opportunities available to them. We commissioned Sir John Holman to research what pragmatic actions could improve career guidance in secondary schools and we are piloting the recommendations with schools.
The UK has a well-documented shortage of STEM technicians to satisfy demand for both new and replacement roles. Technical education offers young people a clear route from school into rewarding technician occupations, and progression to higher education for those who wish to do so.
We are committed to supporting practical science in schools and colleges. We will continue to strengthen the role of technicians, to celebrate teacher demonstrations and to improve the assessment of practical skills in science.
Two years on, the Good Career Guidance Benchmarks Pilot has resulted in “transformational” changes to schools’ career programmes across the North East (NE).
To celebrate this success and look to the future we welcomed career leaders, headteachers and key individuals from the NE Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to an event at the British Academy, London on Tuesday 13 June. The event gave us a chance to highlight the excellent work of the 16 schools and colleges who piloted the benchmarks and to collate some learnings from the two-year pilot. Discuss
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Technical education at Levels 4 and 5 plays a vital role in supplying highly skilled technicians for the labour market.
However, as stated in our response to the Industrial Strategy consultation, technical education at higher levels remains a neglected area of skills policy. Although the Report of the Independent Panel on Technical Education and Post-16 Skills Plan indicated that technical education reform is high on the education policy agenda, higher technical education remains an underrepresented
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