Written evidence to be reported to the House
Education and Skills Bill
12:00 pm
Susan Anderson: That is quite a few questions to answer. The feedback that we get from our members, particularly on apprenticeships, is that with these young people, who particularly want to use practical-type skills and enjoy the hands-on aspects of apprenticeships, the most difficult thing can be to get them to go back to the college for that one day a week. Members of ours, for example in construction, say that that is a real difficulty because many of the young people have failed to thrive and a high number of those who enter employment or are in that NEET category have very low levels of qualifications. Our members tell us that the young people thrive in the workplace situation but do not like going back to college typically, because they see that as going back to something that they did not enjoy and did not relate to. I think that that is an issue. What we do need to do, in looking at qualifications, apprenticeships and national vocational qualifications, is ensure that—I recognise that this is partly an employer issue, not just one for colleges or private providers—they are relevant to young people and do deliver the important numeracy and literacy skills that employers are looking for, in ways that are relevant to young people.
There are some problems at the moment with apprenticeships which we know need to be addressed, and we are having conversations with the Government on that, and indeed with anybody who wants to talk to us. Similarly, we think that there are problems with vocational qualifications, that too many of them do not reflect the needs of businesses, the skills and competency needs of business, so again we are working with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, and indeed the sector skills council, to try to ensure that qualifications better match employers’ needs, because if they do not, young people do not see the point and employers do not value them. There are some very important changes that need to take place before the Bill comes into effect.