Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to implement the conclusions of Fixing the foundations: creating a more prosperous nation, Cm 9098, published in July 2015, and simplify and streamline the number of qualifications.

Nick Boles

Compared to other countries, technical and professional education in England is still too complex. The government’s ambition is for a system that provides individuals with clear, high-quality routes to employment.

Following Professor Alison Wolf’s 2011 Review of Vocational Education, the government has already removed thousands of low-quality qualifications, which were not valued by employers, from the school and college performance tables.

Building on these reforms we will introduce up to 20 specific new professional and technical routes will be created, leading up to employment or degree-level study. This will simplify the system so individuals no longer need to choose from thousands of qualifications.

To advise on these reforms, the government has appointed an Independent Panel on Technical and Professional Education, headed by Lord Sainsbury, former Minister of Science and Innovation.