Exam certificates will go digital for thousands of students this
summer as part of a modernised 'education record' to be
introduced by government.
The new digital records will do away with the need to manually
pass on paper files when young people leave school, bringing
their paperwork into one easy to access Education Record app they
can use when applying for further education, apprenticeships or
employment – saving time scrabbling around for documents. More
than 95,000 young people in Greater Manchester and the West
Midlands will also receive their GCSE results via the app this
summer, ahead of a future national roll out.
The government estimates the move could save schools and colleges
up to £30m per year once the full roll out is complete, enough
money to pay the salaries of more than 600 new teachers in
further education. The savings can be ploughed back into boosting
skills to support the government's growth mission.
The Education Record app is part of wider government drive to
overhaul how the public sector uses technology. In future, the
app could sit in the new GOV.UK wallet being rolled out by the
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) which
will enable the public to interact with government services from
their phone.
Education Minister said:
“It is high time exam records were brought into the
21st century, and this pilot will allow schools
and colleges to focus on what they do best: teaching the next
generation rather than being bogged down in bureaucracy.
“This government is slashing red tape through our Plan for Change
to drive growth, cut admin for teachers and give tens of
thousands of young people more opportunities to get on in skilled
careers.”
Earlier this week, Minister Morgan visited the Hathershaw College
school in Oldham, which has been trialling the Education Record
app since spring 2024. Following the success of this localised
trial, the DfE is scaling up the roll out.
Mark Giles, Principal at the Hathershaw College school,
said:
"We were proud to support the DfE last summer with the initial
trial. The support from the DfE was excellent and the feedback
from students and staff was very positive as the education record
was accurate, verifiable and could be presented to providers
without delay.
“We believe this will reduce administrative burdens on schools,
and in the future could also be utilised by parents of younger
children to support transition from primary to secondary school.”
This comes alongside a wider government march to modernise public
services – led by the Technology Secretary who has launched his
department as the digital centre of government to overhaul
digital services and target £45 billion in productivity savings
every year.
The government continues its drive to transform post-16
education, with changes to English and maths requirements that
will see up to 10,000 more apprentices qualify each year in key
sectors, and new shorter apprenticeships announced during
National Apprenticeship Week. Changes to end point assessments
will also mean it is even easier for businesses and providers to
support getting people into the workforce. A £302m
government cash injection to fix, maintain and improve FE College
buildings across England, will also ensure FE colleges are able
to attract and retain learners.
In March the Chancellor announced a £625m investment in
construction skills that will help to train up to 60,000 more
engineers, electricians and builders by 2029. The funding
complements the new Construction Skills Hubs, funded by industry,
which will also speed up the training of construction workers
crucial to supporting the government's homebuilding drive.
