The Education Committee questions school and college leaders on
the ways in which they integrate skills into their curricula and
achieve outstanding results for their students.
Witnesses
Tuesday 18 October 2022
At 10.00am
- Yiannis Koursis, Principal and CEO, Barnsley College
- Andria Singlehurst, Director of Learning, Aspirations
Academies Trust
- Martin Said, Instructional Lead, XP Schools Trust
- Tina Götschi, Sixth Form Principal, Ada, National College for
Digital Skills
In this fifth session of the Committee’s Post-16 Qualifications
inquiry, MPs will question witnesses on the rollout of T Levels,
their views on the effectiveness of the transition programme, the
accessibility of T Levels, and experiences of the work placement.
There will also be questions about the Government’s decision to
withdraw funding for a number of applied general qualifications
such as BTECs, and how this might disproportionately affect
students from disadvantaged backgrounds or who have special
educational needs.
The cross-party group of MPs will explore how integrating
employment-related skills can benefit students in work and life,
and whether a broader Baccalaureate-type model at post-16 would
be beneficial.
The Committee will take evidence from:
Yiannis Koursis, Principal and CEO of Barnsley College, the first
in its region to offer T Levels.
Andria Singlehurst, from the Aspirations Academies Trust, which
supports its post-16 students to develop work readiness through
their Employability Diploma programme.
Tina Götschi from the National College for Digital Skills, where
every student studies a BTEC National in Computing. Its written
evidence has raised concerns that too few black students study
computer science and that it tends to be “the preserve of white
middle-class areas”.
Martin Said from the XP Schools Trust, a multi-academy Trust of
mainstream schools with a unique model of teaching knowledge and
skills-based content through cross-subject learning expeditions.
