Tabled by Lord Farmer To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the
light of the Budget announcement that new T-Levels will be
introduced to give parity of esteem for technical education, how
they intend to ensure that young people also have the interpersonal
skills required to succeed in the workplace. Baroness Eaton
(Con) My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend Lord Farmer, and
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Tabled by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Budget
announcement that new T-Levels will be introduced to give
parity of esteem for technical education, how they intend to
ensure that young people also have the interpersonal skills
required to succeed in the workplace.
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(Con)
My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend , and at his request,
I beg leave to ask the Question standing in his name on the
Order Paper.
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education (Lord Nash) (Con)
My Lords, at the heart of the new T-level is a recognition
that we must do more to prepare young people for skilled
employment. The content of T-levels will be determined by
employers and industry professionals. They will identify the
skills, knowledge and behaviour that are required for
specific occupations, as well as the transferable and
interpersonal skills that are vital for all employment and
career progression. All young people taking the T-level will
also undertake a work placement where they will be able to
develop core workplace skills.
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I thank my noble friend for that Answer. Interpersonal skills
are vital, but so too are the supportive relationships which
can hone them. What are Her Majesty’s Government doing to
ensure that young people, including care leavers and young
offenders leaving prison, who are often bereft of such
skills, can enter the world of work with a network of
supportive relationships behind them?
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My Lords, through the Children and Social Work Bill we are
extending the opportunity for support from a personal adviser
to all care leavers to the age of 25. We have introduced the
“staying put” arrangements, which allow care leavers to
continue with their foster parents until they reach the age
of 21. We are also piloting the “staying close” scheme for
those leaving residential care, and introducing compulsory
relationship education in primary schools and a duty on
secondary schools to teach relationship and sex education.
Together with the MoJ and a partnership led by Achievement
for All, we are improving support for young offenders with
special educational needs.
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(LD)
My Lords, what encouragement can the Government offer to
employers to engage more with schools and colleges, and what
support can they give to schools and colleges to make time
for employers to set out not only the technical skills, but
the employability skills that are so necessary for future
careers, and which mean that young people leave education
ready for work?
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The noble Baroness makes an extremely good point. The
Government welcome the engagement of the business and
professional communities with the school system in any way
that works for them. We want that door to be wide open
because it is absolutely clear that the more engagement
students have with the world of work, the more likely they
are to engage in their studies. This is why we have invested
nearly £100 million in the Careers & Enterprise Company
to work with other organisations such as Business in the
Community, Make the Grade and Inspiring the Future, in order
to ensure that this connection between the world of work and
schools is close.
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(Lab)
My Lords, I had the privilege to chair your Lordships’ Social
Mobility Committee, of which the noble Lord, , was a member. One of
the recommendations we made was that young people should have
life skills education at school, but the Government did not
accept it. In our evidence sessions with employers, we found
that they unanimously valued life skills education, which
helps young people to be ready for work. Problem solving,
co-operating with others, timekeeping and making persuasive
phone calls all used to have GCSE equivalence until 2010,
when the right honourable abolished it with a
stroke.
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I agree entirely with the noble Baroness that what are
sometimes called essential life skills are vital. As this
House knows and I think welcomes, we are introducing a power
for the Secretary of State to introduce a duty on secondary
schools to teach PSHE. We will be engaging widely on what the
contents of PSHE should be. I believe that a lot of the
essential life skills to which the noble Baroness refers
should be included in that.
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(Con)
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the employability record
of the students who go to the 44 university technical
colleges is the best in the country? Last July we had 1,300
leavers, and only five joined the ranks of the unemployed.
That cannot be matched by any other schools in the country.
Some 44% went to universities, 32% into apprenticeships and
the rest to jobs or further education. As these colleges get
support from right across the political spectrum, I hope he
agrees that we should have many more of them.
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I pay tribute to my noble friend’s pioneering work on
university technical colleges. I am fully aware of the
statistics to which he refers because he has told me about
them on many occasions. I am delighted they are so good.
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(Lab)
My Lords, the money announced in the Budget for T-levels was
welcome, even though it will not be fully developed until
2022. We already have tech levels, a TechBac and a tech bacc,
so it seems the DfE will need good interpersonal skills to
create a separate identity for T-levels. Interpersonal skills
are surely important in the workplace for young people, no
matter whether they took the technical or the academic route.
Does the Minister agree that the introduction of compulsory
relationship education, agreed in your Lordships’ House
yesterday in the Children and Social Work Bill, offers an
opportunity for schools to do more to build interpersonal
skills for life from an early age?
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I agree entirely—it is so important to develop these skills.
The noble Baroness referred to some, such as teamwork and
communication. Self-management is also very important.
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(CB)
My Lords, I am sure the Minister will understand how much the
House supported the Bill as it passed through the House last
evening, particularly the section on relationships to which
the noble Lord just referred. Mention has been made of young
people who are particularly vulnerable to exploitation or to
the dreadful things that can come their way online. The
Government are going to introduce a strategy document. Will
the Minister assure the House that emphasis will be given in
it to the most vulnerable children in our society?
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I agree entirely with the noble Lord. We have to be
particularly sensitive to those vulnerable young children,
and I can give that assurance.
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