DfE responds to Education Committee FE & skills report

The Education Committee has published the Government’s response to its report into FE and Skills which made recommendations on strengthening the sector. 
 
In the DfE's response, Ministers said they agreed with the Committee’s recommendation that officials should monitor and report annually on the number and proportion of schools that fail to comply with the Baker Clause and Provider Access Legislation. Both are policies designed to ensure that pupils are introduced to a diverse range of post-16 options during secondary school. The response adds that DfE will keep under consideration how it will respond to the compliance data and the threshold for intervention. 
 
Ministers have also provided an assurance that Applied General Qualifications, such as BTECs, will continue to be funded until a V Level qualification has been launched as a replacement of any individual AGQ. 
 
After the Committee called on DfE to simplify the apprenticeships system for employers and prospective trainees, Ministers say they are doing so, for example by introducing “a one-click employer onboarding process which allows providers to complete the setup for an employer”. The response adds that, as a result, “we have seen significant reductions to the on-boarding time for new employers, supporting apprentices to begin their training more quickly”. 
 
Since publishing its initial response to the Committee’s inquiry the Government has subsequently announced the expansion of the foundation apprenticeship to scheme to include the hospitality, retail and care sectors, as recommended by the Committee.