Chief Executive of the Baker Dearing Educational Trust Kate Ambrosi has issued the below response following the publication of an interim report by the Department for Education’s Curriculum and Assessment Review.

“We are encouraged by this interim report from the Curriculum and Assessment Review.

“It was especially pleasing to see the polling of parents and students, who want schools to teach technical skills such as computing and employability skills such as creative thinking and problem solving.

“The University Technical Colleges which we support deliver exactly that: A specialist technical education curriculum based on industry needs in each UTC’s local area. The report recognises we are in a fast-changing world and because the UTC curriculum is informed by industry partners, they have been moving at pace to adapt curricula to incorporate emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics, so their students can access great careers.

“We also agree with the review’s finding that T Levels are, as the report notes, ‘the gold standard technical qualification.’ Almost half of the T Level students who left one of our University Technical Colleges last summer progressed onto an apprenticeship and over a third progressed to university. As many young people as possible should have the opportunity to study these work-based qualifications, which properly prepare them for progression to growth-driving sectors.

“We remain concerned about the implications for UTCs of this review and the Schools Bill’s requirement for all schools to deliver the national curriculum. We would urge the panel members as well as the MPs and peers debating the Schools Bill in Parliament to push for students to retain a positive choice to study a specialist technical education curriculum pre-16. Parents and carers have made it clear in this report, and by sending record numbers of their children to UTCs, that they value this specialist pathway.”

ENDS