UTC Heathrow’s MP and former education minister David Simmonds spoke today in the Commons debate on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, voicing his support for the specialist technical provision of UTCs.

See his remarks in the below clip.

Simmonds told MPs:

“UTC Heathrow in my constituency introduced an educational offer for a group of young people who might otherwise find it difficult to gain access to the type of education that would give them the start in life that they need. That is an example of success and an opportunity on which we could build, but instead it is being overlooked and potentially undermined by measures on the national curriculum.

It is hard to understand how an aviation-focused UTC closely connected with Heathrow airport, providing employment opportunities and a chance to access apprenticeships, gain technical skills and learn about catering and retail, would be well served by our prohibiting the people who know about those matters from doing their work unless they have qualified teacher status. We must ensure that we retain that element of diversity and opportunity in our education system—that diversity of provision and style that was always intended to underpin academisation, but which is now at serious risk of being lost.”

Baker Dearing is working with MPs, peers, and UTC stakeholders to push for an exemption for UTCs from the Bill’s requirement that all schools deliver the national curriculum.

This requirement would have a harmful effect on upward social mobility and reduce opportunities for young people studying at UTCs.

Our full briefing on the implications for UTCs of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill can be found here.