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Engineering Training

I am pleased to have this opportunity to respond to the debate. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland (Dr. Kumar) on securing it and raising this important subject. It is the second time in a week that he has raised these issues with me in Parliament, and I know that he takes a significant interest in them. I want to respond to my hon. Friend in the context of the recent report by the Royal Academy of Engineering and to take up his invitation to meet him and colleagues from the academy, which I will be happy to do. It is essential to this country’s continuing prosperity to produce the very best in science, engineering and technology research—STEM research—and to develop world-class scientists and engineers. The supply of skilled science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates is as important today as it has ever been, which is why our priority is to stimulate and maintain student demand for engineering and related subjects. It is noteworthy that in respect of the supply and demand of STEM skills, the overall UK position is favourable according to the most recent figures available from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. There are some areas in which we are weaker, but a large stock of STEM skills and a steady flow into the labour market mean that we are well placed to take advantage of any likely growing demand in these areas. In respect of the national picture, enrolments on undergraduate engineering courses, which, as my hon. Friend said, were in decline during the 1990s, have risen 6 per cent. since 2002. However, as he is aware, the overall increases mask increases in some areas and declines in others: for example, in 2005, entrants to general engineering courses were up by 10 per cent. and to civil or mechanical engineering up by 4 per cent., but entrants to electrical engineering fell by about 8 per cent. We are most certainly not complacent, but it is encouraging that the national demand for and supply of courses is improving overall. We absolutely must keep that under review. There are some encouraging recent signs about student demand across the STEM subjects. Overall, applications and acceptances through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service indicate that there has recently been a higher-than-average increase of 10 per cent. or more in the number of students accepted to study maths, physics and chemistry. Previously, there had been a significant downturn, but we may be beginning to see the turn of the tide, although I do not want to over-egg it. Chemistry courses, for example, rose by more than 12 per cent. last year compared with the national average increase of 7 per cent. My hon. Friend talked about the importance of science teaching in schools. It is significant that in the last three or four years there has been an increase in the number of science graduates going into initial teacher training. Also, when I last looked at the evidence, the proportion of graduates going into ITT with a 2:1 or a first had risen significantly, and that gives us grounds for optimism that, in the longer term, there will be higher-quality teaching in our schools. Particularly important are the changes that we are making to the school science curriculum, in order to move away from rote learning to ensure that young people understand the processes of science. There are two other things that we need to do to stimulate and enthuse young people and engage them in science. First, and very practically, we should underline the importance of the graduate earnings premium in STEM subjects; it is about 30 per cent. compared with 23 per cent. for non-STEM subjects, so there is a significant additional earnings premium for those students who undertake those subjects. Secondly, we have to do much more through the media to present and depict science properly and positively, through newspapers, television programmes and drama. A number of initiatives are in train to ensure that that happens. Let me say a few words about what specifically we are doing in the higher education sector. I very much take my hon. Friend’s point that we need greater collaboration between industry and the higher education sector as a whole. Foundation degrees, for example, are an important and exciting development in that area, designed, as they are, in partnership with employers to provide the specialist knowledge and employability skills that employers demand, as well as the broader understanding that equips graduates for future professional development. They not only provide a flexible and valuable entry level into higher-level engineering study, but make it accessible to people who might not otherwise have considered that route. These initiatives and qualifications address an important skills gap at the associate, professional and higher technician level identified by private and public sector employers. That is an important initiative, in terms of collaboration between industry and higher education, as is the higher education innovation fund, which works on knowledge transfer directly from higher education into industry. It is important to ensure that the demand for engineering courses is maintained, and that there is Government funding of a number of projects to facilitate that. The Department of Trade and Industry, for example, is expanding the science and engineering ambassadors scheme, one of a number of successful schemes to encourage young people to continue science, technology, engineering and mathematics in higher education by supporting teachers and engaging and enthusing pupils. By 2007-08, the total number of ambassadors will be 18,000—an increase of 50 per cent. on the current year. That is an important and significant step forward. The Higher Education Funding Council for England is using money from its strategic development fund to support the development of proposals from science, technology, engineering and mathematics subject areas to stimulate demand for higher education courses; that is a positive way forward. As part of that, the London engineering project, run by the Royal Academy of Engineering, brings together schools, universities and employers to engage with young people through enrichment activities in our schools. The programme is aimed at attracting new engineers from diverse backgrounds, and contributes to our goals for widening access to higher education from under-represented groups. I am pleased that there have been proposals for funding from both the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Engineering Council UK. Projects proposed include using work experience placements to recruit young people into engineering and developing models of flexible pathways into and through higher education, leading to professional status in engineering. Fundamentally, if we are to get an increase in demand from students for science and engineering courses in higher education, we need to take action at all levels in the education system, and most importantly, frankly, at a much earlier stage than higher education. That is why the 14-to-19 agenda is so important; we are talking about those who, at the age of 14, may arguably be switched off education and further personal development on being presented with a purely academic route. My hon. Friend is right that engineering is recognised as one of the key sectors of the economy; from 2008, it will be among the first five sectors to offer the employer-led specialist diplomas that we are developing. If we can get those diplomas right, as I believe we can, we can attract young people into that vocational pathway and into engineering in a way that we could not previously. The development of the specialised diploma is one of the most exciting opportunities of recent years to provide a strong route of mixed theoretical and practical learning for people of all abilities. As they are employer-led and designed, industry will get the people with the skills that it thinks necessary. Schools, particularly those specialising in engineering and science, have a key role to play in encouraging young people to consider a career in engineering. The Government’s specialist schools programme plays an important part in our plans to encourage more people to study and understand engineering. There are currently 656 schools with a specialism in engineering or technology—that number is growing, and we need that trend to continue. Science and maths in schools are typically thought of as the building blocks of engineering. The recent pledges that the Chancellor made in the Budget raised our ambitions further—rightly, in my view. Our ““Science and innovation investment framework 2004-2014: next steps”” document, published in March, set out clear aims for improving the stock and flow of skilled scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians, and set out measures across the education system to support that. To drive forward improvements to science teaching and learning, the Chancellor made a commitment to £32 million-worth of new measures over the next two years, supported by £18 million-worth of new funding. We have new commitments: first, to increase the number of pupils achieving level 6 in science at key stage 3 and good science grades at GCSE; and secondly, to raise the number of A-level science entries and improve the percentage of teachers with physics, chemistry or mathematics as a specialism. That is a really important area. In the longer term, we want many more teachers who actually specialise in the core STEM subjects to teach them in the classroom. My hon. Friend mentioned teacher numbers. It is worth noting that although there are still some challenges on that front, since 1997 there has been a 30 per cent. increase in the numbers of new science teachers, but we know that we still need to do more. To increase further the number of science teachers, we have improved the value of recruitment incentives. The teacher training bursary rose to £7,000 in September 2005 and will rise again to £9,000 this September. Also, the ““golden hello”” for new science teachers rose to £5,000 for trainees entering the postgraduate certificate of education or equivalent courses in September 2005. We are also recruiting and training a new cadre of science specialist higher-level teaching assistants and enabling every secondary school to recruit at least one by 2007-08. Those initiatives are beginning to bear fruit and are ensuring that we have more properly qualified teachers teaching science in the classroom, supported by able teaching assistants. Furthermore, we have been encouraging science and maths students at university to consider teaching as a career, while helping to enthuse young people in the classroom through the student associates scheme. Of the 20,000 students placed in the past three years, 3,000 have been science undergraduates. The recent Budget rightly made £700,000 of new money available in each of the next two years to create more science and maths placements on that important, excellent scheme. The engineering sector can make a vital contribution by working with the education system. Listening to employers is essential for a strong economy and a fully prepared work force. It is worth noting that engineering falls within the footprint of several sector skills councils. All are contributing to the development of foundation degrees. The Department for Education and Skills is working with the Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies Alliance to support the delivery of the challenging GCSE double award in engineering, as well as the planned roll-out of the engineering diploma in 2008. In conclusion, I reassure my hon. Friend that we take the issue extremely seriously. There are some encouraging signs at the higher education level, in terms of the numbers of students coming through, but real progress in the longer term is dependent on the changes that we are making to our schools system at the moment. If we look at the evidence, those changes are beginning to bear fruit, but I am not complacent; we need to keep driving the issue forward, and with the support of my hon. Friend I am sure that we can do that.