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Skills for Growth

I am grateful to the noble Lord for his remarks. I know that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is personally and strongly committed to skills training and the FE sector. I am absolutely sure that he will do everything he can to protect these sectors. The noble Lord and the late Lord Dearing have championed university technical colleges. I am determined for the Government to do what they can to support their creation. They will offer new opportunities for 14 to 19 year-olds to undertake vocational and applied study. That is important because, as the noble Lord has argued, 14 is the age at which to capture young people’s interest in continuing vocational education in many cases and not 16 and beyond. It is also important to ensure good progression, where it is desired, from university technical colleges to other routes of study, including advanced apprenticeships and foundation degrees.