At the Skills Show in Birmingham, the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced that the government will revolutionise how 16 to 18 year olds find out about vocational skills and training.
A fully-comprehensive national database of post-16 skills and employer-led courses and opportunities in England, similar to the UCAS system, will be in place at the beginning of the next school year in September 2015.
The Deputy Prime Minister all celebrated the fact that the government has doubled the number of people startingapprenticeships, compared to the last Parliament.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: “Gone are the days when a vocational education is seen as the poor relation when it comes to choosing a career path. I’m delighted to be able to celebrate such a phenomenal rise in young people being given the opportunity to work as they learn. In fact we are just days away from being able to celebrate the 2 millionth apprentice starting work in England since 2010. Good quality apprenticeships give hard-working young people the chance to aim high for their dream job and play their part in building a stronger economy for Britain.
“Whilst it is truly exciting to be able to celebrate the tide turning with wider-ranging opportunities for our school leavers aside from university, we also need to do more to show young people all of the doors open to them. By giving every 16-year-old access to a one stop shop for the growing number of choices they have, more young people will be able to access the options available to them and make better informed choices about their career paths.”
