6. Will the First Minister make a statement on post-16 education in Wales? OAQ(5)0503(FM)

Further education contributes significantly to skills development, improving employment and careers prospects for learners in Wales and the performance of companies and public services. It ensures our young people can access the skills that they need to develop their careers and that adults can develop their skills to support our growing economy.

Thank you for that answer, leader of the house. There’s been a lot of talk about the need for parity of esteem between higher and further education in this Chamber over the past 10 years, but successive Welsh Labour Governments have failed to deliver on that talk and that ambition. The Wales Audit Office, in fact, has confirmed in a recent report on the oversight of further education colleges’ finances that there has been a significant cut of £22 million to our FE colleges over the past five years and that that has stifled them being able to make some progress. In fact, we now see nearly half of our Welsh colleges carrying large deficits and being forced to eat into their reserves. I wonder, leader of the house, whether you can tell me what action, specifically, the Welsh Government might be able to take as a result of the savings that will be secured through changes to higher education student support in terms of some of that cash being invested into our FE sector in order to rebalance the situation in terms of parity between both forms of education.

Well, you know—you may talk. We deliver, actually, as a Welsh Labour Government. [Interruption.] I have to say that, in terms of our approach in Wales, where not only have we established—[Interruption.] We’ve established an approach to vocational and technical qualifications that we’ve actually developed in consultation with employers. We’ve benefited from collaboration, engaging with Northern Ireland and Scotland. We’ve got an internationally-recognised approach to apprenticeships, vocational and technical qualifications, as we can see by the investment and our commitment to 100,000 apprenticeships, and we have the regional skills partnerships to determine the need and demand for skills in Wales. Now, I don’t recognise the points you make at all and, of course, those employers that, for example, I met last week, who are concerned to get young people into science, technology, engineering and maths—and indeed Julie James addressed many yesterday—they see that, actually, parity of esteem with vocational opportunities is vital for young people. The apprenticeship route is one that young people aspire to and actually are now engaging with.

Along the same lines, there is YouGov research last year that showed that only 7 per cent of those between 18 and 24 were considering an apprenticeship as the best option for them, compared to 68 per cent who saw higher education as the best option for them. So, the perception still exists, doesn’t it, that there isn’t parity of esteem between vocational and academic courses. So, can I ask what the Welsh Government is doing, for example, to promote the perceptions of the Sutton Trust research, which shows that the probable earnings of the best apprentices are many thousands of pounds more over the course of their careers than of students who have been in higher education outside the Russell Group of universities—without, of course, the debts that emerge as a result of higher education?

Yes. I mean, that clearly is—. The impact of our investment in 100,000 quality apprenticeships speaks for itself: a key plank in ‘Taking Wales Forward’, recognising the value of the post-compulsory education training sector, and also the fact that it enables young people to reach their potential. As you say, the Sutton Trust research is very valuable, very pertinent, and, clearly, as well, in terms of our statutory duty to provide education for learners up to the age of 18, we have actually protected, and mitigated the brunt of funding reductions imposed by the UK Government. But, as a result of a budget agreement, we have put an additional £30 million to support further and higher education as well, which, of course, is having a huge impact in terms of targeting investment and making those opportunities for our young people real, because they can progress anyway from apprenticeships into higher education routes and into very well-paid and long-lasting jobs and careers.