1. What measures is the Welsh Government taking to support further education during the pandemic in Wales? OQ56895

Llywydd, throughout the pandemic, the Welsh Government has supported the sector through close partnership working, joint production of essential guidance, COVID adaptations of qualification regimes, and the provision of over £100 million in additional funding to respond to the impact of coronavirus on staff and students.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. The impact of the pandemic on learners in Wales has been unprecedented. Pupils have faced huge upheavals and many have seen their best laid plans and career paths disrupted through no fault of their own. In a recent study on the further education sector, the International Public Policy Observatory found that vocational and apprenticeship courses have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic. Across the UK, take-up of vocational courses, such as engineering and construction, have declined, and the number of young people starting new apprenticeships fell by 46 per cent in 2020 compared with 2019. 

I know that the First Minister agrees that no-one must be left behind in our recovery, and I'm pleased at the Welsh Government's ambition when it comes to apprenticeships. However, we must make sure that we protect the pupils who have been through so much over the last 18 months. What measures can the Welsh Government take to ensure that those whose educational plans have been disrupted are supported and given every opportunity to restart?

Llywydd, I thank Jayne Bryant for that further question, and, of course, she is right that the position for students looking to study vocational courses or to take up apprenticeships has been particularly volatile over the last 18 months because many of the opportunities that those young people would have looked for in the workplace have been disrupted by coronavirus closures. We've seen, as a result, a larger proportion of learners opt for studying A-level courses in A-level settings because you don't have the same level of potential disruption to the vocational element. We expect that that phenomena will continue into the start of this year. Because the position is very volatile, and with a very strong recovery in the economy, when more opportunities in the workplace will begin to emerge, the Welsh Government has provided a further £5 million to further education colleges to allow them to recruit additional learners should people change their minds during the autumn term and come back into the vocational and the apprenticeship route. 

I strongly endorse, Llywydd, what Jayne Bryant said about the importance of vocational education and the success of the apprenticeship programme in Wales, and both of those will be supported by further measures over the weeks and months ahead. 

The policy recommendations for the next Welsh Government, published by Colegau Cymru/Colleges Wales in March, included to build on the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill and the consequential impact on 14 to 19 learning pathways to provide a legal basis for learners aged 14 to 16 to progress to vocational and technical pathways provided independently by further education institutions, and the necessary funding to support these learners. It's now many years since the Welsh Conservatives first called for the creation of two equal education streams, beginning at age 14, academic and vocational, one alongside the other, giving pupils the chance to develop important skills before embarking on their chosen career path. How does your Welsh Government therefore respond to this Colegau Cymru recommendation, and what engagement is it having with the further education sector regarding this?

Llywydd, well, the wish to see parity of esteem between vocational and academic qualifications certainly is not the province of the Conservative Party. It was there in 1945, in the Labour Government's reforms to education in that era as well. I strongly support the belief that young people who choose to go into vocational courses, apprenticeship courses, as Jayne Bryant said, that those should be regarded as equally important and equally successful routes for those young people to shape their futures. And as for the Colegau Cymru proposals, well of course the new curriculum does provide, from the age of 14 onwards, equal access to both of those courses, and we will continue to work with the sector. I saw with interest the priorities that Colegau Cymru suggested to the new committee here, for its work programme in this area, looking at advanced technical and higher technical skills in the further education sector, to make sure we prepare young people for the new apprenticeships and the new vocational learning of the future in the industries that will emerge over the years to come.