Highlights of the week ending 22 July
In a relatively quiet week for education policy as activity winds down for recess, the Petitions Committee held a debate on BTEC qualifications after the Protect Student Choice campaign’s petition received more than 108,000 signatures. The debate featured arguments in favour of BTECs and applied general qualifications from MPs across the political spectrum. It will be interesting to see whether the new Prime Minister and their team of ministers will consider the weight of public and political support for choice at age 16.
Also this week, Ofsted published its summer 2022 briefings on COVID-19 impact and recovery, DfE put out an evaluation of the free level 3 course offer, provisional school funding allocations were announced by Will Quince MP, and initial funding allocations were set out for the National Tutoring Programme. Meanwhile, a teacher pay increase of 5-8.9 per cent was announced, which was criticised by unions and industry bodies as a real-terms pay cut.
The Schools Bill has now completed report stage in the House of Lords, with its Third Reading scheduled for 14 September. Whether the Bill is retained by an incoming ministerial team is up for debate, especially given the changes already made to the draft legislation following opposition in the House of Lords.