The Lord Bishop of Coventry

My Lords, I welcome the Government’s renewed focus on technical education, youth employment and regional growth. Vocational and technical education can be one of the strongest levers for social mobility, but only where it is genuinely accessible to those who face the greatest barriers. On numerous occasions over the past 30 years of ministry, I have seen young people thrive and flourish into work due to the investment of colleges and businesses working together to enable this to happen. Although there have been many reasons to be encouraged during my tenure so far in Coventry, it was deeply discouraging to learn of this year’s 9% GCSE attainment gap between London and my region, the West Midlands. If we are serious about opportunity in our nation, we must ensure that high-quality technical pathways are available to all young people wherever they live and not only in areas that already benefit from stronger educational outcomes. I believe that we cannot develop high-level apprenticeships at the expense of levels 2 to 4. These entry-level routes are often the vital first step towards skilled employment and further progression. Apprenticeships must be accessible to the third of over-16s without a grade 4 in English and maths. Too often, these young people become stuck in a repeating cycle of resits, without means of professional development. Apprenticeships must both remain open to those without GCSE qualifications and provide flexible opportunities to develop literacy and numeracy while employed. This is particularly important for SEND learners, as we have heard, for whom repeated GCSE resits can become a source of frustration and disengagement, despite strong vocational talents. Fewer than 27% of adults with learning disabilities are in paid employment, but Mencap’s research shows that 86% of unemployed people with a learning disability desperately want to work, with all the rights, responsibilities and dignity that this brings. Apprenticeships can also provide an invaluable route into work for those for whom English is not their first language, and whose education may have been disrupted by migration, displacement or family trauma. We must recognise potential wherever it is found, rather than excluding people because they did not reach a particular academic threshold at 16. Without flexible vocational pathways, capable young people, as we have heard, risk leaving education altogether and becoming NEET. The economic costs of this are significant but so too are the social and personal consequences, and I note especially the mental ill-health crisis prevalent in this generation. Locally, I have been encouraged by the work of Moreton Morrell College in Warwickshire. For example, its levels 2 to 4 floristry course provides a valuable vocational pathway for young people, and I have seen how their work has enriched churches and communities in my diocese. Importantly, it also provides pathways into careers in farming and agriculture, a vital component of the rural economy. People flourish best when they can develop their skills holistically while contributing to the common life. This is a vital, dignifying, individual and social good.