London Higher’s CEO, Dr Diana Beech responds to the Prime Minister’s comments on education made at the Conservative Party Conference 2023:
“Rather than being used a political punchbag, the UK’s universities should be seen as national asset – providing the skills and talent to power our public services, boost British business and turbocharge UK innovation. Normally, world leaders are only too keen to extol the virtues of their world-leading institutions and industries, yet it is unfathomable why the UK Prime Minister is intent on talking down the very sector that can lift the nation up as we head into an uncertain future.
In London, the capital’s 50 universities and higher education colleges play a vital role in sustaining London’s highly-skilled economy and the national engine of jobs and growth. As well as maintaining the UK’s competitive edge by attracting talent and investment from across the globe, London’s universities boast a remarkable record for taking in people from the most disadvantaged parts of our society and improving their life chances through high-quality educational opportunities and progression into valuable careers.
Talking down the benefits of higher education for political point-scoring risks dampening the dreams of future generations and will only lessen the pool of talent that our schools, hospitals and businesses need.”
London Higher’s Head of AccessHE, Dr Richard Boffey adds:
“The newly-announced, baccalaureate-style Advanced British Standard (ABS) is on the face of it a sensible means of ensuring 16-19 study is both rigorous and broad. But the proposals are very light on detail at this stage and, crucially, lack a credible plan for recruiting sufficient teachers.
In London, there is already a worrying shortage of specialist teachers in core ABS subject areas and the situation has not been helped by the Government’s puzzling decision not to renew Initial Teacher Training (ITT) accreditation for several of the capital’s universities despite their proven track record and positive Ofsted ratings.
For the ABS to stand any chance of being deliverable in practice, the Government must urgently review its ITT decisions and allow London’s universities to play the role they could, and should, in training the teacher workforce of the future.”
