Liam Byrne MP, the Shadow Minister for Universities, Science and Skills, has this week announced plans to build a new vocational route through Technical Degrees.

In a Parliamentary debate called by Labour to discuss the issue of vocational education, Mr. Byrne set-out the importance of a clear vocational route to degree-level skills: “Training up to degree-level skills unlocks a life in which people can earn over £100,000 more over the course of their career than if they had only two A-levels. If we want to transform life chances for everyone in our constituencies, we need to build a better system”

Mr Byrne also revealed the crisis facing young people searching for an earn-while-you-learn route to a degree:
· It’s now twice as hard to enrol on an apprenticeship as it is to attend university
· Just 2% of apprentices get the chance to reach degree level-skills each year

Technical Degrees will be the pinnacle of a new gold-standard vocational route, ensuring young people with excellent vocational skills have the opportunity to progress to high-level training and further qualifications. They will build on Labour’s plans to introduce a new Technical Baccalaureate for 16-18 year olds and to radically improve the quality and quantity of apprenticeships by introducing new training standards.

The MP for Hodge Hill said: “The number of apprenticeship starts in Birmingham rose three-fold under the last Labour government. I’m proud that these opportunities continue to grow in my own constituency, despite a national decline in the number of apprenticeships for young people under this Government. But this is not enough. We need to fix the broken ladder into high-level skills, giving young school leavers a real choice when it comes to decisions about their future.

“By introducing technical degrees we will ensure that Birmingham and Britain succeed in the future with a high-skill, high-wage economy.”