Ofsted boss calls on academy chains to open technical schools to tackle skills shortages

OFSTED'S CHIEF inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw has called on the Government to insist big academy chains open their own technical schools to help solve the country's skills crisis.
Sir Michael Wilshaw.Sir Michael Wilshaw.
Sir Michael Wilshaw.

He also warned that the education system was still failing deprived pupils with the gap in exam results between the poorest students and their peers as large as it was ten years ago.

Sir Michael said the “continuing refusal” of the system to develop a strong route into apprenticeships was one of the ways in which poorer pupils were being let down.

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He said: “The poor have as much right to – and capacity to appreciate – the works of Shakespeare and Newton and Austen and Macaulay as their better-off peers.

“This I do not dispute. But what about those youngsters who would benefit from a technical education?

“What about those employers who, year after year, say that school leavers are not equipped with the technical skills that they are crying out for?”

He highlighted figures which showed there are more than 200,000 vacancies because of skills shortages - up 43 per cent on 2013. Sir Michael added: “I have taught in disadvantaged communities for most of my professional life. And I can tell you that there will always be some children who will respond better to a technical curriculum than others.”

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He suggested that all major academy trusts should have to open a university technical college (UTC). UTCs are a new type of school, for 14 to 19-year-olds, which provide a technical qualification alongside academic subjects. There are currently two UTCs in the Yorkshire region and another four in the pipeline. Sir Michael suggested more were needed nationally.

He said: “We should have a curriculum that not only has a strong core but is flexible enough to meet the needs of those youngsters who want a technical pathway.

“The government should insist that every major multi-academy trust should have a UTC

“Every multi-academy trust should be inspected to ensure that the UTC does not become a dumping ground for the difficult or disaffected and that it delivers high quality pre-apprenticeship programmes to the age of 19.”