My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Garden, and my noble friend Lord Lucas for tabling these amendments relating to certification. While I appreciate the intention behind the proposed changes I hope that after I have outlined my concerns, they will withdraw or not press these amendments.
The primary purpose of a technical education certificate is to enable individuals to demonstrate to employers that they have obtained the knowledge, skills and behaviours necessary to undertake their chosen occupation. Those completing either an apprenticeship or a technical education course will receive a nationally awarded certificate from the Secretary of State. This will confirm that they have attained as many of the key skills and behaviours as the institute has deemed appropriate for a particular occupation. To answer the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Young of Norwood Green, the Secretary of State will issue the certificate but it will be branded by the institute. For a technical education certificate, this is likely to include confirmation of maths and English qualifications, successful completion of a work placement and other route-specific qualifications. This will provide clarity for employers and support the portability and progression value of the qualifications.
The organisation or consortium of organisations which the institute has approved to deliver the technical education qualification will, however, be entitled to issue its own certificate for that qualification. It is therefore right that responsibility for issuing technical education certificates should be retained by the Secretary of State. This will also ensure that certificates for technical education align as closely as possible with certificates for apprenticeships.
Amendment 31 would allow this function to be delegated to individual awarding organisations. To do so could lead to unequal status or recognition of the value of certificates. It is also right that the Secretary of State should be able to determine whether to charge for the initial technical education certificate or further copies and, if so, how much to charge. Likewise, it will be up to the organisation to decide whether and how much to charge for issuing a certificate confirming that an individual has successfully completed their qualification. I will come on to questions when I have finished speaking to Amendment 32.
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Amendment 32 would entitle those who successfully complete a technical education certificate to add letters or words after their name, in a similar way to those holding a degree level of certain professional qualifications. In academic education, the use of letters after the name signifies achievement at degree level or above. Also, certain industries use post-nominal letters to indicate an individual’s professional membership or accreditation.
The technical education certificate is not in itself a qualification or accreditation. Its purpose is to capture an individual’s attainment and experience in the round, and it will enable the individual to provide a signal to employers of what they can do. To receive such a certificate, the individual will be required to pass a technical education qualification, for which they will also receive a certificate from the relevant awarding organisation. Some students may pass their technical education qualification but be unable to complete all the components of the course, and therefore will not be issued with a technical education certificate.
The reforms to technical education are intended to simplify the system, making it easier for young people and adults to navigate and for employers to understand the skills that individuals have gained. Most importantly, the certificate shows that a person has completed a course of technical education in alignment with the same standard as a person who has undertaken an apprenticeship in the same occupation. There is already a large variety of post-nominal initials or titles used to indicate that an individual holds a particular position, qualification or accreditation. If the Government were to introduce further post-nominal initials for those who hold a technical education certificate, we risk confusing employers and individuals. For the reasons above, we believe that the certificate will speak for itself. The reforms will ensure that we operate a system for the future, providing a national offer recognised and understood by employers, regardless of the qualification or where it was undertaken.
I will quickly refer to specific questions asked by noble Lords. First, the noble Baroness, Lady Garden, asked about apprenticeship skills. The Skills Funding Agency will print the certificates. The information for certificates to be sent out is contained in the individualised learner record. The Skills Funding Agency will not award a certificate without confirmation from the awarding organisation that the apprentice has passed the end-point assessment. Also on Amendment 31, the noble Baroness, Lady Cohen, asked whether it would be beneficial to add the word “professional”. I absolutely understand where she is coming from, and I am assured that we will reflect on that between now and Report. It is important that in changing the system, we recognise that these qualifications are meaningful and important. They will give people a status that gives them confidence when they enter the world of work, which we have been very poor at hitherto.
On Amendment 32, my noble friend Lord Lucas asked how data on apprentices could be used. The Skills Funding Agency will keep data on who has completed the apprenticeships as part of the certification process. It will be able to share these with the institute.
In conclusion, I absolutely understand where the noble Baroness, Lady Donaghy, is coming from, too. Of course there are lessons to be learned from the past and, to the best of our ability, we must ensure that we encourage the institute not to make the same mistakes again and look to a brighter future. On that basis, I hope that the noble Baroness will feel able to withdraw the amendment.