Ed Balls and John Denham today published the Education and Skills Bill and outlined their plans to boost the skills and education of young people and adults.

The Bill will raise the education and training leaving age to 18 by 2015 as well as strengthening the provision and support available to young people and adults to meet the ambition set out in the Leitch Review of achieving world class skills by 2020.

Independently verified research also published today estimates the economic benefits of raising the participation age to be around £2.4bn per year group over the course of their lifetime. This is because staying on longer improves the skills and employability of young people and raises their earning potential. There are clear benefits of higher skill levels to the economy and to society.

The Bill not only legislates for raising the participation age but also paves the way to making sure young people are fully supported in staying on. This includes the transfer to local authorities of the responsibility for delivering Connexions services, strengthening careers education in schools and changes to transport provision. Local authorities will be required to promote young people’s participation and to support them to find appropriate education and training opportunities.

These are followed by major strides in improving adult skills to make sure that adults have a right to basic and intermediate skills development, enabling them to gain the skills they need to thrive in society and throughout their working lives.

The Bill also streamlines the monitoring and regulation of independent and non-maintained special schools.

Key aspects of the Bill include:

• Raising the education or training leaving age to 17 by 2013 and to 18 by 2015 – ensuring that every young person is in some form of recognised education or training until they are 18. No young person will be forced to stay at school, there will be a range of opportunities including new Diplomas, part-time training alongside employment, work based learning and apprenticeships.
• Adult skills – giving adults a right to basic and intermediate skills and enabling the benefits of adult skills to be measured. The Learning and Skills Council will have a duty to ensure the proper provision of free courses for basic literacy and numeracy programmes and courses leading to a first full level 2 qualification. It also means that 19-25 year olds who are undertaking their first full level 3 qualification do not have to pay tuition fees. The Bill also gives the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority additional powers, to enable it to recognise and accredit awarding bodies, thereby reducing bureaucracy and increasing the transparency of the accreditation process.
• Information, Advice and Guidance – local authorities will be required to have regard to the Quality Standards for Information, Advice and Guidance, which were published at the end of October. There will also be a duty on schools to provide impartial careers education to help pupils to make the most appropriate future learning and career choices.
• Transport – changes in the Bill mean that local authorities will have to ensure that when they provide transport to schools they not only take into account distance, but also time. Currently some pupils complain they have to take very long bus rides when the journey could be done much quicker by train. This is designed to support participation.
• Flexibility and accountability for independent schools – independent schools will no longer have to consult the Secretary of State on minor changes, nor will they have to apply separately to be an approved SEN school. Independent schools will now be overseen by Ofsted rather than directly by the Secretary of State.

John Denham, Secretary of State for Universities, Innovation and Skills, said:

“Improving access to adult learning will help drive Britain’s economy forward to compete in an increasingly competitive world. Our reforms will give adults and young people the right to access the basic skills training they need to improve their life chances whether by getting into work or moving to a better job. These reforms are fundamental to creating a stronger and more prosperous society where all citizens will have the right and opportunity to rise as far as their talents will take them.”

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