Institution responds to plans to upgrade status of technical courses

The Institution's Peter Finegold welcomes plans for technical courses for 16-19 year olds to have the same status as A-levels but says more needs to be done to encourage students at an earlier age.

Peter Finegold, Head of Education at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers said in response to plans for technical courses for 16-19 year olds to have the same status as A-levels:

“This is very welcome news which will hopefully boost the number of students taking up engineering apprenticeships. Well-designed apprenticeships, developed with the collaboration of industry, are vital to ensuring the UK has the right skills to support the country’s engineering and manufacturing industries.

“Current forecasts suggest that the UK needs to double the number of people taking up engineering careers by 2020 in order to avoid a severe skills shortage. Many industry leaders started their working lives as skilled apprentices and we would expect Tech-levels to produce many of tomorrow’s successful business leaders.

“But while this is a welcome step, much more needs to be done to encourage students at an earlier age. Every young person needs face-to-face sustained careers support from professionals who understand the breadth of opportunities in engineering and technology. This means that there needs to be much closer links between schools and colleges and industry – in particular local employers.”