Today’s Education in the Media blog looks at the Education Secretary’s interview on apprenticeships and the Universities Minister’s article on disabled students.
Fire It Up
Following yesterday’s launch of the Fire It Up apprenticeships campaign, the Daily Mail has today published an exclusive interview with the Education Secretary Damian Hinds.
In the interview, the Education Secretary talks about how apprenticeships are providing young people with a fulfilling and exciting alternative route to traditional academic degree courses at universities. The opportunity to get workplace experience, and earn while you learn means apprenticeships can be an attractive option for both employers and young people.
The Education Secretary also mentioned in the interview that his father started out as an apprentice pharmacist, before working his way up to senior management level – a glowing example of how starting a job early through an apprenticeship can offer the chance for people to work their way up the ladder of an industry from an early age.
Disabled Students
Today, Friday 18 January, the Guardian ran an op-ed by the Universities Minister Chris Skidmore, who wrote about his ambition for disabled students to receive more support at university.
This piece comes after the Higher Education Statistics Agency published research into student enrolment figures, which shows that 26,100 more new students with a disability with a disability at English universities in 2017/18 than in 2013/14.
Alongside this research, we have also published an evaluation of the Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA). This research found that 81% of students were satisfied with the DSA’s assessment, and 69% of recipients felt confident about completing their course.
Despite this, Minister Skidmore acknowledges that there is still work to be done, and has urged universities to lead the way with enhanced support services and facilities to help disabled students to thrive in higher education.
Follow us on Twitter and don't forget to sign up for email alerts.