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Conservatives back Skills Scholarships for electronics apprentices
Shadow Innovation, Universities and Skill Secretary David Willetts promised 1,200 taxpayer-funded bursaries annually opening up a new vocational pathway to higher education to help more people from non-traditional backgrounds study at a higher level.
Many of those who benefit are likely to be in the STEM sector (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) providing a boost to the nation's science base and British industry.
Mr Willetts told the Conservative Party Conference today that the £20 million a year scheme would be paid out of the Business Skills Development Fund announced in July as part of the Tories' proposed overhaul of apprenticeships and training.
He said: "Many young people find themselves and discover their self confidence when they master a skill. But they should be able to go on studying afterwards when they might gain even more.
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"If you start as an apprentice phone engineer and show a real aptitude for the academic side too, surely you should have the chance to go on and study electrical engineering at university?
"And, if we want vocational skills to gain the respect they deserve, then people need to know that provide a ladder of opportunity and not a glass ceiling.
"That's why, for the first time, we are going to introduce proper support for apprentices who wish to study at a higher level.
"I can announce that we are committing to 1,200 new Skills Scholarships for apprentices who want to study at university. Let me be clear: while they are studying part-time and working part-time, they will all their tuition costs covered.
"This will create a robust, accessible vocational pathway to higher learning for the first time. BY the end of a Parliament, more than 5,000 people will have benefited. That represents a fivefold increase in the number of apprentices studying at university. Spreading opportunity, widening access. Changing lives by changing life chances."
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