Will the UK ‘overtake Germany’ for technical education in a decade?

Analysis: Eleanor Busby looks at whether Gavin Williamson’s pledge to boost further education is realistic

The government wants to offer young people an attractive, vocational alternative to universities (Getty)

The education secretary has set out his ambitious goal to beat Germany in technical education provision in just 10 years. Gavin Williamson insists his aim is “credible” but it is likely to that significant reform will be needed to match Germany – where many youngsters jump at the chance to enter vocational routes.

The pledge of £120m extra funding to create 20 “institutes of technology” in England is welcome – especially on top of the recent £400m funding boost for colleges.

Mr Williamson hopes the institutes, which will offer technical qualifications, will provide more skilled workers to employers and will help end the image of FE as the sector’s poor relation.

But education unions and organisations representing FE have warned that it will be difficult to keep up with Germany, let alone beat them, unless funding already lost to the sector is replaced.

A recent report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) concluded that the £400m pledge would not be enough to reverse the cuts felt by the sector.

Sixth forms have faced budget cuts of 23 per cent since 2010-2011 and spending for colleges have declined by 12 per cent over the same period, the leading economic think tank found.

A decade is a long time away so there is still time for the government to pump more cash into the sector, but funding is not the only obstacle that MPs face in their efforts to boost technical routes.

The government wants to offer young people an attractive, vocational alternative to universities. But for decades, schools and institutions have been pushing degrees as the pathway to success.

Just last week, figures showed that more than 50 per cent of young people in England are going to university 20 years after Tony Blair’s Labour Party set the target as policy.

So it will take a lot of work to suddenly persuade younger generations that higher education is not necessary for everyone and there are other, less established, routes available.

It may also be difficult to get politicians onside as they are likely to have reaped the benefits of university themselves. And they may be wary of pushing these alternatives to their own children. Meanwhile, parents have been accused of being “snobbish” towards technical education.

It took Labour two decades to achieve their aim of most young people attending university – so with the funding issues facing the FE sector, and engrained beliefs that academic routes are better, it seems unlikely that the UK will be leaders in technical education by 2029.