1 Introduction
We want young people leaving school today to see
engineering for the exciting, dynamic profession that it is, because
in many ways, engineers are the real revolutionaries, the ones
who take society forward, who create the technologies and the
structures which carry us into new worlds.[1]
Rt Hon David Cameron MP, Prime Minister, November
2011
1. The UK has a long tradition of producing engineers
that change the world, from the civil engineers that facilitated
the Industrial Revolution, to the electronic engineers that make
today's digital world possible and the biomedical engineers pioneering
tomorrow's life-saving technologies. The impact of engineering
on our society is difficult to overstate. Successive Governments
have recognised the importance of engineering in their rhetoric,
focusing on the role of engineering and manufacturing in economic
growth.[2] This report
examines whether the Prime Minister's words match up to his Government's
actions.
2. Select Committee inquiries in this Parliament
and the last have been held on engineering. The Innovation, Universities,
Science and Skills (IUSS) Committee published its Report on Engineering:
turning ideas into reality[3]
in 2009, and produced Putting Science and Engineering at the
Heart of Government Policy the same year.[4]
Both inquiries made recommendations to strengthen Government policy
on engineering and the use of engineering in policy processes.
In April 2012, this Committee published a short Report on Engineering
in Government: follow-up to the 2009 report Engineering: Turning
ideas into reality which found that much had improved in the
relationship between engineering and Government, but warned that
there was no room for complacency.[5]
But little select committee consideration has been given specifically
to engineering education; the system through which our tradition
of producing excellent engineers can be continued. Therefore,
we agreed in June 2012 to conduct an inquiry into engineering
education and skills. We invited written submissions from the
public on the following questions:
a) Does the current engineering skills base meet
the needs of employers? Do employers in the engineering sector
prefer an academic or a vocational profile?
b) What impact will recent changes relating to
engineering qualifications in England have on the uptake of technical
subjects and the skills base needed by the engineering sector?
c) How do the approaches taken by the Devolved
Administrations to produce a technically skilled workforce differ
from the current approach in England? What are the strengths/weakness
of the different approaches?
d) Could the Government and others do more to
raise the status of technical subjects?
e) What more should be done to attract and retain
a more diverse technically skilled workforce?[6]
3. We received 32 written submissions to this
inquiry and took oral evidence from six panels of witnesses, including:
- Engineering employers;
- Young people who had recently experienced engineering
education;
- Teachers and representatives of educational establishments;
- Professional engineering bodies; and
- The Government, including the Department for
Education's Chief Scientific Adviser and two responsible Ministers
(Elizabeth Truss MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Education
and Childcare) and Matthew Hancock MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary
of State (Skills), Department for Education and Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills).[7]
4. We would like to thank those who provided
written and oral evidence to this inquiry, with particular thanks
to the JCB Academy for hosting the Chair's visit in November 2012.
5. At age 14, students reach an important milestone
in education where they are asked to make subject choices influencing
the career path they will follow. When announcing the inquiry
we noted three key developments of interest in England: (i) the
introduction of the English Baccalaureate as a performance measure
in 2010; (ii) the introduction of University Technical Colleges;
and (iii) reforms to vocational qualifications, particularly affecting
the engineering Diploma.[8]
Our Report therefore addresses these three developments. We note
that the impact of reforms to higher education on STEM subjects
and apprenticeships have been the subject of other recent Parliamentary
inquiries.[9]
6. Chapter 2 of this Report outlines the engineering
skills gap and the UK's need for skilled engineers. Chapter 3
examines engineering education and choices at the critical period
between 14 and 19 years. Chapter 4 examines how to encourage young
people towards study and careers in engineering. Chapter 5 explores
evidence and decision-making in the Department for Education and
in Chapter 5 we set out some final conclusions.
1 "Prime Minister's speech to launch Queen's Engineering
Prize", Number 10, www.number10.gov.uk Back
2
For example, "Oral statement: Manufacturing and Growth",
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, www.gov.uk, July
2011; and "£70 million boost for manufacturing",
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, www.epsrc.ac.uk,
January 2010 Back
3
Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee, Fourth
Report of Session 2008-09, Engineering: Turning ideas into
reality, HC 50-I Back
4
Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee, Eighth
Report of Session 2008-09, Putting Science and Engineering
at the Heart of Government Policy, HC 168-I Back
5
Science and Technology Committee, Fifteenth Report of Session
2010-12, Engineering in Government: follow-up to the 2009 report
Engineering: Turning ideas into reality, HC 1667 Back
6
"Committee announce new inquiry into Engineering Skills",
Science and Technology Committee, www.parliament.uk Back
7
A full list of witnesses is provided at the back of this Report. Back
8
"Committee announce new inquiry into Engineering Skills",
Science and Technology Committee, www.parliament.uk Back
9
House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, Second Report
of Session 2012-13, Higher Education in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, HL 37; Business,
Innovation and Skills Committee, Fifth Report of Session 2012-13,
Apprenticeships, HC 83-I Back
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