Miliband to focus on 'forgotten 50%'
Ed Miliband has used his keynote conference speech today to unveil education and apprenticeship reforms aimed at helping the “forgotten 50 per cent” of British youngsters who do not go to university.
Among the key changes is a requirement that all pupils and students study English and Maths to the age of 18 even if they are on a vocational course, and skills funding to businesses worth £1bn to improve standards of apprenticeships and training.
Former Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said youth unemployment was providing a “real sense of urgency” for the Labour party to overhaul vocational qualifications.
“There’s a real sense of urgency at the moment, and the urgency comes from the fact that we have a crisis of youth unemployment," he told the Today programme.
The author of the Government's review of vocational education, Professor Alison Wolf, welcomed what she called "the emerging consensus" on studying English and Maths.
For the latest updates on the conference see
Central Lobby.