Independent review
Completed
Perkins Review
Review of engineering skills examining the gap between supply and demand for engineers in the UK economy and recommending action to increase the number of engineering graduates, improve careers advice and strengthen engineering education.
Government Response
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills published 'Engineering skills: Perkins review progress report' on 3 November 2014, written in partnership with the engineering community. It set out progress on the review's recommendations, stating the Government had taken on many of the recommendations from the review, with action focused on improving employer engagement across the education system and sustaining work through the Engineering the Future consortium. Implementation included funding for engineering education announced by the Business Secretary.
Recommendations
Recommendation 1
Government should invite employers to put forward innovative proposals to develop engineering skills in sectors suffering acute skills shortages.
Recommendation 2
Government should support the Daphne Jackson Trust to extend and develop their fellowship model to support people returning to professional engineering after a career break.
Recommendation 3
The engineering community, including all the professional engineering institutions, should join in partnership with Tomorrow's Engineers, to agree effective core messages about engineering and cooperate to disseminate these messages to young people.
Recommendation 4
Government should provide seed funding to develop nationwide roll out of the Tomorrow's Engineers employer engagement programme and help schools and colleges connect with employers.
Recommendation 5
High profile campaign reaching out to young people, particularly girls aged 11-14 years, with inspirational messages about engineering and diverse role models, to inspire them to become "Tomorrow's Engineers". The engineering community should take this forward as an annual event.
Recommendation 6
Government should ensure that the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) and the Institute of Physics are fully engaged during consultation on revisions to A-level physics to ensure that the new A-levels will provide a sound foundation to progress to degree-level study in engineering.
Recommendation 7
Government should continue to support schools to increase progression to A-level physics, especially among female students.
Recommendation 8
Government should focus on teacher recruitment to shortage subjects and also promote physics with maths to schools involved in teacher training.
Recommendation 9
The engineering community should provide continuing professional development for teachers, giving them experience of working in industry to put their academic teaching in practical context and enabling them to inspire and inform their students about engineering.
Recommendation 10
The engineering community should work with the Government to develop and promote new Level 2 and 3 qualifications that will create high quality vocational routes for 16-19 year olds to enter engineering careers.
Recommendation 11
The engineering community should work with employers to encourage and support provision of work experience for post-16 students studying in colleges and schools.
Recommendation 12
The engineering community, especially employers, should work with Government to develop additional Trailblazer Apprenticeships in engineering.
Recommendation 13
Government should develop plans to boost diversity of engineering apprentices, building on the pilots and research commissioned by the Skills Funding Agency.
Recommendation 14
Government should build on the UTC experience and seek to develop elite vocational provision for adults so that people have the opportunity to learn the latest techniques and approaches while learning in a vocational setting.
Recommendation 15
Engineering employers should encourage their staff to share their skills and knowledge, for example by participating in the Education and Teaching Foundation's Teach Too scheme.
Recommendation 16
Government and the FE sector should encourage the application of learning technologies to extract maximum value from expert lecturers and the materials they produce, for example through Teach Too.
Recommendation 17
Government should review funding arrangements for engineering degree courses to ensure that it is financially sustainable for HE institutions to deliver high quality engineering programmes.
Recommendation 18
Government should ensure that the £200 million teaching capital fund encourages diversity by seeking evidence of commitment (e.g. through Athena SWAN registration) as a prerequisite for receiving funding.
Recommendation 19
HE institutions should work with Government and commercial banks to ensure their students are aware of Professional Career Development Loans.
Recommendation 20
The engineering community should develop concerted engagement with university students, including work placements to raise the profile of engineering careers and ensure that students on every campus are aware of the full range of diverse opportunities with engineering employers, large and small.
Recommendation 21
Engineering employers should explore the potential for developing cooperative cross-sector schemes to support postgraduate students.
Recommendation 22
Government, through EPSRC, should seek further evidence of unsatisfied demand for engineers trained to doctoral level, and review arrangements for the support of PhD students in the light of their findings.
No recommendations with this response.