Vocational training investment to boost UK economy

Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced that vocational and technical education in England will receive an extra £500 million per year in a bid to train more skilled workers and boost the economy.

The funding, set to be explained fully in the Budget, will increase the amount of training for 16 to 19-year-olds' by 50 per cent, to 900 hours a year.

The funding will be used to replace thousands of qualifications with 15 ’T-Level’ training routes specific to different industries, from finance and accounting to engineering and manufacturing. It is hoped the move will address weaknesses in the UK's productivity levels, and so improve living standards.

Commenting on the Andrew Marr Show, Hammond explained: "What we need to do in this country that others - the US, Germany - have done years ago, is create a technical route which is as rigorous, as clear in the qualifications that are achieved and as well understood by young people and employers as the academic route is."

"Targeted investment of this type makes economic sense - our international competitors recognised long ago that investing in technical education is essential to enhancing national productivity.

"But it is also essential if we are to equip people with the knowledge and skills they need to obtain rewarding and skilled employment in the future."