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Further Education and Schools: Basic Skills

Asked by Mr Lee DillonLiberal DemocratDepartment for EducationTabled Answered 10 February 2026UIN 105518

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to increases levels of emphasis on the development of essential life skills in schools and colleges.

Answered by Georgia Gould

A reformed national curriculum will provide pupils with a broad range of knowledge and skills that prepares them for adult life.

The department will prepare young people for life and careers in a changing world, embedding vital applied knowledge skills in financial, media and digital literacy in the revised curriculum, improving climate and sustainability education.

We will make citizenship compulsory in key stages 1 and 2 and will explore a new level 3 qualification in data science and artificial intelligence.

We are also setting out a new enrichment framework for every pupil, which will help them play, explore, create, and develop wider life skills.

We will develop ‘V Levels’ as the pathway of vocational qualifications at level 3 for young people. These will be linked to occupational standards.

This will be complemented by sharing best practice between 16-19 providers to ensure students develop the important applied knowledge and transferable skills for adulthood.

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