I asked the Education Minister when she knew about the delays to BTEC results this year and why she didn’t insist on the number of students affected being made public.

It’s odd that she can’t remember when she was told, unless it was before results day and she didn’t even attempt to answer the second part of my question.

Mr Speaker: Shadow Minister, Toby Perkins.

Toby Perkins: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. The most popular, high quality vocational qualification, currently offered at level 3 are BTECs. Now, last week the Education Select Committee heard evidence about the 6,500 level 3 students, 7,500 level 2 students, whose results were delayed this year. The Rt. Hon gentleman from Harlow was rightly critical of the failure to reveal the number of students affected at the time, and all the uncertainty that caused, so, can the Minister tell us, when did she first know how many had not received their results and why did she not insist that that number was made public?

Mr Speaker: Minister

Minister: I thank the Hon. gentleman for his question. As the Hon. gentleman knows, I am a strong proponent of BTECs, having been a BTEC girl myself. The department did inform us, and we acted on it straight away. I will have to get back to you with the exact date, get back to the Hon. gentleman with the exact date, I will get back to you. But if we look at the whole landscape, I ensure him that its simplified and most importantly that those courses lead to good outcomes for students ensuring that people have a bright future.