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UK Parliament

Lords to report on state of Higher Education in STEM subjects

18 July 2012

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The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee will launch its report on Higher Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) next week with a press briefing at the Science Media Centre.

The Committee have been considering STEM provision in higher education since October 2011. The report assesses whether higher education in the UK is well placed to provide the skilled graduates necessary to facilitate the delivery of the Government’s aspirations contained in their Plan for Growth.

The Committee have heard evidence from a broad range of witnesses from academia, industry and the Government, and make a number of important recommendations to ensure higher education in STEM subjects is able to meet the ambitions being placed on it.

Areas the Committee have considered include:

  • An assessment of the preparedness of school leavers to study STEM at university concentrating on numeracy and maths.
  • How can industry and academia work more closely together to ensure STEM graduates and postgraduates have the appropriate skills to take into the workplace?
  • Is the UK producing enough high-quality STEM graduates and postgraduates to satisfy the demand from employers?
  • How are the recent higher education reforms impacting on higher education STEM provision?
  • What is the effect of the Government’s changes to immigration rules on the supply of STEM students from overseas?

The report will be embargoed until 00:01 on Tuesday 24 July. The Committee will hold a press briefing under embargo from 10:30am on Monday 23 July at the Science Media Centre.