So last week there were a couple of events that referred to STEM. The first was on 29th April and it was a theme of Topical Questions and a number of events took place and Andrew Lewer who is a Conservative MP for Northampton asked a question and Luke Hall who is a Minister responded and he mentioned STEM. The following day in House of Lord a session Higher Education: Arts and Humanities and Diana Warwick who is Labour asked a question and the Government member Diana Barran responded and mentioned STEM. So here are the comments.

Andrew Lewer: What steps is the Department taking to make apprenticeships in building trades more attractive to young people, and especially to women and girls?

Luke Hall: I thank my hon. Friend for his question, and for all of his work on this area. I know that he has been integral to the “I am a Housebuilder” campaign to encourage more women into the building sector. Our apprenticeship diversity champions network is supporting gender representation among employers, and it is good news that STEM starts continue to increase year on year—up 7.5% in the last year—but there is more to do, and I look forward to working closely with him on the issue.

Diana Warwick: My Lords, the cap on student fees has meant that funding for students is at its lowest level in over 25 years. There is a £1 billion hole in domestic teaching funding, which will inevitably mean some very difficult decisions, as my noble friend indicated. Does the Minister agree that arts and humanities graduates have the creative and critical thinking essential for problem solving, which will be crucial to support businesses to get the most out of AI tools?

Diana Barran: As the noble Baroness knows, the Government strive to create a sustainable student finance system that both remains responsive to the needs of the wider economy and of the labour market, which she referred to, and is fair to students and taxpayers. As she remarked, those with creative and critical-thinking skills in relation to AI are of course important, but so are students with STEM skills.