Stop making fun of kids who don’t want to go to college: learning a trade is just as good, if not better, and provides better access to the job market.

TODAY students across the country will collect their GCSE results.

They have put in years of hard work and it is time for us to celebrate their incredible success.

4

4

I am very proud of what they have accomplished. And I want to thank our wonderful teachers for everything they have done.

But our young people have had to fight against adversity every day to get to this point.

They faced a pandemic that locked them in their homes. They became guinea pigs on Zoom, forced to learn alone in their bedrooms, to the sound of a voice on a screen.

Rishi Sunak then told them his government had “maxed out” on catch-up aid.

When schools reopened, they returned to classrooms in ruins, due to a Tory-induced RAAC concrete crisis, and faced more disruption from strikes that could have been avoided if Tory ministers had behaved like adults.

Made fun of

Now I want to make sure that every one of our young people has the opportunities they need to succeed.

My message is this: if you want to follow the academic path and go to university, great, we will help you get there, no matter where you come from.

But that’s not the only way to succeed. There are many other paths to success, such as apprenticeships and other technical training. This country has ignored those paths for far too long.

They were mocked as options for other people’s children, as if they weren’t as interesting as college.

I know, and Sun readers know, that this is rubbish. Let’s get one thing straight. This country needs graduates.

But for Britain to move forward again, we also need skilled technicians: bricklayers, electricians, computer engineers, plumbers, builders, carpenters, mechanics, welders, roofers.

These are interesting, well-paid jobs that help people succeed in life and drive economic growth in the UK.

But too few young people are choosing these careers, which is holding Britain back.

I was really pleased to see that The Sun launched its Build Better Britain campaign last year to bring these issues to the forefront.

We need skilled workers in the construction sector more than ever and this government is committed to working with the sector to train them.

4

4

It’s time to take skills seriously again. That’s how we’ll restore hope and opportunity to this country. That’s how we’ll rebuild the belief that if you work hard, you can earn a decent wage, buy a nice home, and raise a family.

I want to open an era of opportunity in this country, and that means ensuring a new era of vocational training for our young people.

We will achieve this by revising school curricula and closing skills gaps so that children have a better choice of career paths.

And we will simplify taxes for employers who fund apprenticeship training to open pathways for young people to good, skilled jobs.

Major disruption

Alongside the Prime Minister, last month I launched Skills England, a new body that brings together businesses, universities and mayors to deliver new ways for young people to gain skills and succeed.

Because of the conservatives, the foundations of opportunity are rotten to the core.

But I’m going to rebuild them. My mission is to break down the barriers that keep us from accessing opportunities and to spread success to every corner of the country.

Our young people who will be collecting their results tomorrow have had to fight against major disruptions to their learning to get to this point.

And now I’m going to fight for them.

I will fight to ensure that all our young people, regardless of their background, have the opportunities they need to succeed.