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Introduce a requirement for 40 hours of by students of all backgrounds Increase and diversify Official
subject-specific continuing professional through commissioning a longitudinal Development Assistance (ODA)
development (CPD) every year for cohort study of young people, tracking allocation to engineering and
teachers of mathematics, science, their outcomes. technology to capitalise on its potential
design and technology, and computing, Why? Just 33 per cent of young people to address all sustainable development
with ring-fenced funding. aged 11 to 14 reported taking part goals in the UK and globally.
Why? Subject-specific CPD keeps in a STEM careers activity in the last Why? Most ODA investment in
teachers updated in developments year, although over 600 organisations engineering and technology has
in their subjects and career options, operate in engineering engagement. focused on infrastructure delivery and,
yet one in three STEM teachers in Evidence-based insight into effective more recently, research. These must be
secondary schools say they knew outreach is needed to enable schools complemented by support in education,
‘a little’ or ‘almost nothing’ about and the profession to use their skills and locally driven innovation to
engineering or nearly two in five lacked resources most efficiently. realise the potential benefit.
confidence in giving advice about
engineering careers. Innovation Publish a roadmap to 2.4 per cent,
Increase Innovate UK’s budget including public spending up to 2027,
Give employers greater flexibility on 2 to boost support for business demonstrating the government’s
spending in the Apprenticeship Levy to innovation and the ‘D’ of R&D to commitment to its target and providing
include funds to support other forms of increase productivity. certainty to businesses.
high-quality training provision. Why? Current R&D investment in the
Why? While the engineering Increase Innovate UK’s budget UK is approximately 1.7 per cent of GDP,
community is supportive of the levy to help address the UK’s historic below the OECD average of 2.4 per cent.
and recent softening of rules, a survey under-investment in innovation
of business leaders revealed that four in and the ‘D’ of R&D. Deliver measures that encourage
10 employers believe that apprentices Why? Recent investment through investment in R&D by businesses in the
are not the most appropriate use of the Industrial Strategy Challenge UK and from abroad to help companies
their training budget, with evidence Fund (ISCF) is an important step take their innovation to market
that only eight per cent of first-year levy in readdressing the balance but Why? Companies make global
contributions are spent. only six per cent of Innovate UK’s decisions about where to invest in
2017/18 budget is allocated to Open R&D. Businesses find UK tax incentives
Invest in understanding what works programmes, limiting their ability to for R&D internationally competitive,
in interventions that promote the rapidly respond to business needs in but support for late-stage R&D is poor
uptake of engineering education any area of the economy. compared to competitor countries.

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