Speaking in reaction to Chancellor Gordon Brown’s tenth Pre-Budget Report, Edexcel’s Managing Director, Jerry Jarvis, said:

“We warmly welcome the Chancellor’s statement that ‘the single most important investment [we can make] is education’ and in particular, the Government’s commitment to skills and apprenticeships. It has the potential to boost both provision and attainment in skills, it reinforces the importance of vocational learning at all levels and it sees qualifications as playing a key role in helping up-skill the country. Edexcel has a long history of working with employer organisations, professional bodies and sector groups and standard-setting bodies to develop quality learning provision.

“Investment in learning in schools and colleges is crucial.  Great strides are being made in the way modern technology is revolutionising the teaching, learning and assessment process, but in order for all students across all areas of the country to benefit from these advances, it is vital that their education is fit for purpose for the 21st century.

“Finally, we welcome the Government’s commitment to raising reading attainment in young people.  Earlier this year, Pearson, Edexcel’s parent company, launched ‘Booktime’, an initiative in partnership with the charity Booktrust which has already provided over 250,000 children in around 7,500 UK schools with a free, illustrated book.”

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