“People go to university because they don’t know what else to do,” says the education minister.

Gillian Keegan: «If you talk to a Level 2 student who's been on the job… they'll talk to you much more confidently about the world of work. Photo: Julian Simmonds for The Telegraph

This is, as Gillian Keegan puts it, «the beaten path» for high school graduates. But the education minister is concerned that many teenagers are simply going to universities by default, guided by parents and teachers who are also less familiar with alternative paths.

“I think a lot of people go to universities. because they don't know what else to do,” says Mrs. Keegan.

The 55-year-old, who now oversees the nation's schools and universities, began working at the age of 16 as an apprentice at Delco Electronics, a subsidiary of General Motors, near the Catholic Comprehensive School she attended in Knowsley, Merseyside.

< p>Contemporaries who went to university and then joined the same firm “never caught up with me because I had years of relationships and business experience. I led teams before they even started.”

General Motors sponsored Mrs. Keegan to study business education at Liverpool John Moores University through an “apprenticeship” program.

“It was such a brilliant experience… if I translate it today, you will also skip the student debt. I just want as many people as possible to know about this, so that they know it's available and that they get these features because they're fantastic.»

Gillian Keegan in a photo with students of the London Film Academy in London. Photo: Julian Simmonds for The Telegraph

Mrs. Keegan sat comfortably in a chair in the spacious dressing room of the London Film Academy in north London on the day that hundreds of thousands of graduates from schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their A-level results, and a week before the publication of the GCSE results.

< p>On her first day of results as education secretary, Ms Keegan was criticized for resolving disputes over stricter estimates, saying that «in 10 years, no one will be looking» at this year's results. Instead, she says, companies «will look at what you've done since you've achieved in the workplace.»

Ms Keegan added: «I'm never asked about my results. ”.

The minister, who spent almost 30 years in manufacturing, banking and IT companies before becoming an MP in 2017, does not appear to be deterred by the backlash to her comments, with sources close to her suggesting that Labor's criticism of these remarks shows that the opposition has «no connection» with business.

«A complete success»

So, what were her test scores like?

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Ms. Keegan says her O-level scores were mostly Bs with a «pair of A's» and a «pair of A's», including in Chemistry, which “I didn't expect at all to get… revisit it.”

“At the time, Knowsley didn't have enough A-levels because not many kids got O-levels,” says Mrs. Keegan. «Actually, I got 10 O-levels, so I was like an overwhelming school success.»

Most students completed seven O-levels. The achievements of the future Cabinet Minister were partly the result of a generous financial incentive offered by her mother, who worked as a secretary.

“In an attempt to get me to work, my mother recklessly offered £10 a year. O-level and, yes, I got 10.

“In 1984, £100 was a fortune for her. She also promised to take me to the Blood Brothers. So she had to do both.”

Mrs Keegan's mother would have had to find another £10 for her daughter were it not for the 'huge scandal' in Knowsley when the school chaplain ran off with a religious education teacher — costing Mrs Keegan her 11th O-level.

Knowsley Comprehensive School was «definitely what you would call a failing school» and closed a few years after Mrs. Keegan's departure, but she remembers one teacher in particular, Mr. Ashcroft.

In addition to traditional options such as geography and history, boys were offered the opportunity to study at O-levels in metalworking, engineering, technical drawing or carpentry, while girls could choose separate exams such as home economics and sewing.

«I didn't want to do it, I wanted to do boys,» she said. «My mom came up to the school and said it wasn't fair.» As these subjects overlapped with the girls' PE class, Mr. Ashcroft stayed after school to give lessons at 5:30 pm to the then Miss Gibson and another girl.

Just as Ms. Keegan was then advised to start apprenticeship after her O-levels, she now sees her mission as educating young people that there is a wide range of job entry options beyond more traditional paths, including through T-levels and diplomas from schools like London Screen Academy.

“This school is a great example – there are people out there who do…camera lighting, film production, and now they have options about entering the world of work, moving up to a higher apprenticeship level, or going to university.”

She added: «If you're talking to a Level 2 student who's been in the workplace, it's like going through a sliding door — they'll be much more confident talking to you about the world of work.»

Opinion parents. and teachers

To what extent should parents and teachers move away from the notion of A-levels and university as the preferred option for most young people?

«Well, it's not just parents, but I think the whole system understands this way . This is the beaten track. The paths we had before, the paths of apprenticeship, have faded into the background a bit, so under this government we've really focused on restoring the apprenticeship system.»

Last month, The Telegraph reported. that thousands of middle-class British students have found themselves being missed out by foreign applicants for places at the nation's top universities as the country's most selective institutions have increased the proportion of international students who pay much higher fees to keep funding levels up.

< But Ms Keegan dismisses the concerns, insisting that international students are a "very important sector for us." At Russell Group universities, the proportions are "about 75% local [students] and 25% international".

«If it were different proportions, then yes [I would be concerned].»

However, she added: «I think we have about the right balance.»

Mrs. Keegan has found herself in a quandary with some colleagues because of her department's stance on long-awaited recommendations for schools on transgender issues. The Department of Education has been accused of being too close to Stonewall, a charity that says all schools, including single-sex institutions, «have a responsibility to support transgender children or young people in transition.»

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Rishi Sunak is currently shaping the government's approach to the issue after a scandal surrounding the draft guidelines delayed its scheduled publication until the summer.

In June, Ms Keegan suggested that the government would allow «social transition” in schools is the process by which transgender children adopt a name and pronouns appropriate to their new gender identity.

Gillian Keegan CV

It was widely believed at the time that she was simply speaking on behalf of the government. But opinions differ on the leadership, and after Ms Keegan's remarks, a source in Whitehall said: “DOE staff have attended too many Stonewall meetings and feel the social transition is acceptable. This is wrong. These are children with serious changes, and doctors should be involved in them. This will be reflected in the manual.”

However, Ms Keegan insists the guidance will help schools «navigate» when students want to «actively transition.» At the same time, however, it will be clear that parents should be consulted and feel «part of the process,» she said.

The guidance in question approaches the issue «very carefully» with «watchful caution.» According to her, there is a waiting period for children who want to change in society.” Ms. Keegan insisted that the document would «improve» the situation and warned that legislation would be required for those seeking a total ban on social transition in schools.

«The guideline we are talking about is not is the statutory guideline. And that should take us from where we are today to what I think will be an improved position. If then there is a need or a call to do something more than that, then it will go the other way… if you want to legislate, you have to legislate, illegal directives can only get you so far.”