Blog posts for author:Esme Winch

The last year has been extraordinary. There's seldom been a time of such change in policy and people, creating a great deal of uncertainty. The snap election has meant the government’s decision-making capacity has been compromised and has meant a dialling back of some of the reforms to education. However, as is usually the case in these circumstances, during the political turbulence and fall out of the past year, the Further Education (FE) sector has been ‘business as usual’, creating opportunities for learners to increase their employment and learning potential. This in itself is no mean feat, especially as the sector has faced multiple uncertainties, such as procurement for Adult Education Budgets and non-levy contracting.

The general election result has created a huge amount of uncertainty over the future and it’s fair to say that nothing like this has ever happened in British politics before. At NCFE, we’re committed to keeping our customers updated on changes and developments in the sector, so here’s a critical look at the numbers to help us illustrate just how close the result was, and how difficult it could be to navigate through this vital period of our country’s history.  

Much like the rest of the nation, the election announcement certainly took us by surprise. What now follows is the usual pause to decision making due to Purdah, and we can consider what changes an election may bring to our sector. To address the contentious issue of schools funding reform, the Conservative manifesto has promised a funding floor so that no child will lose out through the funding reforms.

Much like the rest of the nation, the election announcement certainly took us by surprise. What now follows is the usual pause to decision making due to Purdah, and we can consider what changes an election may bring to our sector.  Many of the policies outlined by the Conservative manifesto, in relation to apprenticeships and technical education, are those proposed by the previous (coalition) government. The broad direction of travel remains the same as set out in their manifesto, keeping the target of 3 million apprenticeship starts.  However, they do highlight that further funding reforms are on the horizon, with ‘a wholesale review of tertiary education’ on the cards.

Once again, we’re experiencing a frustrating wait for the update to the Department for Education performance tables, with the possibility that this could be delayed even further thanks to this week’s surprise announcement of a snap general election. We appreciate that the initial performance tables were released very late, and that this has repercussions when setting out options for your pupils­ or planning the curriculum for next year.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election on 8 June, with the purdah period beginning this Saturday. The news came as a surprise to many, but how will the election itself and pre-election campaigning impact on our sector and the planned reforms? The first thing to note is that with purdah beginning imminently, there won’t be any new policy announcements until after 8 June.

This NCFE-sponsored report, published with the Campaign for Learning and written by independent policy consultant Mick Fletcher, raises important questions for the roll-out of the Post-16 Skills Plan and for the reforms to technical education more broadly. The report, entitled “Reforming Technical and Professional Education: Why should it work this time?” includes nine recommendations of activity that the government should undertake if it is to achieve its aims. At NCFE, we believe that the principles behind the reforms outlined in the Post-16 Skills Plan are admirable; aligning the skills system to the needs of employers, eliminating ‘low value’ qualifications, and ensuring financial sustainability of the system. The promise to develop ‘a high quality technical option’ that would have equal status with the academic route, and increase the numbers engaged with technical education, is very attractive and we are hopeful that the new T-Levels will help to deliver on this promise.

The release of the long awaited Department of Education (DfE) performance tables for 2019 has been a mixed bag of both relief and frustration. Having waited since November 2016, we were pleased to have confirmation from the DfE that a number of our qualifications are already appearing on the tables. However, it’s frustrating that there’s been an added wait for qualifications that will appear on the next list yet to be released (expected this month).

In a hugely welcome move, the government has amended the requirement that only those who had achieved GCSEs in English and mathematics could be counted in the ratios for Level 3 Early Years Educators (EYEs). In the long-anticipated response to the consultation on the literacy and numeracy qualification requirements for Level 3 Early Years Educators, the Department for Education (DfE) has set out that:

While there has been an improvement in the number of schools falling below the new Progress 8 floor standard, it remains to be seen whether this will continue as different ways of calculating the measure are introduced. On 19 January the Times Educational Supplement reported that nearly 300 schools have now fallen below the new Progress 8 floor standard. This is an improvement on the number last summer, which was reported to be 329.