Blog posts for author:Lindsay Plumpton

NCFE is raising awareness of Safer Internet Day 2014, promoting safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world. Worrying statistics recently revealed that millions of children are being exposed to a range of online threats, with less than half of parents using parental controls to block unsuitable material. A third of parents confessed to feeling ill-equipped to educate their children about staying safe online, and a quarter said that they never talk to their children about staying safe online, according to research by internet security company ESET. NCFE is currently working with schools and colleges to provide guidance and online protection for young people at risk. The NCFE Level 1 Award in Safeguarding in a Learning Environment covers areas such as establishing safe personal boundaries, staying safe online and cyberbullying in a learning environment. It specifically explores issues such as internet privacy, confidentiality and data protection. Read more here.

It’s been reported that shortages of skills in the UK might prevent businesses from being able to take advantage of the economic recovery. Having surveyed 91,000 employers, The UK Commission for Employment and Skills found that more than one in 5 vacancies were due to a poor skills base in potential employees. The problem of inadequate skills, qualifications or experience is worse in some sectors than others, with construction, plumbing and Health and Social Care being some of the areas affected.

The Department for Education has published its latest league table data showing that more schools in the UK are meeting government targets on GCSEs. The tables for 16-18 year old students have been split for the first time between academic and vocational qualifications. A total of 154 state-funded schools out of about 3,200 are classed as under-performing, which is 61 fewer than last year. Schools are said to be below target if fewer than 40% of pupils pass GCSEs including maths and English, with grades between an A* and a C, and pupils are not making enough progress.

This week saw the official release of the Programme for International Student Achievement (PISA) education survey results. These are used by the influential Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to compare the educational outcomes of different countries. Out of the 65 countries surveyed, the UK gained two places in maths and literacy to reach 26th and 23rd and only ranked 20th in science. The UK's position is virtually unchanged from the last PISA exercise in 2009, sparking concern that students are failing to improve despite the fact that the country spends more on education than the international average.

MEPs have made a number of recommendations to tackle the issue of youth unemployment, advising that we’re in need of further measures to help young people move into work. ‘Youth guarantee’ schemes currently aim to ensure that young people under the age of 25 are offered a job, training, or a traineeship within 4 months of becoming unemployed. MEPs have now proposed that these schemes should be extended to include graduates under 30 years old.

As you’ll be aware, thousands of schools in England were closed last month as teachers went out on strike over pay, pensions and jobs. The action was part of a continuing campaign of regional strikes as teachers object to proposals by Education Secretary Michael Gove, including plans to bring performance-related pay, increase their workloads and make changes to their pensions. David Cameron expressed his ‘disappointment’ in the strike which resulted in many parents struggling to find alternative childcare. However, Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, stated that teachers had not taken the action lightly and remain to be ‘committed and dedicated public service workers.'

Schools’ career services are not up to standard, according to education watchdog Ofsted. Three quarters of schools visited were reportedly not delivering effective careers advice and Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw commented, "It’s worrying that the new arrangements are failing to provide good guidance." The main concerns were around a lack of employer involvement and a propensity to promote academia over vocational training, resulting in young people leaving education unaware of the full range of options available to them.

Exam results day – it’s a stressful time in the lives of teens across the country as they find out the grades they’ve been awarded in return for their hard work. In the current economic climate, it’s arguably even more nerve-racking as school leavers face a daunting unemployment rate of 40%. So what’s been the outcome for the class of 2013? Well, there’s been a drop in the proportion of GCSE exam entries awarded top grades for the second year in a row and the overall pass rate also fell slightly, for the first time in the exam’s 25-year history.  

As youth unemployment in the UK remains high, national schemes to tackle youth unemployment are coming under fire.  The LGA (group representing English councils) has criticised the current system as over-complicated with 35 different national schemes across 13 different age boundaries. The cost of the schemes is around £15bn a year.  However, a representative for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has said that although youth unemployment remains a problem, the level has fallen by 38 000 in the last year.

In America and Sweden, social and emotional learning is considered to be integral to student success in school, college, life and work. It’s believed that teaching children how to manage their emotions, build effective relationships and make responsible decisions equips them for the challenges that they’ll face, promotes academic success and discourages negative behaviour.   It’s interesting to consider: could the UK learn from this model? A recent survey conducted by independent research agency Public Knowledge in conjunction with NCFE showed that over 80% of the general public believes that young people should receive guidance on personal money management at school, with over 70% agreeing that students should receive lessons in sexual health, alcohol awareness and substance misuse. The research was conducted nationally with over 2300 members of the general public and demonstrates a strong feeling that school should be about more than academia.