Blog posts for author:David Grailey

The length of summer holidays in England is at the centre of an ongoing debate, with many valid points being made both for and against the holidays being reduced. From September 2014, state schools will be given the same power as academies, voluntary-aided and free schools in England and will be able to change the length of their school year. Headteachers are amongst those who appears to be encouraging the change to the summer break to ease the pressure on teachers. The NAHT union has proposed allocating more holidays throughout the year to replace the long summer break, which is being described as “the most significant move so far towards altering school terms on a widespread scale”.

Welcome back from what I hope was a great Easter for you. On 10 April, I blogged about the funding relating to NCFE’s 13 credit qualifications recently exempted by the SFA. I’ve had a query about funding relating to these qualifications for the next academic year. The issue is linked to the change in classification from full to non-full for the 13 and 14 credit qualifications that have recently been confirmed as funded in 2014/15 despite the fact they are below the 15 credit threshold for full level 2.

The wait is over, the discount (classification) codes for qualifications that will count in the 2014 Key Stage 4 Performance tables have now been published. We know from speaking with many of you that the publication of discount code information is really important to you so for ease, we’ve listed the V Cert discount codes for the next 3 years on our website. You can also find the full list of all codes for the 2014, 2015 and 2016 tables together with guidance by visiting the RAISEonline website.

As we continue to update you on the latest developments with the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and the new funding rules for 2014-15, I have further news to share. Over 5,000 adult vocational courses are set to be cut in order to simplify and streamline the adult skills system in England; with approximately £200m of the department’s adult skills budget now be re-directed towards what the Government considers to be the `most relevant` qualifications.

As you’re aware, the SFA recently announced changes to its funding rules meaning that a number of adult qualifications may no longer be publicly funded. This story has hit the wider press this month with reports stating that around 5,000 adult vocational courses will be cut in order to "simplify and streamline" the adult skills system in England. Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock took to Twitter to announce that the current system is ‘hard to understand’ and the Government will be binning ‘low-value’ courses such as self-tanning, balloon artistry and instructing pole fitness in order to focus on qualifications that employers value. Nearly £200m of the department's adult skills budget will now be redirected towards what the Government considers to be the ‘most relevant’ qualifications.

The Department for Education (DfE) has recently made some significant changes to the way that secondary school performance is measured, having an impact on schools up and down the country. The aim is to reform the way that schools and colleges are assessed so that all pupils, regardless of background, can make progress and find success across a broad choice of subjects and study programmes. The government’s vision was to reward schools that set high expectations for the attainment and progress of all their pupils, provide high value qualifications, and teach a wide variety of subjects across a balanced curriculum. The focus was to ensure that accountability became “the servant, not the master, of excellent teaching”. In other words, the accountability system should work with and not against teachers’ main objective – to help their pupils gain the skills and qualifications they need to succeed in their future.

It should be part of a school’s remit to develop pupils’ self-belief, perseverance and resilience, according to advice from a cross-parliamentary group, supported by the CBI. The group suggested that a school needs to be more than just an ‘exam factory’, and that students should leave their education as well rounded individuals, equipped and ready to face the challenges that lie ahead of them.

As you’re all no doubt aware, this month the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) announced some significant changes to their funding rules (Approval of Qualifications for Public Funding for Adult Learners). These changes may result in the removal of public funding for a number of adult qualifications in 2014/15. We understand that you’ll be concerned about these changes and we want to let you know how NCFE is responding. We’re adopting a number of approaches, looking at each affected qualification individually. There are several courses of actions open to us. For some qualifications, we’ve chosen to appeal. In fact, we’ve already proactively put in an appeal for certain qualifications, where we feel that the loss of public funding will have a strong adverse effect on specific cohorts of learners. Thanks to those of you who’ve helped us with this by providing letters of support for qualifications (with this in mind, we may be getting in touch with more of you in the coming months to support further appeals!)

The Prince’s Trust charity has called for ‘better training and support to get young people jobs and avoid mental health problems.’ This follows research from the charity which says that 40% of young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) have experienced mental health problems. The trust says that almost a third of long-term unemployed young people have contemplated taking their own lives and urgent action must be taken to prevent the young jobless becoming the young hopeless.

English and maths qualifications are still very much the topic of discussion at the moment, with more and more employers coming forward asking for new recruits to have these basic skills before all others. Of course, this is not the first time that low levels of literacy and numeracy have been brought to the forefront of discussions, with reports in October by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showing how England’s 16 to 24 year olds are falling behind their Asian and European counterparts.