Blog posts for author:Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Today, Lord Sainsbury’s Report of the Independent Panel on Technical Education and the accompanying Post-16 Skills Plan have both been published. The report has been long-awaited and will have a significant impact on the awarding sector, and especially on the development of post-16 qualifications. 

Last week saw the publication of the House of Commons Committee’s science and technology report, which discusses the coverage and depth of digital skills in the UK economy. Titled ‘Digital Skills Crisis’, it sets out that, despite digital services being increasingly embedded in society, "there is a digital divide where up to 12.6 million of the adult UK population lack basic digital skills…this digital skills gap is costing the UK economy an estimated £63 billion a year in lost additional GDP".

There have been a number of reports and announcements over the past couple of weeks that have triggered concerns over the future of Apprenticeships. In the recent Apprenticeship Enquiry for the Sub-Committee on Education Skills and the Economy, concerns were raised about the "scale and pace of the reform programme". Whilst there was acknowledgement that the rushed nature of the reform programme was because of the need for reformed Apprenticeships, there was also a lack of allocation of resources.

How will Brexit impact on education and skills? We live in interesting times.

Last month saw the refreshing of Ofqual’s corporate plan for 2016 through to 2019. It sets out a number of key objectives that Ofqual wants to achieve over the next 3 years, and reading between the lines, we can also get an inkling of the challenges Ofqual will be facing during that period. Ofqual has set out its key objectives in this plan; “covering standards maintenance and reform in both general and vocational qualifications, as well as our own organisational development.” This sets the theme for the plan, focusing on the introduction and regulation of new qualifications in the GCSE and Functional Skills spaces, continued rigour around Technical and Professional Education (TPE) and efficiency savings in the way Ofqual operates.

Last week the House of Lords Select Committee on Social Mobility released its Overlooked and left behind: improving the transition from school to work for the majority of young people report. The report follows a 9 month inquiry in the senior chamber, and makes a series of conclusions and recommendations for the government. The committee feels that “Non-academic routes to employment are complex, confusing and incoherent. The qualifications system is similarly confused and has been subjected to continual change”. It also notes that non-academic routes don’t guarantee entry into quality employment and are poorly understood by employers.

In April, the Department for Education published a list of facts that we need to know about academies. There’s been a good deal of lighted hearted analysis and conversation about this on Twitter, but my chief concern is that not a single source of the purported evidence is referenced (beyond the Schools White Paper itself). Whilst the social media dust was settling on the above publication, the Number 10 Press Office (possibly to anticipate the Labour-led opposition day debate on the schools White Paper in Parliament), sent out the following tweet:

This month saw the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) set out its qualification eligibility principles for the new Adult Education Budget (AEB), set to replace the Adult Skills Budget (ASB) from August 2016. This year, in line with the previously published Simplified Funding Rules for 2016-2017, the SFA is changing the way in which it creates an approved, publicly funded qualifications offer for learners. For 2016-2017 it’s introducing a new process that reflects both their policy to simplify the Further Education funding system and to place more of the decision making into the hands of learners, employers and localities.

The National Union of Students launched its #FEunplugged campaign on 29 January, with the aim of making sure that the learner’s voice is heard in the area review process. This builds on growing concerns in the sector that the area review process is being pushed through without due consideration for the institutions it will affect.

This month saw the publication of the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ (IFS) Green Budget. The report looks at the issues and challenges facing the Chancellor as he prepares for his Budget in March. The study has highlighted the risks threatening the government’s spending plans, including how key aspects of the Apprenticeship reform programme, intended to create growth and increase productivity, may actually challenge it.