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Apprenticeship reforms ‘not in long grass’ — Boles (p3) – The Skills Minister is under pressure as it was confirmed this week the government has gone back to the drawing board with plans to route apprenticeship funding through employers. Boles has had a tough week, he was in front of the Education Select Committee following the publication for the government’s plans for Apprenticeship funding, where he admitted that time was running out for the funding reforms, and that any announcement might be delayed until after the General Election (which, as you all should know by now, is 7 May).

Today, Ofqual released their report following the thematic review of Functional Skills qualifications. The report sets out Ofqual’s conclusion that ‘aspects’ of the qualifications need to be improved. The “improvements that each awarding organisation has been asked to make are specific to that awarding organisation and its qualifications.” Overall, there are 4 key areas in which awarding organisations are now looking to make changes:

English and maths are vital skills needed for learners to progress onto higher level study and/or employment. In order to develop learners’ English and maths skills, it is important that the two subjects are embedded into every session.

Government say less is more as qualifications fall (47) – the overall number of qualifications being awarded has fallen by 7%, linked to cuts to funding for qualifications that the government said did not offer ‘quality education.’ 654,100 fewer vocational qualifications were awarded in 2013-14 than in 2012-13, and there was a drop of 10.7% of adults undertaking Further Education, with the government stating that "we feel the rigour and relevance of vocational qualifications is more important than numbers [achieved] alone." The government wish to focus on those qualifications 'which deliver most benefit to learners and are of the most value to employers.’

The government and Ofqual have recently confirmed that from September 2015, new GCSEs and A Levels will be taught in schools and colleges across the country. From September 2017, all of these new qualifications will have been implemented. Maths, English language and English literature will be the first new GCSEs to be studied in the next academic year, with other subjects following in 2016. The first results of these new GCSEs will be released in August 2017, reflecting the change to exam timetables specifying that learners will sit exams at the end of their course. Previously learners were able to sit assessments throughout the two-year period.

As a final year student, my main concern is to get a good grade and secure a graduate job. One of the most paradoxical situations students face is how to gain experience, if nobody is ready to give you a job in the first place! Hence, it is interesting to see the significant growth in government initiatives and the increase in investment in apprenticeships, in order to encourage students aged between 16 and 19, to gain relevant work experience and develop employability skills. The government’s achievement in starting 2 million apprenticeships since 2010 plays a pivotal role in the employability of high school students and graduates.  With the ultimate aim to support the long-term economic plan, the scheme essentially bridges the gap between education and practical skills, by increasing employer participation and encouraging the youth to start developing technical skills at an early age.

Bank of BIS launches emergency College loans (p1) – FE colleges that are in financial difficulty have a new line of support following the announcement of ‘Emergency Loans’ from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). Rules for ‘exceptional financial support,’ released by BIS on the 4th December, outline the availability of ‘short term loans with up to 3 months repayment and longer term loans to be repaid within a year. A college applying for a loan is open to the risk of intervention from the FE Commissioner, and are provided ‘where a general FE college declares that it is encountering financial weaknesses which it cannot resolve from its own resources or through its usual borrowing facilities.’

Figures recently released by the Skills Funding Agency  (SFA) detail a fall in the overall number of new apprentice starts for the second consecutive year. The SFA report showed a fall of nearly 70,000 in the number of new all-age apprentices for 2013-14 compared to the previous year. The 25+ age group bore the brunt of the drop, seeing numbers decrease from 230,300 to 161,600 (-29.8%) this year. The 19-24 age group also contributed to the dip in numbers, with 2.8% less new apprentices this year compared to 2012-13.

It’s worrying to see that the number of adults in Further Education has dropped considerably due to this demographic now having to self-fund their education and training through borrowing and loans. The number of over-19s in FE fell by over 10% between 2012-13 and 2013-14, according to recent figures published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The Further Education Learning Technology Action Group (FELTAG) have recently made some recommendations on using technology in education, one of which being that every publicly-funded learning programme from 2015-16 includes a 10% wholly-online component, with incentives to increase this to 50% by 2017-18. Both the SFA and Ofsted have responded to this recommendation with a slightly different approach.