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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.

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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.’

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Bridging the gaps: Increasing Apprenticeships in the UK

Policy Corner - 15 December 2014

Apprenticeship start numbers: The good and the bad.

Supporting adult learners

Is the future of education digital?

Authors

Lindsay Plumpton

David Grailey

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Esme Winch

Michael Lemin

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Authors

Lindsay Plumpton

David Grailey

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Esme Winch

Michael Lemin

Categories

Archive