Blog posts for tag:Vocational

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The importance of quality careers advice

By , Tuesday 17 March 2015

Fellow North East-based educational charity Teach First have stated that all schools should have a professionally trained teacher delivering careers advice to their pupils. In their report titled ‘Careers education in the classroom: The role of teachers in making young people work-ready,’ the charity said that at least one teacher at a school should specialise in careers advice and employability, and that this should be at the core of each curriculum led by teachers, and supported by businesses and policy makers.

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Policy Corner - March 2015

By Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, Policy Leader, Sunday 08 March 2015

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Government scraps ‘deterrent’ apprentice rule (p1) – the government has ‘scrapped’ the rule that requires Apprentices to re-sit any English & maths GCSEs they sat more than 5 years before the Apprenticeship start date. The “Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) confirmed it had removed the rule — in place since 2009 — from the latest version of the specification of apprenticeship standards for England (SASE), but individual frameworks will need to be amended to reflect the change.”

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DfE changes begin to bite

By David Grailey, Chief Executive, Friday 30 January 2015

David Grailey

A number of schools have been hit by the changes in which qualifications count in the school performance tables. This year, 330 schools fell below the required benchmark which is up from 154 in the previous year - clearly a big increase but probably not a big surprise to the schools it has impacted upon.

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A cross college approach to English and maths

By Catherine Langstreth, Advanced Practitioner and English and maths Tutor, Monday 19 January 2015

Catherine Blog

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.

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Policy Corner - 14 January 2015

By Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, Policy Leader, Wednesday 14 January 2015

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

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.’

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Changes to GCSEs and A Levels

By , Monday 12 January 2015

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.

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Policy Corner, 17 November 2014

By Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, Policy Leader, Monday 17 November 2014

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Agency review puts 1,600 quals in the funding firing line (p3) – The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has listed ‘nearly 700’ qualifications it will remove from public funding and a further 972 at risk of losing their fundable status in its Annual Review of Qualifications, published on its website. The Agency has published the lists of qualifications with 100 funded enrolments a year or fewer, with a call for Awarding Organisations who want to keep these qualifications funded to make their case by the 4 December.

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It’s all in the balance

By David Grailey, Chief Executive, Wednesday 12 November 2014

David Grailey

It was great to read earlier this year that parents want to see more practical teaching in schools. To mark its 10th anniversary, the Edge Foundation surveyed over 1,000 parents of secondary aged children to get their views about vocational education. I am pleased to say that there was majority support from the sample with most agreeing that technical degrees combining academic and vocational study are of equal value to traditional academic subjects.

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Diagnosing dementia

By , Wednesday 12 November 2014

The NHS has recently focused more of its attention on the diagnosis of dementia in an effort to tackle the number of people in the UK living with the disease undiagnosed, thought to be around 90,000. More worrying, it’s estimated less than half of the 800,000 people in the UK likely to be suffering from dementia have been formally diagnosed.

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The future of lifelong learning

By David Grailey, Chief Executive, Wednesday 12 November 2014

David Grailey

As the campaign trails of the 3 major political parties rumble onward to the general election in May, I’m encouraged by the growing emphasis being placed on lifelong learning.  Addressing industry leaders at the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) annual conference earlier this week, Prime Minister David Cameron spoke about the importance of the nation’s workforce engaging in continual education throughout their working lives.

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