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‘Everybody has A*s – employers want character’ (p10) – John Cridland, Director-General of the business lobbying organisation the CBI, wants schools to do more to develop character – he said in an interview with TES that his members would look "at all elements of a learner’s CV, rather than merely the qualifications, because everybody has A*s." He also called for Ofsted to judge schools on the holistic development of pupils, looking at a students’ ‘whole education’ – which has aligned with recent announcements from Education Secretary Nicky Morgan and Labour’s Tristram Hunt.

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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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‘Open traineeships up’ plea as starts hit 5K in first quarter (p2) – the government has been urged to open up more traineeships as ‘figures show 1,700 more people started on the scheme in the first three months of 2014/15 than in the entire first half of last academic year.’ Chief Executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) Stewart Segal said that he was encouraged by the figures – but called for a relaxation to the current rule that only allows Traineeships to be delivered by Ofsted grade 1 or 2 providers.

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A new campaign by employers is backing ‘soft skills’ as a key factor for success in the workplace. Research has shown that transferable skills such as problem solving, initiative, and team work have a clear economic value worth a huge £88bn to the UK economy. Business giants such as McDonald's, Barclays and the CBI are supporting the campaign to promote the value of these skills, underlining how essential they are in terms of young people progressing into work from education.

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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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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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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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Earlier this year, the Further Education Learning Technology Action Group (FELTAG), made a number of ambitious recommendations to then Skills Minister Matthew Hancock and the sector more broadly regarding the effective use of digital technology in learning, teaching and assessment in Further Education and Skills. At NCFE, we support new technology within education and believe that digital methods can provide a more flexible, learner-centric approach to education, helping us to fit learning to individual needs. What’s more, it can support and empower staff to further strengthen their teaching.

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The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is encouraging businesses across the UK to invest in workplace training after their Workforce Survey 2014 highlighted that 92% of businesses acknowledged a skills gap in at least one critical area of the organisation. The most common skill shortages include leadership and management, organisation and planning, and computer literacy. By upskilling staff in these key areas, organisations can make their workforce more efficient and productive.

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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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Blog posts for tag:colleges

Policy Corner - 17 April 2015

Policy Corner - March 2015

Policy Corner - 17 February 2015

Hard facts back up soft skills

A cross college approach to English and maths

Policy Corner - 14 January 2015

Changes to GCSEs and A Levels

Supporting your staff into the online space

Upskilling our workforce

Diagnosing dementia

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Lindsay Plumpton

David Grailey

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Esme Winch

Michael Lemin

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Blog posts for tag:colleges

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Authors

Lindsay Plumpton

David Grailey

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Esme Winch

Michael Lemin

Categories

Archive