Blog posts for tag:employability

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Students to rate colleges online

By Lindsay Plumpton, Communications Leader, Monday 24 September 2012

Lindsay Plumpton

Further education students are being invited to rate their college on a new website, ‘Learner View’, run by education watchdog Ofsted. The questionnaire particularly focuses on how well college courses prepare students for their next steps in work or study. The initiative stems from Ofsted’s Skills for Employment report, which suggested that some college courses aren’t challenging enough and are too focused on the achievement of qualifications rather than providing learners with job specific skills.

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Tackling youth unemployment - what’s the answer?

By Lindsay Plumpton, Communications Leader, Thursday 20 September 2012

Lindsay Plumpton

According to a report this week by the Work and Pensions Select Committee, the Government's youth contract is “insufficient” to tackle the scale of youth unemployment on its own. The youth contract provides £1bn for a range of initiatives aimed at getting young people into employment. Measures include providing 160,000 employers with a "wage incentive" of £2,275 to take on an unemployed 18-24 year-old, 250,000 work experience placements and also additional support from Jobcentre Plus.

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Government responds to Holt’s Apprenticeship Review

By Nicola Hughes, Communications Leader, Thursday 30 August 2012

Nicola Hughes

The government has responded to the findings of the Holt Review with new measures to help small businesses take on apprentices.  Jeweller and social entrepreneur, Jason Holt, recognised in his report that apprenticeships offer significant growth opportunities for businesses yet only a small minority of SMEs currently employ apprentices.

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Apprenticeships: what could we learn from Switzerland?

By Lindsay Plumpton, Communications Leader, Wednesday 29 August 2012

Lindsay Plumpton

With the steep rise in tuition fees, increasing amounts of young people are applying for Apprenticeships rather than turning to higher education – the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) says applications are up 53% on last year. Yet in the UK, the vocational route is not always as highly valued as the academic alternative. In Janet Murray’s recent article, she explores the education system in Switzerland – a country with one of the most successful apprenticeship systems in the world with a youth unemployment figure of just 7.5% (in contrast to 21.9% in the UK).

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Vocational training – a credible alternative to university

By Lindsay Plumpton, Communications Leader, Wednesday 22 August 2012

Lindsay Plumpton

Despite the news that top A Level grades have fallen for the first time in 2 decades, August’s news has been filled with images of delighted A Level students, clutching their well-earned results with pride. But what does the future hold for these young people as they move on to the next chapter of their lives? It seems that many of them are opting out of university and choosing an alternative path - university applications have dropped by 8.8%, representing 15,000 students who have taken a different route. It is thought that the drop is a direct result of the rise in tuition fees (the cost of a degree is set to increase to an average £8500 per year by 2013).

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FE loans – what do you think?

By Nicola Hughes, Communications Leader, Thursday 09 August 2012

Nicola Hughes

It’s recently been announced that from August 2013, learners aged 24+ who’d like to do a Level 3 or above qualification will need to use an ‘FE loan’ to fund this. At present, the government subsidises FE courses for adults by up to 50%. The new loans will be available for those resident in the UK, who’ve not previously had a loan to do the same type and level of qualification (learners can have up to 4 loans consecutively).  A learner’s loan will cover the cost of the qualification or components of the apprenticeship but won’t include living costs or materials.

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UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2011

By Nicola Hughes, Communications Leader, Monday 06 August 2012

Nicola Hughes

We’ve all seen headlines about the state of the labour market, and the lack of opportunity for those out of work. Adding to that debate is the recently published UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2011 which allows employers to voice their concerns and give their perspective.  The survey  is the result of over 74,000 interviews carried out by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) with employers in England throughout 2011.   Although the report is very detailed it does contain some interesting nuggets regarding the state of the skills system and how this contributes to employment in England.

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Is enterprise the key to economic growth?

By Lindsay Plumpton, Communications Leader, Tuesday 31 July 2012

Lindsay Plumpton

We all like a bank holiday, although chances are George Osborne may be disappointed we have had so many this year. The news, last week, that Britain was experiencing its first double-dip recession since the 1970s was in part blamed on the additional bank holiday in June.  Not great news for a Chancellor steering a struggling economy through its third quarterly contraction in a row. But whilst these latest figures present a picture of doom and gloom, other factors seem to be painting a more positive outlook.  The recent drop in unemployment and a slow but steady housing market would point towards an improving economy (albeit slowly).

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Funding changes – hiding the wiring?

By Lindsay Plumpton, Communications Leader, Thursday 26 July 2012

Lindsay Plumpton

You will have seen in recent weeks the usual media coverage of challenges facing the education sector in the UK; Michael Gove’s numerous announcements, comments regarding the merit of some of the qualifications on offer and changes to the funding system.   The most recent of these was the Education Funding Agency’s 16-19 Funding Formula Review published earlier this month.  The review outlines how the Department for Education and the Education Funding Agency (EFA) plans to fund 16-19 year old students from September 2013, with all full time programmes to be funded at a single funding rate per student, per year.   

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Exams getting easier? What about Functional Skills?

By Nicola Hughes, Communications Leader, Monday 23 July 2012

Nicola Hughes

It’s difficult to ignore the recent headlines referring to the ‘race to the bottom’, and the lowering of standards in education. The sector has seen heavy criticism over the last few weeks for syllabuses being too accessible and qualifications too achievable. The assertion is that organisations ‘shop around’ for the easiest courses to deliver, allowing them to appear higher in the league tables.  

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