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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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Skills Minister Nick Boles has revealed that new apprenticeship frameworks will no longer have to be graded using pass, merit and distinction. Instead, it will be assessed whether apprenticeships should be graded on a ‘case by case basis’ as a compromise position. The change in direction follows concerns raised by the sector regarding apprenticeship reform. However, it will only be a small number of cases where apprenticeships will be exempt from grading and there will need to be good justification to warrant this exemption.

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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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Throughout our lives, career decisions can be amongst the most defining and important choices we have to make. These can feel especially daunting for those about to make their initial steps onto the career ladder from Further Education or school. It’s therefore not surprising that when making these important decisions, many young people turn to their parents as the first port of call for advice and guidance.

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The Further Education sector has come under criticism lately as Sir Michael Wilshaw, Head of Ofsted, has suggested that students in further education “are not being well served,” and that there is a “worryingly wide” gap between education and employment. In addition, colleges have been accused of delivering ‘irrelevant’ courses that don’t prepare learners for employment. At NCFE, we know that colleges work incredibly hard in order to prepare their learners for the world of work and we have seen many fantastic examples of this.

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Over the last few weeks there has been a number of news stories linked to vocational qualifications. Whether it’s been the growing recognition that vocational qualifications offer a valid alternative to GCSEs, or the increasing acceptance of a number of higher level vocational qualifications as valid entry into university. The debate goes on about the merit of both of these elements and within this is the long running discussion about careers advice and guidance within schools

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The past fortnight has seen the 2 major political parties hold their final annual conference before the General Election in May 2015. At each event, the parties set out their policy plans and goals if they were to lead a majority government post General Election. These plans were articulated through a range of keynote speeches by significant Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet leads, as well as through fringe events, where key decision makers and corporate interests could discuss particular policy matters in a more intimate setting.

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Following A Level results this year, we saw a record amount (over 500,000) of university places available despite the fact that the overall pass rate decreased for the first time in 30 years. It’s been suggested that universities were actively competing to attract students, as apprenticeships become a real option for young people in terms of an alternative pathway. However, it’s clear that young people are still not certain on the options available to them and have little clarity of their next steps. A piece of research conducted by Which? University revealed that more than half of students in England and Wales approached their A Level results with back-up plan if they failed to get the grades they needed to get to their university of choice.

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As another cohort of 14-16 year olds embark on the next chapter in their education I wonder how much each is considering their next steps beyond the classroom? Where will they go once they leave school and what guidance is there to help them make those choices beyond just the A level and university route? Earlier this year, the Guardian newspaper picked up on new research showing that thousands of university graduates are now earning less than school leavers who’ve taken apprenticeships, despite accumulating far higher debts. Based on research from the Office for National Statistics, the figures show that more than a quarter of graduates were paid, on average, less than the £11.10 per hour for those on work-based training schemes last year.

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Further Education is an option for people at any point in their life. For some, it’s a natural progression from school; for others it’s an option later in life should they choose to pursue a different career path, upskill, or simply learn something new. Vocational education can come in the form of a 2-year Apprenticeship, a college course, or a part-time course that can be studied in the learners’ spare time and allow them to fit it around their other commitments. Yet in comparison to Higher Education and schools, it’s not as widely researched and as a result, it could be seen as an easy target for funding cuts. We have iterated numerous times how important the Further Education sector is to both personal and professional development, and the nature in which qualifications are rated according to importance, with specialised subjects more likely to lose funding in the education sector. Earlier this year the government announced they were to cut funding for 5000 adult vocational courses and highlighted particularly niche and ‘low value’ courses such as self-tanning and balloon artistry, which appeared to support the notion that many of these courses were invaluable and a waste of taxpayers’ money, when in fact many other valuable courses that weren’t mentioned also faced the axe.

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Blog posts for tag:progression

It’s all in the balance

Changes to Apprenticeship grading

The future of lifelong learning

A tipping point for vocational education

Responding to criticism of the FE sector

Changing perceptions of vocational education

Increase in apprenticeship numbers remains cross party consensus

Vocational education a viable alternative to University

Careers Guidance on the Cards

The importance of Further Education

Authors

Lindsay Plumpton

David Grailey

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Esme Winch

Michael Lemin

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Blog posts for tag:progression

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Authors

Lindsay Plumpton

David Grailey

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Esme Winch

Michael Lemin

Categories

Archive