Blog Archives: 2013

Following the Wolf review of vocational education, the Department for Education is now consulting on proposals to establish rigorous standards for Level 3 vocational qualifications taken by 16-19 year olds in schools and colleges from September 2014. The plan is that only ‘high value’ qualifications that meet specific sets of requirements will count in performance tables from this point onward. Quality and rigour are very important to us here at NCFE. Supporting learners to reach their full potential is at the heart of everything we do. Therefore, we’ll be working with the Department throughout the consultation process to find workable solutions that will best support learners to achieve success.

Many children go without enough to eat during the school day, according to a new online survey of 250 school, youth and health staff working with children in England. The Children's Food Trust poll has found that 68.1% have seen an increase in the number of families struggling to feed their children in the past 2 years. What’s more, lunchboxes are containing more junk food and less fruit.

I was interested to see the headline results of the ‘Impact of FE Learning’ study which revealed that a third of men and nearly a third of women who participated in Further Education got a better job as a result. The report from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills found that the primary motive for FE learning was to improve job prospects, or get a new job. Although this news isn’t surprising to those of us who work in this important sector, it’s good to see the message being highlighted – Further Education has employability at its core and has the power to change lives.

Before the half term break, the government announced that it was scrapping its plans to replace GCSEs with an English Baccalaureate. The reversal was announced by Michael Gove, the education secretary alongside other curriculum changes. Since this announcement, the spotlight is now on the future form of GCSEs. Michael Gove told MPs that there is still “a consensus that the system needs to change” to address grade inflation, dumbing down and loss of rigour. From autumn 2015, 'new' GCSE courses are set to be launched in English, maths, the sciences, history and geography.

Business leaders are well known for their criticism that too many young people are leaving school without adequate skills and lacking in important employability skills.  They suggest that young people are leaving education have poor standards of literacy, numeracy, communication and problem solving skills. With nearly a million young people still classed as NEETs it is vital that we work together to ensure their talent and potential is not wasted.  This is why it’s particularly heartening to read about the additional funding that has been secured by sixteen providers from the Apprenticeship Application Support fund run by the Association for Employment and Learning Providers on behalf of the National Apprenticeship Service.

Lord Heseltine’s proposals to hand skills funding over to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) look closer to becoming reality, as the government 'accepts the principle' of the single funding pot. The proposals include a budget of around £17billion to be put in a single ‘pot’ for all LEPs to bid for in 5 year tenders. Each LEP would compete with its neighbours to secure the funding for its skills need (ie colleges and Independent Training Providers (ITPs)).

Last week, the government announced that it was scrapping its plans to replace GCSEs with an English Baccalaureate. The reversal was announced by the education secretary, alongside curriculum changes. As the dust settles on this change in direction, the spotlight is now on the future form of GCSEs. Michael Gove told MPs that there is still “a consensus that the system needs to change” to address grade inflation, dumbing down and loss of rigour. From autumn 2015, 'new' GCSE courses are set to be launched in English, maths, the sciences, history and geography.

According to a recent study, children who view clips of their TV favourites such as Peppa Pig and Sesame Street on YouTube are on average just three clicks away from explicit adult material. A separate study of 24,000 young people found that almost 27% of 7-11 years olds and nearly half of 11-19 year olds had come across something they found ‘…unpleasant…’ in the past 12 months. But how do we protect young people when they are online? Initiatives such as the BBCs new Web Wise campaign can provide excellent resources for both parents and young people. Their Share Take Care campaign helps us all with ideas and suggestions on how to manage our online life.

Former education secretary Lord Baker has proposed a radical transformation of England’s education system in his new book ‘14 – 18: A New Vision for Secondary Education’. According to his vision, pupils should have the chance to specialise at 14 with the choice of 4 pathways at separate institutions, dependent on their strengths and interests. The 4 areas include liberal arts for academic subjects, technical for specialisms such as engineering, sports and creative arts, or a career course where students would specialise in subjects such as plumbing or catering at FE colleges. He believes that pupils should continue to study core subjects such as English and maths until the age of 18, regardless of which route they take.

According to the findings of the Edge Foundation report, 60% of schools have said that they’ve either already reduced the number of Level 2 vocational qualifications on offer or are planning to do so, due to changes to school performance tables. This is despite the majority of school leaders believing that vocational qualifications are valuable to young people: