On 2 January 2018, an amendment to the Technical and Further Education Act came in to effect which could pave the way for new or enhanced working relations between schools and FE providers. The so-called Baker Clause means that it’s now compulsory for all schools to open their doors to allow FE and training providers to advertise their services to pupils.
Leaders of local authority-maintained schools and academies will now have to ensure there is an opportunity for a “range of education and training providers” to access pupils aged 13 – 18 and make them aware of the technical options available to them after they leave school.
The legislation will also apply to special schools, pupil referral units and alternative provision academies, and will require schools to prepare a policy statement setting out the circumstances in which providers of technical education will be given access.
Lord Baker anticipated resistance from schools, even stating that he expected the amendment would be “met with great hostility in every school in the country”. We wanted to find out how schools felt about the amendment and how they planned to accommodate the changes.
Laura Mulligan, Teacher of Engineering and Design Technology at Beverly Grammar School said: “Despite the expected resistance from schools towards the Baker Clause, I do think it is a positive step. In a number of schools across the country, there are students for whom school just isn't a good fit. They do not begin to come into their own until they are in a college environment, largely due to the fact they are more vocationally inclined as opposed to academically. For schools, it can only be a positive move to work with local colleges as, in theory, learners’ best interests should be of the utmost priority. Additionally, many schools are simply not resourced to teach vocational or technical qualifications as they do not have the appropriate funding for non-core subjects.”
The act does stipulate that the education secretary can “make provision about who is to be given access to pupils, to which pupils they are to be given access, and how and when”. With Damian Hinds very much new to the role, we can’t yet know if he would be inclined to intervene.
At NCFE, we welcome the opportunity for pupils to be given full, complete information about technical routes into further education or the work place. We believe that the Baker Clause will allow for alternative routes to achieve a more equal presence in the education landscape.
We recognise the unique experiences that learners have across all age groups and that introduction to academic alternatives can have a direct impact on engagement with education later in life, following a positive experience.
By providing more information to pupils, we hope that it reduces the disenchantment with education which can occur when the academic route presented is the sole option and doesn’t quite fit.
Are you currently able to access school age pupils in your local area? Is your college and example of this working in practice? Let us know by emailing [email protected].
