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2007
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TES discusses whether ministers are right to make pupils
stay on until 18 to boost the economy and looks at evidence
on raising the leaving age. To read this article in full visit
www.tes.co.uk/search/story/?story_id=2326953
(TES, 5 January 2007)
The number of young people doing nothing with their lives
has risen sharply since Labour came to power, government figures
have shown. There are now 1.24 million people aged between
15 and 24 who are neither in education, work or in a training
scheme - a 15% increase on 1997. The rise has been particularly
rapid for 16 to 17-year-olds and men, both up by almost a
third. The figures, from the Office for National Statistics,
are an embarrassment for the Government, which has spent billions
of pounds helping disadvantaged young people to stay on at
school, train and get a job. Both Labour and the Tories have
placed the blame for social breakdown at the door of errant
fathers.
(The Times, 11 December 2006)
Plans for a new A-level "super-grade" have been unveiled
as part of Tony Blair's radical reform of school exams. The
A* grade will be the "upper hurdle for brighter pupils to
jump", education department officials said. It could be introduced
in 2008. The move was announced as the Prime Minister outlined
his vision of the future of the education system. He also
announced plans to encourage more state schools to offer the
International Baccalaureate (IB), a more broad based exam
in which students study six compulsory subjects to the age
of 18 instead of three, as in A levels.
In addition, new specialist vocational diplomas will be offered
in schools. Mr Blair has said that he wanted every local authority
to have at least one school or college offering IB, and announced
the Government would provide funding for up to 100 extra schools
to offer it by 2010. At present, it is available in only 43
state schools.
(Independent, 1 December 2006)
The TES looks at research that shows the system is
working in favour of the middle classes. To read this article
in full visit www.tes.co.uk/search/story/?story_id=2300318
(TES FE Focus, 20 October 2006)
The TES reports on research from Greenwich University, which
found that school sixth-forms are a deterent to the lowest
socio-economic groups. To read this article in full visit
www.tes.co.uk/search/story/?story_id=2300307
(TES FE Focus, 20 October 2006)
According to research thousands of Ulster's poorest teenagers
are being lured into college by educational maintenance allowances
(EMA). Teenagers from poorer families in the province are
four times more likely than those from affluent backgrounds
to quit education at 16, but the study has found that the
grants, of up to £30 a week, have made a significant impact
on their decision-making.
The money is available to teenagers whose family income is
less than £30,000. In reality, most claimants came from households
where the income is below £20,000. In EMA's first year, more
than 10,400 of Ulster's 16 year-olds applied, at a cost of
£9 million. The study into EMAs was out by Queen's University
and the University of Ulster. They found that 30% of respondents'
decision to stay in education was influenced by the allowance.
The report, To Stay or Not To Stay:
that is the question, used data from the 2005 Young
Life and Times province-wide survey of 16 year-olds. Katrina
Lloyd and Paula Devine, who compiled the study, discovered
other major differences based on family wealth. The study
showed that the high drop-out rate existed despite the fact
that most agree extended education leads to better pay.
380,000 EMA grants were made in England by the Learning
and Skills Council in 2005, benefiting more than a third of
a million students. EMAs have been widely seen as a success
in all four countries of the UK, although there have been
concerns over red tape, with colleges having to confirm attendance
of recipients.
(TES, 25 August 2006)
Employers have advised that young people with fewer than
five good GCSEs risk becoming unemployable and should stay
on at college to boost their results. More than 20% said that
they would not recruit teenagers with fewer than five good
GCSEs or the vocational equivalent, and 15% said that they
would ignore the CVs completely, according to a survey for
the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Anthony Thompson, head
of skills at the CBI, said that five good GCSEs were not only
the minimum benchmark, but employers expected teenagers also
to be able to read instructions, write clearly and do simple
arithmetic.
Britain has one of the worst staying on rates in post-16
education in the Western world, with about 20% of 17 year-olds
neither in education nor training in 2005. The LSC survey
coincides with the news that a scheme designed to prepare
teenagers for the workplace had failed to improve their basic
English and maths skills.
The Government's Increased Flexibility for 14 to16 Year Olds
Programme allows students who are less keen on academic subjects
to spend time on work-related study. The initiative, introduced
in 2002, aimed to boost pupils' attainment in national qualifications.
However, a study by the National Foundation for Educational
Research has found that pupils on the scheme achieved worse
GCSE results in maths and English than similar students, who
were not taking part.
(The Times, 24 August 2006)
A survey intended to warn teenagers about the dangers of
dropping out of education has shown that most employers would
take them on even if they failed their exams. Nearly three-quarters
of companies said they would consider hiring staff who had
failed to get the five good GCSE grades, or the vocational
equivalent, which the Government considers are essential for
employment.
More than a third would be prepared to offer skilled jobs
with good pay and prospects to those without the level 2 qualifications.
But the survey of 412 employers for the Learning and Skills
Council (LSC) also found that school-leavers with few qualifications
will have to overcome employers prejudices.
Nearly four in 10 students last year failed to get five good
GCSEs or equivalent, and half of them dropped out of education
and training altogether. The survey found that school-leavers
without good GCSEs or vocational qualifications earned an
average of £1,700 less in their first job. Over their lifetime,
those with the minimum qualifications would earn £4,000 a
year more on average.
Julia Dowd, director of young people's learning at the LSC,
said: "The really important message we are trying to put out
to young people is that a fifth of them are thinking of dropping
out of learning and we want to bring home the implications
of that. If they are looking for short-term work and money,
they are likely to suffer in the future."
(TES, 1 September 2006)
The Prince's Trust has warned that more than 30,000 16 year-olds
left school in 2006 with no qualifications, a statistic often
ignored in the annual A* GCSE exam successes. The trust, which
is backed by the Prince of Wales, is launching a qualification
aimed at the one in 20 school leavers who end up with no GCSEs
at all.
Accredited by the City and Guilds awarding body, the vocational
certificate will be awarded to 16 to 25 year-olds who complete
the charity's intensive 12 week 'personal development' course,
after acquiring skills relevant for employment or for taking
up further education and training. Candidates will work for
a certificate in personal teamwork and community skills, which
asks them to demonstrate skills including the ability to write
a CV. The qualification is the equivalent of Level 1- Grade
C or below in GCSE.
(Guardian, 22 August 2006)
Schools are celebrating one of the biggest rises in A grades
at A level. The results show that some 24.1% of A level entries
achieved an A, an 1.3 percentage-point rise on 2005. 2006's
results are the second-highest rise since 1965, when the exam
was first graded.
For the first time, more than a quarter of girls' entries
got an A, while the overall pass rate nudged up for the 24th
year in a row, from 96.2% to 96.6%. Secondary schools welcomed
the results but they will fuel the row over standards, which
intensified this week amid complaints that universities can
no longer choose between high-achievers as so many have top
grades.
Girls continued to dominate the higher grades, with 25.3%
of them getting A grades, compares with 22.7% for boys, as
the gap between the sexes widened by 0.2 points. Girls now
outperform boys in every major subject except French, German
and Spanish. Entries for all subjects were also up, by 2.8%
to a new high of 805,698.
(TES, 18 August 2006)
Young people at risk of falling into the NEET group (not
in education, employment or training) are to be offered a
range of incentives under the Scottish Executive's long-awaited
strategy. The plan will involve private, public and voluntary
sector partnerships and draw on proposals already highlighted
by the Smith Group, headed by Glasgow businessman Sir Robert
Smith. Sir Robert said action was not dependent on more money
but on making existing money work more effectively.
While 35,000 (13.5%) of 16 to 19 year-olds are in the NEET
group, this includes those taking a gap year between school
and university. The executive therefore estimates that a core
of around 20,000 need help to find their way into the labour
market. Six main forms of action are proposed:
- Extension of the XLerate programme to prepare young people
for the world of work - previously piloted with support
from the Hunter Foundation. The executive is committing
around £1 million over the next two years, to extend the
scheme to about 100 schools in Scotland
- An extra £400,000 from Careers Scotland's budget for 10
schools particularly affected
- £2.4 million over two years to give enhanced careers advice
- New financial incentives, such as 'activity allowances'
for those who participate in informal learning as a first
step towards employment, education and training
- Extending Skills for Work courses to S2 pupils
- NEET hotspots in Glasgow, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, West
Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, and Inverclyde
will receive £400,000 this year and next; other authorities
will receive £75,000, making a total of £10 million over
two years.
The strategy, More Choices, More Chances, takes a twin-track
approach of giving pupils the skills in school to make them
more employable and providing learning experiences for them.
It also aims to provide better profiling of the NEET group
by tracking the progress of individuals. Financial incentives
to entice youngsters into training or education, the 'something
for something' approach, builds on plans to pilot activity
and learning agreements for 16 to 17 year-olds in parts of
England.
(TES Scotland, 16 June 2006)
Does "widening participation" remain a core Labour
policy? If it does, a study makes clear that it has a long
way to run before success can be claimed. The study showed
that over 50% of young men and 57% of young women who fail
to gain qualifications at school also fail to do so afterwards.
That is, they do nothing to pick-up qualifications during
their 20's.
These young people are firmly in the target group for widening
participation. Many of them fall into a category of people
who, having failed at education the first time round, do not
want to risk repeating the experience. In many cases, this
way of looking at things runs in their families. To some observers
of the Government's further education policy, this research
finding merely reinforces the suspicion they already have
that Labour has lost interest in widening participation through
colleges, though it remains an aspiration at the higher education
level, as the 50% target shows.
As far as the over-19s are concerned, the beam of further
education policy is now focused on equipping people with a
full level 2 qualification, i.e. five good GCSEs or their
vocational equivalent. This, say its critics, is not the same
thing as widening participation. For the majority of those
adults who had lousy experiences at school a "full fat"
level 2 qualification, requiring them to sign-up to a full-time
course, is not an attractive option.
Colin Flint, associate director for further education at
the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education, said:
"This is where we need a proper unitised, credit-based
qualifications system, so that they can begin to accumulate
credits quickly and taste some success." To the many
people who, like Flint, wanted the Government to adopt the
diploma package proposed by the Tomlinson committee, the situation
is a measure of that failure and the absence of a "proper"
vocational route for school-kids.
(Guardian, 3 January 2006)
The largest ever survey of student satisfaction in further
education has found that colleges are transforming attitudes
to learning and that 89% of students were satisfied with their
courses. They interviewed more than 43,000 people enrolled
in colleges, work-based learning and adult education on behalf
of the Learning and Skills Council. Older students were more
enthusiastic, with 27% describing themselves as extremely
satisfied compared with 17% of teenagers.
Barry Lovejoy, head of further education at Natfhe, the
lecturer's union, said: "We are keen to do even better
but high standards are likely to decline if the Government
fails to bridge the funding gap of more than 10 per cent between
colleges and schools and if it does nothing to make a college
lecturer's career more attractive. Lecturers cannot survive
on praise alone."
The survey suggests that FE colleges are helping to transform
disaffected teenagers and adults into keen learners. Some
40% of students surveyed said they had disliked or been indifferent
to education when they had left school. But after at least
a year in college, nearly four-fifths of students said they
enjoy learning and get a "buzz" from it. Increasingly,
students also say they enjoy the social aspects of studying.
This year, the figure was 49%, up 10 percentage points in
two years. More than four out of five said they were likely
to take more courses in the next three years.
(TES, 2 September 2005)
Lecturer Stephen Jones tells how a former drug addict gained
hope through education, including her own description of her
rehabilitation.
http://www.tes.co.uk/search/story/?story_id=2128691
(TES, 2 September 2005)
Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK) will be responsible for setting
training standards for all those who work in post-16 education,
including colleges, the workplace and universities. It will
even look after less obvious educational occupations such
as youth and library work. The chairman of LLUK, John Hedger,
says one of its objectives is not only to be well-known but
recognised as improving the lot of the employers it represents.
LLUK is not the first organisation that has promised to make
sense of the plate of spaghetti that post-16 education has
become. What LLUK is trying to do for workforce development,
the Learning and Skills Council has been promising to do for
funding since it was created in 2001. Mr Hedger hopes that
the ordinary lecturer will, in time, at least know what LLUK
is and, in five years, that all training providers, including
colleges, will recognise that LLUK is "making a difference".
Mr Hedger said: "In five years, I hope LLUK will have
given employers a sense that they are really influencing the
development of their own workforce."
Already, LLUK has come a long way in getting interested parties
to sign up to its cause. It has brought together a bewildering
range of occupations and, perhaps even tougher, convinced
the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to
put their training under its control. The Department for Education
and Skills, which holds the purse strings, would not have
accepted less than a UK-wide organisation. It was a major
challenge to bring the different bits of post-16 together
and convince England's neighbours that they would be treated
as equals within an organisation conceived in Whitehall. LLUK
is one of more than 30 sector skills councils responsible
for the training of staff in different industries, from hairdressing
to construction. The councils replace a network of more than
70 national training organisations, which were much smaller.
Barry Sheerman, chairman of the Commons education select
committee, said the new body has a "vital" job to
do as the standard of further education comes under increasing
scrutiny from Government
(TES, 10 June 2005)
Why embed literacy, language and numeracy? A major incentive
is the real possibility that it might help more learners to
pass vocational qualifications. Poor basic skills and low
confidence are often responsible for early drop-out. Many
learners lack motivation to focus solely on literacy and numeracy.
Embedded approaches work well with learners who would otherwise
be reluctant to do anything about improving their literacy,
language or numeracy. This is not to say that the literacy
and numeracy work should be hidden, but that it should be
directly linked to the learners' main motivation. Recent work
at the National Research and Development Centre for Adult
Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC) at the Institute of Education
is beginning to reveal the potential of embedded approaches.
One report evaluates work on ways of organising literacy,
numeracy and key skills within apprenticeships, another documents
a series of case studies of embedded teaching and learning.
One of the studies describes the shifting attitudes towards
literacy and numeracy from young apprentices in construction
as their bricklaying teacher impresses on them the essential
role of literacy and numeracy to succeed in the construction
trades. If a learner's primary motivation is, for example,
to be a bricklayer, then the vocational relevance of literacy
and numeracy skills needs to be made explicit as part of the
programme. Using embedded approaches does not mean that vocational
teachers need to become literacy and numeracy teachers, but
it does mean that vocational and basic skills staff need to
work closely together in teams to ensure that literacy and
numeracy development moves "in sync" with vocational
development. The case studies include details of the effectiveness
of literacy or numeracy teaching when it is directly linked
to a practical task, and where possible at the time of the
practical task.
It is clear from the research so far that there is no one
way to organise embedded provision. It can, in some instances,
be carried out by a dual-skilled teacher but it is more likely
to be through a team with complementary expertise working
together. The organisation of the learning will vary according
to the skills of the staff, the needs of the learners and
the demands of the particular situation. The case studies
reveal successful teams as having time to work and plan together,
and being willing to learn from each other.
Behind the successful teams, there needs to be an organisational
culture that values and prioritises Skills for Life, not least
to ensure that staff timetables allow time to work together
to plan embedded work. The team will need to analyse the particular
literacy, language and numeracy demands of the vocational
curriculum as a starting point.
The Skills for Life teachers will also have to explore how
literacy, language and numeracy are used within both the job
and the training. Help is at hand for some vocational areas
from the recently published embedded teaching materials from
the Skills for Life Strategy Unit at DfES, which include useful
ready-made curriculum maps.
Another NRDC project, led by the National Institution for
Adult and Continuing Education (NIACE), on working with young
adults, Success Factors in Informal
Learning, recommends that practitioners should "ensure
a positive projection of literacy, language and numeracy.
If the tutor dislikes 'basic skills' so will the young adults.
Integrate, embed, but don't disguise. Don't treat basic skills
as bolt-on; it must run through everything, not just on Thursday
afternoons."
By Helen Casey, associate director at the National Research
and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy
(Guardian, 15 March 2005)
The Government is being warned that it is in danger of missing
its target for recruiting apprentices because the scheme has
become too successful. Training companies say that, because
fewer youngsters are dropping out of the programme, there
is not enough money left to enrol sufficient numbers of new
recruits to achieve the Government's aim.
In February 2005, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) said
it has fallen between 5% and 10% short, about 8000, of the
number of recruits it should have signed up at the halfway
point in the academic year. But its director of work-based
learning, Stephen Gardner, said that although funding was
tight, the quango was determined to hit the target which stipulates
that 175,000 youngsters aged 16 to 21 should have started
an apprenticeship in the year to July 31.
Future funding depends on achieving the key "public
service agreement" targets that the Department for Education
and Skills has negotiated with the Treasury. Until recently,
the drop-out rate was high. Gardner confirmed that the apprenticeship
success rate has since improved, particularly among level
2 apprentices. The numbers of level 3 advanced apprentices
completing the national vocational qualification, key skills
and technical certificate has remained more static.
(Guardian, 15 February 2005)
A secret survey of college principals has revealed deep and
wide-spread dissatisfaction with the Learning and Skills Council
(LSC), the body that funds further education. Of the respondents
to the survey, 73% said they were not satisfied with the performance
of the LSC, with just 10% believing it was doing a better
job than its predecessor, the Further Education Funding Council.
Only 2% agreed that the LSC had the staffing and skills to
be effective, and 79% said the structure of the funding body
was not working well.
The poll of principals was conducted by David Colline, head
of South Cheshire College in Crewe, one of only a handful
of tertiary and general FE colleges to be rated 'outstanding'
by Ofsted inspectors. He sent a questionnaire last month to
the 317 college heads registered on the principals' email
bulletin board. His findings are contained in a 50-page report
based on the 127 replies: a 40% response rate. Explaining
why he conducted the poll, Mr Colline said: "I was aware
of a number of inconsistencies between (local) LSCs in terms
of their response to particular issues and I wondered if that
was a common problem."
(TES, 14 January 2005)
The success of initiatives to encourage more young people
to stay on in education at 16 will ultimately depend on getting
their parents on board. Parents are the main providers and
the extension of the period of dependent youth means that
young people increasingly need parental support. However,
support, both giving and receiving it - comes at a cost. Young
people's ability to exercise individual choice is compromised.
One study reported that some people said they had not been
mature enough to make decisions at 16 and so their parents'
wishes prevailed. Being "mature" in this sense means
thinking ahead and not responding to short-term pressures
and attractions. Over time, the power to choose increases
and early mistakes can be rectified. Late re-entry into education
is not uncommon, as early dropouts sometimes return.
In the qualitative study, young people aged 16 to 25 and
their parents in two areas of England were interviewed about
beliefs and practices surrounding parental support. It emerged
that many parents hang onto beliefs based on personal experience.
They often started work in their mid-teens and lived at home,
paying board, until they left to start a family. They have
little understanding of the current youth labour market, in
which jobs for those without qualifications are "dead-end".
They still believe that it is possible to progress from the
shop floor. If they support post-compulsory education at all,
it is because they have gleaned evidence that it leads to
better jobs.
It is the parents who left school at the minimum age who
cause most concern. Some encourage their children to break
the mould and stay on in education and training. Others expect
their children to follow their example and get jobs. Some
parents too readily write off their children's education prospects.
Over half the parents in the study thought that their legal
responsibility to provide food, clothing and shelter ended
at 16 or 17. Most had no idea when they were expected to stop
subsidising their children's education, and a quarter thought
they had no responsibility to do so.
Parents currently hold the key to the success of post-compulsory
education policies. They need evidence that an investment
in their children's future will be worth it. They also need
to learn what their new responsibilities may be. This will
not ensure that all young people get the help they need from
their parents, though. Some 80% of the young people interviewed
thought the Government should do more to help young people
financially. Given the variability in patterns of parental
support, they have a point.
Gill Jones, is emeritus professor of sociology, Keele University,
and director of the project The Parenting
of Youth: Economic Dependence and Social Protection,
which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
(Guardian, 11 January 2005)
The Government's Entry to Employment (E2E) scheme for youngsters
leaving school without qualifications has made a promising
start, even though only 6% of participants have fulfilled
its original aim by progressing to an apprenticeship, according
to a report published in January 2005.
Barely a third of the 50,000 teenagers in the first year
of the E2E programme have gone on to work-based learning,
further education or employment, but this should not constitute
a damning verdict on a new approach to a huge problem, says
the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI). Its review of the programme
exposes serious flaws and questions whether it can successfully
accommodate so many young people with such varied needs. However,
on balance, E2E is moving in the right direction says David
Sherlock, Chief Inspector of Adult Learning.
E2E emerged from a 2001 inquiry, headed by Sir John Cassells,
into flagging modern apprenticeships. His committee's concern
was that 16-year-olds who had done badly at school were not
equipped to start an apprenticeship because the programme
had no appropriate entry level for them. E2E was launched
in August 2003 and was intended to draw together all existing
work preparation programmes, including level 1 national vocational
qualifications, under one umbrella. It particularly aimed
to improve skills in three areas: personal and social; vocational;
and literacy, numeracy and spoken language.
To succeed, says the ALI review, E2E must provide the right
mix of these three elements to meet the widely varying needs
of individual youngsters. Few providers have so far successfully
managed to draw the strands together, it concludes, though
some are making good progress with individual elements, especially
the development of personal and social skills.
(Guardian, 4 January 2005)
One in three FE students in Wales signs up for their course
in pubs, rugby clubs, village halls and similar venues. A
survey has revealed that the 25 Welsh FE colleges operate
3,076 outreach centres, an average of 123 each. Two years
ago some 104,697 learners enrolled on courses at such centres,
representing 33% of enrolments.
The scale of modern outreach work is outlined in a report
called Reaching out: taking learning
out into the community. It is published by Fforwm,
the Welsh association of colleges, who say that outreach work
plays a crucial part in progress towards the Welsh Assembly's
goal of widening FE participation through social inclusion.
Scout huts and guide halls, prisons and libraries, alms houses
and churches are other examples of the venues used by colleges
as outreach centres. Dr John Graystone, Chief Executive of
Fforwm, said: "Wales is still lagging behind England
when it comes to the level of qualifications, and it is estimated
that one in four adults in Wales has basic skills needs."
The survey shows that the real advance in this work took
place in 1999 to 2000, when student enrolments increased by
52%. The following year saw a further increase of 13%. The
low number of male learners is a concern: new female students
outnumber males on a ratio of 7:3, and post-19 learners vastly
outnumber pre-19s by 91 to nine.
(TES, 12 November 2004)
Education maintenance allowances (EMAs) go national as of
September 2004. EMAs were launched after research showed that,
in 2002, the UK ranked 20th out of 24 OECD countries for staying-on
rates among 16-year-olds. Evaluation of the pilot, which covered
roughly one-third of the country, showed that the extra cash
helped offset the cost of transport and books enough to encourage
5.9% more students in Year 11 to continue in education, according
to a study by the Institute of Fiscal Studies.
The allowances are means-based and will cost the Government
about £450m a year. Students will receive £10,
£20 or £30 per week, and since students whose
parents earn less than £30,000 a year can benefit, almost
50% of all 16 to 19-year-olds in England are eligible.
(Independent, 2 September 2004)
A substantial increase in the number of qualifications being
achieved by post-16 learners is shown in figures published
in July 2003. There was a rise of 10% in the success rate
in further education in 2001-02, while work-based learning
rates rose by 8%.
The news is contained in the Learning and Skills Council's
Statistical First Release. Success rates for FE rose from
59 to 65%, while work-based learning results rose from 36
to 39%.
(TES, 25 July 2003)
A group of volunteers has agreed to road test a number of
reader development strategies for use in further or higher
education. This pilot work is being organised by the Chartered
Institute of Library and Information Professionals' post-16
learning panel.
The scheme was outlined at a meeting at CILIP in May 2003
which brought together a group of FE and HE librarians from
around the UK. The meeting was called by the panel, one of
whose work objectives is to investigate the use of reader
development techniques as tools for librarians working in
the post-16 academic sector. The pilots will take place in
the various institutions represented by the volunteers during
the 2003-4 academic year.
For information contact Kathy Ennis, post-16 learning adviser
at CILIP, on 020 7255 0500.
(Library and Information Update, July 2003)
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