FE White Paper: the proposals in detail

Citation

(2006), "FE White Paper: the proposals in detail", Education + Training, Vol. 48 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2006.00448fab.001

FE White Paper: the proposals in detail

Further-education colleges should be the engines of social and economic growth, providing young people and adults with the skills to meet the demands of the economy, according a White Paper entitled Further, Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances.

The document includes the Government's response to Sir Andrew Foster's report on the future role of FE colleges, and contains provisions to drive up the quality of teaching, to reward colleges for success and to make the sector more responsive to the skill needs of individuals and employers.

The main reforms are:

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  the introduction of free education for 19-25-year-olds studying for their first Level 3 qualification (two A-Levels or equivalent);

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  new adult-learning grants, to help students with living costs;

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  an £11 million programme to encourage the recruitment and development of the FE workforce of the future;

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  a tougher approach to tackling poor quality; and

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  trials of a new learner-accounts programme at Level 3.

Lord Leitch's interim report of his review of the nation's skill needs to 2020 found that the UK – ranked 24th out of 29 developed nations for the proportion of young people staying on in education or training after the age of 16 – lags behind its international competitors. The number of adults in the workforce without the skills needed to succeed in a modern economy is also high: the UK is ranked 17th out of 30 countries. At the same time, nations such as India and China are rapidly improving their skill base. Even if the UK meets current targets for raising skills and qualifications among young people and adults, by 2020 it will still be nowhere near the top of the international league.

The White Paper addresses these twin challenges of widening participation in FE among young people and adults and improving the skills of the workforce, by focusing reforms around key themes:

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  placing the skills that underpin economic success, employability and social justice at the heart of the sector's role;

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  introducing world-class specialized vocational learning, driven by the needs of employers, including strengthening Centres of Vocational Excellence;

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  raising the quality of teaching and training, through learning tailored to the needs of individuals, a more selective approach to inspection, and developing the FE workforce;

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  giving learners and employers greater say in the provision of education and training, more choices, and the tools to make the most of these opportunities;

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  expanding work-based training to meet employers' needs;

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  granting new entitlements to learners, to help more people in their early 1920s to continue training to get the technical, associate-professional and skilled-trade qualifications that are the passport to many good jobs;

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  allowing new freedoms for high-performing colleges, coupled with tougher and speedier intervention to combat poor performance;

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  introducing new styles of delivery of training, including federations, trusts and collaborations;

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  reducing bureaucracy and regulation;

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  providing opportunities for new, high-quality providers to enter the system, to bring in innovation and drive up quality; and

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  integrating higher education more systematically with the FE sector.

Alongside these key themes is a range of specific reforms aimed at making FE more responsive to the needs of learners and employers, including:

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  a new entitlement to free tuition for learners aged 19-25 studying for their first Level 3 qualification;

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  some £11 million for four new programmes of FE workforce reform, to encourage the recruitment and retention of top-quality graduates and managers and more staff exchange between FE and business;

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  a continuous professional development requirement for all staff;

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  the £11 million national roll-out of the adult-learning grant one year early (2007-2008) to provide a weekly maintenance allowance for adults, aged 19 and above, on low incomes and studying for Level 2 (5 GCSEs A^*-C or equivalent) or Level 3 qualifications;

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  the introduction of learner accounts for learners at Level 3, to give them technician, skilled-trade and associate-professional qualifications, subsidising the cost of courses at a provider of their choice, together with tailored information and advice;

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  the development of a single, recognized quality rating, giving new incentives to raise quality and a new, clear source of information for learners and employers; and

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  the end of funding for failing colleges, providers or departments, encouraging changes such as mergers or federation with another stronger college.

Sir Digby Jones, Confederation of British Industry director-general, said:

Constant upskilling and retraining will be the hallmark of a competitive economy in the twenty-first century. The Government must put employability at the heart of further education if it wants to help business to compete, and to equip people to enjoy fulfilling and varied careers. Ensuring that colleges focus on the needs of employers will help to banish the identity crisis about their role they have suffered for too long – and the introduction of limited competition to the sector is a positive step towards delivering the flexible, high-quality training that has too often been lacking.

Brendan Barber, Trades Union Congress general secretary, commented:

This White Paper is a welcome boost for employees who want to advance their careers through improved skills and training. It quite rightly puts colleges at the centre of a strategy for economic growth, and it still maintains their crucial social role. I am pleased to see that the

Government continues to recognize the role of unions in learning and skills... The document gives more employees opportunities to learn at work, and recognizes the importance of extra resources for FE colleges and staff support.

The Government has already launched the quality improvement agency for Lifelong Learning (QIA), which was included in the White Paper. The agency will provide advice and support services to help colleges and providers to offer high-quality education and training programmes. It will also work with a range of organisations to develop a new national quality-improvement strategy (QIS) for FE, building on the Government's Success for All programme. The strategy aims to:

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  support better teaching and learning and develop a professional, expert workforce for the sector;

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  publish performance information to drive improvement and help learners and employers to make well-informed choices;

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  intervene, where necessary, to tackle poor quality; and

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  provide objective, external inspection evidence on quality and standards.

The QIA will manage the national teaching and learning change programme for FE. It will develop new resources and coaching to support the new specialized diplomas for 14-19 year olds, the Train to Gain programme, national skill academies and the next generation of Centres of Vocational Excellence. It will also establish a national network of expert advisers to help colleges and providers to raise standards.

The QIA Chief Executive, Andrew Thomson, said:

The QIA is part of a new era, driving excellence across the learning and skill sector. The agency will be a catalyst for a culture of continuous self-improvement, working on three sound principles. One: to improve outcomes for students, trainees, employers, communities and the economy. Two, that quality be essentially the responsibility of people and organisations delivering education and training: the agency will add value by supporting their journey from compliance with norms to a culture of excellence and continuous improvement. And three, in a challenging and valuable role, the agency will lead thinking on quality improvement, identifying what excellence means for our sector and how best to achieve it.

Meanwhile, Schools Minister Jacqui Smith has announced that the first schools and colleges to deliver new specialized diploma courses through the Government's 14-19 reform programme will benefit from £50 million investment in training and support for staff. At the Association of Teachers and Lecturers annual conference in Gateshead, she said that investment in teachers, lecturers and support staff was essential in delivering high-quality diplomas that would engage young people in learning, ensuring that by 2015 nine out of ten would choose to stay on in post-16 education or training.

From 2008, the first five of 14 specialized diplomas will be available to young people alongside the existing curriculum, giving them the opportunity to study high-quality, work-related qualifications in classroom and workplace. Around £50 million will be available over the next two years to help schools and colleges as they prepare to deliver the first diplomas, funding key delivery partners to support the development of school and college staff through, for example:

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  specific training programmes and dedicated teaching resources developed by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and QIA for Teaching and Support Staff to help them to deliver effective and engaging diploma courses;

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  recruiting additional vocational teaching staff and improving the skills of the existing workforce to teach vocational subjects, by the Training and Development Agency for Schools and Lifelong Learning UK;

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  sharing expertise in leadership capability, management, and collaborative working to support effective leadership of 14-19 reforms through the National College for School Leadership and the Centre for Excellence in Leadership.

Schools and colleges that aim to deliver the first diplomas will need to work together with their local authorities to pass a “gateway” process, assessing their capacity to deliver them against a number of criteria. These will be finalized shortly, but are likely to include demonstrating detailed plans to collaborate with other local schools, colleges, businesses and employers to deliver diplomas to all students in the area and meet local skill needs; proposals to train, recruit and develop a dedicated workforce to deliver the diplomas; and high-quality classroom and workplace environments in which young people can study.

Margaret Hodge stated:

These changes will go a long way towards assisting and engaging the most vulnerable young people in society and helping them to find work. The new guidance and training for Jobcentre Plus staff will help to engage those who need help most. I am also encouraged by the introduction of activity-allowance pilots, which will help the Government to identify the best way to engage 16 to 17-year-olds who are not in education, employment and training, and reintegrate them back into formal learning while they are still young.