Presentation from the Black Country Partnership for Learning Conference 14-19 Education & The Wolf Report 25th November 2011 Hawthorns Conference Centre, West Bromwich

1. Autumn Conference
14-19 Education and the Wolf Report
Black Country Partnership for
Learning
25th November 2011

2. Keynote Input - Should We
Welcome Wolf?
John Freeman, CBE, Chair of Corporation,
Dudley College (formerly Director of the
REACT Programme and Director Children’s
Services, Dudley MBC)

3. Black Country Partnership for Learning
Autumn Conference - 25 November 2011
Should we welcome Wolf?
John Freeman CBE
Chair of the Corporation
Dudley College

4. Why me?
1982-84 – Industrial Physics Mode 3 CSE
1988-93 – Birmingham TVEI
1996-00 – Somerset County Council
2001-08 – Dudley MBC
2007-08 – Association of Directors of Children‟s
Services
2008-10 – React Programme (LGA / DCSF)

5. Why me?
1982-84 – Industrial Physics Mode 3 CSE
1988-93 – Birmingham TVEI
1996-00 – Somerset County Council
2001-08 – Dudley MBC
2007-08 – Association of Directors of Children‟s
Services
2008-10 – React Programme (LGA / DCSF)
This is a personal view and analysis!

6. Should we welcome Wolf?
Yes … but …
It’s more complicated than ‘yes’ or ‘no’:
- We certainly need to improve education provision
from age 14.
- Too many young people leave school and college
demotivated by education and under-skilled for
further education and employment.
- But … the reality may not match the rhetoric.

7. A historical perspective – back in 1988
„The TVE Entitlements‟ (14-19, Birmingham)
For all:
- progressive work-related activity
- problem-solving technological activity across the
curriculum
- enterprise education as part of economic awareness
- careers education and guidance

8. A historical perspective – back in 1988
„The TVE Entitlements‟ (14-19, Birmingham)
For all:
- progressive work-related activity
- problem-solving technological activity across the
curriculum
- enterprise education as part of economic awareness
- careers education and guidance
Scuppered by the National Curriculum!

9. The principles
We need to build into the system incentives and
disciplines for providers and for young people such
that activities and learning that we value are promoted
and that activities and learning that we don’t value are
discouraged.

10. The principles
We need to build into the system incentives and
disciplines for providers and for young people such
that activities and learning that we value are promoted
and that activities and learning that we don’t value are
discouraged.
Agreed … but …

11. The principles
We need to build into the system incentives and
disciplines for providers and for young people such
that activities and learning that we value are promoted
and that activities and learning that we don’t value are
discouraged.
Agreed … but …
Who decides? The Secretary of State?
Officials? The YPLA/SFA/EFA? The CBI?

12. An example
Employers use GCSE English and mathematics as an
entry-to-employment filter.
But employers’ organisations repeatedly complain
about literacy and numeracy.
So are GCSE English and mathematics fit for this
purpose?

13. An example – literacy and numeracy
Is it appropriate that the ‘lowest attaining learners’
should focus on ‘the core academic skills of English
and mathematics’?
Is it appropriate that young people who have failed to
achieve GCSE A*-C in these subjects at school should
be made to pursue a ‘course which leads to these
qualifications’?

14. An example – literacy and numeracy
Is it appropriate that the ‘lowest attaining learners’
should focus on ‘the core academic skills of English
and mathematics’?
Is it appropriate that young people who have failed to
achieve GCSE A*-C in these subjects at school should
be made to pursue a ‘course which leads to these
qualifications’?
I argue that the aim is right – young people
need to be literate and numerate – but that the
implementation is wrong – GCSEs won’t work.

15. So – a quick skim through the recommendations
1. Qualifications and PIs
2. Freedom to offer KS4 courses
3. Common core
4. Improve outcomes at KS4 for lowest-attaining
5. General principles for vocational programmes
6. 16-19 courses must go beyond vocational
7. Lowest attaining 16-19 should focus on English,
mathematics and work experience
8. Review apprenticeship frameworks

16. So – a quick skim through the recommendations - 2
9. Compulsory English and mathematics GCSE until
Level 2 achieved
10. CPD for mathematics teachers
11. Funding on a per-student basis
12. Freedom for young people to choose courses
13. Post-19 credits for un-used learning entitlement
14. Apprenticeships subsidised
15. Review apprenticeship systems
16. Group Training Associations

17. So – a quick skim through the recommendations - 2
17. QTLS in schools
18. Review non-QTLS vocational teaching
19. Colleges to enrol under 16 for KS4
20. Institutions to publish prior attainment
21. Work experience 16-18, remove WRL at KS4
22. Ofqual to change focus
23. Simplify qualification approval
24. Consult on NOS

18. So – a quick skim through the recommendations - 2
25. Review Ofqual
26. Introduce better PI for schools
27. Vocational qualifications should involve employers

19. So - should we welcome Wolf?
Yes, with reservations, and a close eye on
implementation, and an thought for the
lessons of the past!

20. Black Country Partnership for Learning
Autumn Conference - 25 November 2011
Should we welcome Wolf?
John Freeman CBE
Chair of the Corporation
Dudley College

21. The 14-19 Landscape – Impact of
Wolf
Mike Cox, Learning and Skills
Improvement Service (LSIS)

22. Government Priorities and Timelines
for Vocational Education, Following the
Wolf Recommendations
Tessa Griffiths, DfE Wolf
Implementation Team - A Levels and
Vocational Education

23. Wolf Review
Policy Update
Tessa Griffiths
16-19 Qualifications Policy

24. Why good vocational education matters
• It is crucial to improving England‟s educational
performance
• It contributes towards our economic growth
• It improves social mobility and inspires ambition
in young people

25. Immediate Wolf priorities
• Simplifying Apprenticeships, removing
bureaucracy and making them easier for
employers to offer
• Looking at the vocational offer for 14-16 year
olds and reforming Key Stage 4 performance
tables
• Considering the principles of 16-19 vocational
education: funding, study programmes, work
experience and English and maths

26. 14-16 vocational education: what are the issues?
• Impact of performance tables on school behaviour
“… the overwhelming majority of
respondents to the Review were in
• Specialisation at Key Stage 4 agreement that there should be no
substantial degree of
specialisation before the end of
KS4” Professor Alison Wolf
• Need for strong academic core at Key Stage 4
“No KS4 student should be tracked
irreversibly: and all KS4
programmes should therefore
contain a large common core”
Professor Alison Wolf

27. 14-16: what we are doing
We have published our response to the consultation on 14-16
Qualifications and Performance Tables. We will:
• Reform equivalencies – one qualification will count for one
• Include only the highest quality vocational qualifications in
Performance Tables in future
• Publish the list of qualifications that will count in the 2014
performance tables in Spring 2012

28. 16-19 vocational education: what is the problem?
“The staple offer for between a
Only about a
quarter and a third of the post-16
fifth of those
cohort is a diet of low-level
who have not
vocational qualifications, most of
achieved Level
which have little or no market value”
2 English and
Professor Alison Wolf
maths by age
16 achieve
qualifications in • High numbers of 16-19 are pursuing
these subjects qualifications that offer little possibility of
by age 19 progression
• Too few young people who do not achieve
GCSE English and maths at age 16 go on to
achieve these qualifications post-16
• Employers say that young people are leaving
full time education without the skills they need

29. 16-19: what are we doing?
 Proposing that every full time 16-19 learner follows a coherent study
programme that enables them to progress
 Proposing radical reforms to the post-16 funding system to support this
change – funding by student/study programme not qualification
 Giving providers freedom to develop programmes in response to their
students’ needs, ambitions and interests
 Holding providers to account for this through inspection and performance
indicators
 Expecting study programmes to include English and maths for those who
have not achieved the GCSE by age 16
 Making substantial experience of the workplace a key element of 16-19
study programmes

30. Questions
If you haven‟t already, please respond to the consultations:
www.education.gov.uk/consultations
 What are the best vocational qualifications for 14-16 year
olds?
 What makes a good coherent study programme 16-19?
 How are the barriers to high quality work experience post
16?
 How can we improve achievement in Level 2 English and
Maths post 16?

31. Strategic and Funding Considerations –
Implications for Institutions 2012 and
Beyond
Geoff Daniels, Adviser, Funding
Reform, Young Peoples Learning
Agency (YPLA)

32. STRATEGIC AND FUNDING
CONSIDERATIONS
Geoff Daniels (YPLA)
Black Country Partnership for Learning
25 November 2011
Championing Young People‟s Learning

33. COLLABORATION AND FLEXIBILITY
IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
• Colleges free to enrol pre-16
• QTLS to be valid for schools (probably April ’12)
• UTCs and Studio Schools
• College sponsorship of Academies
Championing Young People‟s Learning

34. 16-19 FUNDING CONSULTATION
• Autumn 2011 – consultation launched,
closes 4 January 2012
• Spring 2012 – decisions
• 2013/14 – Raising of participation age to 17.
• 2013/14 – Implementation of new funding
arrangements
• 2015/16 – Raising of participation age to 18
Championing Young People‟s Learning

35. SCOPE OF CONSULTATION
• Reforming disadvantage funding
• Funding learners’ ‘programmes’
• Success factor
• Other factors e.g.., area costs, residential
care standards
Championing Young People‟s Learning

36. DISADVANTAGE
• Alignment with pupil premium – standard flat rate
funding for all deprived young people (pro rata part-
time)
• Options for scope of disadvantage funding
o Single budget combining current disadvantage and ‘formula’
ALS, separate funds for learning disabilities/difficulties
o Separate funds for economic disadvantage and learning
support (similar to present)
o Separate funds for economic disadvantage and learning
disabilities/difficulties; learning support integrated into
programme funding
Championing Young People‟s Learning

37. DISADVANTAGE
• Options for allocating disadvantage
o Use pre-16 eligibility (FSM)
o Index of Multiple Deprivation
o Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index
• Additional categories; pre-16 premium includes care
learners and service children
Championing Young People‟s Learning

38. PARTICIPATION FUNDING
• ‘Funding per learner’ key principle (differentiating full
and part time)
• Options for reflecting variations in programme size
• Weightings at ‘programme’ rather than ‘qualification’
level
• Reduce number of programme weightings?
Championing Young People‟s Learning

39. SUCCESS FACTOR
• Issues concerning transparency; possible ‘risk averse’
behaviour; need for success factor in funding given
other accountability measures
• Options
o Retain success factor
o Remove success factor completely
o Remove ‘achievement’ element but retain ‘retention’ element
Championing Young People‟s Learning

40. OTHER FACTORS
• Area costs – retain current factors or align with
proposed pre-16 method?
• Separate ‘residential care standards’ funding from
formula
• Remove ‘short programme modifier’
Championing Young People‟s Learning

41. IMPLEMENTATION AND NEXT STEPS
• Options to manage funding volatility
o Transitional protection
o Phased implementation
• Calculate ‘shadow allocation’ for 2012/13
• Allocations for 2013/14 based on new formula
Championing Young People‟s Learning

42. Panel Q & A

43. Lunch and networking

44. ‘Developments in the Mathematics
Curriculum post-Wolf’
Charlie Stripp, Chief Executive, MEI
(Mathematics in Education and
Industry)

45. Developments in the
Maths Curriculum post Wolf
Charlie Stripp, Chief Executive,
Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI)

46. Three maths cohorts at 16
1. Those who failed to achieve at least a
grade C (level 2) at GCSE Maths
2. Those going on to AS/A level Maths
(Almost all have A*, A or B at GCSE)
3. Those with C+ at GCSE not planning to
take AS/A level Maths

47. Level 2 Maths post-16
• English and Maths GCSE (at grades A*-C) are
fundamental to young people’s employment and
education prospects. Yet less than 50% of
students have both at the end of Key Stage 4
(age 15/16); and at age 18 the figure is still
below 50%. Only 4% of the cohort achieve this
key credential during their 16-18 education.
Worse, the funding and accountability systems
established by government create perverse
incentives to steer 16+ students into inferior
alternative qualifications.
Wolf review March 2011

48. Level 2 Maths post-16
English and Maths GCSE (A*-C) are of critical
importance for employment. Employers use them
as a signal and sifting device and they are also of
critical importance for entry into selective
programmes post-16, and HE. As Professor Lorna
Unwin told the Review,“There is only one real
Level 2. Maths and English A*-C.”
Wolf review March 2011

49. Wolf review: Recommendation 9
Students who are under 19 and do not have GCSE
A*-C in English and/or Maths should be required,
as part of their programme, to pursue a course
which either leads directly to these qualifications,
or which provide significant progress towards
future GCSE entry and success. The latter should
be based around other Maths and English
qualifications which have demonstrated substantial
content and coverage; and Key Skills should not
be considered a suitable qualification in this
context. DfE and BIS should consider how best to
introduce a comparable requirement into
apprenticeship frameworks.

50. DfE response to the Wolf review
For those who fail to achieve these GCSEs
(English and Maths) by age 16, we will consider
whether there are other qualifications that provide
significant progress towards future GCSE success.
Once we have established which qualifications are
suitable we will develop new indicators for the
performance tables showing the progress made by
pupils in English and maths after the age of 16.

51. Study Programmes for 16 – 19
year olds: Consultation
…all students, regardless of the course the
are on, who are under 19 and do not have
GCSE A*- C in English and/or maths should
be required as part of the programme to
take a course which either leads directly to
these qualifications, or which provide
significant progress towards GCSE entry
and success.
Study programmes for 16 – 19 year olds, October 2011

52. A post-16 GCSE Mathematics
…we have actually gone backwards in terms
of what is available for post-16 students.
GCSE Mathematics for adults has vanished,
even though it was highly successful, and
recognised that a single approach cannot
work for all age groups. I would be delighted
to see it re-established.
Professor Alison Wolf,
quoted in the Vorderman Maths Task force report.

53. A post-16 GCSE Mathematics
• Re-sitting the same type of GCSE they
have already failed is not working for the
large majority of post-16 year olds.
• These students need a GCSE
Mathematics that they find relevant and
engaging.
• GCSE in the title is crucial for the
qualification’s currency.

54. A post-16 GCSE Mathematics
• Ofqual has recently ruled that GCSE ‘Use
of Mathematics’, piloted from 2006-10, can
no longer be called a GCSE as it does not
cover the full NC programme of study.
• A new ‘mature’ GCSE Mathematics is
needed – the Vorderman task force report
is highly critical of the current GCSE
Mathematics.

55. A post-16 GCSE Mathematics
Recommendation 6.2 of the Vorderman
Maths Task Force report states:
The design of a new system for GCSE
Mathematics should not be constrained by
the present framework.
This would open the way for a new post-16
GCSE Mathematics.

56. A post-16 GCSE Mathematics
The scale of the problem: In 2011 around
220 000 young people finished KS4 without
achieving an A*-C grade in GCSE
Mathematics.
Based on the Wolf review, by age 18 fewer
than 1 in 5 of these is likely to achieve an
A*-C grade in GCSE Mathematics.

57. Level 3 Maths post-16
We estimate that of those entering
higher education in any year, some
330,000 would benefit from recent
experience of studying some
mathematics (including statistics) at a
level beyond GCSE, but fewer than
125,000 have done so.
ACME Mathematical Needs report, June 2011

58. Level 3 Maths post-16
• There is an economic need for a further
200 000 young people to study level 3
Mathematics post-16
• Michael Gove has set a goal that:
“…within a decade the vast majority of
pupils are studying maths right through to
the age of 18.”

59. Level 3 Maths post-16
• Some good news is AS/A level
Mathematics and Further Mathematics
numbers are growing strongly.
• However AS/A level Mathematics is not
usually accessible to students with a grade
C GCSE Mathematics and many schools
insist on A/A* at GCSE before allowing
students to start AS Mathematics.

60. Level 3 Maths post-16
• Many students would benefit from a
different type of level 3 maths qualification.
• AQA’s level 3 FSMQs are designed to be
accessible to students with grade C GCSE
Mathematics, but uptake is low (none had
more than 2000 entries in 2011) so they
do not yet have much currency.

61. Level 3 Maths post-16
• New level 3 Mathematics qualifications,
accessible to students with grade C GCSE
Mathematics, must be developed to meet
the needs of higher education and
employers across a variety of disciplines.
• MEI is doing development work in this
area.

62. Level 3 Maths post-16
• The scale of the problem: It is anticipated
that a further 200 000 16 – 18 year olds
will study maths at level 3 within 10 years.
• How will this fit into the curriculum?
• Who will teach them? (CPD/resources?)
• How will it be funded?

63. AQA level 3 FSMQs available to all centres June 2011 entry
FSMQ Algebraic and Graphical Techniques 850
FSMQ Modelling with Calculus 207
FSMQ Using and Applying Decision Maths 208
FSMQ Using and Applying Statistics 540
AS Use of Mathematics (based on FSMQs) 647
Pilot AQA level 3 FSMQs June 2011 entry
FSMQ Calculus 523
FSMQ Data Analysis 1947
FSMQ Decision Mathematics 1693
FSMQ Dynamics 171
FSMQ Hypothesis Testing 110
FSMQ Maths Principles for Personal Finance 132
AS Use of Mathematics (based on FSMQs) 1927
A Level Use of Mathematics (based on FSMQs) 510

64. Growth in AS/A level Maths
Mathematics entries in England
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
A level
20000 AS level
0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Source: JCQ

65. Growth in AS/A level Further Maths
Further Mathematics entries in England
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
A level
4000
2000 AS level
0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

66. 'English and Maths Qualifications - or
Alternatives - for 16-18 yr olds'
Glynis Frater, Director, Learning Cultures
Panel Session – 20/25 minute inputs as
above with Q & A from floor

67. English and Maths Qualifications - or
Alternatives - for 16-18 year olds
Glynis Frater, Director, Learning
Cultures

68. Addressing the challenges
OCR's Mark Dawe commented at a recent conference:
"Maths means different things to different people. Some
say it's all about numeracy - the facility to add, subtract,
multiply and divide whole numbers, with perhaps, a
little bit of percentages thrown in - whereas others
equate maths with arithmetic - the art of calculation.
Some believe 'real maths' helps unpick the secrets of the
universe. Whichever it is, the system clearly isn't
delivering”.

69. Meeting the needs of society
"Too many students do not acquire the maths skills that society demands
which means they can't enjoy mathematics or take it into further education,
the workplace or use it in everyday life”.
Mark Dawe of OCR speaking at the Computer Based Math Education Summit
OCR want to know:
“what 'real world maths' means to teachers and employers; do we need to be
teaching arithmetic and number manipulation or is computer-based maths
the future; and most importantly, how do we engage students in maths in the
first place?“
http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/subjects/mathematics/real_world/index.aspx

70. Consultation
Consultations launched in October 2011 by the Department for
Education and the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) recommend
that:
“All students aged 16 to 19 without a grade C or better in GCSE
English and maths should continue to study those subjects. This
year‟s annual skills survey from the CBI found that more than
two-fifths of employers were not satisfied with the basic literacy
of school and college leavers”

71. Observations
“Too many young people are dropping English and
maths before they have secured a good grounding.
These vital subjects are critical to the economy and as a
country we need all our young people to be fluent and
comfortable in these basic skills”.
http://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/

72. Programmes of study post 16
• Should not be wholly occupational and should include at least one
qualification of substantial size which offers progression either into
university or into skilled employment.
• Should consist of tutorial time and high-quality work experience where
appropriate.
• Should include compulsory English and maths for students who do not
have a good GCSE (grade C or better) in these subjects. Around one-fifth
of young people get a “near miss” (a D grade) each year in each subject –
they will be given extra help to re-take their GCSE at the first opportunity.
http://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/

73. Transitional Change
• Greater freedom – self determination
• Greater responsibilities and accountabilities
• A leading role in economic and social renewal
• Daunting funding cuts
• Ambitious new strategy for continuous improvement and
development
• A provider led strategy for sustainable improvement in
learning and teaching
Extracted from the Forward to LSIS’s UPDATE on literacy, language and numeracy
in the further education and skills sector

74. The LSIS model
• A sector led approach
• A whole organisation approach
• The development of regional networks with
the capability and capacity to support others
• Sustainable models of self-improvement
through partnership working around the
country

75. What is happening pre 16
• A new OFSTED framework with a clear emphasis
on literacy, numeracy and ‘crucial’ skills being
every teacher’s responsibility
• A more flexible curriculum/the English BAC?
• Uncertainty as to the future of the vocational
offer
• New standards for teachers due for September
2012 also have a clear emphasis on all teachers
taking responsibility in ensuring mastery of
literacy and numeracy skills

76. Crossing the pre and post 16 bridge
Progression
Unified approaches Joint CPD
to assessment Improving
provision of
Literacy,
numeracy and
ICT teaching pre
Common to post 16
language A shared vision
pedagogy, skills
and outcomes
Creating effective
partnerships

77. Progression
HE or employment
Key Stage 5
Key Stage 4
Key stage 3
Primary

78. Conclusions
• We are the educators in whatever sector we
work, we need to raise our voices
• Professional dialogue and reflective practice
across the phases of education has the
capacity to build on success
• Sharing expertise and an understanding of
what progression looks like will improve
standards and raise our skills profile

79. Contact details
Glynis Frater
Learning Cultures Limited
www.learningcultures.org
info@learningcultures.org
01746 765076 / 07974 754241

80. ‘Trusted Qualifications, the Regulatory
Framework and Opportunities for
Curriculum Development'
John Brenchley, OCR and Leslie Huckfield,
LH Research
Panel Session – 10/15 minute inputs as
above with Q & A from floor

81. Trusted Qualifications, the Regulatory
Framework and Opportunities for
Curriculum Development
25 November 2011
John Brenchley, Senior Manager, Partnerships, OCR
John.brenchley@ocr.org.uk

82. Under the ash cloud in
April 2010
• Centrally driven curriculum
and qualifications
• Three - or four? - 14-19
pathways
• Proposed transition of all
qualifications to QCF

83. May 2010 – The Coalition
„Our Programme for Government‟
• Reform of schools to create new
providers
• More freedom over the curriculum
• Improve quality in teaching profession
• Flexibility in the exams system
• Simpler regulation and targeted
inspection
• Reform of league tables

84. The first nine months: preparing for change
• May – Department for Education created
• May – Academies Bill introduced
• June – Free schools process announced
• Sept – English Bacc proposal
• Sept – Wolf Review announced
• Sept – LA 16-19 commissioning reverts to YPLA
• Sept – BIS consultations: Skills; Funding of FE
• Oct – Browne Review of HE published
• Nov – „Importance of Teaching‟ Schools White Paper
• Nov – „Skills for Sustainable Growth‟ - Skills White Paper
• Dec – New Ofqual chief exec

85. This year: maintaining the momentum
• Jan – National Curriculum Review announced
• Jan – E-Bacc measure applied
• Feb – Ofqual consultation on regulation
• Feb – Full 16-19 participation
• Mar – Wolf Report published
• May – Government accepts Wolf Report
• Jun – Linear GCSEs (on The Andrew Marr Show)
• Jun – HE White Paper published
• Jun – New Ofqual chair
• Oct – 16-19 programmes of study
• Oct – New Permanent Secretary and senior team

86. Dismantling the pathways
• Phase 4 Diplomas
development scrapped
• No more promotion of
Diplomas as favoured route
• Foundation Learning?
• …and for that matter
Functional Skills?

87. The Schools White Paper;
Curriculum, Assessment and Qualifications
• Review of National Curriculum
• Introduction of English
Baccalaureate
• Ofqual – standards to match
highest overseas
• Wolf Review confirmed
• Raised participation age
confirmed

88. The Schools White Paper: Measuring
performance and improving accountability
• Reform of performance tables to
include:
– E-Bacc
– the „basics‟
– progression for all
• Reform the focus of Ofsted
inspection
• Escalate minimum standard of
performance

89. Review of National Curriculum
• „Replace current substandard
curriculum‟
• Consider what subjects should
be compulsory - at what age
• Consider what children should
be taught in the main subjects, at
what age
• Outcome to be: slimmed down,
knowledge based – the what, not
the how – context free

90. The E-Bacc
Five subjects, six GCSEs at A* - C in:
- English
- Mathematics
- 2 Sciences
- Humanities (History/Geography)
- Languages (MFL/Classic)
“A performance measure … not an accountability measure”:
Schools Minister Nick Gibb

91. Wolf Report – themes
• Broad, subject-based education,
with English and maths at the core
• „No person should be in an
education or training programme
which denies them the chance to
progress, immediately or later in
life‟

92. The big messages
• Coherent programmes of
learning
• Maths and English critical -
(A*- C GCSEs)
• 14-16 and 16-19 are different
• Progression for all is the
key
• Address the perverse
incentives

93. Key proposals
14-16 Learners 16-19 Learners
• 80/20 rule where appropriate • English and maths to remain
• curriculum space for the E- core
Bacc • large, high-quality vocational
• English and maths GCSE qualification allowed
critical • not too job specific
• progression (programme not qualifications)
• review of statutory work • high quality work experience
experience critical
• no diluting of Apprenticeship
brand

94. DfE consultations on: GCSE; 16-
19 programmes of study; funding
• End of course exams introduced from September
2012
• Assessment of SPaG* in some subject areas
• Funding programmes not qualifications
• Substantial vocational qualification
• Maths and English for those without grade A*-C
• Work placement, enrichment etc; around 600 hours
*Spelling, punctuation and grammar

95. What‟s in the wind?
• DfE – BIS split
• Axed quangos…
• … and new Ofqual
• Traditional subject focus
• Performance measures
• New school types
• Market diversity, localised delivery
• Changes and lead-in times
• „Nudge theory’ (Richard Thaler)

96. Opportunity: the curriculum that’s needed in
institutions committed to providing it

97. WHAT COMES
AFTER THE ANALYSIS?
Leslie Huckfield
Black Country Partnership for Learning
Friday 25 November 2011

98. Coalition Government with Majority
• Personally – won‟t cross picket lines next Wednesday
• Major reforms across all policy areas
• Coalition Government not even Half Way
• Unless 55% MPs vote for dissolution, next General
Election on Thursday 07 May 2015 under Fixed Term
Parliaments Act - Royal Assent on Thursday 15
September 2011.
• Tories or Liberal Democrats won‟t vote for Dissolution.
Even on HE Fees, Government had majority of 21.
• Liberal Democrat backbench MPs number 35. Even if
all vote against Government with all Opposition MPs,
still not enough to defeat Government.
• Education Act Royal Assent Tuesday 15 November
2011 – colleges now “training providers”

99. Wholesale Changes – Not Just 14-19
• Revised Early Years Foundation Stage
• Post Secondary HE, especially qualifications
• Criteria for 14-16 „league tables‟
• Schools funding and capital reform – both are major
• Regulation of the teaching profession
• Teacher pensions
• FE Reform and FE loans
• HE White Paper and Regulatory Framework for HE
• Early Repayment mechanisms for student loans
• Open Data
• Other reviews after summer riots, examination admin,
teacher training and recruitment, UCAS tariff,
inspection arrangements for FE sector, Colleges in the
Community, professionalism in FE sector

100. End of Empire
The Learning and Skills Council, set up in April 2001 to
replace the FE Funding Council and 72 Training and
Enterprise Councils was Britain's biggest ever Quango
July 2009, House of Commons Public Accounts
Committee described its handling of its college
building programme as 'catastrophic mismanagement'.
During this period saw:
• 450 types of qualifications for GCE A and AS Levels
750 types of qualifications for GCSEs
• 1,750 different National Vocational Qualifications
• 2,750 Vocationally Related Qualifications

101. End of Empire II
The correct Wolf Report?
Alison Wolf‟s 'Adult Approach to Further Education' in
October 2009, published by Institute of Economic
Affairs, was incisive:
"To anyone outside, this system is completely
opaque. (This is one reason why journalists never
write about it.) Employers have quite consciously
given up trying to understand what is going on.“

102. Hidden in March 2011 Wolf Report
Wolf Third Conclusion - determined that employer
involvement in skills and qualifications should be
increased:
"Indeed our third major objective should be to recreate
and strengthen genuine links between vocational
education and the labour market; and especially, in
the case of young people, the local labour market.
Employers are the only really reliable source of
quality assurance in vocational areas, and, in spite of
lip service, have been progressively frozen out of the
way vocational education operates”

103. And more from Wolf
Arising from this, her Report has key messages which
are relevant to employers:
"Quality and standards depend on establishing
networks among users and assessors, and, in the case
of vocational awards, ensuring that employers – the
ultimate creators and guardians of standards – are
actively involved at the level of delivery and judgment.
Employer representation on national panels is no
substitute for their active involvement with vocational
education at the level of delivery."

104. Key Wolf Recommendation
Alison Wolf‟s Recommendation 16 on page 16:
“DfE and BIS should discuss and consult urgently on
alternative ways for groups of smaller employers to
become direct providers of training and so receive
„training provider‟ payments, possibly through the
encouragement of Group Training Associations
(GTAs)."

105. FE Reform Paper
“New Challenges. New Chances" August 2011 emphasises that
Sector Skills Councils not the only organisations to determine new
qualifications (page 21):
"Having established the new Qualifications and Credit
Framework (QCF), we will work with OFQUAL, awarding
bodies and businesses (including SSCs), to agree
simpler and speedier ways for new qualifications to
come on-stream. This embraces recommendations in the
Wolf Report that “DfE and BIS should discuss and
consult on the appropriate future and role of National
Occupational Standards in education and training for
young people, and on whether and how both national
employer bodies – including but not only SSCs – and
local employers should contribute to qualification
design”.

106. Ways Forward – employers power overMarket and NEETs
£250m pilot to give
Wolf on Labour skills training
“The whole developed world, including England, is
today characterised by:
•a vanishing youth labour market. Most countries
also have very high unemployment among 19-24
year olds”
Wolf on NEETs - page 34
“Being NEET has a long run, persistent effect. Being in
any kind of work… is better than being NEET in
terms of individuals’ long run, decade-long
outcomes".

107. Ways Forwardgive employers power over skillsMore Chances)
£250m pilot to
- NEETS(More Choices, training
• French statistics distinguish between ‘early leavers’ and
those with levels of qualifications
• ‘Not qualified’ in Germany means ‘not trained through
apprenticeship’. Labour market transition statistics
emphasise level of access to apprenticeships
• NEET young people not a ‘no qualifications’ category.
Nearly 75% of age group classified as NEET in 2010 had
some GCSE passes
• For Wolf implementation, negative message of NEET
category needs to be replaced by headline number that
projects more ambitious Wolf goals

108. Ways pilot to give employers power over skillsProgression
£250m Forward - Professions and training
“Higher Apprenticeships and Professional Bodies”
Professional Associations Research Network - May 2011
•11% unsure if apprenticeships existed in sector
•40% certain they did not at present
•But 92% of sample identified their body as being
in sector where apprenticeships offered
“Apprentice Progression Tracking Research Report”
University of Greenwich - July 2011
•Progression rises to 13%+ after 3 years – higher
than normal in depressed areas

109. Ways Forward employers power over skills training
£250m pilot to give
- £250mn for Greater Employer
Involvement in Skills and Qualifications
Vince Cable on Thursday 17 November 2011:
“We have to fundamentally alter the relationship between
employers and the state – giving employers the space and
opportunity for greater ownership of the vocational skills
agenda, including the chance to bid for direct control of
public funds. This will encourage greater competition in
the market as we strive for sustainable growth.”
•Funding given to employers to purchase training
•How else will Adult Level 3 be funded?

110. Ways Forward to Explore
Association of Learning Providers/ National Partnership
for Employer Led Training in “Beyond Standards”
Funded by LSC in February 2009.
•New employer structures
•Extension of Group Training Association activity
•GTA England a provider in 2012
•New Group Training Associations or satellites
•Funding difficulties for reducing numbers of GTAs
•Possible Joint GTA/College/Other Provider
•Skills Funding Agency/NAS minimum £0.5mn packages?

111. Workshop session – Key priorities for
participants, reactions to Wolf and
implementation timelines

112. Key points Feedback – 3 minutes per
group

113. Refreshments and Conference close