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October 2004 |
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Welcome to the monthly musings which come this time from a somewhat "fragile" editor. I managed to catch a virus earlier this month and its after-effects are hanging around rather longer than I like! Having written that I realise that what I'm doing each month is what I had to do every week when I was at school – write home and tell the family what's going on. In the beginning, of ADSET not the world, maybe the membership could be a thought of as a pseudo family, but now? I've realised that, with the comings and goings over the years, there are many readers of this newsletter whom I do not know and, indeed, have never met face-to-face. Does that mean that I should stop writing in the informal "writing home" style? Even if you all said "yes" to that question I'm not sure that I could do anything other than I do. "They" say that you can't teach an old dog new tricks – and this particular "old dog" doesn't necessarily want to learn any. However, to business.
You can hardly have missed the fact that on 18 October The Tomlinson Report was published. We, that is Dawn, Ruth and I, have been bombarded with information from almost every source until we're getting just a bit fed up with it. Not that it isn't important, it is – but after all the speculation we now have the dissection; approval, or otherwise, from various bodies involved; and an apparent contradiction from government ministers, "GCSEs and A-levels are not going to disappear – they are going to be part of the new diploma". Am I going mad or has the time that Tomlinson has spent on this issue been entirely wasted? Maybe both? I've included a small selection of the press reports – any more and you'd be as swamped as we have been.
What is happening in the world of adult information and advice in England? I could say, flippantly but probably accurately, that you know more than I do, since negotiations for services were going on during the summer with most new contracts in place during August. The "official" notification reached ADSET, in the form of LSC Update, two weeks ago [see page 2]. Incidentally, the LSC Update was number 3 – has anyone any knowledge of numbers 1 or 2 as we've never seen them or heard of them?
Is guidance important? No, don't all yell at once because the next question is more relevant. How can we, the dedicated, convince the holders of the purse strings that money spent on helping people in a real and meaningful way make choices about education, training, jobs and lifestyle is money that's well spent and saves in the long term? Maybe we have to start with yet another campaign, another battle with "the government", whose political complexion does not seem to matter in this argument, using a new weapon – the European Resolution on lifelong guidance. And yet again we have to beat the drum and try to convince the powers-that-be that long-term planning is essential if this country (probably just the England bit of it since the rest of you seem to be managing a lot better) is to see a more inclusive society with skills for the labour market and employability being a part of active citizenship. John McCarthy, whom several of you know, has been actively involved with the European Resolution. John is doing a session at the ADSET Conference on 16 November – there's still time, just, to book your place.
I was in the DfES library in London looking at autLOOK – the journal of the Association of University Teachers. On page 1 there was an apostrophe missing and on page 3 an extraneous one. I gave up!
New contracts have been awarded for information and advice services for adults in all 47 local LSC areas as part of a reform of the information and advice system. The new Local Information and Advice Contractors will ensure that, over the next year, 2.5 million information sessions and 350,000 face-to-face advice sessions are supplied to adults who are yet to achieve a Level 2 qualification. The contracts are the first part of the reform of the system, which plays a crucial role in widening participation in education and training. Other plans include the integration of the national learndirect helpline with local information and advice services carried out face-to-face. This will give adults access to the services either online or by telephone or face-to-face, as appropriate. The reforms will also include a new national brand for information and advice services to increase their visibility and increase access for adults most in need of support. A national customer entitlement to information and advice services will be published to ensure the services are consistent and to improve local flexibility to respond to additional customer needs.
Full details of the contractors are at www.lsc.gov.uk/National/Partners/News/iagcontractors.htm
LSC Update Number 3 (September-October 2004)
The National Resource Service (NRS) for adult Information, Advice and Guidance services recently went live. One of its priorities is to identify and promote areas of best practice and make resources available to all sections of the IAG community.
URL: www.advice-resources.co.uk
Skills and Education Network Newsletter October 2004
Writing for Adults Learning (Volume 16 Number 2 (October 2004)), Howard Gilbert argues that lifelong learning is "about more than the acquisition of certificates". He believes that the overriding focus on qualifications has meant that "the balance of concern for the education of `all the people' has been lost". Mr Gilbert maintains that those who believe adult liberal education has been "brought to its knees" are being far too generous. He says: "There is almost no vision in the system as it is now. There is a preoccupation with targets, goals and short-term cost-effectiveness. These requirements, crudely and injudiciously focused, are damaging to the concept of … adult education."
Howard Gilbert is a retired adult education teacher and principal, and consultant to industry on mid-life and later-life planning for retirement.
"Knowledge management is simple: it is about learning to use what you know to your advantage."
Heather Robinson, Library and Information Update
Volume 3(10) October 2004
A new report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development argues that a top-down, fact-dominated, mechanistic approach to learning will no longer produce what is needed in today's organisations. The report claims that the growing recognition of this fact is creating new challenges for human resource and development professionals as they work to ensure that the modern workforce has the skills and adaptive capacity to deal with the fast-moving global economy. Helping People Learn: Strategies for moving from training to learning concludes that the dominance of the classroom-based training course in workplace learning is no longer appropriate for a global economy where change happens so quickly and with such regularity that classroom-based, fact-dominated learning soon becomes out of date. Successful organisations are those that can persuade and encourage their people to learn to learn – to seek actively to acquire the skills necessary to enable constant learning, and the accompanying desire to make use of these skills. This will only happen in the right circumstances: the organisation must seek to create what is described in the report as a "growth medium".
CIPD press release 7 October
Helping People Learn: Strategies for moving from
training to learning, by Dr Jake Reynolds, is available (£50 to
non-members and £20 for CIPD members) from the CIPD
tel: 0870 800
3366
URL: www.cipd.co.uk/bookstore
The Inspire England Initiative aims to provide a seamless cross-sectoral pathway for learning by adults across public, academic and national libraries. Its objectives are to:
The ultimate aim of Inspire is to create seamless access across over 4,000 public, 3 national, almost 700 higher education libraries, as well as special libraries and those in further education colleges and schools, and to build an effective interface to resources for learning with museums, galleries and archives.
Info@UK Number 43 October 2004
URL: www.inspire.gov.uk/
NIACE is consulting about how learners, particularly those with disabilities, get to the place at which they learn or train, and would like to hear about experiences from anyone involved, including learners, carers, teachers, advisers and transport organisers.
If you are able to help, please respond online by the end of November at www.niace.org.uk/transporttolearning
Adults Learning Volume 16 Number 2 (October 2004)
Jo Cutter, Margot Clements, Charles Laxton, Kerry Marwood and Marianne Rix
National Foundation for Educational Research
Brief no: 573 ISBN: 1-84478-307-3 September 2004
The Link Up pilot project was designed to: recruit and support 6,000 volunteer Adult Learner Supporters; engage 25% of Link Up Supporters aged 50+; engage supporters from the most deprived communities in England; and develop the Level 2 Certificate in Adult Learner Support. Key findings of this evaluation include:
The full report (RR573), price £4.95, is available
from DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham NG15
0DJ
Cheques should be made payable to "DfES Priced Publications"
The Research Brief (RB573) is available free of charge
from the above address
tel: 0845 60 222 60
Research Briefs and Research Reports can also be accessed at www.dfes.gov.uk/research/
Further information about this research can be obtained
from Andrew Lincoln, DfES, Level 6D Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street
LONDON SW1P 3BT
email: andrew.lincoln@dfes.gsi.gov.uk
The views expressed in this report are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department for Education and Skills
The LSC is conducting a pilot project looking at the feasibility and effectiveness of using interactive digital TV as a way of attracting and engaging adults in to learning. In this pilot phase, the project will be aimed at improving literacy and numeracy, delivering bite-sized activities, quizzes and games, as well as providing related information and signposting users to other learning opportunities.
More information is at www.e-innovationcentre.co.uk/KickstartTV/evaluation.asp
Marchmont WebFlash Volume 8 Number 6 (October 2004)
Workers in Hertfordshire will have the opportunity to boost their chances of promotion at work and a better standard of living, thanks to a groundbreaking learning centre in Watford. The Hertfordshire Trade Union Learning Centre is the first in the UK not to be based at a workplace or college, and the first to be wholly owned and run by trade unions. Commenting on the launch, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "A better educated workforce is fundamental in the drive for a more tolerant society. Educated workers can take greater control of their own lives and work, are better equipped to make their own decisions and cope with the rapid pace of global societal change. The new Learning Centre offers all local employees the chance to improve their skills and enhance their lives. The work that union learning reps are doing in opening up learning to a whole generation of workers is crucial to the success of business at both local and national level."
TUC press release 4 October
Bite-sized learning opportunities using a variety of learning styles in community-friendly settings are among the recommendations of new research into motivating a lost generation of "learning rejectors" to return to learning. The research, entitled First Steps Into Learning, found that rejectors make up over 16% of the population as a whole, with disadvantaged 19-24-year-olds, especially those from ethnic minorities, mothers of young children and the over 50s being disproportionately represented.
Library and Information Update
Volume 3(10) October 2004
A research overview is at http://tinyurl.com/5xjag
The DfES has released an updated version of the Employer Toolkit. First released in 2002, the toolkit is designed to help address basic skills needs in the workplace. The toolkit is available to help anyone involved in staff development and training, including public and private employers of all sizes, as well as anyone offering advice to and support for employers in Skills for Life learning.
The free kit can be ordered from the DfES
tel: 0845
60 222 60
email: dfes@prolog.uk.com
quoting ref: ETKV2-2004
For more information see:
www.dfes.gov.uk/readwriteplus/employer_toolkit
SSDA
Involve Number 64 (12 October)
"May those that love us, love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles
So we will know them by their limping."
Irish Blessing
The PEncEIl project (How People Encounter E-Illiteracy) starts from the belief that people's IT needs have, for too long, been defined from above: by government; by IT suppliers; by training providers; by exam boards; and so on. The basic questions of how people experience any lack of skills in their daily lives have not been asked: what barriers does it present to them? and what do they want to do with the skills they learn? E-illiteracy is set to become even more of a problem, as the government puts its services online. However, the PEncEIl project asks whose needs are being met by these moves. It asks: "Is it the individual who is being given the power to communicate with friends and family or are people being fitted into new ways of doing business for others' benefit? Even more, what is happening to people left outside this electronic loop?"
For more information about PEncEIl, contact Mike
Cushman, Research Fellow, Department of Information Systems, London School of
Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE
tel: 020
7955 7426
email: m.cushman@lse.ac.uk
URL:
http://is.lse.ac.uk/penceil/
Adults Learning Volume 16 Number 2 (October 2004)
There is still some way to go if using ICT in adult literacy, numeracy and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) is to make an impact on learners, concludes a research report from the National Research and Development Centre. The report calls for further research to discover more effective ways of using ICT to improve learning for learners with basic skills needs in order to support a move beyond present practice.
ICT and adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL (PDF 100pp) www.nrdc.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_258.pdf
Skills and Education Network Newsletter October 2004
A scheme in Wales to encourage investment in staff training is proving successful. The Basic Skills Agency's Employers Pledge Award aims to encourage employers to make an active commitment to improving the reading, writing and maths skills of their workforce. The award acts like a quality assurance mark, similar to that of Investors In People, and seeks to raise awareness of the costs and difficulties poor basic skills can cause.
Stephen Hoare, The Guardian 12 October
More information from Helen Vaughan-Jones at the Basic
Skills Agency on tel: 020 7440 6512
email:
helenvj@basic-skills.co.uk
The DfES and its partners are exploring the potential for basic skills and key skills to be merged in the future. The move is understood to be in response to requests from the field. The two-year project is headed by Terry Smith of ABSSU, and is described as "designed to prepare the way for full convergence between existing essential skills of basic and key skills."
Basic Skills Bulletin May 2004
The Connexions service received a welcome "shot in the arm" from OfSTED when three Connexions partnerships were praised by inspectors. Central London Connexions was the first in the country to be given an "excellent" rating, and Hertfordshire and Somerset were described as "very good" and "good" respectively.
Joe Clancy, The TES FE Focus 8 October
Summary of Wave 2 survey results for all Phase 1 Connexions Partnerships
Gemma Deakin, Andrew Jones, Tim Brunwin and
Ed Mortimer; BRMB Social Research
Brief no: RBX10-04 September 2004
In 2003, BRMB carried out the first wave of "Improve Your Connexions", the Connexions Service customer satisfaction survey. This involved interviewing young people who had been in contact with the Connexions Service in each of the 47 Connexions Partnerships across England. Between April and June 2004, BRMB ran a second wave of the survey in the 15 Phase 1 Partnerships. This report focuses on the results from the second wave of the survey, and draws some comparisons between Wave 1 and Wave 2 results. Key findings include:
Further information about this research can be obtained
from David Betteley, DfES, Room W611, Moorfoot, Sheffield S1 4PQ
email:
david.betteley@dfes.gsi.gov.uk
Copies of this Research Brief (RBX10-04) are available
free of charge from DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley,
Nottingham NG15 0DJ
tel: 0845 60 222 60
Research Briefs and Research Reports can also be accessed at www.dfes.gov.uk/research/
The views expressed in this report are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department for Education and Skills
The government's drive to increase the number of young people pursuing Modern Apprenticeships is under threat because of the continuing poor quality of careers advice and guidance. This is one of the conclusions of a survey published by manufacturers' organisation EEF and SEMTA, the sector skills council for the engineering and manufacturing sector. The survey of first-year apprentices found that:
As a result of the findings, SEMTA and EEF have reiterated their call for greater resources to be devoted to careers information, advice and guidance. More specifically, they emphasise the need to "educate teachers and careers advisers about the attractiveness of vocational education".
Newscheck October 2004
Many students are so focused on overcoming the hurdles into HE that they give little thought to what awaits them on the other side. In an article for Newscheck (October 2004), Colin Neville asks if pre-application guidance should do more to prepare them for what lies ahead. Mr Neville argues that the task of the guidance professional in advising prospective HE students is made harder by the fact that the information most needed is often unavailable. While it is a fairly straightforward task to find out if subject X is offered by Higher Education Institution (HEI) Y, it is, he says, much more difficult to work out how X is delivered and which assessment methods are used at Y. This information can be vital to an applicant, as the way in which a course is delivered can have a profound affect on the probability of them dropping out. Mr Neville also reminds guidance professionals that they are not there to do the government's bidding, and that the 50% HE participation target should have no bearing on the advice they offer. He says: "If you get the impression that the prospective student does not enthuse about the prospect of studying anything for the next three or four years, then maybe they shouldn't, and you should tell them so. … In the short term, it may not be good for the government's statistics, but it is likely to be better for your clients."
"Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?"
Fanny Brice
This resource considers ways in which further education colleges and Connexions can work together. Contributors include college staff working in student support services and frontline Connexions staff. The publication also helps colleges identify what they need from Connexions, how to put together partnership agreements, and the role of the personal adviser. Potentially difficult areas are covered, such as confidentiality, advocacy on behalf of students, and sharing information.
Making Connexions in further education: guidelines for developing effective partnerships between FE colleges & Connexions (PDF 85pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/6j6ns
Skills and Education Network Newsletter October 2004
Deirdre Hughes, Director, Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby
This paper, published on behalf of the Guidance Council, examines the need for career guidance within the process of career management and estimates the potential savings to the economy as a result of better learning and work decisions. It offers a brief review of current changes and developments in the UK economy and industry in terms of their implications for individuals, and their ability to manage their career in a climate of regular and rapid change. In addition, the paper outlines the role of guidance and defines the objectives and some main activities of guidance. It emphasises the importance of helping people to acquire career management skills so that they are better able to manage their own careers.
Guidance Council website October 2004
Full document (PDF 24pp) at http://tinyurl.com/6ofef
The European Commission's Education, Youth and Culture Council of Ministers adopted a Resolution on lifelong guidance. This "historic step" can be interpreted as "a strong signal of the importance now accorded to guidance at the highest level". The Resolution defines guidance as: "a range of activities that enables citizens of any age and at any point in their lives to identify their capacities, competences and interests, to make educational, training and occupational decisions and to manage their individual life paths in learning, work and other settings in which these capacities and competences are learned and/or used." Key priorities in the Resolution include:
Further details are available at http://tinyurl.com/4f9rj
CEDEFOP Info 2/2004
The Scottish Executive has announced that further and higher education sectors in Scotland are to share in a multi-million-pound windfall over the next three years. For Scotland's universities, it means that, by 2007/08, their grant from the Executive will break through the £1 billion barrier for the first time. The nation's colleges will also see their funding increase from £474 million to £619 million – an increase of almost 15% in real terms – over the same period. However, after the initial praise for the funding increases dies down, a closer examination has led college leaders to fear that the funding gap between the further and higher education sectors will widen. Tom Kelly, the chief executive of the Association of Scottish Colleges (ASC), claims that, while universities will see their funding increase by £70 million between 2006/07 and 2007/08, colleges will only receive an extra £17 million over the same period. Mr Kelly has called on the Scottish Executive to discuss how it expects the further education sector to hit its targets.
Kevin Schofield, The Scotsman 13 October
The Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Bill was published today (1 October). A new merged funding council will help maximise record investment in the sectors – set to top £1.62 billion by 2007/08. Jim Wallace, Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Minister, said: "We have a strong track record in investment in higher and further education. We signalled our continued commitment to both when we announced a 30% increase in funding for the sectors earlier this week. It is vital therefore that we ensure we achieve the maximum return from every pound of the public's significant investment in the sector, to the benefit of students and Scotland as a whole. A merged funding council for both further and higher education will help achieve this, by providing a strategic overview of our world class universities and colleges."
Scottish Executive press release 1 October
Further education colleges in Scotland have largely passed the quality test of HM Inspectorate. An analysis of inspection reports on 43 of the 46 colleges, carried out by the Scottish Further Education Funding Council, noted that few aspects were rated unsatisfactory, although a handful were judged merely fair. Those aspects graded unsatisfactory were in particular subjects. College-wide reviews, which include management and general issues in the running of colleges, turned up just one unsatisfactory, which led to the resignation of the principal.
Neil Munro, TES Scotland 29 October
In his first interview as Minister for Higher and Further Education, Dr Kim Howells tells Peter Kingston of his plans for the "incredibly vital" college sector (The Guardian 12 October). A very interesting insight into the man who described artworks submitted for the Turner prize as "cold, mechanical, conceptual bullshit".
Full article http://tinyurl.com/46t5m
Students will be able to spend their loans and grants on fees at private universities from 2006, the government has said, in a move described by one private university head as the introduction of a "voucher" system. Kim Howells has written to private university Vice-Chancellors advising them that their students will be eligible for the same level of support from the government from 2006 when top-up fees are introduced. Terence Kealey, the Vice-Chancellor of Buckingham University, said that the decision marked a new phase of "generous" support of private institutions, which could encourage the Russell Group of élite universities to opt out of the state system.
Polly Curtis, The Guardian 14 October
Student leaders have branded the Office for Fair Access (OfFA) "toothless", claiming it had been so watered down under pressure from universities that it was a "shadow" of what was once promised. Hannah Essex, the Vice-President of the NUS, commented: "We're struggling to see what OfFA is going to be able to do. It's been so watered down since the original proposal. It's going to be toothless. It's not really going to do anything if it doesn't have any power over admissions. I did feel … that he [Kim Howells] is doing everything he can to reassure the institutions and primarily the Russell Group, but those reassurances are not necessarily in the best interest of access or students."
Polly Curtis, The Guardian 15 October
The full text of Kim Howell's speech to the Universities UK conference on higher education admissions, in which he seeks to reassure Vice-Chancellors that there is "no admissions conspiracy", is at http://tinyurl.com/6m22z
The Guardian 14 October
An item in The Economist (16–22 October) mentions the introduction of free secondary education for all with the 1944 Education Act. That was just 60 years ago, folks.
Speaking at the Universities UK's conference on admissions, Kim Howells, the new Higher Education Minister, insisted that the government had no "backdoor agenda" to interfere in university admissions. Dr Howells said that it was time that the "myths" surrounding the government's plans for higher education were exposed. He assured UUK delegates that there would be "no yellow card or red card" and there are "no sticks being raised" to force universities to admit more students from poor backgrounds. Dr Howells said that, despite the Russell Group fears, the government did not have official targets or quotas that universities would be forced to meet if they were to escape financial penalties. He said that the benchmarks were simply benchmarks, against which universities could measure their progress towards equal access. He commented: "We are not in the business of using universities to socially engineer our higher education landscape."
Paul Hill, The THES 15 October
Michael Beloff QC, President of Trinity College, Oxford, has launched an attack on a number of government policies for higher education at this year's Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Mr Beloff was most critical of access targets, and warned that the government's strict targets for widening access to university could lead to a "dumbing down" of the degree qualification. He also condemned the target of 50% of the student-age population attending university by 2010 as being "arbitrary" and more of a "soundbite than an element in a coherent strategy".
Press Association, The Guardian 5 October
Update comment: See next page for more comment on the same event.
Cambridge University risks damaging the quality of the student experience if it takes on many more undergraduates, Alison Richard, the Vice-Chancellor, has warned. Delivering her annual address to the university's Regent House, Professor Richard said that Cambridge needed to "think hard" about the consequences of expansion activity. She said: "In my view, significant overall expansion in student numbers at this time risks detracting from the quality of undergraduates' educational experience and from the quality of postgraduate students we are able to attract." Responding to the address, Education Secretary Charles Clarke said: "There's a `more means worse' debate that you can have, but I've never accepted that more does mean worse."
Paul Hill, The THES 22 October
Education and Skills Secretary Charles Clarke today (25 October) sent Sir Martin Harris his formal letter of guidance as the new Head of the Office for Fair Access (OfFA). OfFA will require universities and colleges to sign an access agreement before they are allowed to increase fees above the current standard level of £1,150. Access agreements will cover institutions' plans for increasing applications from non-traditional students through financial support such as bursaries and outreach work. The guidance sets out OfFA's remit and powers. OfFA will:
DfES press release (applies to England) 25 October
Client ref 2004/0188
GNN ref 104212P
The Royal Academy of Music is facing allegations of class bias after official figures revealed it managed to admit just over half of entrants from the state sector, against a government-set benchmark of almost 88%. Another leading conservatoire, the Royal College of Music, managed only 45%, leading to criticism that the two institutions had a "toff" count of Oxbridge proportions. However, Royal Academy of Music principal Curtis Price said that it is hardly the fault of the institutions. He commented: "The problem is not with higher education but with secondary education. Send me the students, please!"
Charlotte Higgins, Arts Correspondent, The Guardian 4 October
Update comment: How many state secondaries provide music to A-level?
According to a report from the Centre for Education and Employment Research, universities could be in breach of human rights legislation if they discriminate against independent school pupils when awarding places. The report, by Professor Alan Smithers, head of the CEER at the University of Buckingham, said that positive discrimination of the kind that universities are being compelled to offer is still discrimination. It warned that independent schools would sue institutions which implement positive discrimination policies in order to meet government targets regarding state school students.
Richard Garner, Education Editor, The Independent 7 October
In an article for The Guardian (23 October), Clare Sambrook, a former student union leader at Cambridge, accuses Oxbridge of gross hypocrisy for its condemnation of social engineering. Ms Sambrook argues that Oxbridge and the rest of its cronies in the Russell Group have been socially engineering university admissions for years. However, their engineering has been to keep the lower orders out, rather than encouraging the "burger-munching multitude" to come in. She says: "Back in my college days, 20 years ago, the term `social engineering' struck my untuned ear as exactly what Cambridge was doing: encouraging rich parents to buy children of sometimes modest talents an unfair advantage in the world. Of course, the brightest public school kids were brilliant, as were the brightest kids from state schools. But the social ease, the assumed superiority that public schools teach, the veneer of cleverness they apply, helped to disguise less able students' banality."
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/4fjby
Michael Beloff, the President of Trinity College, Oxford, has demanded that the government "take its tanks off Oxford's lawns". Speaking at the annual meeting of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, Mr Beloff said that the government must stop threatening it with financial penalties for failing to admit more pupils from state schools and poorer backgrounds. Oxford's admissions policy owes its international standing to its insistence that academic merit was the only criterion for admission. He said: "To alter our standards in pursuit of social or political rather than educational objectives would be a betrayal of what the university is for."
John Clare, Education Editor, The Daily Telegraph 6 October
Universities which offer performance-linked scholarships to students have been warned that they may be storing up trouble with the Office for Fair Access (OfFA). Coventry and Middlesex have already introduced a programme in which bright students may be given £1,000 a year. This is paid in instalments, subject to the student making satisfactory progress. However, lecturers union NATFHE is concerned that universities will divert some of the income from top-up fees into the awards, rather than restricting their bursary programmes to applicants from poor backgrounds.
Paul Hill and Phil Baty, The THES 8 October
An article in The Economist (9-15 October) suggests that securing a decent education for your child now requires cunning as well as money. The author argues that many middle-class families are aghast that government bean-counters and tough benchmarks for state school intakes at university could lead to discrimination against their children. The author offers a tactical flowchart, outlining possible courses of action parents can take to ensure that their child gets the best possible start. Up to the age of 16, parents must either pay for a private education, pay up to 20% more in housing costs to live in the catchment area of a good state school, or have a religious epiphany and become a devout Roman Catholic or Anglican family. After 16, however, it may be necessary to adopt "class war camouflage". Families should move to sink estates and send their offspring to the local sixth form – while paying for a private A-level tutor, naturally.
Some parents are moving to more working-class areas to help their children get into good universities, it was claimed yesterday (4 October). Vice-Chancellors believe that families are increasingly "playing the system" as the government tries to widen university access through social engineering. Michael Sterling, Chairman of the Russell Group which represents 19 leading universities, warned that parents were already getting wise to the changes.
The Daily Mail 5 October
Update comment: Dawn reckons it's a load of codswallop but it is already happening!
"When you are poor enough, everything has some value."
Barbara Ann Porte
"Ability will never catch up with the demand for it."
Confucius
Speaking at the end of his term as European Commissioner, Chancellor of Oxford University Chris Patten argues that the government's policy of forcing universities to recruit a higher proportion of state pupils is "appalling". Mr Patten believes that the government is forcing universities to lower their standards as part of a huge experiment in social engineering, a move which will inevitably damage Britain's university system. He suggests that there is nothing wrong with university admissions procedures in themselves. He feels that the blame for poor numbers of state-school applicants should be apportioned to state schools themselves. He said: "Why do they want universities to lower their standards? Because standards in secondary schools are not high enough."
Anthony Browne, The Times Online 14 October
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/4r4xf
A former teachers' leader has attacked the government's policy of trying to increase the number of children from poorer backgrounds who go to university. Fred Forrester, the former Deputy General Secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland, argued the move stems from "a fault line in New Labour thinking". He said: "Consideration of the provenance of students in terms of social class or type of school attended distorts the purposes for which the university was set up and should not be imposed by the government."
The Scotsman 20 October
The government is to review its benchmarks for the admission of state-school students to universities after some élite universities claimed their benchmarks were no longer attainable. Cambridge and Oxford have both indicated that they will not be able to meet their benchmarks, after being told to increase their intake of state-school pupils to 77% from 68% and 69% respectively. A spokesperson for the DfES said that the department would review the value of such benchmarks, particularly in light of the requirement that universities set their own access "milestones" in individual negotiations with OfFA.
Tony Halpin, Education Editor, The Times Online 15 October
ELWa has undertaken a major review of vocational learning opportunities in and for the workplace and has issued an interim report. The interim report outlines proposals for the future of work-related learning in Wales. Although the consultation is now closed, the report outlining the findings of the review is still available.
Developing the Workforce: Learning In And For The Workplace (PDF 68pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/6rom3
t magazine October 2004
Europe's largest regeneration project, the Thames Gateway, received a massive boost today (14 October) as £47.5 million spending plans to expand "Universities at Medway" were unveiled. Based at Chatham Maritime, the Universities at Medway development will play a key role in providing the skills and learning opportunities needed to create thriving and sustainable communities in the Thames Gateway. The expanded campus, currently used by the University of Greenwich, will be used by at least four other universities and see student numbers rise at the site from 2,700 to 6,000 by the year 2010. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has contributed £15 million while SEEDA has granted a further £8.6 million to the project.
Further information at www.seeda.co.uk or www.odpm.gov.uk
ODPM press release 14 October
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According to figures released by university admissions service UCAS, the fears that Scotland will be swamped by an influx of English students in 2006 may not be entirely misplaced. The latest figures show a 4.3% rise in the number of students from England accepted for places at Scottish universities – a jump from 3,898 last year to 4,065 in 2004. Opposition politicians and student leaders have called on the Scottish Executive to monitor the situation, to ensure that domiciled students are not "squeezed out".
Kevin Schofield, Education Correspondent, The Scotsman 15 October
Anglia Polytechnic University has become the first university to fail the new-style government inspection system. Inspectors, who visited the university in May, said they had "limited confidence" in the university management systems, but commended its "strong emphasis on learning and teaching". The report, published by the Quality Assurance Agency, said that APU must concentrate on improving its system for monitoring awards and communicating its procedures and policies to students and staff "as a matter of urgency". A spokesperson for the QAA said: "The university will be checked again after a year to find out what they've done to look at what they've said. Then we report back to the funding council."
Polly Curtis, Education Correspondent, The Guardian 20 October
"I read the newspaper avidly. It is my one form of continuous fiction."
Aneurin Bevan
A course in surf management which was criticised as a "Mickey Mouse" degree has been scrapped. Swansea Institute said that it has been forced to pull the BA (Hons) in Surf And Beach Management to protect its image. The course came under fire in July, when a senior teaching union official highlighted it as an example of a degree which devalued both academic and vocational education.
IC Wales 6 October
Oxford University is hoping to attract a different class of rugby player with a new bursary aimed at rugby league fans, writes Caroline Davis (The THES 8 October). A former student of Manchester University has donated £300,000 to endow a scholarship fund at Oxford. The university is hoping that the bursary scheme will help to counter the view that most Oxford students are southern, former public school pupils.
Luton University has found that being insulted by Sir Richard Sykes can improve your fortunes. Sir Richard's claim that a penny spent at Imperial College London was a "hell of a lot better for the economy than a penny spent at Luton" has proved to be "an unexpected blessing". Applications have risen by 1.5% and staff morale is considerably improved. Vice-Chancellor Professor Les Ebdon believes that being branded "third-rate" by Sir Richard gave the relevant parties an opportunity to defend Luton and to highlight its strengths in the media. Professor Ebdon explained: "There was outrage across the university and the town. That outcry led to a unity of purpose... and led us to reaffirm our strengths and rediscover a sense of pride in what we did."
The THES 29 October
Leading broadcasters have warned that media studies courses, some of the most popular at universities, are insufficiently practical and do not help students find work. The number graduating from university with undergraduate and postgraduate media studies degrees has risen from 2,170 in 1998-99 to 6,230 in 2002-03, according to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Unfortunately, the figures also show that in 2002-03 only about 15% of media studies graduates were able to find jobs in the media within six months of graduation.
The Financial Times 15 October
Manchester University announced a £400 million recruitment drive this week as it set its sights on joining the world's top research institutions. The university received its Royal Charter from the Queen on Friday, marking the final stage in its merger with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. The new University of Manchester, with more than 36,000 students, will create a £100 million "war chest" with which to recruit at least five Nobel laureates and their research teams by 2015. Manchester has also assembled an unprecedented £300 million capital budget to invest in buildings and equipment fit for such academic stars.
Tony Tysome, The THES 22 October
Scotland's universities have been warned that they must adopt a more business-like approach if they are to avoid a cash crisis. Research conducted by accounting and consultancy agency RSM Robson Rhodes found that Scottish institutions are too reliant on income from overseas students. The research concluded that universities should also spend more time planning for the future and creating new ways of raising income.
Kevin Schofield, The Scotsman 12 October
In an article for The Guardian (5 October), Donald MacLeod considers whether holding out the begging bowl to a prosperous alumni will widen the gap between new and old universities. He highlights the fundraising drive by University College London which aims to raise £300 million through donations from former students. Mr MacLeod tells us that, while many vice-chancellors are strongly in favour of raising money which is beyond the reach of the DfES, heads of new universities are less enthusiastic. Most believe that it will "exacerbate existing inequalities", leaving poorer institutions far behind their established counterparts.
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/69kfa
Middlesex University has abandoned exams for first-year degree students in what critics claim is an unprecedented move to make it easier for students to pass. A leaked memo revealed that the university has decided to move to "100% coursework" for all first-year modules in all subject areas. Alan Smithers, Professor of Education at Buckingham University and adviser to the Commons' Education Select Committee, said: "I hope Middlesex is making the change for important educational reasons and not in response to pressure from government to keep down dropout rates."
Phil Baty, The THES 15 October
Universities have been warned against making promises in their prospectuses that they cannot keep. In her first annual report as the independent adjudicator for student complaints, Dame Ruth Deech said that the "potential legal pitfalls" of making inflated claims or providing vague or unclear information regarding top-up fee charges and bursary arrangements should not be underestimated. Since the relationship between university and student is now widely accepted as contractual, it may be advisable for universities to make "reasonable disclaimers".
Phil Baty, The THES 15 October
Several overseas students have been excluded from Oxford Brookes University after an investigation by The THES discovered their A-level results were fake. The research uncovered that overseas agents "fixed" university places for unqualified students, for fees of several thousand pounds each. A spokesperson for UCAS said that 2004 had been a record year for detected fraudulent admissions.
Phil Baty, The THES 29 October
Universities should look beyond the image of student unions as political and campaigning bodies and ask them to help prepare undergraduates for the jobs market. Speaking at a conference on student employability, Kate Lester of the National Union of Students said that student bodies were uniquely placed to help university authorities improve undergraduates' prospects. She said: "The political and campaigning role has been at the forefront of the NUS's image, but other aspects of our work are also now coming to the fore. We need to ensure that students, having been encouraged to go into higher education, leave it with the skills they will need in the jobs market."
Paul Hill, The THES 15 October
According to a report from the UK GRAD programme, more than half of all UK PhD students leave academia for industry as soon as they get their qualifications. The report, What Do PhDs Do?, found that around 60% of UK PhDs in physical, engineering and biomedical sciences move into industry, compared with about 30-35% of arts, humanities, social science and economics PhDs. Report author Ellen Pearce said that, while the research quashed fears that PhD students are so specialised as to be unemployable, it also raises concerns about the future supply of academics. She said: "The figures will raise serious issues about how universities retain PhD students and sustain the teaching base of UK universities."
Claire Sanders, The THES 8 October
For more information, visit www.grad.ac.uk/
In an article for The Guardian (2 October), Catherine Quinn suggests four methods to fund the pursuit of post-university training and professional qualification.
The best-known route for gaining professional qualifications is by receiving financial aid from your employer. Most of the large graduate schemes will say upfront whether they are willing to fund various qualifications.
For certain careers in the public sector, the government is willing to provide sponsorship, or bursaries to gain vocational qualifications. Sectors such as teaching, for example, attract a very reasonable support package, particularly for trainees in areas with staff shortages.
Although many vocational qualifications are allied with employment, many can be gained independently. For graduates who want recognition in specialist career sectors, this can be one of the best ways to show commitment.
For some vocational qualifications, a bank may be willing to help out. HBSC, for example, offers a variety of loans for post-university training.
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/6mggx
The Learning and Skills Council commissioned a study to measure the progress being made in reducing the costs of bureaucracy following the release of the Bureaucracy Task Force's report. The research shows that the overall package of measures implemented to date will save the sector £26 million a year, money which can be ploughed back into frontline delivery. However, the study also found that the savings that will arise from the Bureaucracy Task Force recommendations are being partially offset by new initiatives outside the Learning and Skills Council's control. These schemes, which create new bureaucracy, include the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and European Social Fund grants. The report concludes that there has been some progress in bureaucracy reduction, but providers are yet to feel the full effect. If the recommendations are fully implemented, there will be savings amounting to £26 million per year.
Measuring progress in the costs of bureaucracy: report to the Bureaucracy Review Group (Word document 12pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/4cvt8
Skills and Education Network Newsletter
October 2004
"Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right."
Laurens van der Post
In an article for t magazine (October 2004), Steve Besley, policy manager at Edexcel, examines the new range of public sector targets, specifically those which relate to education and training. Mr Besley tells us that, of the 110 Public Sector Agreements (PSAs) set out in the July 2004 spending review, the DfES is responsible for 14, although some of these are managed jointly with other departments. Some of the targets have been rolled forward from the 2002 spending review, although most have been subject to "technical modifications". Mr Besley highlights PSA targets 10 to 14 which are of particular relevance to the post-16 sector.
Patrick Diamond, the new special adviser to Alan Milburn, has urged the government to consider forcing workers to undertake training to improve their skills, in a bid to improve upward social mobility. Mr Milburn's adviser also called for the imposition of "significant penalties" for socially immobile or benefit-dependent individuals who fail to attend parenting, childcare or literacy programmes where appropriate. Mr Diamond proposed public sector job creation schemes, which would place the long-term unemployed, including those on Incapacity Benefit, in "socially useful work". He argued that the time had come to end the "dependency culture" in which unemployed people are simply shifted from out-of-work benefits to in-work benefits.
Patrick Wintour, Chief Political Correspondent, The Guardian 15 October
Update comment: Hey ho! We come full circle back to the Job Creation Programme – I think this is where I came in. Hazel.
Unemployment benefit has been denied in a surprisingly high number of cases over the past year because claimants were not aware of government sanction rules. In some cases benefits can be denied for up to six months. In response to the unexpectedly high figures the TUC, in conjunction with Jobcentre Plus, has published a new advice leaflet. Jobseeker's Allowance rules for people leaving work voluntarily or through misconduct aims to better inform workers before they leave their jobs to make them aware of benefit sanctions and how they might be affected by them. It is also designed to help advice workers in TUC Unemployed Workers' Centres and Jobcentre Plus staff settle disputes about the rules.
The new advice leaflet (PDF 8pp) is at www.tuc.org.uk/welfare/tuc-8787-f0.pdf
TUC press release 18 October
Thousands of people have been helped off benefit and into work by radical new measures, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Alan Johnson announced today (11 October). Mr Johnson said there are improvements in recorded job entries for people on Incapacity Benefit nationally but in Pathways to Work areas, this success rate is double. More people in the pilot areas move off Incapacity Benefit to return to the labour market than in the rest of the country, according to these early indications. In Pathways to Work areas, new claimants attend compulsory work-focused interviews with Personal Advisors, can access NHS rehabilitation support and are eligible for a £40-a-week return-to-work credit. In the pilot areas six times as many people claiming Incapacity Benefit have taken up support from the New Deal or other rehabilitation programmes. Pathways to Work is proving so successful that people already on IB in the pilot areas who don't automatically benefit from the new support package are volunteering to go through the programme.
DWP press release 11 October
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The TUC has praised government plans for a "carrot" approach to getting sick and disabled people back to work. Frances O'Grady, TUC Deputy General Secretary, said: "The big problems that Incapacity Benefit claimants have finding and getting work need bold but fair solutions. The Prime Minister today (11 October) backed successful pilot projects that are helping rather than forcing the sick and disabled back into work. Rolled out nationally this carrot rather than stick approach could fill 110,000 jobs a year and save £110 million annually."
HRLooK Daily News 11 October
The key reforms recommended by the Tomlinson Report into replacing GCSEs and A-levels:
The Guardian 18 October
14-19 Curriculum and Qualifications Reform - Final Report of the Working Group on 14-19 Reform
Full report (PDF 118pp) is at www.14-19reform.gov.uk/download.cfm?id=52
Summary (PDF 8pp) at www.14-19reform.gov.uk/docs_general/_55/Summary.pdf
Hard copies of the report can also be obtained by calling 0845 602 2260, quoting reference DfE-0976-2004.
The Guardian has also produced:
"We hate to have some people give us advice because we know how badly they need it themselves."
Author Unknown
Tony Blair and Education Secretary Charles Clarke yesterday (18 October) appeared to undermine the spirit of a radical new English diploma system by stopping short of giving it their unequivocal endorsement. Despite expectations that the Tomlinson Report would sound the death knell for GCSEs and the "gold standard" A-level exam, the PM insisted that the shake-up would "strengthen" the qualifications. Mr Blair's assurances appeared to contradict what Mike Tomlinson had said at the launch of the final report – that, while GCSEs and A-levels may form "components" of the diploma, he anticipated that the names would eventually disappear so that the diploma had "full integrity". The DfES will publish a White Paper in January which will explore the viability of the proposals and the steps to be taken in the short and longer term. If the recommendations are accepted in full, the diploma will be in place by 2014 at the earliest.
Rebecca Smithers, Michael White and Lucy Ward, The Guardian 19 October
Update comment: So there you have it. Clear as mud, really. Dawn.
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools, David Bell, today (18 October) welcomed the publication of the Tomlinson Report on the future of 14 to 19 education. He welcomed Tomlinson's attempt to tackle the "qualifications quagmire" but told employers they must act to help shape vocational courses of the future. Paying tribute to his immediate predecessor, Mr Bell said: "Mike Tomlinson has made a significant contribution to the future shape and direction of the education system in England. He has demonstrated that it is possible to improve the educational opportunities of the forgotten 40% of students who are capable of much more than the present complex and confusing system of qualifications allows. With today's report, Mike Tomlinson also shows that the curriculum and qualifications for the most able students can, and should, be reformed."
OfSTED press release 18 October
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The Guardian Career Doctor offers an answer to the question: "I've been asked by the government to produce a major report on education. What reassurances will I have that my recommendations will be accepted?" The response begins: "Absolutely none, though you might reasonably hope that your proposals have a shelf life of more than 12 hours, which was roughly the length of time it took Tony Blair to reassure the Daily Mail that A-levels were sacrosanct and in effect to torpedo Mike Tomlinson's report on 14-19 education."
The Guardian 26 October
Full article (worth reading) is at http://tinyurl.com/52fmu
The schools reformer Mike Tomlinson and Schools Minister David Miliband have clashed over the future of GCSEs and A-levels, casting doubt on whether the government would accept the radical plans for the exams. Speaking at a higher education conference in London on the Tomlinson proposals, Mr Miliband said that introducing the diploma was "a separate issue" to improving the quality of secondary education. He added that the terms GCSE and A-level must be retained in any reform of 14-19 education.
Sarah Cassidy, Education Correspondent, The Independent 20 October
The Tomlinson Report on reform of the 14-19 education system has proposed positive changes that have the potential to address skills shortages, to the benefit of both students and employers, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Responding to Mike Tomlinson's report, Victoria Gill, Learning, Training and Development Adviser at the CIPD, said: "The proposal to strengthen the vocational qualification system and include more `employability-related' learning is an important step forward. Placing a greater focus on both basic skills and efforts to stretch more able students will be welcomed by our members, who report increasing skills shortages. … If these proposals are accepted, the focus must remain making the new system clear, credible and relevant for those using qualifications as criteria and those entering the system."
CIPD press release 18 October
Commenting on the Tomlinson Report, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, said: "This is a milestone report and offers a real chance for us to bridge the gap between academic and vocational learning. The greater choice will engage more young people in learning and afford them the opportunity to unlock their full potential."
TUC press release 19 October
Responding to the publication of the Tomlinson Report, a spokesperson for the Welsh Assembly Government said that the proposals for changes to the exam system in England would "complement what is already happening in Wales". She said: "In many respects we are up with the game on the education of 14-19-year-olds, and in some respects we are already ahead, for example piloting the Welsh Baccalaureate. There are many parallels to our Welsh Bac development [in the Tomlinson Report] and we're very happy to see that. We are confident that revisions that stem from Tomlinson can be designed so that they fit into our model as well as into any Tomlinson diploma."
Tomos Livingstone, The Western Mail 18 October
In an article for The Guardian (19 October), Peter Kingston considers the impact of the Tomlinson Report on awarding bodies. In particular, he asks how a "slimmed-down" system will effect the 114 organisations that award between 4,000 and 5,000 vocational qualifications. The Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB), which represents 61 of these organisations, has expressed concerns that the vocational options contained in the new diploma will not be rigorous enough to meet the needs of employers or industry. FAB chair John McNamara argued that this type of provision would generate "a diploma with vocational options and components which result in no certification or recognition other than in a transcript". Mr McNamara commented: "The consequences might be a failure to generate genuinely vocational options, a drift to provision which is basically academic, with vocational titles, and difficult transitions to the credit framework for adults."
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/3zjnj
Three times as many schools will offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) as an alternative to A-levels within the next two years, claims Bob Reed, chair of the IB Schools and Colleges Association in Britain. Mr Reed said that the figure would rise from 70 at present to 200. He said that both universities and employers alike would welcome the breadth of the IB.
Richard Garner, Education Editor, The Independent 4 October
A leaked copy of the final draft of the report from the Burgess Group on measuring student achievement calls for the traditional degree classifications of firsts, seconds and thirds to be scrapped. The report, Measuring and Recording Student Achievement, which is due to be published later this month, concludes that the 200-year-old classification system "has outlived its usefulness and is no longer fit for purpose". The report recommends "further investigation of alternative classificatory systems for representing achievement that better meet the needs of different audiences".
Phil Baty, The THES 15 October
The 2004 edition of this publication, published by the Eurydice information network on education in Europe, includes empirical data collected via the international PISA and PIRLS surveys.
It is available from Eurydice Unit for England, Wales
and Northern Ireland, NFER, The Mere, Upton Park, Slough, Berkshire SL1 2DQ
tel: 01753 637036
email: eurydice@nfer.ac.uk
The Magazine Issue 23 (2004)
Welsh heads fear their pupils may be marginalised following the publication of the Tomlinson Report. They are concerned that the proposed reforms could make it difficult for Welsh pupils to study at universities in England. Brian Lightman, head of St Cyres Comprehensive, Vale of Glamorgan, said: "My fear is that if England goes in one direction and Wales goes in another, university entrance will be difficult for Welsh pupils."
Adi Bloom, Warwick Mansell and Michael Shaw, The TES Cymru 22 October
Research into the attitudes of school pupils to further education courses was published today (12 October). It was conducted by independent researchers as part of the Executive's ongoing review of school/college collaboration. The report found that:
The research was conducted by Carole Millar Research. Also published today were a literature review and a report into the management of partnerships.
The reports are at www.scotland.gov.uk/ followed by:
Scottish Executive press release 12 October
Further education colleges across Wales offer a wide range of business services through a network of support centres. The sector, with the support of Know-How Wales programme, managed by the Welsh Development Agency and funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, has produced a booklet detailing the range of services available within colleges and how these can be of benefit to business in Wales.
For further information about All Wales Colleges
Business Centres - Services for You and Your Business, contact the Know How
Wales team through the WDA enquiry service
tel: 08457 775577
email:
knowhow.wales@wda.co.uk
FFORWM E-News Issue 80 (12 October)
Scotland's colleges have expressed fears that the funding gap between further education and higher education is about to widen. Andy Kerr, the former Scottish Finance Minister, announced a major cash boost for both colleges and universities last week. However, college officials claim that closer examination of the figures shows that universities will have their funding increased by £70 million between 2006-7 and 2007-8, while colleges will receive only an extra £17 million over the same period.
Kevin Schofield, The Scotsman 6 October
England's e-University venture ended in failure, but Scotland's is going from strength to strength, says Andy Moore (The Guardian 19 October). The Edinburgh Interactive University has recruited 75,000 students over the past eighteen months and enjoyed a 75% increase in student numbers over the past year. The IU is a spin-off from Heriot Watt University, and works by selling adapted courses from Scottish schools, colleges and universities to partner institutions in more than 23 countries worldwide. Mr Moore contrasts the IU's success with the fate of England's UK e-University, which closed in June, after failing to recruit more than 900 students.
The Learning and Skills Council has achieved its Public Service Agreement target of getting more than 152,000 young people up to the age of 22 into Apprenticeships during 2003-04. The figure is up by more than 7,000, which represents a 5% increase on the previous year. During the same period, success rates of apprentices achieving qualifications rose by 6% while the number of people embarking on the Entry to Employment scheme rose to more than 60,000 – well ahead of the annual target of 49,500. Kevin Street, LSC Senior Policy Manager for work-based learning, commented: "This is a tribute to the way providers, Connexions Partnerships and local LSCs have all worked together to increase the number of young people in work-based learning."
Apprenticeships Newsletter Issue 6 (September 2004)
A new Apprenticeship Programme Board has been formed by the DfES to oversee the delivery of Apprenticeships and monitor progress against targets. The board, which has drawn members from a wide range of education and training organisations including the Adult Learning Inspectorate, the Association of Colleges, the Association of Learning Providers and Connexions, will be jointly chaired by Susan Pember, DfES Director for Apprenticeships and Skills for Life, and Caroline Neville, the LSC's National Director of Learning. The board is due to meet every six weeks, and will report directly to the DfES Ministerial Steering Group.
Apprentice Number 7 (October 2004)
More than 2,200 companies will commit themselves to taking on new apprentices according to the latest estimates from the LSC, following the first phase of its national marketing campaign. As television advertising launched the campaign's second phase, analysis of the successes achieved by brokers and training organisations in turning employer enquiries into commitments to introduce Apprenticeships were 20% above those forecast when marketing activities began in May. Glenn Robinson, LSC Marketing Manager, said that the success rates are now running at 51%, and there has been a surge of interest among SME employers. He commented: "We estimate that each company will take on an average of three apprentices. This is a prudent figure that is actually lower than what has been historically achieved but it takes into account the fact that many of the firms committing to Apprenticeships are small and medium sized businesses, which are unlikely to take on large numbers."
Apprentice Number 7 (October 2004)
Volume 44 Number 3 Autumn 2004
Contents include:
Recent economic and financial developments
Research and analysis
Summaries of recent Bank of England working papers
Andrew Irving, Dorothy Chang and Ian Sparham
Andrew Irving Associates
DWP Research Report 224 October 2004
This report provides findings from research to establish the level of awareness of, and the perceptions and attitudes towards, vocational rehabilitation (VR). Key findings include:
A hard copy of this report summary can be obtained by
contacting Paul Noakes at: Social Research Division, Department for Work and
Pensions, 4th Floor, Adelphi, John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT
email:
Paul.Noakes@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
It is also online (PDF 51pp) at http://tinyurl.com/4r6do
This briefing has been produced by the TUC in response to recent rumours that cuts are in the pipeline for Incapacity Benefit. Many trade union members and disabled people have been worried by these rumours, and this briefing presents the union defence of the benefit. The TUC argues that:
TUC Briefing Paper 7 October
URL: www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-8754-f0.cfm
Pressure groups have slated the government's decision to increase benefits by around 50p a week. Housing Benefit, Jobseeker's Allowance and Income Support will rise by 1%. Campaigners, which include the New Policy Institute (NPI), said that the rise was the smallest that had been granted for 30 years. Paul Kenway, NPI's Director, argued that the government's focus on families with children and "pensioners with sharp elbows" had led to a return to the kind of Victorian values that saw unemployed people as "the undeserving poor". Paul Wheatley, a senior policy officer at Citizen's Advice, echoed Mr Kenway's view. He said that the relative decline in income-related benefits meant the government risked missing its poverty reduction targets.
Mr Wheatley commented: "It is objectionable when commentators and politicians accuse people of languishing on benefits when we are talking about £54 a week."
Philip Thornton, Economics Correspondent, The Independent 25 October
It is well known that disabled people face additional costs to enable them to meet their needs. However, there has been no clear evidence about the true extent of these costs. This research, conducted by the Centre for Research in Social Policy with the support of Disability Alliance, presents budget standards for groups of disabled people who have different needs arising from physical or sensory impairments. The budget standards represent the amounts disabled people (of working age) require in order to cover the costs of an acceptable and equitable quality of life. The budgets were not based on "wish lists". Rather, they represent the minimum essential resources necessary to meet disabled people's needs, to enable them to achieve, as far as possible, a "level playing field" with non-disabled people. Key findings include:
The full report, Disabled people's costs of living: More than you would think by Noel Smith, Sue Middleton, Kate Ashton-Brooks, Lynne Cox and Barbara Dobson with Lorna Reith, is published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (ISBN: 1-85935-236-7, price £17.95)
It can also be downloaded (PDF 122pp) from http://tinyurl.com/65vbl
An overview of the research is at http://tinyurl.com/5h26c
JRF mailing list 20 October
According to a report by Focus Institute for Rights and Social Transformation (First), the government's childcare policies fail to meet the needs of disabled, ethnic minority and working-class white families. The independent thinktank found that services reach just 46% of all children living in poverty in most disadvantaged wards. It blamed a lack of accessibility, choice, quality and affordability for the low take-up among black, ethnic minority and white working-class families. It called for more support for informal childcare arrangements, and the introduction of Integrated Childcare Active Partnerships, to improve childcare provision at a local level.
Herpreet Kaur Grewal, The Guardian 11 October
The Royal National Institute for the Blind has slated the government for its failure to promote a scheme that helps employers recruit and retain disabled workers. The Access to Work scheme offers practical advice and financial support to employers to help them overcome work-related obstacles resulting from disability issues. The scheme can pay for adaptation of work premises and equipment, special aids and can also offer support for travel to and from work. However, the RNIB says that the piecemeal publicity that the government has given to the 10-year-old scheme means that around 70% of employers know nothing about it. In a new report, compiled by the Disability Employment Coalition (DEC), the RNIB argues that Access to Work has the potential to help "tens of thousands" more disabled people into work. Steve Winyard, chair of the DEC, said: "The government should be banging a drum for Access to Work. When a disabled person is in work, everybody wins – especially the Treasury."
Labour Research Volume 93 Number 10 (October 2004)
More information about the Access to Work scheme: http://tinyurl.com/4l7ax
Executive summary of Access to Work for Disabled People: http://tinyurl.com/4w5cl
The Disability Rights Commission is calling for the Housing Bill, which is currently progressing through Parliament, to address the "scandal" of disabled people living in unsuitable housing. The DRC wants the Bill to require all local authorities to maintain a register of accessible housing for disabled tenants. The DRC claims that, under current arrangements, accessible housing is often stripped of adaptations and placed back into the main housing "stock". Keeping a register would, the DRC says, help to ensure that once adapted and accessible accommodation becomes vacant, it is offered to a new disabled tenant.
Working Brief Issue 158 (October 2004)
The government's drive to educate more children with special needs in mainstream schools has been criticised by OfSTED. In a new report, OfSTED concludes that the policy is failing. Inspectors found that, while the majority of schools wanted to be regarded as inclusive, most had not taken steps to accommodate SEN pupils. More specifically, pupils with behavioural or social disabilities were the least likely to receive adequate support.
Polly Curtis, Education Correspondent, The Guardian 12 October
Special educational needs and disability: towards inclusive schools (PDF 37pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/58p3p
The woman who pioneered the drive towards teaching disabled children in mainstream state schools is now calling for a major rethink of the policy because too many are being bullied. Mary Warnock, whose report on special education 25 years ago began the move towards greater inclusion, says today that many children "are simply unfit to manage in the bewildering environment of a large school". As a result, they face being bullied or removed to special units in the schools which are "isolated from their contemporaries". She adds: "They are fragile children who above all need to know and be known by their teachers."
Richard Garner, Education Editor, The Independent 12 October
Most mainstream schools are now committed to meeting special educational needs (SEN) as a result of the government's revised inclusion framework. However, the inclusion framework has had little effect as yet on the proportion of pupils with SEN in mainstream schools or on the range of needs for which mainstream schools cater. The government's revised inclusion framework has contributed to a growing but uneven appreciation of the benefits of inclusion, according to a new report published today (12 October) by OfSTED. Special educational needs and disability: towards inclusive schools examines the extent to which the inclusion framework has had an impact on the capacity of mainstream schools to cater effectively for pupils with a wider range of special educational needs.
OfSTED press release 12 October
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"Books are the carriers of civilisation. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill."
Barbara Tuchman
Dr Martin Stephen, the new High Master of St Paul's and chairman of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference of independent schools, has criticised the impact "successive governments" have had on the education system, claiming that they have "redesigned and redesigned it so that it bears a resemblance to a wound operated on so often that all that is left is scar tissue". He called for education policy to be decided by an independent standing commission of teachers, parents and employers.
John Clare, The Daily Telegraph 5 October
Themed "curriculum weeks" in schools, wider vocational choices and 24-hour access to e-learning, could all become part of the school day as the government today (12 October) invited school staff, governors, pupils and parents to take part in a national conversation about personalised learning. Launching a National Conversation About Personalised Learning, supported by a dedicated pamphlet and website, School Standards Minister David Miliband called on all schools to set out a foundation for the development of personalised learning, tailoring education to meet the individual needs, aptitude and aspirations of every child.
Schools can access case studies, together with further resources at www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/personalisedlearning
DfES press release (applies to England) 12 October
Client ref 2004/0171
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Pupils as young as five should be allowed to question the existence of God, new government guidelines recommend. The long-awaited framework for RE – the first time a national code for the subject has been drawn up – says pupils should study secular philosophies at all key stages, alongside Christianity and other major faiths. It also recommends that minority religions including Jainism, which promotes strict vegetarianism and believes all animals and plants have souls, should feature in syllabuses.
Graeme Paton, The TES 29 October
Update comment: Do you not think it would be better to teach them to spell God first?
Uniformed police officers have announced that they are to set up bases in the most deprived schools in Scotland, as part of a new operation to cut violent behaviour. The Violence Reduction Strategy (VRS) will begin before the end of the year, although a pilot programme has already started at two schools in the east end of Glasgow. If the experiment is successful, the Scottish Executive is keen for the initiative to be rapidly extended throughout the country.
Neil Mackay, Investigations Editor, The Sunday Herald 24 October
The Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, Jane Davidson, today (14 October) set out the areas where the Welsh Assembly Government has made a difference in education and training in Wales and looks forward to the challenges ahead. Looking back on her four years as Education and Lifelong Learning Minister she highlighted the steps the Welsh Assembly Government has taken in partnership with schools, local authorities and other key organisations to develop a distinctive agenda for Wales.
Welsh Assembly press release 14 October
Authors: Claire Drinkwater and Gwyneth Price
ISBN: 0-90192-237-4 Price: £8.50
Publisher: Librarians of Institutes and Schools of Education
"Provides an ideal starting point for answering the questions people ask in libraries". It offers sources of information, rather than acting as a comprehensive resource in itself, and focuses on "the reality of enquiry work".
Library and Information Update
Volume 3(10) October 2004
The LSC has responded to the accusations that it has refused to provide adequate support and funding to the Entry to Employment (E2E) programme, by stating that much of the reporting has been "unfortunately inaccurate". The LSC confirms that, while it has introduced a number of measures designed to improve completion rates, there has been no significant policy change. E2E will remain as a route for young people who need to acquire additional skills and knowledge to enable them to take up a place in employment or training. However, it is not appropriate for everyone, and therefore funding will not be available for everyone to participate.
LSC Update Number 3 (September-October 2004)
The E2E prospectus is on the LSC website (www.lsc.gov.uk) under Documents/Policy and Development/Entry to Employment
New figures released by the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS) show that there has been a further fall in the number of students going to university to study modern languages, and a rise in some of the "softer" subjects such as tourism and dance. The figures will fuel concerns that universities are failing to turn out graduates in the disciplines that employers and the economy need. Total acceptances for higher education are 1% higher than last year. However, there has been a fall, in some cases sharp, in the numbers studying computer science, electronic engineering, physics and geology.
The Financial Times 15 October
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has announced that it is to impose a "reliability threshold" to the student satisfaction survey. A spokesperson for HEFCE said that, by setting a minimum response rate, it will not be possible for "small groups of aggrieved students" to skew the results against a particular department or individual. The spokesperson said that, unless there is a 50% response rate, the survey findings will not be published. However, the decision has been criticised by Lee Harvey, director of the Centre for Research and Evaluation at Sheffield Hallam University. Professor Harvey argued that, since the pilot in 2004 produced a total response rate of only 40%, the proposal would mean that most results would have to remain secret. He explained: "If you set the response threshold at 50%, your chances of getting the data you need is virtually zero. It is extremely difficult to get a 50% response rate."
Phil Baty, The THES 15 October
The value of the SAT as a predictor for academic performance has been thrown into question by a US college that has ceased to demand that applicants take the test, writes Jon Marcus (The THES 15 October). Research undertaken by Bates College, Maine, indicates that there is no difference in graduation rates between students who submit their SAT scores and those who do not. The college became the first to make SATs optional, more than 400 other US schools have dropped the SAT requirement.
A special panel of the Secondary Heads' Association has recommended that a two-tiered post-qualification application (PQA) system, based on A-level results, should be made available to students taking A-levels in 2008. The system would give universities advance warning of the number of applications they will receive by enabling sixth-form students to "register interest" in two universities just before their A-level exams and finalise their choice after they receive their actual results. Candidates who failed to receive an offer from their first choice would have a short time to make a further choice based on an online UCAS course vacancy list.
Paul Hill, The THES 22 October
Horizons Issue 3