tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/post-16-choices-29262/articlesPost-16 choices – The Conversation2022-10-26T14:24:22Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1927852022-10-26T14:24:22Z2022-10-26T14:24:22ZT-Levels: more vocational courses roll out – but post-16 choices in England are still limited<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491655/original/file-20221025-19-8abchh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5058%2C3361&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Girls in technology class</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-female-college-students-building-machine-1331249348">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The first cohort of students in England taking T-levels – the new vocational equivalent to A-levels – have completed their course, been assessed, and have received their results. Now more course options for T-levels are being rolled out. The initial offerings were in construction, digital production and education and childcare. By 2025, there will be 23 different T-level options.</p>
<p>T-levels are intended to offer 16-19-year-olds a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-16-skills-plan-and-independent-report-on-technical-education">skills-focused route</a> into either employment, higher technical apprenticeships, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-16-skills-plan-and-independent-report-on-technical-education">or university</a>. </p>
<p>T-levels were <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/21/contents/enacted">designed</a> to improve on previous offers to 16-19 year olds. They are <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-16-skills-plan-and-independent-report-on-technical-education">skills-focused</a>, but grades are also partly based on exams – which the <a href="https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/597282">government considers</a> the most academically rigorous assessment method. One T-level is the equivalent of three A-levels, meaning that T-level students focus on one specialism. </p>
<p>However, the first cycle of T-levels has been beset with issues over exam marking and confusion over whether they are an acceptable route to university. Questions <a href="https://research.hud.ac.uk/media/assets/document/research/hudcres/HudCRESPolicyBriefingNov2021.pdf">also remain</a> around just how relevant these highly specialised routes are for students finishing their GCSEs.</p>
<p>T-levels will replace many BTECs (diplomas provided by the Business and Technology Education Council) and other <a href="https://feweek.co.uk/revealed-38-btecs-facing-the-chop-to-clear-way-for-first-t-levels/">post-16 qualifications</a> by 2024, becoming the <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/level-3-qualifications-reform-whats-happening-to-btecs/">key vocational route</a> to employment or further education for students who do not wish to take A-levels. </p>
<p>T-levels are very similar to their BTEC predecessors, but offer a longer industry placement. Additionally, not all BTECs include externally-assessed testing.</p>
<p>Like A-levels, T-levels are assessed at points by exams. Unlike A-levels, they place a bigger emphasis on on-the-job learning. All T-level students complete an industry placement which makes up 20% of their final grade. </p>
<h2>Teething problems</h2>
<p>The government has explicitly positioned T-levels as being equivalent to A-levels. However, a historical divide exists between vocational qualifications and those perceived as being more academic. A-levels are seen as the gold standard among post-16 qualifications and as the more obvious route into higher education. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1503672410549145602"}"></div></p>
<p>Despite the stated intentions behind T-levels, there are concerns from students, teachers and parents as to whether universities will consider T-levels as equivalent to A-levels in practice. Almost half of Russell Group universities in the UK <a href="https://feweek.co.uk/confused-and-frustrated-most-universities-reject-first-cohort-of-t-level-students/">failed to accept</a> T-level students for admission in the 2022-23 academic year. </p>
<p>What’s more, an <a href="https://feweek.co.uk/health-and-science-t-level-results-will-be-regraded-after-watchdog-finds-serious-issues/">investigation into T-Level exam papers</a> took place in summer 2022. Ofqual, the exams watchdog, found <a href="https://feweek.co.uk/t-level-exams-issues-more-widespread-than-first-thought-ofqual-reveals/">substantial errors</a> in exam papers on the health and science T-level. More than 1,200 people signed a petition calling for grades to be adjusted.</p>
<p>A new <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-review-of-the-quality-of-t-level-courses-interim-report/a-review-of-the-quality-of-t-level-courses-interim-report">Ofsted report</a> has found that some teachers did not have enough training to teach T-levels and also did not have adequate access to resources such as textbooks. </p>
<p>Further education is <a href="https://feweek.co.uk/ifs-education-cuts-effectively-without-precedent-in-post-war-history/">still emerging</a> from the consequences of austerity, funding cuts and the pandemic. <a href="https://feweek.co.uk/ifs-education-cuts-effectively-without-precedent-in-post-war-history/">The sector</a> is struggling to <a href="https://www.fenews.co.uk/fe-voices/worst-staffing-crisis-in-two-decades-in-englands-colleges/">recruit and retain</a> staff who can teach the highly specialised components demanded by each T-level. </p>
<h2>Impact on students</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-young-people/2010-to-2015-government-policy-young-people#appendix-3-raising-the-participation-age">raising of the school leaving age</a> in September 2015 means that all learners in England must stay in some form of education or training until the age of 18, rather than being able to leave school at 16 as previously.</p>
<p>For learners in Year 11 considering their study options after GCSEs, the choices are in practice quite limited. <a href="https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/education/952208/the-international-baccalaureate-explained">Relatively few</a> schools or sixth form colleges offer the International Baccalaureate, and the majority of these are in the independent sector. Apprenticeships <a href="https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1744816/government-admits-apprenticeship-target-will-missed">have been undersubscribed</a> since enrolment targets were first introduced by the government in 2015-16, although <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships/2021-22">recent figures</a> suggest apprentice numbers are recovering slightly after the pandemic. </p>
<p>A-levels remain overwhelmingly the most popular option for post-16 study, with <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-numbers-of-students-take-up-university-places">roughly twice</a> as many A-levels as vocational and technical qualifications awarded in 2021. </p>
<p>However, the A-level route is simply not the best route for some learners. <a href="https://schoolsweek.co.uk/how-can-we-make-school-transition-into-an-opportunity/">Research conducted</a> by one of us (Elizabeth Gregory) at a college of further education found that BTEC students expressed <a href="https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/a-study-of-learner-transition-and-identity-in-the-fe-environment(27fd1cf1-f6d8-433c-ba0d-40a370f87b4f).html">feelings of relief</a> at encountering a new type of study programme where examination was no longer the only method of assessment. </p>
<p>It remains to be seen whether T-levels can offer a genuinely equivalent alternative to A-level study – or whether they will be both too academic for students looking for a vocational course and too vocational for university admissions departments.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192785/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The first cycle of T-levels has caused some confusion.Elizabeth Gregory, Senior Tutor in Education, University of ManchesterHannah Ruth McCarthy, PhD Candidate in Education, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1045902018-12-04T10:16:42Z2018-12-04T10:16:42ZT-Levels might mark a ‘revolution’ in technical education, but who’s going to teach all the students?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246846/original/file-20181122-182056-1eh6jg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pexels</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7951">Sweeping reforms</a> were recently announced to improve vocational education in the UK for young people, following advice from an <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/536046/Report_of_the_Independent_Panel_on_Technical_Education.pdf">expert panel</a>. </p>
<p>A new set of technical qualifications, known as T-levels, will be created as an alternative to the academic A-levels. However following concerns over a tight timeline to introduce the new T-levels, the full roll-out has been <a href="https://feweek.co.uk/2018/05/27/t-level-full-roll-out-delayed-until-2023-dfe-confirms/">delayed until 2023</a>. </p>
<p>While new qualifications to encourage vocational options might sound all well and good, there is a serious shortage of teachers to actually deliver these new qualifications. Recent analysis of Department for Education initial teacher training statistics shows that <a href="https://www.tes.com/news/teacher-and-fe-staff-shortfall-totals-30000">further education colleges are missing 20,000 staff</a>. </p>
<h2>Staff shortages</h2>
<p>Further education (FE) colleges educate and train <a href="https://www.aoc.co.uk/sites/default/files/Key%20Facts%202017-18_1.pdf">over 2m people</a> in England, and there are many more 16 to 18-year-olds studying in colleges compared to state schools. </p>
<p>FE colleges will be responsible for providing a large proportion of T-levels to full-time students or apprentices, but recruiting and retaining staff is a common problem for this large yet often overlooked sector of education. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246849/original/file-20181122-182050-z7fddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246849/original/file-20181122-182050-z7fddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246849/original/file-20181122-182050-z7fddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246849/original/file-20181122-182050-z7fddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246849/original/file-20181122-182050-z7fddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246849/original/file-20181122-182050-z7fddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246849/original/file-20181122-182050-z7fddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">T Levels will be on a par with A-levels and will provide young people with a choice between technical and academic education.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The challenge is particularly severe for science, engineering and technology. In 2017, the <a href="http://www.et-foundation.co.uk/">Education and Training Foundation</a> gave us funding to find out why. We interviewed 31 managers from the human resources and engineering departments of 24 of the largest FE colleges in England.</p>
<p>Nearly all of them found it difficult to recruit engineering and construction teaching staff. A failure to attract any applicants at all to job vacancies was not uncommon. This is mainly because potential candidates can earn much more in industry – as explained by this head of engineering at a college in northern England:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The wages are so good on the outside, that people don’t want to come in and do 40 hours of paperwork a week. When they can stick a few pipes on a radiator and get paid twice as much.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>High earners</h2>
<p>Education is in competition with industry for staff, and this can impact on existing as well as potential employees. A boom in local industry drives up demand for courses – as prospective students want a qualification which will fit them for local jobs. But at the same time, staff are being lured away. One HR manager reported that three carpentry teachers left in one day to work on a new housing project nearby, and the problem can be inflated by media coverage:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Well, that’s the trouble with FE. [It’s] completely driven in that way. When a story gets in the paper about, you know, the £100,000 for bricklaying, or whatever, then everyone wants to be a bricklayer, but it’s at the time when the market’s at its highest, so you find it hard to employ staff.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some colleges offer staff skills supplements or market weighting for shortage subjects but even so find their salaries weren’t competitive. And our research shows it is difficult to offer a significantly enhanced package when FE is so financially squeezed. </p>
<p>Added to which, teaching in colleges can involve long hours, a heavy administrative burden and sometimes behavioural challenges in the classroom. Actual working conditions are often very different to applicants’ previous employment, with those used to working independently and in isolation now expected to spend time interacting with students and colleagues. </p>
<h2>Hard graft</h2>
<p>Our research shows that many staff join the college in their fifties, looking for something less physically strenuous or wanting to “give something back”, but stories of returning disillusioned to industry are not uncommon:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There’s always kind of individuals round the periphery, who come in for probably quite altruistic reasons and reasons to support the profession, but they end up leaving very quickly because teaching is hard, you know, it’s not all warm indoors and no heavy lifting.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>All but one college used lecturers from employment agencies to fill gaps between contracts or absences due to sickness. Although some colleges had found excellent staff via this route, agencies were generally seen as more part of the problem than the solution. There were concerns about lower commitment, higher costs and inconsistent quality. </p>
<p>And because agency staff are usually paid by the hour they aren’t around to attend parents evenings or to deal with problems students might have outside lectures or tutorials. This creates a greater burden for permanent staff.</p>
<h2>Wanted: teachers</h2>
<p>Colleges reported trying various initiatives to attract new teachers, including running taster sessions where people can try out teaching – as well as encouraging promising students to work in the college rather than leaving for roles in industry. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246852/original/file-20181122-182065-yhuswy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246852/original/file-20181122-182065-yhuswy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246852/original/file-20181122-182065-yhuswy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246852/original/file-20181122-182065-yhuswy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246852/original/file-20181122-182065-yhuswy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246852/original/file-20181122-182065-yhuswy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246852/original/file-20181122-182065-yhuswy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Almost two-thirds of parents have not heard of T-levels, according to new research.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many were also using current industry employees to teach part-time. But it is clear there are worries about replacing the ageing workforce. And our research showed that once other overarching uncertainties such as Brexit are added into the mix, the overall mood is one of pessimism.</p>
<p>So if the government wants T-levels to be a success, they need to give serious consideration to who will teach them. Because unless radical solutions to the staff shortages are found, government plans for the expansion of technical and vocational education are doomed – giving further education the recognition and funding it deserves would be a start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104590/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pam Hanley has received funding from the Education and Training Foundation and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Orr has received funding from the Education and Training Foundation and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.</span></em></p>The government’s ambitious plans for T-levels might struggle to get off the ground given that further education colleges are already short of 20,000 staff.Pam Hanley, Senior Research Fellow in Education, University of HuddersfieldKevin Orr, Professor of Work and Learning, University of HuddersfieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/625142016-07-14T16:06:39Z2016-07-14T16:06:39ZDear Justine Greening, here’s what you should do as education minister<p>As part of Theresa May’s reshuffle in her first full day as prime minister, Justine Greening <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36793920">was appointed</a> as the secretary of state for education. She will take charge at the Department for Education, which will <a href="https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/dfe-takes-skills-and-higher-education-major-government-shake">also assume responsibility</a> for higher education and skills, formerly within the remit of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. She is the first Conservative education secretary to have attended a comprehensive school. </p>
<p>As Greening takes up her new role, five experts at UCL’s Institute of Education set out what they think her priorities should be in higher education, school inspection, primary education, teacher training and further education. </p>
<h2>Higher education</h2>
<p><em>Simon Marginson, professor of international higher education, UCL</em></p>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>A stable regulatory structure</strong> The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has served English higher education well in the public interest. Big changes to the way the sector is regulated have been proposed in a <a href="http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2016-17/highereducationandresearch.html">new Higher Education and Research Bill</a> currently making its way through parliament. It is crucial that the new regulatory mechanism is equally effective in providing for standards, good management and the effective use of scarce resources. The accumulated wisdom of the previous regulatory regime must be retained in the system.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Crucial Brexit issues</strong> It is urgent that students and staff receive firm guarantees on their long-term future in the UK and that – if necessary – a subsided scheme is introduced to replace two-way student movement under the existing <a href="https://www.erasmusplus.org.uk/">Erasmus</a> exchange scheme. Brexit diminishes UK universities’ early access to the best research in Europe as well as sharply reducing income for research. Both are equally important. The problem is inescapable: a large scale government programme for research funding across all disciplines will be needed to fill the gap.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Beyond Europe</strong> Relations with emerging Asia and Latin America have now become more important. Greening will need to catalyse engagement with higher education in these world regions through both ministerial leadership and selective incentives.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Teaching Excellence</strong> Big <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-competitive-landscape-for-higher-education-confirmed-in-white-paper-59494">changes are afoot</a> in the way the quality of teaching is monitored and rewarded in universities. Greening must “hasten slowly” to put in place comparative measures that are educationally valid, leading to genuine improvements in learning over time. She must avoid proxy measures that turn the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/teaching-excellence-framework">Teaching Excellence Framework</a> (TEF) into a reputation race in which a nominal victory goes to institutions best equipped to manipulate the system, with little real improvement in learning taking place. It would also be a good idea to reconsider the proposal to link the TEF to state university funding. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Research Excellence</strong> The <a href="http://www.ref.ac.uk/">Research Excellence Framework</a> (REF) has become a back-patting exercise in which the rate of improvement in research quality is scarcely credible. More stringent international measures of the “world standard” are needed. The REF, next due in 2020, is also too <a href="https://theconversation.com/game-playing-of-the-ref-makes-it-an-incomplete-census-35707">readily gamed</a> by selective inclusion of research, and universities should be required to submit data based on all of their academic staff.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>School inspection</h2>
<p><em>Melanie Ehren, reader in educational improvement, UCL</em></p>
<p>Arrangements for the accountability and monitoring of Multi-Academy Trusts – groups of academies – and the schools they run need to be simplified and streamlined. Head teachers <a href="http://www.schoolinspections.eu/">have told us</a> that the different frameworks used can cause confusion over which areas the school needs to improve on. Greater collaboration is needed between the schools inspectorate Ofsted, the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/schools-commissioners-group">Regional Schools Commissioners</a> and the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/education-funding-agency">Education Funding Agency</a> in holding academies and their trust to account, with clear frameworks for evaluation, sharing of information, evaluating performance and supporting school improvement.</p>
<p>The arrangements need to address the functioning of the trust itself, not just the performance of its academies. New frameworks are needed which evaluate the quality of the trust in supporting school improvement. These should evaluate the added value of the partnership such as ensuring that children have a good transition from primary to secondary school, the effectiveness of joint professional development across a group of schools or the efficient financing of centralised back office services. </p>
<p>Such frameworks should be part of focused inspections and current reviews of trusts, and included in the monitoring frameworks of Regional Schools’ Commissioners. </p>
<h2>Primary education</h2>
<p><em>Dominic Wyse, professor, department of learning and leadership, UCL</em> </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Plan for a major review of England’s primary school national curriculum.</p></li>
<li><p>Move to national assessment based on national sampling rather than <a href="https://theconversation.com/stressed-out-the-psychological-effects-of-tests-on-primary-school-children-58913">high-stakes</a> competitive assessments for all primary school children. This would mean selecting a nationally representative group of pupils, using random selection, who undertake national assessments which are used as one basis for evaluating the success of teaching and learning.</p></li>
<li><p>As a matter of urgency, commission a review of English in the national curriculum, including investigating the damaging effects of the way grammar <a href="https://ioelondonblog.wordpress.com/2016/07/05/does-traditional-grammar-instruction-improve-childrens-writing-ability/#more-4632">is currently taught</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Fund a new initiative on creativity in primary education.</p></li>
</ol>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130577/original/image-20160714-23327-efm32t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130577/original/image-20160714-23327-efm32t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130577/original/image-20160714-23327-efm32t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130577/original/image-20160714-23327-efm32t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130577/original/image-20160714-23327-efm32t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130577/original/image-20160714-23327-efm32t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130577/original/image-20160714-23327-efm32t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Too much measuring.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Smiltena/www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Teacher training</h2>
<p><em>Clare Brooks, senior lecturer in education, UCL</em></p>
<p>I hope the new secretary of state will:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Recognise the contribution universities make to the development of professional teachers who have a solid knowledge base and a thorough understanding of what teaching involves.</p></li>
<li><p>Recognise the importance of the partnership between schools and higher education institutes in the initial and continuing education of teachers. Higher education institutes play a large role in school-based teacher education and schools contribute enormously to the Postgraduate Certificate in Education. </p></li>
<li><p>Consider the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/school/34990905.pdf">international evidence</a> which suggests that initial teacher education should comprise of a two-year integrated programme rather than a one-year programme with variable support afterwards. Newly-trained teachers and recently-trained teachers need ongoing specialist support.</p></li>
<li><p>Recognise the contribution of a range of <a href="https://www.ucl-ioe-press.com/books/education-policy/research-and-policy-in-education/">research evidence</a> on improving teaching and learning.</p></li>
<li><p>Agree that all teachers should be educated to Master’s level. This enables them to engage thoughtfully with professional dilemmas, to diagnose problems effectively and to find solutions not just for tomorrow but well into the future.</p></li>
<li><p>The teacher education system needs stability. Please don’t change it again.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Further education</h2>
<p><em>Ann Hodgson, professor of post compulsory education, UCL</em></p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.gatsby.org.uk/uploads/education/reports/pdf/report-of-the-independent-panel-on-technical-education.pdf">Sainsbury Review</a> of technical education and the government’s response to it in the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/536043/Post-16_Skills_Plan.pdf">Post-16 Skills Plan</a> recognised the strong and clear role for further education colleges and not-for-profit training providers in technical education and apprenticeships. Yet, building a strong technical education system requires considerably more funding than has been the case for further education programmes to date and the Post-16 Skills Plan hedges its bets on this score.</p>
<p>Greening’s new department will need to do considerable and careful work to design the new technical programmes, as well as the all-important <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-a-levels-arent-for-you-choices-at-age-16-could-now-get-a-whole-lot-simpler-62294">transition year and bridging courses</a> that potentially allow for progression and the ability to transfer between academic and technical programmes and apprenticeships. </p>
<p>It is very important that the new Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education makes full use of the experience and expertise of the educational practitioners who will be implementing these reforms with real learners in different local contexts, as well as satisfying the needs of national employers and professional associations. We have been here before (remember the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11407563">unfortunate 14-19 diplomas</a> which were discontinued after 2010 when the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition came to power). So getting it right this time requires the involvement of all those who will be affected by the changes. </p>
<p><em>This article also appears on the <a href="https://ioelondonblog.wordpress.com/2016/07/14/dear-secretary-of-state-for-education/">IOE London blog</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62514/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie Ehren has received funding from the EU/KA2 programme. She is on the sponsor board of the UCL Academy. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Marginson receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council for the ESRC/HEFCE Centre for Global Higher Education. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ann Hodgson, Clare Brooks, and Dominic Wyse do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Advice from five education academics on what the new secretary of state should prioritise.Dominic Wyse, Professor, Department of Early Years and Primary Education, UCLAnn Hodgson, Professor of Post Compulsory Education, UCLClare Brooks, Senior Lecturer in Education, UCLMelanie Ehren, Reader in Educational Improvement, Institute of Education, UCLSimon Marginson, Professor of International Higher Education, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/622942016-07-13T10:38:54Z2016-07-13T10:38:54ZIf A-Levels aren’t for you, choices at age 16 could now get a whole lot simpler<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130379/original/image-20160713-12386-qas4tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alberto Andrei Rosu/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The incoming British prime minister Theresa May has <a href="http://www.theresa2016.co.uk/we_can_make_britain_a_country_that_works_for_everyone">outlined</a> a vision of a country that “works not for the privileged few but that works for every one of us … because we’re going to give people control over their lives”. A good place for her to start would be to make sure that the government sticks to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/536043/Post-16_Skills_Plan.pdf">its promise</a> to implement the 34 recommendations set out in a new report that aims to radically simplify the education choices available for people after age 16.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.gatsby.org.uk/uploads/education/reports/pdf/report-of-the-independent-panel-on-technical-education.pdf">Sainsbury report</a>, published on July 8, sets out a blueprint for technical education for young people and adults. The report is wide-ranging and ambitious, with recommendations that cover many aspects of the way education is provided. The government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/536043/Post-16_Skills_Plan.pdf">Post-16 Skills Plan</a>, published on the same day, says the Sainsbury recommendation will be accepted “unequivocally where that is possible within existing budgets”. </p>
<h2>Plethora of choices</h2>
<p>Nowhere is reform more necessary than in the options for 16-year-olds, after they finish their GCSE exams, as my colleagues and I have outlined in <a href="http://cver.lse.ac.uk/textonly/cver/pubs/cverdp001.pdf">a new paper</a>. As it currently stands, the system is obtuse – even for us “experts”. </p>
<p>There are thousands of qualifications available for 16- to 18-year-olds and it is hard to classify available options into sensible groupings, especially for lower levels of learning – what is called Level 2 and below. Many students who do not get a grade C in English and/or maths at GCSE start at a further education college the following year and undertake a Level 2 vocational course as well as studying (again) for their English or maths GCSE. </p>
<p>The menu of options for them is diverse and the progression paths unclear. We followed a whole cohort of students who undertook their GCSEs in 2009-10. Fewer than half of those pursuing a Level 2 vocational course at age 17 progressed to a Level 3 qualification by the age of 20. Thousands of students pursued low-level courses for consecutive years. </p>
<p>A lack of careers information and advice is often criticised in the English education system. But it’s a wonder that anybody can make sense of the current hotchpotch of options available for 16-year-olds. It’s amazing that in a country where <a href="http://cver.lse.ac.uk/textonly/cver/pubs/cverdp001.pdf">fewer than 40% of students complete A-Levels</a>, options for the rest are so little pored over and debated in the media. Perhaps it is because the 13,000 qualifications available for young people are too many for anyone to make sense of.</p>
<h2>Two routes</h2>
<p>The Sainsbury report recommends that young people are given the choice between academic and technical education after their GCSEs, with a transition year available for those not yet ready at that time. Regardless of the route chosen, bridges will be available between academic and employment pathways at age 18. </p>
<p>The academic route at age 16 would either be A-Levels or advanced level <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/409740/Applied_General_2017_list_.pdf">Applied Generals</a> – or some combination of the two. The technical option would consist of 15 routes, which are based on occupational groupings. These range from construction or engineering and manufacturing to hair and beauty or catering and hospitality. Each route would have a “common core”, including English and maths. At the outset, it would be possible to visualise where these routes might lead in terms of educational progression and potential employment. </p>
<p>The technical option would either be employment-based (most commonly delivered via an apprenticeship, with at least 20% of the time spent learning off-the-job) or full-time college-based. Both the government and employers will be involved in the curriculum. While the government needs to design the overall national system of technical education, employers will construct a single common framework for standards. These standards need to define the knowledge, skills and behaviours for specific occupations and not narrow requirements of particular jobs. To make this happen, a key role is envisaged for a new Institute of Apprenticeships, due to launch in 2017. </p>
<p>Rather than continue with thousands of qualifications, the report recommends that any technical education qualification at Level 2 and 3 should be offered by a single body or consortium under a license. These licences will be awarded for a fixed period of time following an open competition. </p>
<p>Similar issues apply to higher levels of technical qualification (Levels 4 and above) and the report makes similar recommendations regarding the simplification of the landscape and the involvement of employers in setting standards. Yet, here the baseline is <a href="http://cver.lse.ac.uk/textonly/cver/pubs/cverdp001.pdf">fairly thin</a> with few young people getting to this level of education: among the cohort that took their GCSEs in 2009-10, only 4% had started some sort of higher technical education by age 20. </p>
<h2>Plugging the skills gap</h2>
<p>A shortage of intermediate skills <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470017/skill_levels_2014.pdf">is a problem</a> in the economy generally, with the UK predicted to rate 28th out of 33 OECD countries in this respect by 2020. Immigrants provide a vital part of the British workforce. If there are going to be fewer of them in the future, following the recent vote to leave the European Union, then upskilling the existing workforce is even more important. If not, Britain risks further lowering its productivity, which is <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/researchAndExpertise/units/growthCommission/documents/pdf/LSEGC-Report.pdf">already low</a> by international standards. </p>
<p>The Sainsbury report has recommendations for adults, too, suggesting for example that the same choices should be available for them as for young people – and could be facilitated by the existing system of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/advanced-learner-loan/overview">advanced learner loans</a>. </p>
<p>The report requires nothing less than a radical shake-up and simplification of the system of technical education. It is not before time. Let’s hope all its recommendations are implemented.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62294/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandra McNally is director of the Centre for Vocational Education Research, LSE. This is an independent research centre funded by BIS.</span></em></p>The murky world of post-16 education choices is overdue a radical simplification.Sandra McNally, Professor in the School of Economics, University of SurreyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.