Memorandum submitted by the Federation
of Small Businesses (FSB)
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)
welcomes the opportunity to submit evidence to the Education and
Skills Select Committee on behalf of its members. The FSB is the
UK's leading non-party political lobbying group for small businesses
existing to promote and protect the interests of all who own and/or
manage their own businesses. With over 185,000 members the FSB
is the largest organisation representing small- and medium- sized
businesses in the UK.
1.2 The FSB broadly welcomes the Government's
Skills Strategy, with its emphasis on ensuring employers have
the right skills to support the success of their business. Essential
to developing "employability for life", as discussed
in the White Paper, is equipping all young people with the key
attributes essential for employment or further training.
1.3 The FSB supports the promotion of 14-19
as a continuous phase of learning, but feels that adequate provision
and support must be incorporated into the educational system for
those who choose to leave full time education at 16. The ongoing
development of vocational qualifications is welcomed; the education
system must provide opportunities and success for all young people,
not just those that who choose the academic route.
2. EMPLOYABILITY
2.1 Employers consistently complain that
young people are leaving school ill equipped with the appropriate
lifelong skills essential for employment or further learning.
The FSB's "Lifting the Barriers to Growth in UK Small Businesses
2002" survey revealed that, of all the criteria used in employee
selection, attitude and character were selected as very important
by a majority of respondents.
2.2 Businesses want young people who can
adapt to working life quickly and who are willing to learn. Small
firms feel that independent learning and self-management is vital,
yet it is often missing within the current system. All too often,
pupils are "spoon fed" and unable to teach themselves—for
example firms complain that some young people are unable to complete
basic tasks without help, such as following an instruction manual.
2.3 Small firms do not always expect to
recruit young people who need no further training and are prepared
to invest time and money developing employees to meet the businesses'
needs. A period of adjustment for all new employees is expected
regardless of their ages, but smaller firms do not have the luxury
of several months' relatively low output that larger companies
can tolerate. Small businesses want young people to be economically
productive in as short a time as possible. Developing a breadth
of skills will help ensure this for businesses, while at the same
time providing a strong foundation for employability later in
life for the individual.
3. SKILLS
3.1 The development of general learning,
skills and attributes is of paramount importance to small firms.
As stated above, firms place more importance on character and
attitude than qualifications. Small firms are aware that qualifications
do not necessarily equate to a competent workforce and place far
higher importance on the development of the skills, knowledge
and understanding necessary for employment.
3.2 It is essential that young people develop
key generic skills such as literacy, numeracy and communication.
In addition, attitude and "soft skills" such as team
working, self-management and decision-making are of particular
importance to small firms when employing staff. Generic skills
are a high priority not only for small firms, but also for pupils,
as they provide the underlying basic skills and education needed
for more specialised learning.
3.3 The FSB strongly advocates the development
of these generic skills in the 14-19 agenda, but argues that they
should be embedded in all learning. This would help to ensure
the relevance of key skills to all subject areas and prevent it
being avoided if established as a stand along programme. The success
of any generic skills development is heavily dependent on the
credibility the programme has within individual schools and institutions.
It has been reported that currently key skills programmes are
given very little consideration in schools due to league table
pressures, time restraints and inexperience of teachers in developing
these skills.
3.4 Young people are often not aware of
the skills they have developed and how these relate to, and can
be transferred to, the jobs/courses they apply for when leaving
education. In larger firms with a more formalised recruitment
process, there will be various opportunities for young people
to demonstrate the key skills they have developed (psychometric
testing, team exercises etc). Whereas, the recruitment process
in small firms is generally much less formal, often simply an
interview with the owner-manager. This places more emphasis on
the self-promotional skills of the individual. The more the young
person is aware of his or her own skills and abilities the easier
this will be.
4. VOCATIONAL
QUALIFICATIONS
4.1 The FSB welcomes the greater choice
of vocational courses available for 14-19-year-olds. Recognition
that academic learning is not suitable for all young people should
be a step towards reducing the break point at 16, when too many
young people still leave education with no qualifications.
4.2 Criticism of vocational courses has
ranged from inappropriate assessment, a shortage of suitably qualified
teachers and being too classroom based. The FSB believes that
although there are problems with vocational qualifications (many
are relatively new having only been introduced in the last few
years) improvement is possible and ongoing. Continuing developments
of structure and content should improve the programmes and their
corresponding take up. Consultation with employers to discover
what skills and attributes businesses actually need will be an
important part of this process.
4.3 The FSB welcomes moves to improve the
parity vocational qualifications have with more academic learning.
The perception that vocational qualifications are worth less than
academic qualifications has prevailed in the UK for too long.
This is often contrary to the situation in other European countries,
where the distinct vocational or technical routes through 14-19
education are held in as high regard as the academic route. It
is essential that, rather than pushing young people into academic
learning, more account is taken of where their skills and talents
could be best developed. Too frequently, students only take vocational
courses when they are deemed to have failed the academic route.
The FSB believes that to ensure the UK has the skill levels it
needs, more must be done to promote vocational qualifications
as an equal alternative to academic qualifications, so that they
are not simply seen as a last resort for pupils who are seen to
be "un-academic".
5. WORK-RELATED
LEARNING
5.1 The FSB supports the findings of the
Howard Davies review in 2002, "Enterprise and Economy in
the Classroom". The report recommends that every student
should spend five days gaining experience of enterprise, and have
the opportunity to set up and run their own mini company. The
report also recommends that the two-week work experience which
15 and 16-year-olds currently undertake, should provide more enterprise
and business experience.
5.2 Small firms are concerned that young
people often lack awareness not only of the business environment,
but also of the job market and their own capabilities. Some students
have little understanding of company culture and are not aware
of the social and practical requirements of business, such as
interacting with colleagues and clients.
5.3 The FSB believes it is essential that
all students receive an insight into the world of work while in
full time education. Young people should be aware of all the options
available to them when they decide to leave education, and not
think that employment is the only avenue. More support and training
must be provided to teachers to ensure that effective work based
programmes are delivered.
5.4 The FSB is concerned, however, that
work experience schemes are under threat from the compensation
culture, which has driven up insurance premiums for business.
Small- and medium- sized businesses are often the main providers
of work experience and may be forced to withdraw the placements
they offer if they are not able to afford the insurance cover.
An FSB member running a motor repair workshop has been unable
to offer students any practical experience due to the increased
cost this places on his Employer's Liability Insurance premium.
Work experience at the garage is now confined to merely observation
and is clearly of little benefit to that individual. It is not
only businesses that have been affected in this way—the
charity Trident Trust, which places half a million young people
a year on work placements, has also seen its premium double.
6. MODERN APPRENTICESHIPS
6.1 The FSB welcomes the commitment in the
Government's Skills Strategy to remove the age limit for Modern
Apprenticeships, and to develop courses more suited to adult trainees.
With some sectors, such as construction, facing a demographic
time bomb, the FSB feels it would be even more prudent to remove
the age limit completely. Any individual that wants to learn new
skills should be encouraged regardless of their age.
6.2 Modern Apprenticeships are central to
improving skill shortages at level three, particularly at craft
and technician level. To encourage uptake of the Apprentice scheme,
the Government needs to tackle the key issues that are a barrier
to increased small business engagement.
6.3 The level of paperwork associated with
Modern Apprenticeships needs to be addressed, as does poor completion
rates, inconsistent delivery, a "one size fits all"
framework, and poor understanding of the scheme. The FSB is disappointed
that the skills strategy did not announce the abandonment of testing,
which can be a disincentive to many young people who have the
potential to be good apprentices.
6.4 Addressing the barriers to the take-up
of Modern Apprenticeships will help not only promote employer
engagement in the scheme, but also encourage young people to see
the value of achieving the qualification. As the Modern Apprenticeship
route is one of the quickest ways to achieving a level three qualification,
it has the potential to meet employer's needs in the labour market,
empower the individual and plug skills gaps.
7. ASSESSMENT
7.1 Although changes have been made in recent
years the FSB believes too much time is devoted to preparing for,
and passing exams, under the existing system. Pupils seem to be
taught simply how to pass exams, often at the expense of developing
key skills and attributes essential for later life.
7.2 The FSB argues that assessment should
not drive the learning experience and should be appropriate for
the style of learning. The current assessment system for vocational
courses, for example, is often inappropriate. Formal written exams
will not accurately assess the knowledge or skills developed through
courses and may even be off putting for potential students. A
new assessment structure must be developed that moves away from
the written testing of theoretical knowledge in vocational courses,
and to a practical evaluation of the level of understanding and
skill demonstrated by the pupil.
7.3 The duplication of assessment should
also be avoided. Pupils undertaking written coursework in every
subject are often only developing, and being assessed on, one
set of skills. Additional skills could be developed through assessment
of other activities such as presentations, which at the same time
could help to ease teaching burdens.
8. INFORMATION,
ADVICE AND
GUIDANCE
8.1 The FSB strongly advocates independent
course or career advice for 14-19-year-olds. Pupils need to be
guided to courses appropriate for their learning needs and career
aspirations. Too frequently advice from teachers will direct pupils
to courses within the school, which are not necessarily the most
appropriate for the individual.
8.2 The FSB supports the principle of Connexions,
but has concerns that some advisers are not sufficiently trained
and are providing young people with misleading advice on future
jobs or courses. Although the FSB acknowledges the Office for
Standards in Education reports that the service has generally
maintained or improved careers guidance in schools, research from
the Institute of Careers Guidance has raised serious questions
about the quality of the government service. To instil confidence
in a vital service for young people, the Government must ensure
that all Connexions advisors are fully trained, with the ability
to refer individuals where necessary to staff with appropriate
specialisms.
9. THE TOMLINSON
REVIEW/14-19 REFORM
9.1 The FSB sits on the employers sub-group
of the Tomlinson working group looking at reform of the entire
14-19 agenda and has submitted its response to the first consultation
of the 14-19 Working Group.
9.2 The FSB welcomes the development of
more coherent vocational programmes and the proposal to move away
from narrow areas of study. The breadth of study under the proposals
is critical to ensure all pupils gain key skills, especially those
who leave education at 16. The FSB strongly advocates the development
of generic skills within the proposed reform framework and argues
that the "core" should also include work related education
to enhance the understanding of the world of work.
9.3 Offering learners an extended range
of styles and types of learning is also to be commended—the
current system, despite recent reforms, still entails narrow subject
study, with too much focus placed on passing exams. Widening the
styles and types of learning will help to foster new skills and
may broaden the appeal of certain subjects.
9.4 Although the FSB supports the aim of
the Working Group on 14-19 Reform we are unsure about the proposals
recommending one single diploma, at various levels, replacing
GCSEs and A-levels. FSB members are concerned that a single qualification
will not provide them with sufficient detail into the different
courses completed by individuals and the level of attainment.
There is also the concern that if employers are using the background
transcripts (detailing the specific courses followed and individual
grades) as a basis to recruit individuals, rather than on the
overall diploma, it may render any changes to the system worthless.
9.5 Small firms are also hesitant in supporting
the replacement of GCSEs and A-levels. Although these exams have
been devalued in recent years, due to grade fixing scandals, employers
are at least familiar with the current system and understand how
they correlate to job specifications. It is imperative that any
new system is properly marketed so that employers are educated
and aware about changes to the qualifications system.
February 2004
| 
