Memorandum submitted by The National Association
of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Background and NASUWT's Key Concerns
NASUWT believes that the development of policy
in respect of post-16 skills training and 14-19 Specialised Diplomas
should seek to tackle disparity of esteem between academic and
vocational learning, address issues of learner disengagement and
disaffection from education and training and should be developed
in a way that does not lead to increases in bureaucratic and workload
burdens for teaching staff and school leaders.
The Government's Priorities for Skills
In progressing its priorities for skills, the
Government will need to consider effective approaches to increasing
levels of employer involvement in education and training.
Coherence in the development and implementation
of skills education policy
The Government needs to assess the extent to
which the delivery of policy in respect of post-16 skills and
training and the 14-19 Diplomas is undermined by the involvement
of a considerable number of "arm's length", publicly
funded quangos and take appropriate action if required.
Supply of skills training
There is no compelling case for expanding the
proportion of post-16 skills training delivered through the private
sector. Current patterns of provision are generally fit for purpose
and ensure sufficient diversity within the system.
Developing a demand-led system
The development of a demand-led system must
not lead to an over-emphasis on the claimed needs of employers
to the detriment of the legitimate views and expectations of other
key stakeholders.
Advice and guidance for learners
Action to reform the provision of independent
information, advice and guidance for learners post-14 should inform
the further development of policy and practice in respect of adult
learners.
Apprenticeships
As part of its work to secure more effective
engagement of employers in skills education and training, the
Government should consider what action will be necessary in order
to engage more employers in supporting and providing worthwhile
work-based learning opportunities.
Specialised Diplomas—specification design
and development
The Government needs to ensure that more effective
central co-ordination of the design of the Diplomas is put in
place to ensure that the concerns that have been expressed about
aspects of Diploma design, including the purpose and function
of the extended project and the need to ensure that Diplomas do
not represent a limiting of future learning options for young
people working towards them, can be addressed effectively.
Specialised Diplomas—teacher and lecturer
training
More effective central co-ordination of the
development of Diplomas will generate the clarity necessary to
develop a more coherent set of messages upon which effective communication
and CPD strategies can be built.
Specialised Diplomas institutional co-ordination
Effective collaboration between institutions
will only be achieved if there is a fundamental review of the
way in which local learning providers are held to account for
the work they undertake with students.
INTRODUCTION
1. NASUWT welcomes the opportunity to contribute
to the House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee
Inquiry into Post-16 Skills Training and 14-19 Specialised Diplomas.
2. NASUWT is the largest union representing
teachers and head teachers throughout the UK.
3. NASUWT's analysis is based upon the work
of its representative committees and other structures made up
of practising teachers and lectures working in the sector. The
issues highlighted in this response reflect the key concerns expressed
by members and the aspirations they have for the future of the
sector within which they work.
BACKGROUND AND
NASUWT'S KEY CONCERNS
4. NASUWT believes that the development
of effective policy in respect of post-16 skills training and
the 14-19 Specialised Diplomas are important priorities for Government.
Therefore, NASUWT is concerned that the Education and Skills Select
Committee has allowed respondents only a relatively short period
of time within which to make written submissions.
5. NASUWT takes written submissions to the
Committee very seriously and seeks to provide evidence that will
support the Committee in its deliberations on educational policy.
As a democratic and lay-led organisation, the Union seeks to ensure
that its submissions are reflective of the views of its membership.
This requires an adequate period of time within which to consult
with members about their experiences and perspectives on matters
subject to inquiries by the Committee. NASUWT has found it extremely
difficult to undertake this consultation in the depth it considers
satisfactorily within the limited amount of time made available
by the Committee for this inquiry.
6. However, NASUWT will continue to consult
its members on the key areas of concern highlighted by the Committee
in its inquiry remit and would very much welcome the opportunity
to expand upon the points made in this submission through the
submission of oral evidence.
7. Notwithstanding the unsatisfactory circumstances
described above, this submission sets out the key issues from
NASUWT's perspective on post-16 skills training and considers
the development of the 14-19 Specialised Diplomas within this
wider context.
8. In relation to the agenda established
by the Leitch Review of Skills and the 14-19 White Paper, published
in February 2005, the Government has identified a number of strategic
challenges facing the United Kingdom. Particular concerns include
the fact that approximately 50% of all 16-year-olds fail to achieve
a level 2 qualification and that the low staying on rate for 16-17-year-olds
by international standards has significant implications for the
ability of the United Kingdom to develop an effective skills base
in the longer term.
9. In developing its perspective on these
issues, NASUWT has emphasised the disparity of esteem between
so-called vocational and academic learning which has led to an
elitist over-emphasis on the needs and achievements of a relatively
small number of learners at the expense of a more balanced view
which recognises and values the importance of skills-based learning.
10. NASUWT notes that recent educational
debates on these issues have stressed the need for employers to
play a major role in education and training. This concern is reflected
in the terms of reference for the Inquiry. Despite continual allegations
by employers about the general lack of skills and knowledge demonstrated
by an apparently growing number of school leavers, employer investment
in training and high-quality worked-based learning opportunities
remains pitifully marginal by international standards. NASUWT
believes that many of the problems associated with post-16 skills
training will never be completely resolved without direct Government
action to secure more comprehensive and effective employer support
for education and training. Without this support, NASUWT believes
it is unlikely that the United Kingdom will be able to meet the
wide range of current and future economic and social challenges
that all industrialised nations will continue to face.
11. In developing the ability of the United
Kingdom to meet its current and future skills needs, securing
effective reform in the 14-19 sector will be essential. In its
work in this area, NASUWT has set out some clear principles upon
which effective reforms should be based. These include:
— the need to develop and implement
policy that does not lead to increases in workload for teachers
or headteachers or that distracts them from their core responsibilities
for teaching and leading teaching and learning;
— action to embed within the education
system greater parity of esteem between so called academic and
vocational learning;
— tackling the root causes of
disaffection with education and disengagement from formal learning;
— ensuring that policy is developed
and implemented in collaboration with the Department for Education
and Skills (DfES), NASUWT and other social partners represented
on the Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group (WAMG);
— implementing change that makes
use of the skills, talents and expertise of all members of the
existing teaching workforce; and
— the need to tackle long standing
patterns of occupational segregation and the development of approaches
to reform that tackle discrimination and actively promote equality
and diversity.
12. While NASUWT has articulated these principles
largely within the context of 14-19 reform, the Union believes
that effective progress in all areas of skills training policy
must incorporate these general principles in order to ensure that
reform leads to effective, equitable and sustainable change.
THE GOVERNMENT'S
PRIORITIES FOR
SKILLS
13. NASUWT believes that the Select Committee
is right to seek to assess the extent to which the Government's
priorities for skills are broadly correct with particular reference
to the Government's focus on level 2 qualifications. NASUWT shares
the view that level 2 qualifications represent a useful benchmark
against which the ability of learners to acquire and develop further
essential skills and knowledge can be measured. For this reason,
NASUWT fully supports the Government's provision of free access
to education designed to support the acquisition of level 2 qualifications
for learners aged 25 or under. NASUWT also supports the Government's
proposal to extend this entitlement to level 3 qualifications.
14. NASUWT believes that the development
of skills at this level is important within the context of the
training and development of the school workforce. While such skills
development is important, the Union is concerned that practice
may develop where staff are expected to access learning at this
level in their own time and, for those over the age of 25, make
a significant financial contribution to the costs of their own
learning. NASUWT takes the view that, given the importance of
workforce remodelling for the implementation of key Government
education policies, there is a strong case for assessing the extent
to which the terms of the entitlement to lifelong learning should
be extended in respect of the school workforce.
15. However, NASUWT recognises that the
Government, in making decisions about the allocation of finite
public resources, is entitled to expect appropriate contributions
to be made to the establishment and extension of this entitlement
by employers, given the direct benefits to employers of increasing
skills levels within the workforce. Therefore, NASUWT maintains
that the Government has struck an appropriate balance between
its responsibilities and those of employers by putting in place
a cut-off age of 25 for learners to access state-funded education
designed to support the acquisition of level 2 qualifications.
16. This balance of responsibilities between
Government and employers emphasises the need, within the current
UK context, for far greater employer involvement and investment
in lifelong learning. While the Government is right to take the
view that employers need to play a greater role in investing in
skills training, it is essential that effective steps are taken
to secure higher levels of sustained employer investment. The
evidence provided by the UK's experience in comparison to other
industrialised countries, suggests that the policy of successive
Governments, based largely on exhorting employers to increase
their investment in skills training, has yet to yield the change
in employer attitudes and behaviour that the Government seeks
and requires.
17. For this reason, NASUWT believes that
there is a need to examine whether developing a system based on
compulsory employer contributions to skills education would help
the United Kingdom to meet the levels of employer investment seen
in other countries. NASUWT believes that a detailed investigation
of policies and practices in countries with higher levels of employer
investment could identify approaches that might be adapted for
implementation within a UK context.
COHERENCE IN
THE DEVELOPMENT
AND IMPLEMENTATION
OF SKILLS
EDUCATION POLICY
18. NASUWT notes the Committee's interest
in the ability of key central Government departments, particularly
the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Department
for Trade and Industry (DTI), to co-operate and co-ordinate their
activities in relation to skills education effectively.
19. Consistent and effective inter-departmental
co-ordination is essential if further improvements to the skills-base
of the labour force are to be secured in the longer term. However,
NASUWT believes that a more pressing concern for the Committee
should be the significant number of publicly-funded quangos involved
in developing and implementing policy within the 14-19 and post-16
skills sectors. NASUWT believes that the excessive distribution
of responsibilities between such bodies leads to the potential
for the development and implementation of policy to become incoherent
and subject to conflicting organisational perspectives and agendas.
20. NASUWT maintains that there is an urgent
need to review the number of quangos involved in policy in this
area and to access the extent to which key responsibilities and
activities could be undertaken more effectively by central departments.
NASUWT notes that the Welsh Assembly Government has taken the
responsibilities formally undertaken by Education and Learning
Wales (ELWa) and the Curriculum and Qualifications Authority for
Wales (ACCAC) back into central control in order to secure more
effective delivery of qualification and skills policy. NASUWT
welcomed this development and continues to highlight the fact
that the development of skills policy in Scotland and Northern
Ireland is undertaken with a far greater degree of central departmental
control than in England.
21. NASUWT has particular concerns about
the remit and activities of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC)
at both national and local levels. The LSC has a significant amount
of influence and power over patterns of provision of post-16 learning,
given its almost exclusive responsibility for allocating public
money to support provision. In light of these significant responsibilities,
it is unacceptable that the extent and nature of the LSC's accountability
for its actions remains unclear and that its consultation with
trade unions and other legitimate stakeholders appears to be variable
and incomplete in comparison to the LSC's engagement with employer
representatives. Action needs to be taken to ensure that more
appropriate accountability and consultation arrangements for the
LSC are established by Government as a matter of urgency.
SUPPLY OF
SKILLS TRAINING
22. Current provision of post-16 education
and training is distributed between school sixth forms, sixth-form
colleges, colleges of further education and providers in the private
sector. Given the different and distinct contributions of each
form of provision, NASUWT believes that the current balance of
provision is broadly correct and believes that there is no evidence
that substantial reform of current provision patterns would make
any meaningful contribution to raising standards of attainment.
23. In particular, NASUWT would have significant
concerns about any further attempts to increase the proportion
of provision sourced from private sector organisations. While
it is the case that some private sector training provision is
of a very high standard, NASUWT notes that a key remit of the
newly formed Quality Improvement Agency (QIA) is to tackle the
poor quality of provision within much of the private sector. In
NASUWT's view, the substandard skills education and training provided
by the private sector organisations targeted by the QIA results
from the poor terms and conditions of employment in many of these
settings which prevent the development of the quality of provision
seen in the public sector.
DEVELOPING A
DEMAND-LED
SYSTEM
24. NASUWT acknowledges that the provision
of post-16 skills education and training must be responsive to
changing needs and demands but it is important to ensure that
a balanced approach to the views of all legitimate stakeholders
is taken into account in this respect. NASUWT is particularly
concerned that if the development of a demand-led system is translated
into a disproportionate emphasis on the perceived needs of employers,
unmediated by the perspectives of teachers, lecturers, learners,
Government and other stakeholders, the risk of patterns of provision
being developed in incoherent and non-inclusive ways will be increased
significantly.
25. While the need to involve recognised
trade unions as the legitimate representatives of workers within
the skills education and training sector is essential in the development
of coherent and responsive policy, the trade union movement continues
to acknowledge its central role in supporting the engagement of
its members in lifelong learning. The role of Union Learning Representatives
(ULRs) is critical in this respect. As accountable workplace representatives
of employees, ULRs are in a unique position to ensure that skills
development and training becomes a central element of collective
bargaining. Through this activity, and the provision of individual
advice to members, ULRs ensure that the views and aspirations
of members are articulated effectively and are able to enhance
employer practices and policies through informed dialogue and
discussion. NASUWT's own network of over 350 ULRs continue to
provide evidence of the importance of this role through their
support for members in securing more effective and tailored Continuing
Professional Development (CPD) opportunities to support their
career and pay progression as well as enhancing their professional
skills and expertise.
26. It is essential that the Government
and trade union movement sustain their commitment to developing
the ULR role as an effective and representative means by which
the needs of employees can be taken into full account in the provision
of skills education and training opportunities in the workplace.
ADVICE AND
GUIDANCE FOR
LEARNERS
27. NASUWT welcomed the Government's commitment,
set out in its Green Paper on youth policy, Youth Matters,
to revitalise the provision of independent Information Advice
and Guidance (IAG) for young people in respect of their decisions
about future education, training and employment opportunities.
Through this commitment, the Government has recognised that meaningful
reform within the 14-19 sector, which seeks to provide a greater
range of opportunities for learners, will not be realised in practice
unless young people can receive clear, well-informed and impartial
support for their consideration of their future education, employment
and training options.
28. However, NASUWT believes that access
to such advice and guidance is also essential for adult learners.
Currently, adults seeking advice about skills education and training
have a limited number of sources of independent IAG. Information
from providers, while often comprehensive and readily accessible,
is not independent as the advice and provision are derived from
the same source. Such advice is unlikely to indicate the full
range of options open to those seeking information from other
providers. Useful information about skills education and training
can be obtained from the Jobcentre Plus service but often these
services are targeted towards particular groups and can be difficult
for all learners to access. It is essential that the Government
works to ensure that all learners have access to external sources
of independent IAG as part of broader policy to support the education
and training of all adult learners.
APPRENTICESHIPS
29. Within the schools sector, NASUWT has
continued to monitor the implementation of the Young Apprenticeship
scheme closely and notes that the evaluation evidence for the
scheme indicates significant levels of satisfaction on the part
of learners, teachers and providers. However, NASUWT notes that
the Young Apprenticeship programme is, of necessity, relatively
small scale, with approximately one thousand learners in each
yearly cohort. Nevertheless, there are ongoing concerns about
the use of extended off-site learning periods for young people
and the extent to which schools are supported through the development
of non-bureaucratic quality assurance processes to ensure that
pupils receive a standard of education comparable to that provided
directly by schools. The development of work-based learning opportunities
in the 14-19 sector will need to be monitored carefully in order
to ensure that learners receive the input and guidance they are
entitled to and that the way in which such related learning fits
into broader curriculum and qualifications reform is coherent
and recognises young people's learning in an effective and motivating
way.
30. The Young Apprenticeship scheme has
been developed with a clear focus on employers with good records
of supporting work-based learning. In many respects, the relatively
small scale of Government-supported apprenticeships programmes
allows for placements to be made in supportive and well-organised
employment contexts. If the Government plans to extend the use
of apprenticeships as a way of supporting the acquisition of vocational
skills and qualifications, many more employers will need to become
involved in programmes of this type. As part of its work to secure
more effective engagement of employers in skills education and
training, the Government should consider what action will be necessary
in order to engage more employers in supporting and providing
worthwhile work-based learning opportunities.
SPECIALISED DIPLOMAS—SPECIFICATION
DESIGN AND
DEVELOPMENT
31. The design and development of the 14-19
Specialised Diplomas is critical to the success of the Government's
wider skills education and training policy.
32. NASUWT is concerned about aspects of
work to develop the specifications for the Diplomas. In particular,
the differing priorities and perspectives of the agencies and
bodies given responsibility for taking forward the design of Diplomas
has lead to concerns being expressed about the finalisation of
the Diploma specifications. The desire of the Government to ensure
that the design of the Diplomas is `employer-led' has resulted
in this work being undertaken by bodies without adequate expertise
and experience in designing national-level qualifications.
33. NASUWT is concerned that there appears
to be a lack of strategic management of the design and development
of the Diplomas. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA)
has sought to oversee effectively the development of the Diplomas
but has been hindered to some extent by the distribution of responsibilities
among a wide range of different organisations. The Government
needs to ensure that more effective central co-ordination of the
design of the Diplomas is put in place to ensure that the concerns
that have been expressed about aspects of Diploma design can be
addressed effectively. These include the purpose and function
of the extended project and the need to ensure that Diplomas do
not represent a limiting of future learning options for young
people working towards them.
34. NASUWT believes that the DfES needs
to take a more proactive role, in collaboration with NASUWT and
other social partners, in steering the progress of the design
and development of the Specialised Diplomas.
SPECIALISED DIPLOMAS—TEACHER
AND LECTURER
TRAINING
35. NASUWT recognises that there are significant
concerns about the apparently low level of awareness amongst teachers
and lecturers of the implications of the 14-19 Specialist Diplomas.
In its seminars on 14-19 Diplomas, held during the Autumn of 2006,
a key message from practising teachers and lecturers has been
that information received by schools and colleges about the Diplomas
is often contradictory and is not related specifically to the
impact of the Diplomas on the work of teachers and lecturers.
36. It is possible to ascribe this general
lack of awareness to the lack of strategic clarity about the way
in which Diplomas should be developed and integrated into the
existing work of schools and colleges. While NASUWT recognises
that raising levels of awareness and ensuring that teachers are
given the professional development opportunities they require
in order to secure successful implementation of the Diplomas is
essential, the Union believes that more effective central co-ordination
of the development of Diplomas will generate the clarity necessary
to develop a more coherent set of messages upon which effective
communication and CPD strategies can be built.
SPECIALISED DIPLOMAS
INSTITUTIONAL CO-ORDINATION
37. Extending the range of learning options
available to the students in the 14-19 sector will require co-ordination
and collaboration between different institutions, given that no
single institution will be in a position to offer all the lines
of learning set out in the 14-19 White Paper.
38. However, NASUWT believes that the current
system of school accountability, based upon Ofsted inspections
and performance tables, works against the establishment of effective
collaborative arrangements between schools and other learning
providers. The accountability regime is designed to support a
system of competition rather than co-operation between collaborators
and over-emphasises the need for schools and colleges to focus
on their own performance indicators rather than addressing through
collaboration the needs of all learners within the communities
they serve. In a context where students might be educated in more
than one institution, it is increasingly anomalous to attempt
to hold one institution to account through performance tables
and inspection for the performance of students formally on role
at that institution.
39. NASUWT believes that effective collaboration
between institutions will only be achieved if there is a fundamental
review of the way in which local learning providers are held to
account for the work they undertake with students. More effective
accountability mechanisms would allow schools and colleges to
focus more on the work they can undertake in collaboration with
other institutions and would thereby help to ensure that the development
of collaborative arrangements is supported.
40. NASUWT believes that there is a tension
between the need to develop greater collaboration between institutions
and the Government's attempts to increase levels of school autonomy.
In such a context, it becomes increasingly difficult for local
authorities to co-ordinate patterns of post-16 provision. In particular,
the right of schools to open or expand existing sixth forms is
inconsistent with the need to ensure that local patterns of 14-19
provision are coherent, effective and ensure that meaningful learning
opportunities are offered to all learners in all local authority
areas. NASUWT is also concerned about the extent to which adequate
account has been taken of the capacity of schools to deliver the
14-19 reform agenda in the proposed timescale given other concurrent
initiatives including the reform of the Key Stage 3 curriculum,
personalised learning and the consequences of the languages review.
January 2007
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