Author: Martin Allen

The only social mobility will be downwards?

The latest report from Alan Milburn’s Social Mobility Commission continues to misunderstand why social mobility rates have largely halted. It proposes several ‘educational’ solutions from extending school sixth form opportunities (nobody would disagree with this) to forcing schools in low-performing local authorities to take part in improvement programmes so that Ofsted targets can be met … Continue reading The only social mobility will be downwards? →

Welcome to the Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Education!

 She might have ditched the Cameron government’s Acadamisation plans but Education Secretary Justine Greening is going ahead with its  Post-16 Skills Plan [i] - legalities were formalised in The Technical and Further Education Bill on Oct 27th. The Plan commits itself to create 15 distinct ‘pathfinder’ routes into employment each with a single ‘college based’ Tech … Continue reading Welcome to the Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Education! →

EBacc gets stuck?

Last week the Department for Education released provisional performance data for secondary schools.* The data includes the number of students ‘entering’ and ‘achieving’ the EBacc, Michael Gove's flagship qualification designed to restore 'rigour' to the curriculum.  For the former it’s 39.6% of all state funded students, up from 38.6% for 2014/15 and still nowhere near … Continue reading EBacc gets stuck? →

‘Twenty years of schoolin …’

Bob Dylan returned to media pages last week, with his Nobel Prize generating a flood of articles on the significance and influence of his music. Dylan’s scathing one-line condemnation of the American school system in the 1965 Subterranean Homesick Blues may have been a little premature, but it’s now becoming increasingly accepted, that if not … Continue reading ‘Twenty years of schoolin …’ →

Apprenticeships. New figures, old failures

‘High quality skills and apprenticeships lie at the heart of the government’s drive to create the skilled workforce British industry needs to thrive, to boost productivity and build an economy that works for all’ (DfE press release 06/10/16) As the DfE attempts to talk up apprenticeships, its own data* paints a rather different story. It’s … Continue reading Apprenticeships. New figures, old failures →

Restating the case for a basic minimum income

The surrender of Sports Direct is a significant victory, but it should not undermine the case for a basic minimum income for everybody, in addition to anything earned as a 'wage'.   I've updated a previous contribution on this.  It examines the difficulties with securing the National Living Wage for all workers, but also in … Continue reading Restating the case for a basic minimum income →

Latest NEET figures published

 The latest figures for NEETs (‘Young people not in education, employment or training’) are now available. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/neet-statistics-quarterly-brief-january-to-march-2016 It’s doubtful they’ll produce any headlines, as like the figures for youth unemployment they show a further (if slight) fall.  11.7% of all 16-24 year olds in England are NEET compared with 12.3% a year previously – this … Continue reading Latest NEET figures published →

A living wage or a citizens income (full version)

May 23rd 2016 Presentation to Lambeth Momentum and Common Knowledge The introduction of a statutory Living Wage – at £7.20 an hour a 50p increase on the old minimum wage – should be a cause for celebration, particularly if it is due to be increased to £9 an hour by 2020. Instead it’s received a … Continue reading A living wage or a citizens income (full version) →