As 2016 draws to a close we are still awaiting a statement on the English Baccalaureate/ upper secondary curriculum from new Secretary of State. Justin Greening - the consultation period for Ebacc ended almost a year ago. Nicky Morgan’s – now largely shelved –White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere reaffirmed the Cameron government’s objectives of a 90% participation rate … Continue reading 14-19 hiatus
Daily Mail: More bad news for readers!
Education’s ‘Great Reversal’
They used to focus on skills shortages, but now more labour market commentaries are emphasising the under- utilisation of skills and qualifications; particularly in relation to the excess supply of graduates compared to the number of ‘graduate jobs’ available. More recently still, concern has focussed on the extent of unpaid student debt - the consequence … Continue reading Education’s ‘Great Reversal’
Important NUT research on the secondary curriculum
The NUT has just released King’s College research on the effects of government policies on the secondary curriculum. Based on a sample of 1800 secondary members and in depth school case studies, key findings show amongst other things: 74% of teachers consider the Ebacc requirements are dramatically narrowing the curriculum. 84% worry that the excessive … Continue reading Important NUT research on the secondary curriculum
Still a ‘Great Training Robbery’
Updated and revised. This 'final' version covers developments since the 2015 General Election - like the employer levy, The Post-16 Plan, the Institute of Apprenticeships, the further development of the Trailblazers. Despite these however, provisional figures for 2015/2016 continue show that apprenticeships continue to be mostly 'low skilled and dead end' and for most young … Continue reading Still a ‘Great Training Robbery’
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
Education, Economy and Society 