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| The Guardian view on further education: we need a skilled workforce. Who’s paying? | The Guardian view on further education: we need a skilled workforce. Who’s paying? |
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| More than two thirds of GCSEs this summer were awarded at grades between A* and C. That’s good news for students – many will now see a clear path to university and a degree – and their schools. The less good news was a fall in the numbers taking individual science subjects and studying foreign languages: the bias against the hard subjects may even be growing. The results in English and maths, where anything less than a C grade now means a compulsory resit or further functional maths next year, were slightly worse than the overall picture. But behind these generally encouraging results is a gloomier picture. The ecology of schools, further education and sixth-form colleges and university technology colleges is in a mess. | More than two thirds of GCSEs this summer were awarded at grades between A* and C. That’s good news for students – many will now see a clear path to university and a degree – and their schools. The less good news was a fall in the numbers taking individual science subjects and studying foreign languages: the bias against the hard subjects may even be growing. The results in English and maths, where anything less than a C grade now means a compulsory resit or further functional maths next year, were slightly worse than the overall picture. But behind these generally encouraging results is a gloomier picture. The ecology of schools, further education and sixth-form colleges and university technology colleges is in a mess. |
| Part of the problem is money. Unlike government spending on students aged 11 to 16, funding for education for 16- to 18-year-olds has not been protected. There is now a 22% differential between funding for under-16s and over-16s. (Meanwhile, in independent schools, spending rises by 5% at age 16, which may have some bearing on their success at getting students into university.) That is tough for schools generally, but the impact falls hardest on FE colleges that offer more expensive technical and vocational qualifications. So, just as engineering and construction bosses are crying out for more, better-qualified recruits to work on major infrastructure projects such as Crossrail, high-speed broadband and HS2, funding for the colleges that are the main providers of those qualifications is being eroded. Resources are being poured into university technology colleges for 14- to 18-year-olds which, while a good idea in itself, are disrupting the whole local education environment. As the IPPR reported in March this year, the upper-secondary school system is confused and fragmentary – a testament to missed opportunities for reform. | Part of the problem is money. Unlike government spending on students aged 11 to 16, funding for education for 16- to 18-year-olds has not been protected. There is now a 22% differential between funding for under-16s and over-16s. (Meanwhile, in independent schools, spending rises by 5% at age 16, which may have some bearing on their success at getting students into university.) That is tough for schools generally, but the impact falls hardest on FE colleges that offer more expensive technical and vocational qualifications. So, just as engineering and construction bosses are crying out for more, better-qualified recruits to work on major infrastructure projects such as Crossrail, high-speed broadband and HS2, funding for the colleges that are the main providers of those qualifications is being eroded. Resources are being poured into university technology colleges for 14- to 18-year-olds which, while a good idea in itself, are disrupting the whole local education environment. As the IPPR reported in March this year, the upper-secondary school system is confused and fragmentary – a testament to missed opportunities for reform. |
| One consequence is that neither students nor their parents are familiar with the options for, or meaning of, technical and vocational education. The phrase “parity of esteem”, popularised more than a decade ago in the Tomlinson report on education for 14- to 19-year-olds, means little more now than it did then. One recent survey by the Association of Colleges found that NVQs were the most widely recognised of vocational qualifications – but even so, only 26% of those asked knew what they were. Fewer than one in 10 regarded apprenticeships as a post-GCSE qualification. One reason is a reluctance by schools to recommend courses that would mean losing students, particularly those they consider suitable for university. Tales abound of FE prospectuses that never make it beyond the school secretary’s desk. University technical colleges, the brainchild of former Tory education secretary Kenneth Baker, are struggling against the same lack of enthusiasm, especially where they have been given the go-ahead in an area with popular secondaries and a relatively small catchment area. There are plans for 55 of these specialist schools offering a mix of technical and academic qualifications for 14- to 18-year-olds by the end of the year after next, at about £8-£10m a time – investment most FE colleges can only envy from afar. | |
| The one bright spot for those concerned about technical education is the plan, announced in the summer budget in July, for a 0.5% levy on employers with over 250 staff to pay for the 3m apprenticeships the government is pledged to deliver this parliament. Details are still sparse, but to steamroller a hypothecated tax through a Treasury traditionally reluctant to cede any control to another department over taxpayers’ money indicates a determination that may herald the beginning of a more constructive approach. Details, however, are still sparse. It is not yet clear how much it will raise, nor how it will be distributed. There is also Michael Gove’s tech bacc, which would cover a group of post-GCSE qualifications that FE colleges welcome as a way of showing what FE colleges can do, although some observe the demand that it equals four A-levels, rather than the more typical university qualification of only three, and note that once again, parity of esteem really means that non-academic qualifications have to cross a higher threshold than academic ones. | The one bright spot for those concerned about technical education is the plan, announced in the summer budget in July, for a 0.5% levy on employers with over 250 staff to pay for the 3m apprenticeships the government is pledged to deliver this parliament. Details are still sparse, but to steamroller a hypothecated tax through a Treasury traditionally reluctant to cede any control to another department over taxpayers’ money indicates a determination that may herald the beginning of a more constructive approach. Details, however, are still sparse. It is not yet clear how much it will raise, nor how it will be distributed. There is also Michael Gove’s tech bacc, which would cover a group of post-GCSE qualifications that FE colleges welcome as a way of showing what FE colleges can do, although some observe the demand that it equals four A-levels, rather than the more typical university qualification of only three, and note that once again, parity of esteem really means that non-academic qualifications have to cross a higher threshold than academic ones. |
| Colleges are watching the impending spending review with the same degree of anticipation as a man tied to the tracks waiting for an oncoming express. Over the last five years, unprotected budgets have faced cuts somewhere in the region of 25%. They fear the cuts will be as deep again, and that, they warn, will mean crisis ahead. | Colleges are watching the impending spending review with the same degree of anticipation as a man tied to the tracks waiting for an oncoming express. Over the last five years, unprotected budgets have faced cuts somewhere in the region of 25%. They fear the cuts will be as deep again, and that, they warn, will mean crisis ahead. |
| • This article was amended on 27 August. It originally said that the cost of funding a university technical college was about £30m a time. |
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