Introduction
With the Chancellor’s Autumn Financial Statement now out of the way, budgets are being set for different parts of the education system.
First out of the blocks has been the FE and adult skills sector where last week the BIS Dept announced an overall budget of £3.8bn for 2012/13, dropping as indicated under previous announcements to £3.4bn for 2013/14 and £3.3bn for 2014/15. And it might not stop there, for the Chancellor also confirmed in his Autumn Statement that spending limits may remain for at least a further two years beyond the current cycle, potentially therefore up to 2015/16.
We seem thus to be in for a long haul and as the Institute for Fiscal Studies put it, “one begins to run out of superlatives for describing quite how unprecedented (the situation) is.”
Yet the sector may be able to draw some comfort from three further factors. First that some additional money will be available for at least the next two years from the European Social Fund and, from 2013, from the new FE loans system. Second, that while the overall envelope may be shrinking, some elements, notably currently apprenticeships and Learner Support, continue to receive some extra funding. And third, as the Chancellor also indicated, the Government has a number of initiatives lined up under its growth strategy such as the Youth Contract and the Regional Growth Fund, in each of which the FE sector will play a key role and in some cases attract additional resources.
But these days, funding comes as part of a wider package and the other part of the package is further system reform.
FE system reform
At present, the FE reform programme is very much work in progress. Schools may have had a White Paper and two Education Acts and Higher Education a White Paper with an Education Bill waiting in the wings but for the FE sector, reform comes in the form of a vision.
In fairness, it’s a vision that has been under development for some time, “work began long before the General Election of 2010.” It has also involved large chunks of the FE and skills world, “it is the product of years of discussion with the very people who make our further education and skills sector function,” and has been informed by some expert evidence, most notably by the Reports from Baroness Sharp and Lord Boswell on ‘Colleges in the Community’ and ‘Adult Literacy’ respectively. On top of all of this, the vision is, as the Minister stressed, different in concept: “ I want the sector itself to develop, guided by its own insights and experiences rather than by impersonal instructions from a remote bureaucracy…That is perhaps the most important way in which it differs from the various other strategies for further education that have been printed in recent years.”
Key elements of the vision can be seen in more detail in the document published alongside last week’s Investment Statement and are summarised over the page here but in essence are grouped around three features. First, that the FE sector is to be increasingly liberated so that it can turn on its axis and directly face its customers. “This document speaks of colleges’ and providers’ primary accountability being to students, employers and the community in their areas, that is not an ideology but a fact of life.” Second, it is to be a sector which while contending with tight budgets, is encouraged to go out and generate growth and income, “through promotion of the common good to serve our national interest.” And third, it is to be a sector in greater control of its own destiny while equally facing more sweeping and transparent forms of accountability. “The Government can provide money and insist on proper accountability to the taxpayer for how it is spent. It will continue to do so.”
So what are the key elements of the FE reform programme?
In all there are ten.
First, in language borrowed not just from the HE sector but from across Government as a whole, consumers, in this case learners, are to be put “at the heart of the FE and skills system.” This means helping them become informed consumers through access to better course information and ‘common information sets.’ At the same time, colleges will be ‘freed’ to respond to local needs through mechanism such as the Innovation Code model recommended by Baroness Sharp and funding support will be targeted at the most needy such as those without GCSE English and maths, the unemployed and Level 2 provision.
Second, ensuring better quality careers advice that is market–related and uses a range of mechanisms including online, face-to-face and helpline services linked in many cases to Lifelong Learning Accounts. Much of this will be provided through the new National Careers Service as it rolls out from the Next Steps service next year.
Third, building a progressive framework of vocational education and training through from community and basic skill provision to higher level vocational and technician programmes. This will include an emphasis on raising levels of English and maths, the preferred terminology now for adult learners rather than literacy and numeracy, and continued support for apprenticeships.
Fourth, strengthening the quality of teaching and learning and developing, through a new Commission, a distinct pedagogy around vocational learning. This would be further developed through changes to initial teacher training and the creation of a network of expert practitioners and supported throughout by bodies such as LSIS and the Institute for Learning.
Fifth, ensuring the quality and relevance of vocational qualifications by relating them more closely to market needs, building on the benefits available through the QCF, reviewing the current National Occupational Standards, testing out direct employer ownership of some of the design and delivery arrangements and encouraging further flexibility particularly around lower level provision.
Sixth, freeing up college governance so that corporations can best determine what governance structure and college business model works best. Whether, for instance, to work in partnerships to support young people, offer group apprenticeships or even adopt new business ventures for other areas of college work.
Seventh, providing greater simplifications and freedoms leading to a streamlined funding system and single audit framework by 2013/14.
Eighth, adopting new efficiencies and systems as part of the build up to the new streamlined systems including for example developing a new pricing approach to accommodate the emerging FE loan system.
Ninth, developing more transparent accountability systems and increasing the forms of ‘intelligence’ available even down to a programme level so that learners can make more informed choices.
Tenth, encouraging FE to share best practice and market its strengths in vocational and technician learning by asking the AoC to take a lead in developing a global strategy for the sector which will to allow it to showcase its wares in a global market place
Steve Besley
Head of Policy (UK and International)
@PearsonCPL