e-briefing

Financial hardship, juggling a part-time job with studies, and the spectre of mounting debt are familiar issues for students in higher education (HE). But while the media focus has been on those at university, the financial plight of students in further education (FE) colleges has been largely ignored.

Now a major new study by the Learning and Skills Network and the National Union of Students aims to redress that balance. The report – The true cost of college: the price students pay for further education – finds that FE students have to rely on their own earnings or family support to meet the cost of college. Read the rest of this entry »

During the late 1980s the notion that a sustained and systematic approach to quality improvement was needed began to take hold. The race was on to drive standards ever upwards, creating ever better value for the taxpayer.

The debate ebbed and flowed across the public services, against a political backdrop that sought to recreate the claimed advantages of the private sector through replicating, wherever possible, similar pressures and risks for state-owned enterprises. Read the rest of this entry »

’Tis the season to be jolly, so to get us in the party mood, we’re starting with some fun and games for this round-up.

I spy with my little eye something beginning with ‘R’ – no, not recession – reforms! Delivering 14–19 reform: next steps, the latest package of measures from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, includes a scheme to ensure young people’s views are taken into account, and a duty for college corporations and the Learning and Skills Council to consult learners and employers.

Also included were announcements that the Russell Group of universities will consider applications from Diploma students and that the Diploma Employer Champions network has expanded to over 80 employers. Read the rest of this entry »

The way people use the internet is changing, and this needs to be reflected in the way we use it in education, argues Dougald Hine.
 
Over the past decade, the internet has changed the way we organise whole areas of our lives. From email to online reference resources and newspaper websites, it offers cheap and easy access to information and people around the world.

With online shopping and banking, services you once had to go to now come to you. These examples have one thing in common: each offers a way of doing things we were already doing, but with distance – and the associated effort or cost – removed from the equation. Read the rest of this entry »

Citizenship learning has something to offer to post-16 education and training.

As recent media coverage shows, there is concern that some communities have lost any sense of shared belonging to society: where positive relationships appear to have broken down and people from diverse groups cannot live together in mutual acceptance. One manifestation of these problems is the perceived growth of youth crime linked to ‘gangs’, often involving knives and sometimes guns.

In post-16 education and training one response to these concerns was the consultation from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) earlier this year on community cohesion.1 DIUS has also recently funded research on the role of education in tackling gang-related crime, the subject of a policy session at the Association of Colleges annual conference.

Wider research suggests that reports of a fractured society may be exaggerated but there are undeniably significant problems. Read the rest of this entry »

Shaun Lincoln, LSN’s Director of Leadership and Management, explains why he is so excited by a new approach for tackling the most challenging issues in leadership and management.
 
Time and again, leaders and managers are faced with challenges that are so difficult to address that they drift into the ‘too hard’ basket. These include:

• managers who are too busy to do what they really need to be doing
• meetings where people agree to do things that never happen
• issues that need to be faced but keep being avoided
• delegating in a way that frees up time and also empowers and develops others
• building or shifting to a culture where conversations really make a difference.

Read the rest of this entry »

Briefing editor, Lee Armitt, looks into the benefits of communicating in clear and easy to understand language.

The question in the headline is a plea from a college lecturer and one we should all be listening to and acting on. How many of us use jargon and acronyms in correspondence, reports and policy documents? The answer is almost of all of us.

At the Learning and Skills Network (LSN), we recognise that we are not blameless ourselves when it comes to education jargon, so we decided to conduct an online survey to explore how people working across our sector perceive the information they receive from government departments and agencies. Is it written in plain English? Is there too much information? Is the tone right? Read the rest of this entry »

As part of the 14–19 strategy the FE system is currently implementing a series of reforms ranging across qualifications, workforce development, funding mechanisms/routes and even building infrastructure. However, are there any tensions and/or gaps for learners who will be 17 before they can leave education and training?

There are a variety of responses, designed to meet the needs of the many. Capacity and achievement are rising; the offer for learners includes Apprenticeships, the Foundation Learning Tier and functional skills, as well as Diplomas. There is great potential for collaborative partnerships to make a positive impact on achievement. New buildings also offer improvements. Read the rest of this entry »

The Diploma is a new qualification for 14–19 year olds combining theoretical study with practical knowledge to equip young people for the future. Diplomas will cover 17 subjects, offering students the opportunity to experience different styles of learning in a variety of environments and an insight into what work is really like.

Read the rest of this entry »

I was caught red-handed saying ‘FE sector’ and then just talking about colleges, confesses Frank Villeneuve-Smith. But how often does a college-centric view of the sector creep into broader debates?

After the publication of the summer issue of Briefing, I received a telephone call from the chair of a prominent work-based learning provider. He wanted to know why, when I had been writing about the reputation of the FE sector as a whole, I had written as if the sector just contained colleges? When I looked back at the article I could see he had caught me red-handed, bang to rights, rumbled, fair point well made. Read the rest of this entry »

Bert Buckley, Programme Manager, Leadership and Management at the Learning and Skills Network, explains more about a new programme that will support leaders in quality improvement.

Who are the leaders of quality improvement in the FE sector?

The FE sector is focusing increasingly on quality improvement as it moves towards self-regulation. A new Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) programme starting in January 2009 will support providers of adult and community learning, work-based learning, offender learning, specialist and general FE colleges in their journey towards excellence.

The Quality Champions Accreditation Programme aims to identify, develop and accredit the leaders in quality improvement, to recognise their contribution, and to develop them into transformational agents of change, for the benefit of their home organisations and for the sector. Read the rest of this entry »

Working with the reforms – using the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) to improve delivery
 
As the reforms to vocational qualifications move forward, so does the Qualification Reform Support Programme (QRSP). QRSP will be hosting a number of regional workshops throughout February and March 2009 on topics that will offer practical guidance to providers to help them implement the reform of vocational qualifications and understand the implications of the QCF. For more information and bookings, please visit www.qrsp.org.uk/events

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