The next Labour government will reform further education to put
the interests of students and colleges first, as part of a
National Education Service, MP, the Shadow Education
Secretary, will say today.
Speaking at the Association of Colleges annual conference today
(Tuesday 20th November) Rayner will announce a
series of reforms to further education.
Labour will end the GCSE Maths and English funding condition,
while ensuring that all young people are able to achieve Maths
and English at Level 2 in a way that is appropriate for them.
This will include the opportunity for them to pursue other
courses that enables them to attain level 2 qualifications in
English and Maths, such as functional skills.
The current system, where colleges are required to study
Maths/English GCSE if they do not hold a GCSE grade 9-4 or A*-C
is failing to improve grades for many students while creating
serious issues for colleges, which have faced steep cuts since
2010.
She will also commit to reforming the Institute for
Apprenticeships and Technical Education, placing at least one
apprentice or FE student representative on the board of the
Institute, requiring it to report annually on the quality of
apprenticeships, and ensuring that its aims explicitly include
widening access and participation.
The move will give students a voice on the regulatory body for
apprenticeships and further education, creating parity with the
student representative on the board of the Office for Students,
as well as putting quality and widening access at the heart of
Labour’s further education reforms.
She will also make clear that FE would have representation in the
regulator regime for higher education, following the government’s
failure to appoint anyone from a FE background to the board of
the OfS.
Further and adult education have faced real terms funding cuts of
over £3 billion since 2010.
Commenting, MP, Labour’s Shadow
Secretary of State for Education, said:
“Labour will reform the system to put learners first, focusing on
improving the quality of further education, widening access to
these opportunities, and ensuring every learner is supported.
“Far too many apprentices are not getting the high-quality
training they deserve and far too many people aren’t being
supported to access apprenticeships in the first place. So a
Labour Government would require the Institute for Apprenticeships
to report to Parliament on the quality of completed
apprenticeships, as well as requiring them to have due regard for
widening access and participation.
“We will also ensure that the voice of apprentices and further
education learners are heard within the formal structures of the
IfA. We will formalise the apprentice panel, guaranteeing that
its recommendations to the Institute’s board and the board’s
responses are published. And we will put an apprentice or FE
learner on the board.
“The former Skills Minister refused this during the establishment
of the IfA, arguing that an FE representative would not speak for
all, and that they would have to deal with issues like corporate
governance and press scrutiny. But the Office for Students has
student representation on the board. It is only right and fair
that we afford FE learners and apprentices the same rights and
opportunities as HE students.
“And on the Office for Students, we know that crucial
representation from the FE sector is missing. Hundreds of
colleges provide undergraduate and postgraduate courses and one
in 10 study HE in an FE environment, so we will rectify the
mistake of the Tories and ensure that any university regulator
has FE representation too.
“We won’t just make sure that FE has a voice. We will also
listen. Recently, bodies from across the sector, including the
Association of Colleges, have raised concerns about students in
both the 16-18 and 19-25 age ranges who are being forced to
re-sit English and Maths GCSEs over and over again due to ESFA
funding requirements, even where other equivalent qualifications
are available. So I can announce today that we have listened and
we have heard. A Labour government would end that requirement.”
Notes to Editors
- Currently,
students must study maths and/or English as part of their
programme in each academic year. This applies to students aged 16
to 18 and 19 to 25 with an education, health and care (EHC) plan
who do not hold a GCSE grade 9 to 4, A* to C (a standard pass
grade) or equivalent qualification in these subjects.
Labour would remove the requirement for students to meet the
condition of funding as part of an institutions’ contracts with
the ESFA. Recently, educational bodies across the sector,
including Ofsted, the association of Employment and learning
providers, the Association of Colleges, the National Association
of Head Teachers, and the Learning and Work Institute have been
calling for a change in the resit policy. Their main reasons for
requesting a review of the policy include:
- Concerns
over the lack of resources across the education system due to
the increasing number of students required to retake the
qualifications (e.g., insufficient funding; pressure on
staff; logistical issues). This is a particular challenge for
further education (FE) colleges, where the majority of the
students retaking English and Mathematics GCSEs are enrolled;
- The huge
numbers of learners aged 17 and older who failed to improve
their grades after resitting GCSEs in English and/or
Mathematics. In fact, the 2015/16 Ofsted annual Report
(Ofsted, 2016) stated that many students were still not
getting at least a grade C by the age of 19;
- having
to retake English and/or Mathematics GCSEs again and again
until a grade C is achieved can be demotivating for many
students and attendance to the lessons can become quite low;
- For many
students, an alternative qualification may be a more
appropriate means of improving their English and Mathematics
skills and ensuring that they are ready for work or further
study. High quality alternative curriculum and qualifications
(e.g., Functional Skills) for students aged 16–18 for whom
GCSEs are not appropriate have been proposed by some of the
educational bodies mentioned.
- Research has
shown that pupils resitting GCSE Maths and/or English get lower
grades across their studies than other comparable
students:
“candidates resitting English and/or Mathematics in KS5
obtained on average seven points less than similar candidates
not resitting the GCSEs.”
http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/Images/476535-which-students-benefit-from-retaking-mathematics-and-english-gcses-post-16-.pdf,
p26
- The majority
of students who did not achieve a C at GCSE English or
Mathematics did not improve their grade to a C or better in the
resit
http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/Images/476535-which-students-benefit-from-retaking-mathematics-and-english-gcses-post-16-.pdf,
pp22-23
- Ofsted has
previously questioned the use of the GCSE retake route for
students to get the skills they need, and raised concerns that
the resit can be demotivating for students.
“It remains unclear whether the GCSE qualification is the best
way of ensuring that students have the English and mathematical
skills needed for their intended career. Inspection evidence
shows that, for some students, having to retake their GCSE can
be demotivating and that attendance at these lessons is lower.
For many students, an alternative level 2 qualification may be
a more appropriate means of improving their English and
mathematics and ensuring that they are ready for work.”
Ofsted, The Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Chief
Inspector of Education, Children’s Services, and Skills
2015/16, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/574186/Ofsted_annual_report_education_and_skills_201516_web-ready.pdf,
p79
-
, the Conservative former
Education Secretary, has previously said that functional skills
have a role to play in helping young people get qualifications
in English and Maths
https://www.tes.com/news/justine-greening-dont-let-young-people-hit-brick-wall-english-and-maths
- The Office
for Students, the regulator in higher education, already has a
student representative on the Board
See https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/about/who-we-are/our-board-and-committees/
- The
Government was, however, criticised by both Labour and the Tory
chair of the Education Select Committee, former skills minister
MP, for failing to appoint
anyone from a FE background:
https://www.tes.com/news/chair-office-students-challenged-over-lack-fe-board-members
: http://bit.ly/2Q9kSHd
: http://bit.ly/2Q9h6h8
