Commenting on the Education Policy Institute’s report ‘Further
Education Pathways’, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the
Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“This report shows that warm words about improving the
prospects for young people following vocational pathways ring
hollow without the investment in further education that is so
clearly and urgently needed.
“We hope the new T levels being introduced from next year
will be a roaring success, but we are concerned that schools and
colleges must deliver them within a context of woefully
inadequate levels of government funding.
“Neither will the additional money being put into T levels
cover their increased costs of delivery.
“It is hardly the most propitious of circumstances in which
to launch a new qualification which the government has proclaimed
as ‘gold standard’.
“The EPI report also demonstrates that we must do more to
improve the literacy and numeracy skills of young people who
currently struggle to gain the coveted Grade 4 ‘standard pass’ in
GCSE English and maths.
“The stark fact is that about one-third of 16-year-olds
fall short of this bar each year, not by accident but because it
is designed into the system of grade distribution.
“We absolutely must give them more support to develop these
vital skills but condemning them to a sense of failure via
academic cliff-edge exams is not the best way to build their
confidence.
“We need a new approach and ASCL has proposed a new-style
of qualification, a Passport in English, and in time maths, which
students would be able to take at the point of readiness between
15 and 19, and which could be built upon progressively over
time.”
