Leading Learners Conference

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Understanding The Learning Skills Sector

• John Offord, NUS FE Research Policy
• john_at_nus.org.uk
• 07968 405715

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The Learning Skills Sector is

• In the latest version, A managed network of
  education and training provision (FE WP, Chapter
  6, March 2006)
• Covers education skills training from 14-19 and
  19 (adult education training) in F P/T
  modes, in colleges, communities, work-based
  learning (WBL), specialist colleges and prisons
• Has in excess of 2.8 million learners (FTEs)
• Currently costs 11.6 billion per year (2006/07)
• Is strategically managed through funding and
  quality levers by the national LSC for the DfES,
  until very recently through 47 local LSCs funding
  383 colleges of FE and a range of other
  providers, including-
• WBL, private, voluntary and public service sector
  (e.g. NHS) providers. Example 46 of Level 2
  provision is now delivered by private or other
  providers who may or may not collaborate with FE
  colleges.

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The Learning Skills Sector

• Is wider than FE alone, though FECs are the
  largest set of providers
• Is famously diverse in terms of range mode of
  provision (L1 to L4, basic skills to degrees)
  academic vocational learning demography (wide
  age, ethnic and socio-economic range) types of
  college general FECs, SFCs, specialist colleges
• Remains the dominant provider of Level 3 entry to
  HE qualifications, at 54, and is still the major
  provider of L1 L2 qualifications, but private
  providers are gaining a bigger percentage
• Provides over 11 of HE qualifications, mostly
  vocational, to some 40,000 students (equal to 3
  medium size HEs)
• Is central to government policy aims both on
  social justice and global competitiveness

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Learning and Skills Sector, snapshot 2004

• 660,000 16-18 year olds study in colleges,
  405,000 in schools
• Colleges add educational value after the
  compulsory school leaving age, delivering more
  Level 3 (A Level or equivalent) qualifications
  then schools
• 40,000 degree level learners in colleges
• Over one-third of a million adults improved their
  basic literacy and numeracy in/through colleges
• Over half of all vocational qualifications,
  550,000 per year, are awarded by colleges, from
  Level 1 to 4
• More than 3 million adults annually improve their
  skills knowledge through colleges, from Level 1
  to 4 (although this is now dropping)
• Colleges provide 200 million learning days per
  year at all levels

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College Links, Partnerships and Quality

• The average college has links with over 500
  local, regional, national and trans-national
  firms and businesses
• Large urban colleges provide education, training
  and other services to 1,000 or more firms
• Colleges have contractual or formal partnership
  links with HE institutions, other colleges,
  schools and other training providers
• Despite 10 years of acknowledged under-funding,
  the Office for Standards in Education (OfSTED)
  and the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) graded
  92 of lessons and 90 of curriculum areas
  (subjects) inspected as satisfactory or better
• The LSCs last Learner Satisfaction Survey showed
  that 93 of learners were at least satisfied with
  their learning experience, and 85 had a greater
  enthusiasm for their subject

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The College Workforce

• The UK-wide FE sector workforce (colleges) is
  1.05 million, 3.7 of the UK total
• 50 have a professional qualification
• But it is an ageing workforce that will require
  520,000 new recruits over the next ten years
• FE is more likely to train the workforce
• yet it is difficult to recruit staff with
  technical and practical skills, advanced IT,
  communications and management skills

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The Sector has a complex policy history

• Over 150 separate pieces of primary legislation,
  twice as many consultations and WPs, in the last
  20 years
• Prior to 1993 was locally funded and
  strategically managed by LEAs. After 1992 F HE
  Act colleges became centrally funded/locally
  managed (FEFC) as free-standing FE corporations
  strategically led by a board of governors
  (Incorporation)
• Went through a period of crisis in the mid/late
  1990s
• Was consequently re-organised by the Learning
  Skills Act 2000, creating the Learning Skills
  Council (LSC) and 47 local LSCs to fund, plan and
  quality assure regional/sub-regional provision
  through colleges other providers
• In 1993, 660 colleges now, 383, probably falling
  further through collaboration, merger
  federation
• Overall, policy busyness creates uncertainty

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and is required by government to meet
considerable challenges

• UK remains at a low position, 26th out of the 29
  Organisation for Economic Co-operation
  Development (OECD) countries, for staying on
  post-16, level of qualification 16-19 and of L2
  3 qualifications in the adult work force
• 46 of young people fail to gain 5 good GCSEs
  (L2) at 16
• Global competitiveness requires well-qualified
  workforce, especially to L3
• India China already produce more graduates than
  UK HE system. By 2020 ratio of Level 3 HE in
  S.E. Asian economies will be much greater
• Since 1997, numbers of young people not in
  education, training or employment (NEET) has
  remained at about 400,000
• Global competitiveness social inclusion FE
  is the engine of social mobility (Ruth Kelly
  when S of S)

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shaped by most recent policy on the sectors
mission, 2002 to 2005

• Learning Skills Act 2000 new infrastructure
  for funding control LSC, LLSCs, new targets
  (annual Remit Letter)
• LSC Agenda for Change re-organised LLSCs into
  regions
• Introduction of 14-19 curriculum, partially begun
  in late 1990s, formalised in 2000, now a major
  policy driver
• National Skills Strategy (Adults) 2002/03
• Tomlinson Review of 14-19 Qualifications 2004 was
  cherry-picked by DfES, led to 14-19 Reform and
  14 new vocational National Diplomas at Level 1 to
  Level 3 delivered through school/college/WBL
  collaboration
• Foster Review of FE, 2004/05 big, effective
  input from NUS written into Fosters policy
  narrative as the Learner Imperative

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and from 2005 to 2007

• 2006 new Quality Improvement Agency (QIA) to
  support the drive towards excellence
• LSC develops new quality improvement 7 point
  Framework for Excellence, including
  Responsiveness to learners
• Leitch Review of Skills what must UK skills
  formation, through education training, do to
  compete globally in 2020?
• FE WP, March 2006
• FEs main mission is skills formation Foster,
  Leitch, FE WP
• FE Training Bill FEs to have Foundation Degree
  awarding powers LSC college duty to
  effectively involve learners and employers LSC
  reforms continue.
• Self Regulation

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with a background policy narrative on

• Public Value the government theorisation of
  public services stresses central strategies for
  planned/targeted/quality monitored devolution of
  funding and operational control to
  regions/localities user empowerment (a mix of
  centrally determined entitlements information
  user feedback expert users)
  personalisation (make services fit consumer
  needs) co-production (active user involvement
  in the process is itself part of the public
  service product)
• Run through all Departments of State via
  Capability Review, with DfES a leading
  Department, includes Public Service Agreement
  (PSA) targets that Ministers must meet
• High level of user involvement with government
  and agencies in improving quality of service,
  delivery outcomes

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which gets us back to the FE WP

• Learners seen as co-producers, both customer
  product, so have authentic voice as
  learners to support Fosters Learner Imperative
  to increase the quality of their learning
  experience
• Personalisation make the curriculum fit the
  learner, not the learner fit the curriculum
  different learning styles structured feedback
  from classroom to boardroom
• Collaboration. New qualifications - especially
  new vocational National Diplomas for 14-19s -
  require active effective collaboration by all
  providers (FE Schools WBL private
  voluntary sector providers a managed network
  of provision)
• New regional structure for national LSC more
  staff in regions, more local focus
• New powers for OfSTED across collaborative
  provision
• Changes to Instrument Articles of College
  Government
• Self Regulation providers to move from
  externally verified quality assessment to
  continuous state of self-improvement if they can
  show that they have structures practice to
  carry it off show that they respond to learner
  employer community demand.

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and the FE WP specifics for Learner Voice

• Minimum 2 Student Governors on FE Corporations
• Student Affairs Committee in all providers
• Every provider to have a learner engagement
  strategy
• Better training for learner representatives
• National Learner Panel ( bid for regional LPs)
• New occupational standards for college staff,
  SSLOs, who support learner voice
• New professional standards for principals,
  including ensuring that the LV is clearly heard
  responded to by the college
• New relationship between NUS and DfES, LSC,
  OfSTED and a range of other sector agencies
• All FE WP recommendations on learner voice also
  support post-16 citizenship initiatives

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and the tensions.

• Policy busyness there are simply a lot of
  policies jostling for space
• Lack of fit between policies delivery of a 14-19
  curriculum demands effective collaboration
  between schools colleges WBL
  private/voluntary sector, but there is still a
  high level of competition between schools
  colleges, especially for L3 education (School
  Sixth Forms versus FE L3 provision). Similar
  between FECs and private providers
• Some entitlements (fee-free L2 for those adults
  who do not have L2s), plus funding stress on
  14-19, led to re-balancing of fee contributions
  by adults (up 35 now, 50 by 2008/09), which
  amounts to funding cuts leads to loss of
  provision 674,700 adult and community education
  places lost in 2006
• Stress on skills agenda leading some FECs to
  college mission change to exclusively
  vocational curriculum leading to dropping A
  level provision by FECs
• Currently 120,000 14-16s in FE more
  collaboration to embed 14-19 curriculum will lead
  to more children enrolled in FECs