The curriculum and assessment review’s ambition was to build a ‘world-class curriculum for all’. The challenge now is to ensure that the emerging framework truly embraces the critical role of the FE and skills sector.
The post-16 education and skills white paper has already outlined the need for a coherent tertiary system that integrates FE, HE and lifelong learning, underpinned by high-quality teaching and leadership. This review must be part of building that coherent system.
The good, the gaps, and what FE and skills bring
The review’s report rightly highlights our curriculum’s strengths: it is knowledge-rich, with breadth of subject coverage. International comparative performance remains solid in many areas.
It also identifies stubborn attainment gaps: for learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, for those with SEND and/or disabilities, and for transitions across phases.
Importantly, when it comes to 16-19 education the report recognises that A Levels and current academic routes do not suit all learners. It notes that many young people need additional applied, high-quality options and acknowledges the ‘extensive changes’ needed to create these coherent qualification pathways.
This is where FE and skills comes into sharp focus. The sector’s strengths lie in bridging vocational and technical learning, responding to local and employer needs, offering applied and professional pathways, and nurturing adults and young people who may not succeed in purely academic settings.
For the review to achieve its ambition of high standards for all, FE and skills cannot be an afterthought.
The three knotty issues as ETF sees it are: the detail behind V Levels and ensuring they are fit for purpose and deliverable; the perennial issues surrounding English and maths; and the growing, critical need for curriculum and assessment to adapt to technological, social and environmental change – including through the incorporation of digital skills, media literacy and sustainability or ‘green’ skills for all learners.
Professional development is critical
One persistent barrier to a world-class curriculum for all has been the status of technical and vocational pathways and the professionalism of practitioners. Reform of the curriculum and qualifications alone will not close attainment gaps unless the FE and skills workforce is recognised, supported and developed.
That means embedding professional standards, providing routes to status, developing our leaders and charting clear career pathways.
These factors all contribute to systemic positive change across FE and skills and the broader education sector, laying the groundwork for a reformed, coherent curriculum and qualifications landscape to succeed.
FE and skills practitioners with clear career pathways, who have opportunities to hone their dual professionalism and receive recognition for their practice, are better enabled to deliver the best experiences for their learners, including enabling vital employer connections and experiences across new and existing technical and vocational pathways.
Sector leaders play a crucial role in driving the system-wide change needed to provide clear pathways and opportunities for every learner.
When supported with tailored development and network opportunities, leaders’ power to find shared solutions and foster collaboration within – and beyond – FE and skills is amplified, leading to better outcomes for all.
Path to success
The ambition to build a world-class curriculum is welcome and necessary. Yet success will be judged not by textbooks or qualifications, but by outcomes for learners, employers and their communities.
To achieve this review’s highest ambitions, the FE and skills sector must be positioned squarely in design, delivery and governance of a reformed curriculum.
If we get this right, we will unlock improved individual life-chances, stronger local economies and a workforce fit for the future. If we ignore this opportunity, we risk reforming part of the system and leaving too many behind.
Now is the moment to elevate the workforce to the heart of this change via recognised professional statuses, a strong community of practice and rigorous standards, so that our education system can deliver the opportunities and enriching experiences that every learner deserves.
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