The terms of reference of the curriculum and assessment review show promising signs – a “cutting edge, fit for purpose” curriculum and assessment system that prepares young people for their “future life and work”.
It’s everything we’d want to see for our skills system, but how do we turn these warm words into concrete actions?
Vocational at pre-16
Excellent, accessible provision of vocational education must be available pre-16 – and not just for “other people’s children”.
The government has promised a broader and more balanced curriculum to include creative and vocational subjects, and widening accountability measures would seem like a relatively sensible and effective first step to addressing the steep decline of these subjects over the past decade.
Nonetheless, as our recent research report from Dr Alison Hardy shows, we’ve been around this block before. We need to consult with experts and confront what wasn’t working so well for certain creative and vocational subjects – particularly the disparities in take-up between gender, FSM-status, SEND and ethnicity.
We also need to be pragmatic about the current state of affairs: school facilities and the teaching workforce to deliver these subjects look very different since the last Labour administration. So we need a blueprint for change that can span not just this Parliament, but its successors.
The world of work
Another key priority is to fire up opportunities for meaningful employer encounters to develop young people’s work-readiness skills and expand their career prospects, right across the country.
This is urgent, because we’re asking a lot of employers: two weeks’ work experience, T Level industry placements, apprenticeships, and now Foundation Apprenticeships.
It was quite remarkable hearing politicians at party conferences say that we still haven’t “cracked it” when it comes to work experience for learners in rural and coastal areas.
At Edge, we’ve seen some of the most ingenious and innovative place-based solutions. These tap into what the local labour market has to offer and, through effective collaboration and communication, remove many of the hurdles employers typically face in taking on young people.
A place for ‘soft skills’
In tandem with the above (and the promised accountability reforms), we should strive for an assessment system that recognises those aptitudes and abilities that employers are looking for, beyond academic attainment.
A rethink of essential skills
We’re switching off too many learners who don’t see the value of maths beyond 16, and we’re overloading content into the English Language GCSE.
In 2023/4, 34 per cent of students fell short of a grade 4 at GCSE in English or maths – a blocker to progression to further learning, training and employment. We’re then expecting FE providers to pick up the tab through resits while dealing with compounding issues of funding and the most acute workforce retention crisis.
Meanwhile, Functional Skills Qualifications are riddled with issues – from the teaching and learning, to the time available to support learners through to assessment.
We’ve been pointing to the same worrying statistic that 9 million adults lack essential numeracy or literacy skills for years. What will it take to get policymakers to fix the broken system?
A little respect
As our recent policy report exploring the Growth and Skills Levy highlighted, the post-16 qualifications landscape (particularly when it comes to vocational and technical) is incredibly opaque, made so by the endless chopping and changing as government priorities shift. Interestingly, we don’t see the same for our ‘gold-standard’ academic qualifications.
This policy churn poses a real barrier for employers when it comes to taking on young people as apprentices, for example. We need agile, relevant qualifications that align with industry needs, but we’ve got to make it simple for employers, particularly smaller businesses to engage.
We have a two-tier system, in every regard, and that is not reflective of attitudes among the public, teaching profession or employers.
The government scrapped the Advanced British Standard early in its tenure. But there is an opportunity for this review to consider the merits of a genuine mix-and-match model with academic and vocational subjects on an equal footing.
Who knows? If we can align this review with Skills England’s ambitions, we could even end up with a vocational system envied by other nations.
Your thoughts