Learners have been discussing key policy directions for the NUS. Joe Vinson discusses what’s been on the agenda and what happens next.

The NUS held its annual Zone Conference in Harrogate earlier this month. The event is an important part of our policy formation process and an opportunity for students from across the country to come together to discuss the issues which will form motions to NUS’s National Conference in April.

The NUS splits its work in to five separate ‘zones’. In Harrogate, students from the further and higher education zones were brought together to discuss vocational education.

It was the first time that the FE and higher education zones had come together to debate and form policy which concerns the whole tertiary sector. This was because we wanted to be more joined up in our policy formation this year and to talk about vocational provision across schools, colleges and universities.

In picking vocational education as a key theme we recognised that skills and the future of technical education are at the fore of current political debate.

Vocational qualifications have never been more important to the economy and to students. They deliver the trained, talented employees businesses are crying out for and ensure young people have the skills needed to succeed in education and work.

We wanted to give students the opportunity to voice their opinions on how vocational education is delivered and provide their experiences of studying in academic or vocational settings.

On the first day of the conference students were divided in to four areas of vocational education — teaching and learning, gender and access, tensions between vocational and academic education and the space in which vocational education is delivered.

Within these sub groups we talked about issues such as the impact of class structures and the perceived social stigma around technical courses and qualifications. We also used practical methods to think about the space in which academic and vocational education courses are delivered.

Students modelled their ideal learning environments and were encouraged to consider in what type of setting they can learn best.

All these discussions will eventually feed in to the motions which go to NUS’s National Conference and also inform the work which takes places throughout the year.

Aside from the vocational education key theme, FE delegates attended workshops on issues such as the quality of teaching and learning, careers information advice and guidance, sex and relationships education and the general election.

Students explored the different methods of teaching across the FE sector and particularly focused on the use of technology in the classroom and the proportion of learning which should be delivered via technology

The session on teaching and learning asked students to think about their own good and bad experiences in the classroom. The students explored the different methods of teaching across the FE sector and particularly focused on the use of technology in the classroom and the proportion of learning which should be delivered via technology.

The conference also held a session for all delegates on NUS’s general election strategy and the hub which has recently been launched to help students’ unions form their local election strategies.

The ‘New Deal for the next generation’ manifesto outlines three key areas that students are most affected by, with ten policy ‘asks’ under each area.

The FE asks include a call for political parties to commit to a new education maintenance allowance, a call for the AS-level to be retained in its current form and a recommendation for statutory careers guidance to be stronger and for careers education to be embedded in the curriculum.

We have seen cut after cut after cut for the FE sector over the last few years and we want to make students a force too powerful to be ignored.

This is why it is so vital that FE students get registered to vote, get mobilised and demand from all the major parties that FE is properly invested in.

 

Competition, finance and government support are just three of the factors to have played a part in the process of Lincoln College Group opening two sites in Saudi Arabia this summer, explains Simon Plummer.

Like many other FE colleges The Lincoln College Group has been operating internationally for some time following a traditional model of attracting students to study in the UK on a range of EFL, A-level and business foundation courses.

With many of our students drawn from China and Hong Kong we have had to respond and counter the fluctuating, and increasingly stringent, student visa requirements and increased competition from boarding schools, which competitively market their more traditional routes to university.

These challenges led us to think differently about how we engaged internationally and in essence we have moved from a model of attracting students to the UK to one where we now also export our educational expertise.

We recognised that the curriculum was simply one of a number of strands of expertise that exists within The Lincoln College Group with export potential

In its most fundamental form we have developed formal links with institutions overseas, sharing our UK-generated curriculum materials and methodology. This is complemented by the short deployment or lengthier secondment of UK staff overseas.

Assisting in the delivery of specialist modules, they also contribute to the training of the local staff to deliver our curriculum structure and develop teaching techniques.

We recognised that the curriculum was simply one of a number of strands of expertise that exists within The Lincoln College Group with export potential. As with many successful FE colleges, expertise in project management, human resources, marketing, finance, ICT, facilities and student services are all potential commodities.

There is a wide range of channels through which international opportunities are promoted, although very often the assessment of the validity of these opportunities is difficult and rightly many fail through sound governance and due diligence.

In the case of Saudi Arabia, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) first made us aware of the extensive reform of vocational education that was taking place in the Kingdom. This UK Government endorsement, combined with the global search being undertaken by the Saudi ministry, provided a high level of assurance over the integrity, longevity and reality of this opportunity.

The ambitious procurement timeline, and the potential of the opportunity, determined that a dedicated full-time resource and associated budget was allocated to the bid qualification and submission process. This investment, endorsed by the board, was wholly at risk if unsuccessful, but aligned with the wider strategy of the board to seek out more diverse income streams and indeed a legitimate investment of surpluses made from our existing international work.

The initial brokerage of UKTI led to our direct dialogue with the Colleges of Excellence, the Saudi procurement body, with presentations in London combined with the requirement to submit early expressions of interest and organisational data to qualify for subsequent stages. Our progression through these stages resulted in more detailed briefing sessions in London, as well as Riyadh, and the hosting of a Saudi delegation in Lincoln.

Our journey started in September last year, with final bid submission in late December and contract award in March. Provided with brand new purpose-built campuses, the subsequent five months have seen us fully mobilise all equipment, furniture, staff and infrastructure, enabling two sites to open in late August. Our third will follow next year.

Appreciative of the financial restrictions of many UK colleges, the Saudi Arabian authorities provide us with an interest-free loan for capital expenditure and, as a measure of the continued UK Government support, various grants are available through UK Export & Finance.

Lincoln College International is a commercial subsidiary within the group and our expansion internationally may be seen by some as simply a commercial decision. The diversification of income streams is clearly an important consideration, but deeper benefits must also be recognised.

Although not naturally falling within the scope of Ofsted, this does not exclude the international presence being used as a powerful source of evidence. The opportunities for staff development and progression now take on a different dimension; the potential for student enrichment diversifies and ultimately the sharing of the very best practice and opportunities for idea incubation multiply.

 

The Sixth Form Colleges’ Association (SFCA) has produced its 2015 manifesto in the hope of influencing the political parties ahead of — and after — next year’s general election, explains James Kewin.

With a general election just sixth months away, the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association will today [Monday, November 17] officially launch its manifesto at its conference in Birmingham.

The manifesto makes seven recommendations to political parties on behalf of the 93 Sixth Form Colleges in England, that between them educate more than 158,000 young people.

Despite consistently delivering outstanding outcomes for learners, these are difficult times for many sixth form colleges.

There are a range of challenges facing the sector including funding cuts (on top of existing funding inequalities), curriculum reform (particularly the de-coupling of AS levels from A levels) and competition (the proliferation of new, better funded sixth forms).

The speed with which funding and curriculum reform has been introduced, has created a fourth major challenge — uncertainty. For example, information on the implementation of the new style A-levels or how the mixed-economy of old and new style qualifications will be treated in funding, accountability or inspection terms has still not been provided.

This uncertainty makes strategic planning very difficult. At a practical level, it is difficult to know what to include in prospectuses, or what to say to young people at open days.

And the end of funding protection in 2015/16 continues to loom large — at that point many sixth form colleges will hit the ground with a bump.

At the same time, sixth form colleges see the relentless rise of free school sixth form colleges and school/academy sixth forms — all better-funded, but on the whole delivering poorer outcomes for learners.

Despite being the most effective and efficient providers of sixth form education in the country, the sector feels — with some justification — that its face does not fit in policy terms.

The case for sixth form colleges is incredibly strong, but the past five years have seen brand (academy, free school) trump product (outcomes, value for money).

With that in mind, the manifesto contains a series of practical recommendations to ensure the continued success of students in sixth form colleges. We begin with curriculum.

It is difficult to find many organisations or institutions in the state sector that support the decoupling of AS-levels and A-levels — so our first recommendation is to reverse this change.

Teachers and leaders in practically every sixth form college believe that decoupling will make it more difficult for young people to progress to higher education or employment and will increase the risk of students dropping out of courses.

The sector feels — with some justification — that its face does not fit in policy terms

This reform is about as far away from evidence-based policy making as it is possible to get. A policy change would allow sixth form colleges to retain the AS/A-level link that has served students so well since the introduction of the Curriculum 2000 reforms.

Several of our recommendation relate to funding. For example, the current arrangements for funding students with high needs are chaotic and ineffective and need to be reformed.

We also urge the government to refund the VAT costs of sixth form colleges (as it does for schools and academies) — the present arrangements leave the average sixth form college with £335,000 less to spend on the education of its students each year.

The manifesto urges political parties to drop this learning tax and ensure that young people receive the same level of investment in their education, irrespective of where they choose to study. ‘Drop the learning tax’ will be a call politicians hear a lot between now and May.

And finally, the manifesto calls on the government to introduce a transparent and competitive process for establishing new institutions rather than favouring certain types of sixth form provider.

The obsession with creating small school, free school or academy sixth forms has poorly served many young people since 2010.

To ensure that sixth form colleges can continue to transform the life chances of young people, we are calling on all political parties to adopt the recommendations in
our manifesto.