The 157 Group’s latest report, Future Colleges, outlines four principles it wants those in power to adhere to in determining education policy, as Lynne Sedgmore explains.

At the 157 Group, we know about the excellent work that colleges, both our members and others, are doing every day across the country to enable learners to acquire the skills they need for successful working lives.

We also know about the demands of policymakers for provision to continually improve, and for us to respond to new initiatives, increased competition and seemingly unending change.

We know about all this, but we wanted to find out more about the scale of the college contribution to the skills agenda. What we discovered has led to the publication of our new report Future Colleges, in which we set our clearly not only what colleges have achieved, but what we believe they can do in the future if policymaking recognises their importance.

In six key areas, we set out how critical colleges are to our skills system how they have led the way in the resurgence of apprenticeships, are the leading providers of technician skills at levels three and four, how they deliver higher education designed to meet local employment needs and have been key to raising literacy and numeracy rates.

Colleges teach the majority of young people post-16, mainly in a vocational context, and act as recruitment hubs for employers, securing meaningful work experience, implementing targeted programmes for unemployed people, and supporting routes into learning and job progression for adults.

It is colleges, rather than any other form of new institution, that should be trusted to lead the future development of our skills system

Given this track record, we argue strongly that it is colleges, rather than any other form of new institution, that should be trusted to lead the future development of our skills system.

We describe a future where every community in the country has a well-respected and trusted college which is at the centre of collaboration in the local skills system, a leader and innovator in high-level technical education, a hub of workforce development for all employers and the focus for community cohesion, personal development and enterprise strategies.

We know that colleges have the leadership to be able to achieve this level of influence and importance — many are already in this position. But we are convinced that our national approach to policymaking has hindered rather than helped the many achievements to date.

For all the talk of ‘freedom and flexibility’, we hear all too often that the detailed implementation of policy delivers quite the opposite effect, that funding rules change in ways that make it hard to deliver responsive local solutions, and that, all too often, it feels as though provision is dictated by a set of system-wide diktats, which remove, rather than promote, autonomy.

And we know that there remains much inequity in the system — leaving colleges, schools and universities judged by widely differing measures and systems, and creating perverse behavioural incentives that affect the provision of careers education, among other things.

So we are using our vision to call upon a future government to also play its part, and to commit to four key principles in education policy making. The first is stable structures — refraining from further changes to structures and institutions and from imposing more top down delivery initiatives on the skills system.

The second is equal treatment — in ensuring both funding and accountability treats all learners’ experiences as individual, whether they be in school, college, university or employment; and the third is the freedom to innovate — for local college, community and business leaders to devise and deliver solutions.

The fourth is durable funding — a stable financial settlement within which to plan.

We hope that these are key principles that all in the sector can champion.

With only seven months to go to the next general election, we know that there will be many policy changes suggested. We will support those that can be tested against our four principles. And we hope, in this way, to help to create a long-term future for our vitally important skills system.

 

With the General Election soon coming around we are all hearing the word ‘vote’ over and over again.

But what I want to know is how young people are franchised to represent their views on education and skills in two ways.

The first as the electorate affected directly by future changes in government and the second as young people not wanting those changes.

My observation since working in college is that there is no product in a box offering the perfect student voice environment for young people.

There are pockets of best practice of course, but for many the term “student voice” sparks more feelings of dread than inspiration.

Dread because it can be seen as a tick box exercise for Ofsted.

What we really need to do, and fast, is get involved, engaged and motivated to talk to, champion and implement the thoughts and ideas of young people in colleges.

There are too many white papers and think pieces telling us what will happen yet not working with the very customer (student) to better understand their views on the education and skills landscape.

When we vote we look at the manifesto, the pledges, the promises, the policies. When students vote with their feet to come to college they should equally be able to understand the offering and to realise their ambitions through robust feedback mechanisms, to get them just where they need to be.

I’ve been toying with the idea of setting up my own youth think tank for a while. I guess I should practice what I preach and ask the young people if they think this would have any worth

I was a sixth former myself and still regret to this day that I did not go to the local college — an opportunity to broaden my horizons.

I was a product of inefficiency — the only student in the A2 French class. And I’m sure I had many things to say about this experience yet nobody actually bothered to ask, then again a student voice works both ways — students themselves must be vocal in their desires, evaluations and observations.

So with the General Election around the corner I’d like us to take the opportunity to lobby for ensuring two things — firstly, that we all take the student voice seriously and secondly, that we engage our students to vote in the election.

I’ve been toying with the idea of setting up my own youth think tank for a while. I guess I should practice what I preach and ask the young people if they think this would have any worth.

So with all of this in mind I’d really like to reinforce how important it is that we colleges listen seriously to what our students want from us.

How many senior managers take the time to interact with the students? Do we all understand the student journey? How many of us get out on the “shop floor” to learn what truly happens in the classroom?

Look at what happens on Undercover Boss and the benefits that has when you endeavour to understand how your organisation runs, from every perspective.

I had the privilege recently of students undertaking a marketing module as part of their studies visiting my marketing department to ask questions and I really enjoyed getting back to the “basics” and interacting with them in this way.

When you’re in a business support role it’s so easy to forget why you’re in the role and what the overall purpose is.

If we want the students to vote with their feet and come to colleges given all of the competition that’s out there, and we want to secure our reputation, we must start paying even more attention to our customers.