WorldSkills has been and gone, all the hype, the advertising, the supplements, the drum banging… and now the silence is deafening.

Colleges try to whip up support from the media, but it’s short lived, the energy dissipates like the steam from the industry-standard hair straighteners once used to style a winner.

The skills circus has left town, and in its wake Agitator is wondering if anything will change. Vocational qualifications are as low down the education ‘food chain’ as they’ve ever been.

Whose fault is that? The AoC blames teachers and careers advisors and, to add insult to injury we’re losing Connexions, just as they were getting the hang of Diplomas, VRQs and the like.

Lecturers blame parents for not understanding anything but the golden standard of the hallowed A-level.

Colleges blame the plethora of qualifications, programmes and courses on offer, the confusing titles and cacophony of exam boards touting their ‘tickets’. We need constant flag bearers for vocational education.

The Prime Minister was extoling the virtues of apprenticeships at the Tory Conference last week. But he’s not credible when talking up skills. He’s not ‘been there nor done that’ like our own valuable lecturers.

Sure, we’ve been listening to all sorts of leading politicians waving the flag for apprenticeships; they’ve even employed a few to accompany them as they saunter up and down the corridors of power. But it feels too orchestrated, a falsehood that is seen as a crowd pleaser.

The pile ‘em high and sell em cheap attitude to vocational qualifications must stop now.”

To paraphrase the political messages; apprenticeships will save the economy – apprenticeships are the answer… But, how can that be when corporate giants like Asda admit that none of the 25,000 apprenticeships that they’ve been crowing about equate to any new jobs?

Vocational education will only enjoy an elevated position when we get the quality right. Too many organisations are taking short cuts. How can we be delivering Level 2 NVQs in two days and apprenticeships in just six weeks and expect Joe Public to take vocational qualifications seriously?

How can two thirds of apprenticeships delivered in the UK be in retail (which wasn’t even a category at WorldSkills) and expect people up and down the country to think they are competition to A-levels?

The Mail on Sunday last week told its middle England readers how you can follow an apprenticeship that includes removing litter, dog fouling and emptying waste bins.  I’d say it was a joke, but it’s not even funny.

We have got ourselves into a real mess with vocational education, it’s one true standard was the apprenticeship, but we’ve gone an messed that up too by flooding the market with cheap imitations and confusing the punter.

If Rolex or Hermes made apprenticeships they’d have customs officers raiding the SFA (Skills Funding Agency) faster than you can say ‘counterfeit’. And there lies the problem. The one brand that bolstered vocational qualifications has been soiled, and we as a sector have helped publicise its dilution.

How? By every single press release, web site and prospectus put out for ‘Joe Public’ to read headlines like “provider puts 200 students through their Call Centre qualification in record time” or, “Level 1 student is awarded certificate in pouring glass of milk.”

The pile ‘em high and sell em cheap attitude to vocational qualifications must stop now.

We need to bang the quality drum again and again and again, we need to encourage the self-fulfilling prophecy: if you tell people often enough then they will believe it. But, only if it’s actually true.

With a rush of activity and a buzz of excitement, the world’s largest international skills competition arrived on UK shores.

WorldSkills London 2011 – dubbed the skills Olympics – engulfed ExCel London, on Wednesday ahead of four-days of competition to find the best-of-the-best the skills sector has to offer.

Before the 944 competitors, representing 51 nations, got underway, the nearby O2 Arena hosted the opening ceremony on Tuesday.

Chairman of WorldSkills London 2011 Chris Humphries and Deputy Prime Minster, Nick Clegg officially marked the start of the skills competition, jobs and careers event, before a feast of entertainment, including dancing, singing and the traditional flag ceremony.

However, once the formalities – and the pleasantries between the entrants – were over, it was down to the hard-graft of the competition the following morning as the ExCel flung its doors open for the first time.

Speaking to FE Week just hours after thousands of people began flocking into the exhibition centre, Aidan Jones, the chief executive of WorldSkills London 2011, said: “It’s going brilliantly.

“We had a fantastic opening ceremony at the O2 on Tuesday night and we were very pleased to welcome Nick Clegg to join us.

“I was then lucky enough to be here when the roller shutters opened for the first time and people crossed them into the hall.

“It was like the Christmas sales. My heart was ticking really fast, seeing after three years of working for this that people were coming through the doors ready to enjoy the skills on show and on offer.”

However, Mr Jones does not just see this as an important event for the competitors – he also sees it as vital for the future of the nation.

He added: “There has never been a more important time to show the UK that skills shape our world and the future success of Britain’s businesses depend on a highly skilled workforce.

“We hope WorldSkills London demonstrates to the world how talented young British people are.”

While the competitors got down to the nitty-gritty action of their chosen skill, the halls filled with visitors – and not forgetting the event’s ambassadors, who proudly patrolled the arena to will the competitors on.

One of those was Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards, who became Britain’s first Olympic ski jumper when he took to the slopes at the Calgary Winter Olympics in 1988, becoming a national hero.

However, it was as a plasterer the former Olympian spread his wings, having grown up in a family of plasterers.
As an ambassador for WorldSkills London 2011, he was delighted to watch the event unfold and cheer on Team UK.

He said: “I split my time now with Eddie ‘The Eagle’ work and when I’m not doing that I’m plastering ceilings and walls.

“This year was the first time I’d heard of the event and now that I’m finally here, I’m really looking forward to getting out on the shop floor.”

When arriving at the vast exhibition centre, he was surprised to see how big it was and how many schoolchildren were attending.

The first day of the event also saw the Junior WorldSkills event and a raft of primary schools invited to attend.

Eddie said: “There were a lot of schoolchildren looking around which is wonderful as most people think about university to study, but there are lots of things you can do without going to university.”

He was also keen to ‘Have a Go’ at the other trades and skills on offer available at the event to try himself, adding: “Who knows, I might get into something else. I’m all for learning.”

Another ambassador, who knows what it is like to perform on the world stage in front of thousands of people, is Olympic gold medallist Jason Gardener – and he was delighted to support Team UK.

The sprinter, won gold in the 4×100 metre replay at the 2004 summer Olympics games in Athens, said: “When I walked into the ExCel, I thought ‘wow, this place is enormous’. It blew my mind.”

He added: “It was great to meet Team UK and the competitors in the send-off event last week.

“Team UK have been prepared, they’ve gone through a rigorous two years of training, they’ve had mentoring and developed their skills and identified areas to improve.”

Businessman and star of BBC Two show Dragon’s Den, Theo Paphitis was also on hand to show his support for the skills sector.

He said: “Skills are vital to ensuring the UK’s future as one of the world’s biggest economies.

“Skills not only provide the talent organisations need to thrive, evolve and grow, but also give people a solid grounding on which to start their enterprises.

“By encouraging and nurturing those who take vocational routes – and raising awareness of the great opportunities out there for skilled workers – we can ensure the UK has the skills we need for the future.”

For a full FE Week round-up, including results, from WorldSkills London 2011, see our website www.feweek.co.uk on Monday.

Picture: Jazz Hands: City College Norwich Dance troupe performing on the main stage at WorldSkills

FE Week News Reporter Nick Summers gets into the spirit of WorldSkills London 2011 by ‘having a go’ at the trade skills on offer

WorldSkills has been cleverly dubbed the ‘skills Olympics’ – but to think of it merely as a tournament would be short-sighted. The aim of the event is not only to inspire visitors through the competition, but to encourage them to try some of the professions for themselves.

The ‘Have a Go’ activities were designed to get the public involved and try various skills. Booths were dotted all over the ExCel London and attracted plenty of attention thanks to huge billboards shouting “I am… ready to have a go!” These workshops were open plan and designed to represent and reflect the surrounding trades.

The activities, to name just a few, included plastering, carpentry, airbrushing and virtual car painting, hair styling, making wooden rocking horses and chocolate welding.

So in the spirit of WorldSkills (and with a bit of bribery from my editor) I got stuck in and tried as many vocational skills as possible.

My first challenge was to change the rear tire on a Honda motorcycle. Visitors were timed to see how long it took them to remove a bolt and washer, remove the rear calibre and slide out the spindle connecting the tyre. This was then followed by a new rear tyre, which visitors needed to use to put the bike back together again. Tricky.

The wheels were particularly heavy and I was surprised at the strength needed to use the ratchet gun and wrench. One of the mechanics was on hand to make sure I didn’t damage any of the equipment, and I was very impressed with just how hands-on I was allowed to get with the task.

Needless to say my final time for the activity was appalling (no surprise there). Even so, I felt that the task was a realistic glimpse of a profession that would be difficult to reproduce in a college prospectus or open day.

Tiling was next on my list. ‘How hard could it be to stick some ceramics to a wall?’ I thought with blissful ignorance.

To start with, the activity was made far harder by the tile design itself. The various slabs joined together to form a colourful union jack, and it was infuriatingly hard to try and sort them out and put them in their appropriate places. Sticking them to the wall proved even more challenging.

Putting plaster onto the various tools and spreading it with a thin consistency required a level of skill that I obviously didn’t have. The WorldSkills staff were keen to show me how to handle the grey goo with the necessary precision, but to be honest I knew I was a lost hope. Time for something else.

When I think of Bentley cars, I think of designers in smoky rooms, burly mechanics in steel factories and pristine businessmen in immaculate showrooms. Sewing does not come to mind. Yet this was the profession being shown off by the traditional and luxury British car company, offering visitors the chance to finish some cross stitching on a steering wheel.

I saw numerous young men scoff initially at the idea of sewing, but they soon changed their minds when they realised which company was behind the activity (show them a flash car and they’ll do anything – fact). It was refreshing to see the admirable care and craft that goes into car manufacturing, and I think it reminded many people of the different professions that are out there.

Waltham Forest College were offering skills arguably a little more ‘hip’ and modern. An instructor from Streetlife Radio taught me how to use a pair of turntables, keeping in tempo with the music and ‘fading’ across to various tracks. The timing was really tricky and it took me numerous attempts to finally nail a session and put two songs in perfect harmony. Based on the feedback from passers-by, I bet the classes are a resounding success at the college.

Throughout the day I also had the chance to sit in a Formula 1 racing car, try my hand as a racing jockey and even apply various facial masks.

You name it and WorldSkills London 2011 was offering it. Many of the activities were also child friendly, encouraging little ones to try simpler tasks such as plumbing puzzles and building cardboard furniture.

Everything on offer was exciting, fresh and hands-on. It was the perfect opportunity for any school leaver or potential learner to consider a vocational profession, not only by seeing what they enjoyed the most, but also by seeing what they were best at.

Team UK and the inevitable medals table will no doubt grab most of the headlines at WorldSkills, but I’d argue that training providers and young visitors are the real event winners. The first day of the competition was a resounding success and the ‘Have a Go’ activities helped unquestionably to inspire the future of Britain.

 Photos by Nick Linford, for FE Week

It was a feast of further education (FE) as hundreds of youngsters flocked to Birmingham to launch a series of student-led campaigns for this academic year.

On Monday, more than 200 FE student representatives attended the single largest National Union of Students’ (NUS) FE specific event, FEstival.

It brought together Student Officers from Students’ Unions from across the UK to mark the launch of a series of NUS’ campaigns for 2011/12 and the start of a new academic year.

The free, one day event, was held at Birmingham University’s Guild of Students and built on the success of the first FEstival back in 2009, aiming to stimulate and motivate student representatives and officers for the year ahead through structured and informal networking, campaigning and skills workshops and campaign launches.

Even our own Managing Editor, Nick Linford, held a workshop focusing on funding in the sector.

The main hall was decked out with bunting, balloons and there was plenty of music being played; in order to create a festival atmosphere. At 10am before the bulk of attendees arrived NUS staff were buzzing with excitement about the day’s line up.

The event kicked off at 11am with a key note speech from Toni Pearce, Vice President (VP) FE NUS, who introduced the event and launched the NUS FE priority campaign for the year ahead, Fair Necessities. This year’s priority campaign looks at equipping students’ unions with the tools and skills to campaign against the cuts made to enrichment funding in the UK.

During her key note speech when launching the campaign, Pearce said, “enrichment funding was first introduced in 2000 to provide 16-19 year old in full time further education access to a wide range of extra-curricular activities and extra learning support including, tutorials, pastoral care and citizenship. The Government have made a 75 per cent cut in this service which will have an impact on student lives and force colleges in making tough decisions around which services to prioritise.”

The toolkit is designed for both students and staff working in students’ union and is available here.

FE Week has since learnt that there are plans for NUS to release their very own versions of the Jungle Book classic, Look for the Bear Necessities.

There is often a perception in NUS that it is only the remit of the VPFE to represent FE students. Following on from Pearce’s key note speech, there was a Q&A session with the other 4 vice presidents and the National President, Liam Burns. This was a first for NUS, never before had all of the VPs and President been in attendance together to discuss how their own remits work to benefit FE.

The VPs went into detail around the various ways they are representing FE over the coming year, from the VP Society and Citizenship outlining an exciting new partnership with Oxfam to build citizenship in FE to the VP Union Development announcing Activism 2011, a day which will focus on training student officers on how to campaign effectively.

During the lunch break another campaign was launched by the VP Welfare, Pete Mercer. By way of parking a red double decker bus outside the venue, Mercer launched the Get on the Bus campaign. FEstival goers were encouraged to “Get on the Bus” in-time for a launch speech from the VP Welfare.

Mercer explained the campaign aims to highlight the issues that students face regarding the cost of travel in the UK. Aimed at FE colleges, the campaign will see a bus tour around the UK to encourage FE students to approach their local councils in order to improve travel subsidies for young people.

In between the campaign launches and speeches there were numerous workshops that attendees could choose from. Workshops on offer varied from Campaigning tips for students’ unions, broadening membership, enterprising students’ unions and adult education funding.

Speaking to FE Week after FEstival, Larni Baird, President, Aberdeen College Students’ Union said: “I made the epic journey from Aberdeen to come along to today’s event. It was truly overwhelming to see so many FE student officers attending Festival. I have been an officer in the student movement now for 2 and a half years and never seen an FE event so well attended. But not only was attendance high, the calibre of officers and their enthusiasm was inspirational.”

Pearce formally closed FEstival with a vote of thanks to everyone that had contributed to what had been for her “one of the most amazing events she had ever attended.” Speaking after FEstival, Pearce said, “Today has been incredible, not only because so many FE students came along, but because so many are now engaged and want to get out there and campaign for their members. Whether that be for the reinstatement of EMA, increases in transport subsidy or votes at 16. Our members, here today, showed that students in FE have a bigger voice than ever before.”

FEstival was certainly one of the, if not most, successful FE specific events that NUS has staged in recent years. It has been a strategic aim of the organisation in recent years to engage with more with FE students. Events such as this certainly prove they have engaged with more FE students than ever before. FE Week will be keeping up to date with all the latest news from the campaigns over the coming year.