Do we need an admissions code at 16

1
Do we need an admissions code at 16?

• Geoff Stanton
• LONDON PLUS 14-19 QUALITY AND IMPROVEMENT
  CONFERENCE
• RAISING THE BAR FOR LONDONS LEARNERS
• MONDAY, 5 FEBRUARY 2007

2
The policy background

• For 11 year olds, the DfES five year strategy
  firmly opposes a free-for-all in which more
  state schools are allowed to ban less able
  children from applying and turn themselves into
  elite institutions for the few".
• HE policy is also dominated by the debate on fair
  admissions and the fact that young people from
  disadvantaged backgrounds are still relatively
  unlikely to make it to university. Offa has
  been created.
• There will be a statutory 14-19 entitlement.
  Post-16 this will be to 14 lines of learning at 3
  levels. There is renewed talk of raising the
  learning leaving age to 18.

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The policy background (2)

• The LSC is committed to greater social inclusion.
  We are striving to reduce the gap between young
  people and adults from different backgrounds. In
  2006/07 we will use our Equality and Diversity
  Impact Measures (EDIMs) to further scrutinise and
  influence the provision that we purchase locally.
• Locally, we will, with local authorities, produce
  area prospectuses explaining the learning
  opportunities for young people within their
  locality.
• LSC Annual Statement of priorities, Published
  2005 (for 2006/7)

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Policy and Lord Adonis(Quotes from his article
in The Guardian of October 17th, 2006)

• Class differentials are stark and unacceptable
  81 of teenagers from professional family
  backgrounds remain in full-time education after
  completing their GCSEs, compared with 65 from
  non-professional backgrounds.
• In HE the gulf becomes a chasm at age 19, 55
  of all those from professional backgrounds go on
  to HE, against just 27 from non-professional
  families.
• This universal staying on until 18 must mean
  that post-16 provision in schools becomes the
  norm. At present, nearly half of schools have no
  sixth forms.
• We also need more sixth form colleges, and
  better FE and work-based provision.

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Institutional type and social inclusion

• The proportion of GFEC learners who reside in
  Widening Participation (WP) postcodes is 29,
  compared to 25 of the population. The proportion
  in sixth form colleges is 25. The figures for
  school sixth forms and higher education are 19
  and 20 respectively. Source The Foster Review
  of Further Education, November 15th 2005
• Questions arising
• Could all sixth forms and SFCs change their
  admissions policies and curriculum offer in order
  to make a greater contribution (as some already
  do)? Or does their mission and reputation depend
  on their being selective?
• Would these changes simply make them
  uneconomically small tertiary colleges?
• What is the balance between choice of location
  and choice of programme?

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Location and parental occupation at 16Youth
Cohort Study, 2004. of each category by
location
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Almost half of the population do not gain 5
good GCSEs by the May of their 15th year

• Although these are the students least likely to
  stay on, many of capable of further progress
  given more time to study below level 3 post-16.
• These are the individuals that need to be reached
  if everyone is to stay on until 18, since
  almost all of those in the other half already
  stay on.
• Questions arising
• To what extent can or do school sixth forms cater
  for them?
• To what extent can or do sixth form colleges
  cater for them?
• How equitably are students studying at level one
  and two funded in colleges?
• Do we have appropriate learning programmes for
  them?

8
At age 16 who is learning where and at what
level? ( in 2004)
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Who participates where? By level of Study ( of
16 year old population. DfES 2004)
10
Participation by GCSE Score( in each category,
2004)
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Is the likelihood of staying on increased for
those that attend 11-18 schools?(Evidence from
the FE White paper)
12
Does choice improve participation?Does size
matter?

• In areas with tertiary colleges (that is, a
  single large post-16 provider) participation is
  not reduced.Source NFER for LSDA)
• However, choice of course is reduced in small
  sixth forms, as is cost-effectiveness.
• We do not yet have a sustainable means of funding
  (or managing?) consortia.
• Greater diversity and competition between
  institutions can increase social segregation

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Costs in the context of universal staying on to
18 and the Diploma entitlement (14 lines at 3
levels) who is subsidising whom?

• Institutions with significantly fewer than 200
  A-level students (a year cohort averaging 100)
  require substantial subsidy, even where they
  offer only a restricted choice of subjects.
• Institutions with between 200 and 500 students
  can offer efficient provision but only by
  restricting choice.
• Institutions with 500 students or more can offer
  wide subject choice and lower unit costs, though
  modest economies of scale persist up to 1000
  students and perhaps even beyond that point.
• Cost penalties can be very large unit costs may
  be twice as high with 100 students as with 500,
  if comparable subject choice is offered.
• Source Glyn Owen, Mick Fletcher, Stan Lester,
  LSDA 2006

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Are there any negative effects of selection at
16?

• The educational effects of social segregation
• Arbitrary differences in eligibility for entry
  to A level programmes
• Worrying signs of ethnic disparities (twice as
  many black students attend colleges as attend
  school sixth forms)
• The effects on the motivation of 14-16 year olds
  who are not going to be wanted on board post-16
• The political effects on institutions at a time
  of pressure for reform
• The political effects on individuals at a time of
  stretched resources.
• James Purnell, the pensions reform minister,
  wrote recently that, public services can develop
  an unintentional bias against those with weaker
  voices and the segregated post 16 system
  illustrates his point perfectly.

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Some admissions criteria for A level courses

• Candidates must obtain at least six GCSEs
  (including five A Grades and one B Grade
• Entry to the 6th Form usually requires a total of
  395 points achieved over 8 GCSE subjects, and
  evidence of independent study consistent with the
  demands of the school's A- level programme. (This
  is an average of 49 points per subject, or
  between A and B)
• For level 3 programmes (including A level GCE) at
  least 6 GCSEs in the A-C range are required
• You will normally need at least five GCSE passes
  at grades A- C. You should have a minimum of a B
  grade in each subject you wish to study at
  Advanced level.
• The College requires you to have an average GCSE
  grade of at least 4.0 (including 4 GSCEs at grade
  C or higher) to consider an Advanced level
  programme. The higher your average GCSE grade,
  the broader your programme of study is likely to
  be.
• Physics 5 GCSE grades A-C to include grades AA
  in GCSE Double Award Science or grade A in GCSE
  Physics, grade A in GCSE Mathematics (Higher
  Paper) and a grade C in GCSE English Language.

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Official information available for learners

• Directgov.co.uk (via DfES website)
• After Year 11 you could be able to continue your
  full-time studies at your own schools sixth
  form, sixth form at another school, sixth form
  college or further education college.
• To choose the place thats right for you, talk to
  your current teachers, parents and carers,
  relatives and Connexions adviser the people
  that know you best.
• No indication that some providers might not wish
  to choose you!

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Official information (2)

• Connexions website
• Where to study is a big decision to make, as you
  could be spending up to the next 4 years there.
  We'll help you pick the right place for you.
• School Sixth Forms After taking your GCSEs you
  might be thinking of continuing your education by
  staying on in a school sixth form.
• Sixth Form College After your GCSEs you might
  want to go to a sixth form college. Read about
  the advantages of starting somewhere new.
• University Thinking of going to university? In
  this article we tell you all you need to know and
  what sort of things to expect.
• Work based learning Work based learning allows
  you to get paid and gain qualifications at the
  same time whilst learning new skills in a working
  environment.
• Specialist Colleges If you are disabled and don't
  fancy the idea of sixth form college or staying
  on at school, a specialist college might be for
  you.

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Location and ethnicity (Source YCS)
19
The effect of segregation on the funding of
individuals16-19 f-t per capita funding by
location and levelSource Fletcher and Owen,
LSDA 2005
20
Social inclusion and social mobility the need
to reverse this funding gradient

• The team found the gap in educational attainment
  between children of higher and lower social
  classes widened as time went on - it was greatest
  by the age of 33.
• Barbara Jefferis, a research fellow at the
  Institute of Child Health in London, British
  Medical Journal 2002
• by giving schools more independence and creating
  a market in education, you run the serious risk
  of polarising pupils along class lines,"
• Richard Webber, UCL (forthcoming.) Evidence
  from many early childhood programmes suggests
  that attainment gains tend to fade to some extent
  after the intervention is stopped there is
  therefore a requirement for later investments
  to complement early interventions.
• Universal interventions are often accessed first
  by higher socioeconomic groups which suggests
  that some targeting is required to narrow the
  gap.
• Education and Social Mobility Progress for all,
  Speech by Ruth Kelly, 26 April 2006, Supporting
  research materials ,

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The possible effect of segregation on
institutions, and on learning programmes?

• A class institutions
• Stable curriculum and qualifications well
  recognised by employers and universities
• High status students with a history of success
• A stable funding regime
• Protected from turbulence
• Staff with national conditions of service
• B class institutions
• A new curriculum, still developing, and
  qualifications of uncertain currency
• Learners who have experienced failure and / or
  rejection
• An unstable funding regime
• Likelihood of further organisational turbulence,
  contestability, etc (even if post-19)
• Staff who are less well-paid and with less
  job-security

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Hope for the future?

• A common prospectus for a locality
• Shared responsibility for overall participation
  and achievement in a locality?
• Managed tertiary systems?
• A common funding formula?
• Common staff conditions of service?
• But what about.
• The effects of moving towards funding levels that
  match the independent sector (for schools only?)
• The demise of Strategic Area Reviews?
• The Adonis formula more sixth forms and sixth
  form colleges (without changes in admissions or
  curriculum offer since that would make them like
  tertiary colleges?)However
• Recent work by NFER for LSDA, using PLASC, the
  ILR and census data, has developed an important
  methodology for analysing the effects of post-16
  structures that could enable us to base future
  policy on evidence rather than assertion
• Could its use be stimulated by the debate about
  the leaving age?

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Finally.three important principles

• 16 admissions criteria should be transparent and
  equitable, published in the area prospectus, and
  monitored by Ofsted
• Information and guidance for those making the
  transition should be independent, honest and
  accurate.
• We should be concerned to analyse differences in
  funding between students rather than
  institutions.