The Future of 1419 Skills Diplomas, Apprenticeships and Beyond Fiona Jordan DCSF Diploma Programme D

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The Future of 14-19 Skills Diplomas,
Apprenticeships and BeyondFiona Jordan
DCSFDiploma Programme Director9 July 2009
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The three goals of the 14-19 Reform Programme

• To ensure that all young people participate in
  education or training that stretches and
  challenges them until at least their 18th
  birthday
• To give young people the knowledge and skills
  that employers and the economy need to prosper in
  the 21st century
• To close the achievement gap so that all have an
  equal opportunity to succeed, irrespective of
  gender, race, disability or background

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Key facts and figures
Progress on participation and attainment

• Proportion of 16-18 year olds participating in
  education or training has risen steadily over the
  past 5 years, and in 2007, reached 78.7 - the
  highest ever rate
• 75 of 19 year olds achieve a Level 2
  qualification (equivalent to 5 GCSEs at A-C) and
  50achieve a Level 3 qualification (equivalent to
  2 A-level passes).
• But 10 per cent of 16-18 year olds are NEET
• And not enough progress on narrowing the gap -
  only 1ppt improvement in 3 years

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14-19 reform will create better routes for all
young people and configure the education service
around the young person
1. The right learning route
2. The right support
Every young person engaged in learning to 18
3. The right local delivery system
4. The right infrastructure
Cross-cutting issues funding, communications,
stakeholder management
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Raising the Participation Age 100 of 16-18
year olds in education or training by 2015
Why are we Raising the Participation Age?
How does this affect young people?

• To benefit young people, their families,
  employers, the UK economy and society as a whole
• The UK is currently below the OECD average on
  post-16 participation in education and training
• We know young people who gain 5 or more good
  GCSEs earn on average at least 25 more than
  those without qualifications and are less likely
  to have periods of unemployment
• They are also less likely to commit crimes,
  behave anti-socially, or to suffer ill-health

• This change will apply to anyone who
• Is under 18 and
• Is resident in England and
• Has not achieved a full Level 3
• Young People in this group will be required to
  participate in
• Full time education accredited or unaccredited
  or
• An Apprenticeship or
• Part time accredited learning (at least 280
  guided
• learning hours per year around a day per
  week)
• if in employment or volunteering full time (at
  least
• 20 hours per week)
• The change will be introduced in phases with the
  participation age rising to 17 in 2013 and then
  to 18 in 2015

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Qualifications for progression

• All our young people must be able to gain the
  skills and knowledge they need to follow the
  right progression route for them. This means we
  must offer them
• access to high quality, appropriate information,
  advice and guidance on qualifications and
  learning options so they make the right choices
  about their own education and training
• the chance to do the education and training they
  want, when and where they want to do it
• the choice to learn in a style that suits them -
  whether academic, vocational or (as with new
  qualifications like the Diploma) through a
  combination of academic and practical learning
• education and training options that will give
  them the skills and knowledge employers and
  Higher Education Institutions want to see from
  applicants including well developed skills in
  teamwork, in planning, and in critical thinking

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The 14-19 Qualifications Strategy

• The 14-19 Qualifications Strategy aims to
• Manage the transition to a more streamlined and
  coherent 14-19 qualifications offer - the current
  qualification system for 14-19 year olds is
  extremely complex with over 6000 qualifications
  available to choose from, there is also a lack of
  clarity about the content, value, and equivalence
  of those qualifications
• Ensure qualifications drive progression - many
  current qualifications are not sufficiently
  responsive to the changing demands of employers
  and Higher Education and in future all
  qualifications available must equip learners with
  the skills and knowledge needed for them to
  choose from a variety of progression routes
• Introduce a new funding approval mechanism for
  qualifications funding Ofqual has been
  established as independent qualifications
  regulator JACQA has also been established and is
  offering independent advice to Secretary of State
  on the qualifications that are suitable for
  public funding for 14-19 year old learners

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The Four National Qualifications Suites for 14-19
year olds
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Diplomas

• The new Diplomas for 14-19 year olds provide an
  exciting, aspirational and stretching programme
  of learning designed to appeal to
• the most capable students preparing for the most
  demanding university courses
• students planning to enter the workforce directly
  at 18 and
• those who are currently not well engaged with
  current school based provision
• They will ensure that young people have the
  essential knowledge, capabilities and personal
  skills that employers need when they enter the
  workforce through offering a breadth of learning
  including
• generic learning which includes maths English
  ICT personal, learning and thinking skills
• principal learning which is sector or subject
  specific
• additional/specialist learning which allows young
  people to develop a specialism within their
  chosen sector or to undertake complementary
  learning, such as a foreign language

There will also be an entitlement to study a
Diploma from 2013
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GCSE / A Level / Extended Project
GCSEs GCSEs are a key element of the four
qualification routes proposed through the 14-19
Qualification Strategy They can be taken either
as stand alone qualifications or as Additional or
Specialist Learning options within Diploma
programmes The Government is committed to
ensuring GCSEs are improved and strengthened and
new GCSEs, where coursework will be replaced with
controlled assessment, will be introduced in many
subjects from 2009 A-LEVELS A levels are an
important part of the offer for 14-19 year olds
and, as with GCSEs, can be taken as stand-alone
qualifications or as Additional or Specialist
Learning options within Diploma programmes The
stretch and challenge of A levels has been
increased for the brightest students with new
specifications containing harder material in
place since September 2008 EXTENDED
PROJECT Young people can now take the extended
project alongside A levels. This project, also
an integral part of the Diploma programme,
requires young people to demonstrate a high
degree of planning, preparation, research and
autonomous working and to show persistence in
working over time in order to explore a subject
independently in real depth these are the
skills that HE and employers are increasingly
looking for in applicants
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Apprenticeship / Young Apprenticeship

• Apprenticeships
• Apprenticeships are supported by the Government
  and industry as a high level, high quality
  qualification which increases the occupational
  and technical skills base in the labour market
• Apprenticeships always have been and will remain
  a programme that enables young people to learn
  and earn in the workplace. In the last 5 years
  over half a million young people have taken up an
  Apprenticeship
• As part of our 14-19 reforms Apprenticeships will
  be one of the main options for young people and
  will allow them to make a structured transition
  from full time learning to full time earning.
  From 2013 there will be an entitlement to an
  Apprenticeship place for any suitably qualified
  young person who wants one
• Young Apprenticeships (YA) Pilot
• The YA Pilot gives 14-16 year old pupils the
  chance to pursue industry specific learning
  programmes alongside the National Curriculum.
  There are currently 9,000 young people taking YA
  programmes as part of the pilot and a smaller
  number on YA/Diploma programmes
• YA learners attend courses for 2 days a week (or
  equivalent) over two years of the programme,
  which includes undertaking 50 days work experience

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Foundation Learning Tier (FLT)
The FLT will provide a coherent programme of
learning for both young people and adults who
have not yet achieved Level 2. It will offer
clear progression pathways to enable them to
fulfil their potential and progress into
employment or further study The FLT will be
focused around 3 central curriculum strands -
Functional Skills - Vocational and
Subject-based Learning and - Personal and
Social Development Qualifications within the
FLT will be units and/or full qualifications at
Entry level and Level 1 from the Qualifications
and Credit Framework (QCF) The FLT will deliver
an inclusive curriculum that, personalised to the
needs of individual learners. The FLR
curriculum and qualifications will be available
nationally from 2010 and by 2013 every school and
college will be equipped to deliver.
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Main routes through 14-19 education and training
by 2015
GCSE / A-Level
Foundation Learning Tier
Apprenticeship
Functional Skills and Personal,Learning and
Thinking Skills
There are, of course, many other options at 18,
including a gap year and volunteering
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The 14-19 phase in 2013

• By 2013 learners in the 14-19 phase will be
  participating and achieving in
• Apprenticeships
• Diplomas
• GCSEs and A Levels
• Foundation Learning Tier

All of these will ensure young people have
Functional Skills and Personal, Learning and
Thinking Skills
This will ensure all young people are able to
choose a qualification route that motivates and
inspires them and that enables them to succeed
In 2013 we will review the progress we are making
in ensuring that publicly funded qualifications
are combining to meet the needs of young people,
employers and universities
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The right support

• September Guarantee to ensure that every young
  person leaving compulsory education, and all 17
  year olds, receive a suitable offer of a place in
  learning
• Information, advice and guidance
• Access to financial support through Education
  Maintenance Allowance, Care to Learn and the
  Discretionary Learner Support Fund

The right local delivery system

• delivering the breadth of the offer across
  institutional boundaries and involving

• Employers and HE
• 14-19 Partnerships
• Diploma Consortia
• Partnerships of schools, colleges and WBL
  providers

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And we will also need the right infrastructure

• We are
• Creating the single point of accountability for
  0-19 Childrens Services in local authorities to
  enable a more joined up approach to our
  Childrens Plan ambition to make this country the
  best place in the world for young people to grow
  up.
• In practice this means streamlining the funding
  system for all aspects of 14-19 delivery through
• Transfer of responsibility for the funding and
  organisation of 16-19 education and training from
  the LSC to local authorities, supported by a new,
  light-touch non-departmental public body - the
  Young Peoples Learning Agency (YPLA), to ensure
  budgetary control and provide local authorities
  with strategic analysis and data to support their
  decisions.
• Local authorities having responsibility for
  commissioning provision for learners subject to a
  learning difficulty assessment aged 19-25.

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Challenges for all
This is a challenging reform agenda and one which
involves change in all aspects of qualifications
design and delivery but which will ensure our
young people have the skills, adaptability and
flexibility to respond to the challenges of the
global economy