Category Archives: Further education

Sunak’s plan to ditch A-levels is out of touch with reality, says union

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Head of National Education Union says new qualification would need 5,300 additional teachers in England

Rishi Sunak wants to scrap A-levels and replace them with a single qualification that includes compulsory English and maths, bringing upheaval to sixth-form education in England that would last a decade.

The new baccalaureate-style Advanced British Standard, which Sunak announced in his speech to the Conservative party conference in Manchester, would also kill off the T-level vocational qualification the government launched just three years ago.

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Students should be told of university course job prospects, says commission

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Social Mobility Commission says students should be informed of ‘earnings implications’ of course choices

Students should be given more details about how the courses they study after leaving school might affect their employment prospects, it has been suggested, as figures show near-record numbers of 18-year-olds applying to university.

A review of research into the employment effects of higher and further education by the government’s Social Mobility Commission showed wide variations in earnings, with some courses failing to boost salaries, while the most lucrative courses for graduates often admitted few students in England from disadvantaged backgrounds.

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King Charles criticises lack of vocational education while on The Repair Shop

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Outspoken comments about schools policy were made before he became king in one-off episode of BBC show

King Charles has criticised the lack of vocational education in schools during his appearance in a special edition of the BBC television show The Repair Shop.

In the one-off episode, to be broadcast by the BBC on Wednesday, he praises the value of technical skills and apprenticeships, and describes the lack of vocational education as a “great tragedy”.

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‘Campaigning to keep the lights on’: the desperate plight of England’s schools and universities

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Despite their costs going ‘through the roof’, education leaders fear they will be a low priority for the next occupant of No 10

Education leaders in England fear one thing: that schools, colleges and universities will be hammered by the cost of living crisis but will not be enough of a priority to get the help they need from government. And they see little hope from a change in leadership at No 10.

“Our costs are going through the roof, our staff badly need pay rises and are going to strike, our students are suffering, but our income is stuck,” said one vice-chancellor, echoing their peers in schools and colleges around the country.

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Queen’s speech to focus on adult learning and easing planning rules

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Levelling up agenda accompanied by bills bringing in voter ID and banning conversion practices

Ministers are to unveil a legislative programme aimed at its new electoral strongholds in northern England and the Midlands, with a Queen’s speech focused on adult education and homeownership.

It also features proposals to bring in mandatory voter ID, which has been condemned by US civil rights groups as akin to Republican-style voter suppression. Another plan will pave the way to outlaw conversion practices.

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Donna Coleman died after Covid ran riot at Burnley College. Should it have been open?

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Donna, 42, was a devoted and popular member of the teaching staff. Yet at the height of the second wave, working conditions left her terrified of doing the job she loved

The joke went: it was impossible to get Covid at Burnley College. The virus didn’t exist there. All through September, October, November and December 2020, as more and more people came down with Covid yet the further education (FE) college stayed open, Donna Coleman would make this gag to her sisters, Steph Coleman, 38, and Vicki Coleman, 45. She spoke to them on the phone every day. “It was a running joke,” Steph says. “‘Who’s come down with Covid now?’”

Although the sisters laughed about it, in truth they were alarmed. Donna was a member of the teaching staff at the college in Lancashire. She worked with teenagers who had been kicked out of school, as well as long-term unemployed people, helping them to continue their education or find work. (Steph and Vicki had previously worked at the college, too, although they had left by September 2020.)

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Quitting EU Erasmus scheme would ‘blow a hole’ in UK economy

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Education and business leaders point to lost income for country and opportunities for students

Quitting the EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme would “blow a hole” in the UK’s economy, taking away income of £243m a year and depriving 17,000 British young people of valuable work experience, according to a group of education and business leaders.

The group, including further education colleges and universities, is calling for the British government to make clear that continued Erasmus membership is a high priority in its talks with the EU.

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