Further Education Reforms: Building a World Class System

Thursday 1st December 2011 Written Statements

[The Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning (Mr John Hayes)]

The Government are today publishing “New Challenges, New Chances: Further Education and Skills System Reform Plan: Building a World Class Skills System” and the underpinning skills investment statement for 2011-2014, copies of which are being sent to all hon. Members and placed in the Library.

Our vision is for a further education and skills system in England freed as far as possible from central bureaucratic burdens, thus able to respond more effectively to the needs of local learners and employers and so make the maximum possible contribution to renewed growth.

Our plan is based on 10 key policy commitments:

1. We will empower learners—from basic through to higher-level skills—to shape the system through their participation. First-class information will inform their choices, with Government funding focused on supporting students where it can have most impact.

2. We will launch a national careers service in April 2012 to provide information, advice and guidance which both informs and stimulates demand for further education, work-based training and higher education. Lifelong learning accounts will equip learners with the information they need to make the most of their learning opportunities.

3. We will create a vocational pathway as navigable, rigorous and attractive as the academic route, so recalibrating the character of higher learning.

4. We will develop and promote excellent teaching, by establishing an independent commission on adult education and vocational pedagogy to develop a sector-owned strategy and delivery programme. We will also facilitate an independent review of professionalism in the FE and skills work force.

5. We will take further action to ensure that qualifications are of high quality and comprehensible, by improving awareness of the qualifications and credit framework—consulting employers on their engagement in qualification development—and by consulting on the character and function of national occupational standards.

6. We will take action to remove restrictions and controls on college corporations, creating new roles for governors, working closely with other educational providers in post-14 learning, with local stakeholders taking the lead in developing delivery models to meet the needs of their communities.

7. We will continue our programme to free the FE system from central control, building upon the successes already achieved, including further work by the Skills Funding Agency with colleges to remove bureaucratic burdens.

8. We will provide £3.8 billion a year of public funding to the sector and we will create a simple transparent funding system that is both robust in ensuring funding enables high-quality provision that delivers good value for money, and which responds to local needs.

9. We will empower students by providing better access to quality information to make informed choices, determined by a better understanding of opportunities for further learning and employment destinations. Simultaneously, to assure quality, we will take swift action in relation to failing provision, providing intensive support and, if necessary, intervening to ensure that alternative and innovative delivery approaches are secured for the future.

10. We will build on the growing international demand for practical, technical and higher-level vocational skills. Inspired by the legacy of our achievements at WorldSkills 2011, we will stimulate and support the sector to take advantage of opportunities in the global market.