Work-based learning in Wales has been transformed over the past four years, with providers driving up quality and challenging public perception of its value. ARWYN WATKINS describes how they got there


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hat a journey it has been for all involved in the delivery of work- based learning in Wales. Over the past four years the two key strands of the Assembly Government’s contracted work-based learning delivery – namely the Skill Build and apprenticeship programmes – have been transformed. Once regarded as the weak link in the sector, the quality of work-based learning in Wales is now high – and getting better. There was a time when the start of a new calendar year cast dark clouds over the whole work-based learning (WBL) network. The clouds appeared in the form of a news release from Estyn, the inspectorate for education and training in Wales, closely followed by the public launch of the Chief Inspector’s annual report. I remember receiving a news release in January 2006 headlined ‘Education and training standards improve in Wales – but work-based learning a cause for concern’ [my italics]. I could already picture the headlines on BBC Wales News that evening and in the Western Mail and the Daily Post the following day.


That was a reference point on this journey. It felt as though there was no future for the delivery of WBL by the current network of contracted providers. At the time, there were 115 contracted providers of WBL, 14 per cent of them local authority providers, 20 per cent further education and higher education institutions and 66 per cent independent and third-sector organisations. In March 2005, the Chief Inspector for Education and Training in Wales told the Education and Lifelong Learning Committee that Estyn’s greatest concern was for standards in WBL. Too few trainees had gained all the qualifications they needed to complete their qualification frame- work. Unsurprisingly, committee members expressed concern about WBL and its quality profile.


It was apparent that we at the National


Training Federation Wales (NTfW) needed to take a close look at the evidence and establish a strategic approach to secure the future of WBL. We decided to focus our energy and resources on establishing a mechanism to build capacity in leadership and manage- ment to secure high-quality WBL. In January 2006, Lord Ted Rowlands,


NTfW president, and I presented evidence to the Education and Lifelong Learning Committee. We emphasised how aware NTfW was of the importance of WBL and the


vital role it had to play in achieving prosperity, through enabling the econ- omically inactive to enter employment and by improving the skills levels of the present and future Welsh workforce. We also expressed concern about the image and perception of WBL. Vocational learning had not enjoyed – and still does not enjoy – anything like parity of esteem with academic learning. We agreed to meet the challenge of changing such perceptions, and of establishing WBL as a route for learners of ability, a route that offered individuals the opportunity to learn vital skills and, through those skills, to enjoy successful, financially rewarding and satisfying employment.


Good practice


NTfW made a successful bid to the Quality Investment Fund to develop a good practice handbook in leadership and management for WBL providers. Then vice-chair of NTfW, I chaired the steering group that oversaw the development of the handbook. The members, drawn from NTfW, shared their identified areas of good practice, often for the first time. The steering group was strengthened by the involvement of our partner organisations, the Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, Estyn and Fforwm – now Colegau Cymru or Colleges Wales. The establishment of this partnership was critical, as was the involvement of staff in the strategic planning process, ensuring both that they received training and guidance on the process and that they were invited to contribute, both as groups and as individuals. The handbook that resulted is one of the


key milestones on the quality journey. It was distributed to the whole network of WBL providers through a roadshow that covered all the regions of Wales. The sharing of knowledge and expertise within a very competitive network was, I believe, a first. The clear benefits make it certain that it will not be the last time our expertise is shared. This journey is not one that can be


undertaken at speed. You first have to establish the vehicle that will take you on the journey, in this case NTfW. Then you must secure the energy source, for us, management commitment to quality improvement; and identify the driver, the workforce who are involved in the day-to-day delivery of learning and who are constantly checking the map to ensure that WBL is en route to extend and improve the journey for all onboard.


The introduction of the provider per- formance review, an annual review of performance, quality and standards in post- 16 learning provision, including work-based learning, in 2005 was another key resource in raising standards. In 2009, the review found that the main strengths being demonstrated by quality providers are: high levels of learner achievement, reflected in apprentice- ship framework success rates and positive progressions from Skill Build programmes; examples of innovative and responsive learning delivery; effective systems for monitoring and evaluating management information; commitment to collabor- ating with other providers to benchmark performance and share best practice; well-established quality assurance systems, including effective arrangements for self- assessment, peer review and target-setting; and management commitment to quality improvement, including systematic use of data on learner outcomes to drive up standards. We are now at the end of the current Common Inspection Framework cycle and just about to embark on a new journey. This will build on the best of what has been established through the sharing of best practice facilitated by the handbook. This time Estyn are taking the lead on the development of the handbook in partnership with stakeholders including NTfW. We remain committed to continuous


improvement within NTfW and do not underestimate the challenges ahead, part- icularly in times of economic uncertainty. Nevertheless, we can afford to be confident. The WBL sector in Wales is responsible for delivering vocational skills to more than 60,000 individuals and the success rate on apprenticeship programmes is in excess of 70 per cent – up by some 34 per cent since the dark days of 2004-05. We recognise that quality in our service is


measured not by what we put into it but by what the learner gets out of it. For the sake of the people of Wales, we need to get the balance right. Work-based learning is a robust-quality vocational route and rightly deserves parity of esteem with more traditional academic options. All career advice and guidance must embrace apprenticeships. This is a pathway that secured my own success, financial reward and complete job satisfaction.


Arwyn Watkins is Chair of the National Training Federation Wales


APRIL 2010 ADULTS LEARNING 13


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