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Wolf yields 27-point plan for vocational education


by Daniel White


Schools should not have a statutory duty to provide work experience at key stage 4, while students not gain- ing A* to C grades in English and maths GCSEs should continue to study the subjects post-16, a review of vocational education has said. The Wolf Review, published this


week, was commissioned by MPs last year. It has been carried out by Alison Wolf, professor of pub- lic sector management at King’s College London. The report says that many of


the vocational qualifications taken in England are a “dead end” for students. Prof Wolf claims that between 300,000 and 400,000 of 16 to 19-year-olds are on courses


which do not lead to higher educa- tion or “good” jobs, and that the system must stop “tracking” 14 to 16-year-olds into these courses. The report recommends remov-


ing the “perverse incentives”, which Prof Wolf says have been created by the funding system and perform- ance tables, to enter students for “low quality qualifications”. The report states: “High quality


vocational qualifications can and should be identified by the gov- ernment. Only those qualifications – both vocational and academic – that meet stringent quality cri- teria should form part of the per- formance management regime for schools. However, schools should also be free to offer whatever other qualifications they wish from regu- lated awarding bodies.”


Wolf Review – what the professionals say


Mike Griffiths, headteacher, Northampton School for Boys: “I am desperate that there should be parity of esteem between so-called vocational and academic routes, but despair that we are stuck in a time-warp in which people still think ‘you do vocational if you are not good enough to do academic’. We must sort that (win hearts and minds) first, then we have a chance to get decent proper education and training sorted 14 to 19 and beyond. Students should study what is the most appropriate course leading to the most appropriate qualification for that individual. I think Michael Gove is spot on in many of his comments, but he


cannot blame schools. It is not schools who have created accountability systems with perverse incentives, but politicians. We need politicians to stand back and take advice and work with the profession to create a truly comprehensive system of qualifications which are coherent and meaningful to the nation.”


Peggy Farrington, headteacher, Hanham High School, Bristol: “The thing that I find of concern is that ‘vocational qualifications’ came in for a good deal of criticism from Prof Wolf. However, when pressed to name the qualifications themselves, she refused, saying that there were ‘groups’ of them and she did not wish to be specific. The implication was that unless they were a specific GCSE then they were of little or no value. I am quite shocked to read of work experience being considered as


being of little value, in that it will not be expected (at key stage 4). For many students, this experience is one that is hugely valued and one that can help consolidate a future career choice or not, as the case may be.”


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Vanessa Ray, headteacher, West Lakes Academy, Cumbria: “I am concerned about the emphasis on maths and English GCSEs. There are some students who will never achieve a C in both – they could study them until they are 80, let alone Wolf’s suggestion of 18, and still won’t pass at C grade. To make students study these subjects until they pass at C grade or until they are 18 will mean more teachers of maths and English are needed and there are not enough. I have always felt that the emphasis gaining a C or better in English is discriminatory. There are many children in this country who have English as a second language – gettting a C is doubly difficult for them. With regard to work experience, I can see some justification for


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scrapping this at key stage 4. With the raising of the school leaving age, work is now further away in time for students so the need to experience it early is not so necessary. I think the government is spoiling for a fight with schools. Heads


have been provoked by the retrospective English Baccalaureate and now pressure is being applied to change the curriculum so that students study only ‘academic’ subjects (Wolf suggests 80 per cent of the time). Surely, the moment is right for heads to take a stand and simply say ‘no’.”


Prof Wolf added: “The funding


and accountability systems create perverse incentives to steer students into inferior courses. “We have many vocational


qualifications that are great and institutions which are providing an excellent education and are heavily oversubscribed. But we also have hundreds of thousands of young people taking qualifications that have little or no value.” Prof Wolf also recommended


changes to funding arrangements which would see institutions, both pre- and post-16, being funded per- student, rather than per qualification. Elsewhere, the report recom-


mended that students who do not get a C or above in GCSE English or maths should continue to study the subjects post-16. Currently, only four per cent of


students who do not achieve grades A* to C in both subjects at age 16 go on to do so by age 18. If enacted now, the plans would see half the annual GCSE cohort continue to study one or both subjects post-16. Prof Wolf said: “Getting at least


a C in English and maths GCSE is absolutely vital for a young per- son’s future education and employ- ment so those subjects should be compulsory for 16 to 19-year-olds who have not achieved this.” The report claims that England


should learn from the “best prac- tice” of countries such as Denmark,


France and Germany and Prof Wolf said that in these countries, 14 to 16-year-olds spend 80 per cent of their time on an “academic core” of subjects. As such, the report calls for performance measures to rein- force a “common core of study at key stage 4, with vocational spe- cialisation normally confined to 20 per cent of a pupil’s timetable”. On work experience, Prof Wolf


has called for the Department for Education to develop a model to deliver this to all 16 to 18-year-old students in full-time education. The report states: “Schools and


colleges should be encouraged to prioritise longer internships for older students, reflecting the fact that almost no young people move into full-time employment at 16; and government should correspond- ingly remove their statutory duty to provide every young person at key stage 4 with a standard amount of ‘work-related learning’.” Elsewhere, despite Prof Wolf’s


call for vocational incentives to be removed from the league tables, she warns in the report that there “remains a serious risk that schools will simply ignore their less aca- demically successful pupils”. She said: “This was a risk with


the old five GCSEs measure; a risk with the English Baccalaureate; and will be a risk with a measure based on selected qualifications. It needs to be pre-empted. It is important that


Wolf Review – reaction from the sector


Mark Dawe, chief executive, OCR: “We agree with the report’s statement that no single, centrally defined option is likely to suit everyone; the proposals have the potential to sweep aside systemic barriers created by target-driven funding regimes, a plethora of quasi-official approval processes, and invidious league table measures.”


Rod Bristow, president, Pearson UK (owners of Edexcel): “The review identifies a variation in quality and suggests that only rigorous vocational qualifications which add real value to young people’s education should be recognised in school league tables going forward. This is a goal we fully support.”


Brian Lightman, general secretary, Association of School and College Leaders: “We strongly agree that all students need a proper grounding in basics such as literacy and mathematics, but the curriculum must also be flexible enough to motivate them to stay in education and allow them to develop a range of skills. We welcome the recommendation that qualified further education teachers be allowed to work in schools. We have been saying for years that this a historical anomaly that needs to be addressed.”


Christine Blower, general secretary, National Union of Teachers: “The report’s findings simply reinforce the historical view of vocational education in this country that it is the ‘Cinderella’ of the education world. Academic education is important but so is vocational education and it is vitally important that vocational qualifications have real currency with universities, employers and parents.”


Chris Keates, general secretary, NASUWT: “It would be deeply regrettable if the government compounded the current problem of spiralling youth unemployment by denying young people the right to participate in work-related learning, including work experience, as proposed by the review.”


Katja Hall, chief policy director, Confederation of British Industry: “Prof Wolf is right to say that all young people should continue to have access to academic and vocational options from the age of 14, and that there should be a focus on core learning up to the age of 16. All students should aim to develop core skills that all employers require, primarily literacy, numeracy, and a greater proportion studying science subjects.”


schools be given a strong incentive to pay attention to their least aca- demically successful and their most academically successful pupils.” Education minister Michael


Gove this week “immediately accepted four of the report’s 27 recommendations – to allow quali- fied further education lecturers to teach in schools; to clarify the rules on allowing industry professionals to teach in schools; to allow any vocational qualification offered by a regulated awarding body to be taken by 14 to 19-year-olds; and to allow established high quality vocational qualifications that have not been accredited to be offered in schools and colleges in the autumn. Mr Gove said: “We will reform


league tables, the funding system, and regulation to give children hon- est information and access to the right courses.” Shadow education secretary


Andy Burnham said: “We accept the need to look at the weight attached to some vocational quali- fications in league tables. But it is unfair and wrong to give the impression that many young people are wasting their time on worthless courses. There is clear evidence that many vocational courses are sup- porting progression to further study and employment.” The Wolf Review is available


on the Department for Education website at www.education.gov.uk


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SecEd • March 10 2011


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