Wolf report 'moment of truth' for skills

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Many vocational courses for students improve school league table performance but do not help young people get into university or find a job, according to a government education adviser.

A report commissioned by education secretary Michael Gove has recommended a radical shake-up of vocational education in England.

It found schools were entering hundreds of thousands of young people for "effectively dead-end" vocational courses to try to boost their position in performance tables.

The report suggests excluding vocational qualifications from league tables and for all pupils to study a core of academic subjects until they are 16.

It recommended providing subsidies for employers who offer apprenticeships with a general education element and calls for more work placement opportunities for 16-19 year olds.

Professor Alison Wolf, who carried out the review, said: "It is absolutely scandalous that less than half of the cohort have these qualifications at 16."

Many will still not have them at the age of 18, she said, adding: "It's a real failure of our education system."

She believes that children should study mainly academic courses until they are 16 and for any teenager who fails to score at least a C in GCSE maths and English to continue these subjects post-16.

The review was commissioned last September as the education secretary believed the education system placed too much emphasis on academic achievements, whilst not valuing practical education highly enough.

In his foreword to the review, Gove wrote: "She is correct to say these young people are being deceived and that this is not just unacceptable, but morally wrong."

Member Response: 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.

“The report is right to highlight the distorting effect that League Tables have on the education system. Michael Gove himself recognises this and I hope now that the government will finally do something about ending this pointless exercise.

Member Response: Chris Keates, general secretary, NASUWT

The publication of the Wolf Review is the moment of truth for this coalition government's commitment to high quality education post-14.

The Review's recommendations will not deliver equity for all post-14 learners or secure parity of esteem between academic and vocational learning. It will contribute to educational segregation.

It would be deeply regrettable if the coalition government compounded the current problem of spiraling youth unemployment by denying young people the right to participate in work-related learning, including work experience, as proposed by the Review.

Member Response: Toni Fazaeli, chief executive, Institute for Learning

We are concerned that criticisms made of some vocational education may be seen to taint the whole of vocational education. A lot of excellent vocational education currently takes place in England, delivered in the FE sector by high-quality teachers and trainers. Maintaining and improving the quality of this is dependent on teachers' continuing professional development and professionalism.

IfL members are teachers and trainers whose specialist subject and vocational expertise ranges from Spanish and Mandarin, sciences and mathematics to catering and engineering and we believe it is absolutely right that those with full professional status of Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) should be able to teach flexibly across schools and colleges.

Member Response: Ian Toone, senior professional officer(education), Voice: the union for education professionals

Professor Wolf's conclusions seem to support the government's thinking on many of these issues. However, we welcome the flexibility which she wishes to introduce into the vocational curriculum, so that schools and colleges can tailor provision to match the needs of students rather than the needs of performance tables, funding agreements or prescribed curriculum requirements.

However, we are wary of the suggestion that vocational achievements should be excluded from performance measures and that such measures should remain linked to a restricted number of, largely, GCSE subjects. This would appear to undermine the parity of esteem between vocational and academic subjects which Professor Wolf purports to favour, and we support.

Member Response: Ruth Spellman OBE, chief executive, Chartered Management Institute

We wholeheartedly welcome the Coalition's commitment to vocational education as evidenced by Professor Wolf's new report. However, we believe the key flaw at the moment is that employers aren't thoroughly enough involved in academic development and delivery. We must ensure courses are relevant, challenging and provide clear routes into employment. At present, reports like Professor Wolf's illustrate the need for vocational education in schools but provide strong evidence that what has been on offer until now is simply not doing young people, businesses or UK plc any good. Our own new 'Tomorrow's Leaders' report supports this, showing that 69% of employers believe failures in the education system are damaging the UK's economic performance and 80% feel the education system isn't currently delivering.

Employers have told us that although management and leadership skills are universal requirements for those entering almost all types of employment, the majority of school leavers are poor or very poor in this field. To address this, we are working closely with employers, including Centrica, Waitrose and National Grid, on a programme called Campus CMI, to develop new ways of engaging pupils in schools through programmes that are tightly tailored to employers' needs. There is no reason why vocational courses can't complement academic learning to equip young people with professional skills that help get them on the career ladder.

Member Response: Graham Hoyle, chief executive, Association of Learning Providers

Many providers are concerned that they are unable to design the most appropriate support for many of their clients under the current funding regime. Reports are now coming in of young people walking out of exams unprepared to cope any longer with what they considered to be a continuation of a school classroom experience similar to that which had failed to see them progress during statutory education.

There are undoubtedly serious issues regarding the delivery of foundation learning to many of our most vulnerable young people which need to be addressed if Professor Wolf's vision for apprenticeships is to become a reality.

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