Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
Dear Friends
We are pleased to say we have achieved
some positive changes in the
Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and
Learning Act, which became law on
November 12th.
As a result, disabled young people should now
find it easier to undertake an accredited
mainstream apprenticeship placement.
Discussions are now taking place to determine
funding policies for the support of disabled
learners in mainstream education.
We must make efforts to ensure that any regulations and guidance
issued in connection with this Act will actively promote the
participation of disabled people in mainstream education and
apprenticeship opportunities.
The parliamentary year has just started, and is
likely to be a short one. We will again be lobbying
on education legislation the Children, Schools and
Families Bill as well as the Equality Bill.
Yours in solidarity
Simone Aspis , ALLFIE’s Campaigns and Policy
Coordinator
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Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
Contents
Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and
Learning Act ……………………….……Page 3
Queen’s Speech…………………………Page 10
Equality Bill………………………………..Page 11
Jargon Buster…………………………....Page 13
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Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and
Learning Act
On November 12th, the Apprenticeships,
Skills, Children and Learning Bill
received Royal Ascent. In our February
campaign briefing, we had stated that
the Bill’s provisions would impact
heavily on the inclusion of disabled people to
mainstream academic, vocational and accredited
apprenticeship placements.
ALLFIE lobbied hard to ensure that access
would not be prevented by funding policy issues,
and to ensure that qualifications and curriculum
regulators and development bodies are under a
strong duty to promote disability equality.
We have won praise from Lord Young, Minister for Business,
Innovation and Skills, who was responsible for the passage of
the Bill through the House of Lords. He said in a letter to
ALLFIE:
“I can assure you that we wish to continue to work closely
with ALLFIE. The points you raised during the passage of the Bill
through the Lords Committee stage have been valuable and have
influenced our thinking.”
ALLFIE secured several major victories during the passage of the
Bill, increasing access for disabled young people who wish to
participate in mainstream educational and training opportunities.
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Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
As well as obtaining changes in the Bill, we persuaded Lord Young to
confirm Government’s commitment to inclusive education during
parliamentary debates.
Apprenticeship Entry Requirements
We are pleased to announce that the requirement to obtain
five GCSEs or their equivalent for entry on to a nationally
accredited apprenticeship placement no longer applies to
many disabled young people. As an alternative, they will be able to
demonstrate readiness to undertake a placement by providing a
portfolio of work.
We will need to make sure that these alternative entry
requirements will apply to the full range of apprenticeship
schemes.
In addition, while 18 is the upper age limit for nondisabled people to apply for an apprenticeship, for
disabled people it will be 25.
The National Apprenticeships Unit will be drafting
regulations on what can be included in the work portfolio
and ALLFIE will be seeking as much flexibility as possible.
ALLFIE comment
ALLFIE is pleased that the Government has backed
down on the minimum entry requirements for disabled
people to undertake an apprenticeship placement. We
will have to wait to find out whether the alternative
requirement will apply to all available apprenticeships.
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Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
We will also need to make sure that the regulations allow for a
wide range of formats which disabled young people
can use as evidence to meet the entry
requirements.
Apprenticeships Standards Framework for England
The frameworks for accrediting industry-specific
apprenticeships have not spelt out in the Act.
These frameworks cover minimum entry
requirements, the competences, skills and
knowledge to be acquired, employment contractual
arrangements, the number of hours training on and
off the job, and the qualifications available on
completing the apprenticeship. Consultation on
these regulations will be issued in the New Year and
ALLFIE will submit a response.
ALLFIE comment
We will need to work hard to make sure these
industry specific apprenticeships frameworks allow
the degree of flexibility so that disabled young
people are able to undertake an accredited
apprenticeship.
Apprenticeships Support
There is nothing in the Act about the funding of
support for disabled learners. However, we have
been assured that Access to Work payments will be
available for disabled apprentices, while the
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Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
Government is expecting that education support will be paid for
through the funding for additional learning support.
ALLFIE’s comment
We have just discovered that the funding policy operated by the
National Apprenticeship Unit may discriminate against
apprenticeship providers who want to take on disabled
apprentices. This is because the provider will not receive the
full funding unless and until the apprentice successfully completes
the training and gains the relevant qualification.
Mainstream Course Funding
Currently education, training and
apprenticeships providers have some of
their funding withheld if students do not
successfully complete their accredited
courses.
This we think has led to reluctance among
some providers to enrol disabled learners
onto mainstream courses. ALLFIE wants
the Government to make a commitment to
the effect that no fundingrelated policy will disadvantage
providers who wish to enrol
disabled learners.
Funding policy is not usually
specified in legislation, but we
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Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
have obtained Lord Young’s commitment — in a letter and during
parliamentary debate — that funding formulae and policies should
not disadvantage disabled people who wish to participate in
mainstream accredited courses or apprenticeship
placements.
Lord Young has asked that a meeting take place in
the next few weeks between ALLFIE, Young
Person’s Learning Agency, National
Apprenticeships Unit and Skills Funding Agency
ALLFIE’S comment
We will concentrate our efforts on certain issues relating to
funding policy. Firstly, we must ensure that the funding policies
that accompany the Act will not disadvantage education and
training providers who wish to enrol disabled people.
Second, we must make sure that the equipment and support
arrangements that are put into place have
the flexibility to allow disabled learners to
attend any mainstream opportunity of their
choosing.
We will be exploring opportunities for
piloting the use of individualised budgets
direct payments for further education and
apprenticeships.
The Right to Control
trailblazer sites are where local
authorities will oversee the individualised
budgets, including direct payments.
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Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
Mainstream Course Entitlement
ALLFIE has campaigned for disabled people to have a right to a
place in mainstream further education and training courses.
Although this has not yet been achieved, Lord
Young has said that promoting diversity does
not mean reversing the Government’s policy of
promoting inclusive practice in schools and further education
colleges. Lord Young has also said that he expects young disabled
people to exercise choice in the same way as other young people.
ALLFIE comment
It’s great that Lord Young has clearly said that the
Government’s intention is for disabled and nondisabled young people to have the same choice of
courses available to them. We will do our best to
make sure this happens through our discussions with
YLPA and SFA.
Learning Difficulty Assessment and Student Support
The learning difficulties assessment is
the gateway for disabled learners to
get the support and equipment they
need to undertake a course.
Whilst disabled learners support arrangements
were not in the Bill, never-a-less we raised the
need for individualised support if disabled
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Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
learners were going to access further education and apprenticeships
opportunities during our meeting with Lord Young. We are now
hoping the ‘Right To Control’ pilots will include opportunities for
disabled learners to have individualised support packages.
Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency
(QCDA)
The QCDA has been under a duty to promote
disability equality, but there has been little evidence
that this was in place w hen course syllabuses were
devised. We campaigned for a Government commitment that the
QCDA should include disability equality issues where appropriate in
any curriculum syllabus.
Whilst ALLFIE did not secure the desired
legislative changes, the QCDA has made a
commitment to ensure disability equality is
promoted throughout the National Curriculum.
Richard Raiser from World of Inclusion has
developed subject curriculum work which
includes disability equality issues.
ALLFIE hopes this signals the start of the plan
to implement a ‘Disability Equality in Schools’
week – as promised by the DSCF in 2007.
ALLFIE’s comment
It’s great that the QCDA is now doing more
to include disability equality issues in the
National Curriculum. However, we need to
keep up the pressure to ensure that
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Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
disability equality is incorporated in all vocational and academic
course syllabuses. Disabled people’s organisations are telling us
that the vocational Social Care courses, for example, are not
underpinned by a disability equality perspective.
OFQUAL
ALLFIE wanted the qualifications regulator to
be under a duty to ensure all qualifications
are inclusive of disabled learners.
ALLFIE’s comment
/
Whilst ALLFIE has not secure any
legislative changes, never-a-less the issues
have been raised during the Equality Bill
debates.
Queen’s Speech
At the opening of Parliament on 18th November the
Government laid out its plans for legislation during the
parliamentary year. This will be the last chance to
secure disabled people’s rights to access mainstream
education before the general election.
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Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
Equality Bill
The Equality Bill will complete its final stages in the
House of Commons and then move into the House of
Lords.
Children, Schools and Families Bill
The Children, Schools and Families Bill
focuses on the guarantees that schools
can give to pupils and their parents. This
should mean that children and young
people are better equipped to meet the
opportunities, demands and challenges of
adult life through an updated school
curriculum that includes the skills and knowledge they need to
succeed.
Aspects of the Bill which ALLFIE may be interested in are:
Guarantees — the Government has given an
undertaking that a series of specific entitlements
will be provided for all, with a means of redress if
expectations are not met.
Home-School Agreements – Parents will be expected
to sign a home school agreement which outlines both
the parents and school’s responsibilities for the
pupil’s learning.
OFSTED will be under a duty to report on how well
mainstream schools are doing in meeting their
range of disabled children.
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Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
New Appeal Rights – Parents will have new rights to appeal against a
local authority’s decision not to amend a child’s SEN statement after
a review.
Exceptional provision of ill or excluded children
in short stay schools or elsewhere – may allow
Local Authorities to determine whether a child
would benefit from part-time rather than full-time
education.
Curriculum Reform – Changes in Primary School (key
stage 1 and 2) and Personal, Social, Health, and
Economic Education (PHSE)
Licence to Practise — This Bill sets out a new
teacher licensing system that will give teachers
professional status.
ALLFIE will be letting you know what we think about the Children,
Schools and Families Bill in January’s briefing.
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Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
Jargon Buster
Access To Work
Support that paid disabled workers can get from Government.
Apprenticeships Standards Framework for England
These are the standards which all apprenticeship providers must use
if they want their apprenticeships to be supported by the
Government. These standards will include what people must learn,
the course they must complete, the number of on and off the job
training hours and so on.
Apprenticeships
A period of work experience and training where a person learns to
do a job.
Curriculum Reform
Changes in what learners will learn on their courses.
Direct Payment
A pot of money a disabled person gets instead of a service. A direct
payment may be given instead of direct services.
Education Providers
Anyone who is providing learning opportunities and courses
“GCSE” level
This is the Government’s standard in any subject including Maths
and English which learners are expected to achieve in order to go
onto a mainstream course or into work.
Guarantee
An agreement on something.
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Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
Individualised Budget / Right to Control
An individualised budget which a disabled person has to buy his / her
own care, support and equipment.
Key stage 1 and 2
The Government says what children between 7-11 years of age
should have achieved.
Licence to Practise
The Government says who can or cannot teach in schools.
National Apprenticeships Unit
Government department which deals with apprenticeships. They
run the national apprenticeships service and will start to make the
Apprenticeships Act’s rules.
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
She or he is responsible for everything that the Government does on
providing education and support to children and their families.
SEN statement
A statement to say what the child’s needs are and what must be
arranged by the local authority.
Syllabuses
What learners will learn on their courses.
OFSTED
National monitoring body that checks to see how well schools and
children’s services are doing.
Ofqual
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Alliance for Inclusive Education’s Briefing – December 2009
A new national agency which will oversee the standards and
awarding of qualifications/ certificates
Portfolio of Work
A collection of work that a person has done.
Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency
The national agency which will oversee what students will learn
whilst at school and taking their exams.
Royal Assent
This is when law has been debated and supported by both the House
of Commons and House of Lords.
Skills Funding Agency
A Government agency which will buy education and training courses
for adults.
Trailblazer Sites
Local Authorities which have been chosen to try out Right to Control
pilots.
Young Person’s Learning Agency
A new Government agency which will give local education
Authorities money to buy education and training courses for young
people.
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