The UK Skills System
An Introduction
All images © Mat Wright
www.britishcouncil.org
1
What are skills?
EMPLOYABILITY
e.g.
• Problem solving
• Working in groups
VOCATIONAL
Occupational and
Technical skills required
to be for example: Car
Mechanic, Dentist,
Teacher, Nurse
• Self-management
STUDY
SKILLS
SKILLS
ENTERPRISE
e.g.
• Creative thinking
• Commercial awareness
• Networking
www.britishcouncil.org
CORE
e.g.
• Numeracy
• Literacy
• Communication
• IT awareness
2
Who delivers skills?
Schools
Further
education
colleges
Non-traditional
settings
SKILLS
DELIVERY
Employers
Universities
Private Training
Providers
www.britishcouncil.org
Does the UK have only
one system?
The UK is made up of four countries, and Skills policy is
devolved to each. There are common features, such as an
employer-led development of standards . There are also
interesting differences in how the Skills system works in
each country, in line with national priorities, for example:
ENGLAND
In England, further education
colleges are autonomous
corporations with many
freedoms
NORTHERN
IRELAND
Northern Ireland has an
integrated approach to its
career service
SCOTLAND
WALES
Further education colleges
in Scotland are now public
sector organisations
Wales has its own
Baccalaureate
qualification
www.britishcouncil.org
4
Strengthening
vocational education
to make sure it is high
quality and relevant to
needs of young
people
Providing real job
opportunities with
employers as the
drivers of vocational
education
Main policy drivers
• Youth employability
• Productivity and employer
engagement
Reforming FE to
make sure it can
respond to new
challenges and
provide viable routes
into HE and
employment
www.britishcouncil.org
• Quality of provision
Raising of the
participation age
(in England) to
ensure more young
people achieve their
full potential
5
High Quality Skills and Employers
“Many (14-19 year olds) leave education without the skills that will enable
them to progress at a later date.”
Alison Wolf, ‘Review of Vocational Education in England’ (2011)
The aim is to have a working population that is:
Fully active in the
labour market
Appropriately
qualified
With skills to
innovate
and contribute
to UK prosperity
www.britishcouncil.org
6
High Quality Skills and Students
Exceptional
teaching and
learning
and assessment
A global
perspective
in curriculum design
and delivery
EMPLOYMENT
Up to date facilities
that reflect the work
place
QUALIFICATIONS
STUDENT
A supportive
environment
where all students
are valued and
treated equally
www.britishcouncil.org
Work experience
with employers
Occupationally
relevant courses
and curriculum
delivering the skills
that employers
need
CONTINUING
EDUCATION/TR
AINING
7
High Quality Learning Providers
Strong links with
employers
underpinned by
labour market
intelligence
Strong leadership
and management
that also gives their
organisation a
global
perspective
Excellent
teaching /learning
and assessment that
deliver high
success rates
PROVIDER
Student centred
support services
that focus on
equality of
opportunity
www.britishcouncil.org
An innovative
approach to
curriculum design
and delivery
Up to date
facilities
that reflect the
work place
8
Further Education Colleges in England
Legal status
FE Colleges are statutory corporations with powers
and duties set out in the Further and Higher Education
Act 1992. The Education Act 2011 removed a
significant number of the duties on colleges enabling
them to operate more autonomously.
Governance:
• The Governing Bodies should consist of
representatives of the local community and in
particular of the business community the college
serves.
• They should possess between them a range of skills
useful to the oversight of the leadership and
management of the College.
Colleges have the following
freedoms:
* the ability to retain financial
surpluses
* the power to buy, sell and lease
land and buildings
* the delegation of employment
relationship (i.e. they recruit and
employ their own staff).
* the authority to make decisions
about what courses to offer
(subject to conditions that public
funding only gets paid for courses
leading to national qualifications).
* the option to buy or take over
companies.
• Governors are unpaid and offer their services on a
voluntary basis
www.britishcouncil.org
9
Further Education Colleges in Scotland
Legal status
FE Colleges are Public Sector Bodies with
charitable status as set out in the Post-16
Education (Scotland) Act 2013
College Boards:
• Chairs of College Board are public sector
appointments
• They should possess between them a range
of skills useful to the oversight of the
leadership and management of the College.
• Board members are unpaid and offer their
services on a voluntary basis
www.britishcouncil.org
10
Professional standards for vocational teachers
Scotland:
The Professional Learning and Development
Forum (PLDF) Scotland promotes a culture of
professionalism and appropriate learning
opportunities for all college sector staff with the
aim of enhancing the student learning experience.
Standards for Initial Teacher Training include
standards for:
The PLDF sets the standards for Teacher
Qualification in Further Education (TQFE) and the
Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
standards for FE staff in Scotland.
The TQFE is subject to a full approval and
accreditation exercise every six years, conducted
by the Scottish Government and the General
Teaching Council Scotland.
It is not a compulsory qualification, but strongly
advised for those teachers with substantial posts
in FE Colleges. The Scottish Government
expectation is that all new full-time lecturers
should be working towards or already undertaking
a TQFE, if they do not already hold an equivalent
qualification.
www.britishcouncil.org
-
Guidance and support
-
Planning and preparing the learning experience
-
Teaching / facilitating learning
-
Assessment
-
Quality and standards
-
Professional practice and development
Standards for Continuing Professional Development
include standards for:
-
Managing an inclusive learning environment
-
Promoting good relations between people of
different racial and ethnic groups
-
Promoting learning and equality for people with
disabilities
-
Managing and leading a curriculum team
-
Teaching children and young people
-
The use of information and communications
technology for Learning and Teaching
11
Professional standards for vocational teachers
England:
The Education and Training Foundation (ETF)
aims to improve professionalism and standards
in the skills sector. In 2014 they published
‘Professional Standards for Teachers and
Trainers in Education and Training – England’.
These standards are divided into three sections
• Professional Values and Attributes
• Professional Knowledge and Understanding
• Professional Skills
The standards have been designed to:
They start from a positive view of teachers as being :
• set out clear expectations of effective practice
in education and training;
‘reflective and enquiring practitioners who think
critically about their own educational assumptions,
values and practice in the context of a changing
contemporary and educational world. They draw on
relevant research as part of evidence-based
practice.
• enable teachers and trainers to identify areas
for their own professional development;
• support initial teacher education;
• provide a national reference point that
organisations can use to support the
development of their staff.
www.britishcouncil.org
They act with honesty and integrity to maintain
high standards of ethics and professional behaviour
in support of learners and their expectations. ‘
12
How the system works
* The approval is for assessment centres within learning providers
www.britishcouncil.org
13
The UK Commission for Education and Skills (UKCES)
UKCES is a publicly funded, industry-led organisation that offers guidance on skills and
employment issues in the UK. It is led by Commissioners who represent employers,
trade unions, the public and voluntary sectors and further and higher education.
Standards and Apprenticeships
UKCES is responsible for managing the National Occupational Standards (NOS)
programme across the UK. It commissions NOS and Apprenticeship frameworks from
employer led bodies such as Sector Skills Organisations * according to labour market
priorities and employer demand. Many vocational qualifications are built on NOS.
Research
UKCES produces robust and accessible labour market intelligence, research and insight
Employer ownership of skills (England only)
• Launched in Dec 2011 to secure greater collective commitment to invest in skills to
drive enterprise, jobs and growth, and create internationally competitive skills base
• Focused on employer leadership and collaboration, innovation, opportunities for young
people, and employee/employer partnerships
• Public investment matched with employer investment
www.britishcouncil.org * See slide 14 for information on Sector Skills Organisations
14
Industrial Partnerships (England)
Industrial partnerships
System of embedding skills in industrial strategies based on social partnerships driven by employers,
employees and unions producing end-to-end strategies for skills development – some Sector Skills
Organisations are key delivery partners in industrial partnerships.
Industrial partnerships are supported by UKCES
and involve employers, unions and others with a
remit for taking "wider responsibility for skills
development in a place or sector".
They are giving employers direct control of the endto-end process, from development of sector skills
standards through to their delivery. The new model
sees government investment in workforce training
being channeled through employers, as opposed to
the traditional arrangement whereby all
government funding went directly to colleges and
training providers.
Between now and 2017 they plan to:
• Establish and co-ordinate an industry-led
occupational standards programme that
underpins apprenticeships and vocational
qualifications across the UK
• Work with 8 industrial partnerships and
networks to galvanise action on skills in
line with national industrial strategies
UKCES is encouraging the formation of effective
industrial partnerships that demonstrably improve
the outcomes of public and private investment in
growth through people.
www.britishcouncil.org
15
Sector Skills Organisations
• Sector Skills Councils, Sector Skills Bodies and National Skills Academies are
independent, sector-based, employer-owned organisations working across defined
industry sectors
• Sector Skills Councils were originally funded by government, but are now self sustaining
organisations, generating their income from commercial sources and government-led
projects.
• Sector Skills Councils engage with employers to understand their needs and translate
these into occupational standards and skills competences, which are then used by
training providers and awarding organisations.
• They use their skills, expertise and experience as sector representatives to inform
innovative approaches to secure employer engagement and investment to support skills
challenges, such as Industrial Partnerships
www.britishcouncil.org
16
Sector Skills Organisations
• Aim to identify and reduce skills gaps/shortages, improve training, and increase
employer ambition and investment in skills by:
• Publishing labour market intelligence about skills needs and skills gaps in a
sector
• Agreeing skills solutions with employers and other partners and planning
delivery
• Developing National Occupational Standards, Apprenticeship Frameworks
and qualification requirements (with funding from UKCES)
• Working with suppliers to ensure qualifications and learning programmes are
aligned to demand
• Identifying high quality training providers
www.britishcouncil.org
17
Employer engagement and learning delivery
Apprenticeships
• Long history – a keystone of UK strategy for
work-based learning
Work experience at the heart of other
learning programmes
• Primary mechanism for engaging employers
in learning delivery
Employers complain that young people lack
workplace experience and yet only 30% of
them offered work experience to people in
education in 2014. Therefore:
• Success of apprenticeships has led to
significant expansion of programme
• Drive to get more employers involved in
design and delivery of programmes
• Trailblazer Apprenticeships in England have
been introduced led by large employers,
supported by Sector Skills Organisations
• Greater emphasis on work experience and
making programmes more relevant to needs
of young people
• Paid jobs with on and off job training
• Apprenticeship training agencies (ATAs)
have emerged to support SME’s in taking
on apprentices
“Career progression is excellent for apprentices, and
over the course of their careers, those with an
Apprenticeship tend to earn, on average, £100,000
more than those without” (Source: National
Apprenticeships Service)
www.britishcouncil.org
In England: Studio Schools, University
Technical Colleges, Traineeships, 16-19
learning programmes and Career Colleges
In Scotland: focus on employability and
employment outcomes via partnerships
between colleges and industry
18
Funding
In the UK, Government funding...
follows the
individual student
www.britishcouncil.org
is withdrawn if
targets are not
met
is used as a policy
lever to deliver
educational
strategy
19
Inspection and Regulation
There are different organisations that inspect and regulate the
quality of learning provision, all adopting a similar approach.
INSPECTION:
In England, for example, OFSTED inspects learning providers
and makes a judgment under 4 grades.
•
Outstanding – model of good practice
•
Good – requiring improvement in some areas
•
Requires improvement – requiring improvement in most
areas
•
Inadequate – requiring intervention
If a training provider is deemed to be inadequate there is a
‘commissioner’ who is empowered to intervene and effectively
take over the running of the organisation.
In Scotland, Education Scotland are responsible for inspection;
in Wales Estyn and in Northern Ireland, the Education and
Training Inspectorate.
REGULATION:
There is a different regulatory body in each of the four nations:
• England – Ofqual
• Wales – Welsh Government
• Scotland – SQA Accreditation
• Northern Ireland – CCEA, Ofqual
www.britishcouncil.org
20
Supporting and Informing
There are a range of organisations that both support
and inform the TVET sector in the UK.
ASSOCIATIONS /
FOUNDATIONS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Association of Colleges
CollegesWales
Colleges Northern Ireland
Colleges Scotland
Association of National Specialist
Colleges
Association of Employment and
Learning Providers
National Training Federation for
Wales
College Development Network
Scottish Training Federation
Education and Training Foundation
The Edge Foundation
The UK Skills Federation
www.britishcouncil.org
EMPLOYERS
Employers are strongly encouraged to get involved in
informing the design and delivery of TVET. They do this in
a variety of ways and some examples are shown below.
Employer influence within the system through:
• Sector Skills Organisations
• Industrial Partnerships
• Reform to apprenticeships through trailblazer
apprenticeships
Employer influence on institutions through:
• Further Education College Governance
• Sponsorship of University Technical Colleges
• Management of Career Colleges
Employer involvement in delivery through:
Input into the curriculum in, for example,
• Studio Schools
• Providing work experience
• Providing mentoring
21
Employer Partnerships
EMPLOYERS:
Drive the skills agenda and
engage in the design and
delivery of learning solutions
UKCES
DIRECT INVOLVEMENT:
Work with employers and
government to identify national
skills issues and determine
policy and strategy
e.g. Work experience, University
Technical Colleges, Studio
Schools, Career Colleges,
Trailblazer Apprenticeships,
partnerships with colleges
SECTOR SKILLS COUNCILS
AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS
Employer partnerships
Industrial partnerships
Apprenticeship trailblazers (England)
Design, development and delivery of skills solutions
www.britishcouncil.org
22
Qualifications
AGE 16
ACADEMIC
AGE 18
• GCE A Level
• GCSE Examination
• Scottish Highers
• Scottish National Qualifications
• Degrees
• Foundation degrees
WORK
APPRENTICESHIPs
• High Level
Apprenticeships
WORK
Traineeships
VOCATIONAL/
PROFESSIONAL
www.britishcouncil.org
• Apprenticeships
• Modern Apprenticeships
• Trailblazer Apprenticeships
• 16 – 19 study programmes
• Technical Baccalaureate
• Welsh Baccalaureate
• Scottish Vocational Qualifications
• Higher National
Certificates (HNCs)
WORK
• Higher National Diplomas
(HNDs)
23
Enterprise and Innovation
ENTERPRISE
INNOVATION
‘Developing entrepreneurial
attributes throughout education is
the most important step any society
can take to support youth
employment and promote economic
growth and social value.’
Gazelle Group
‘Innovation is the specific
instrument of entrepreneurship.
The act that endows resources with
a new capacity to create wealth’
Peter Drucker
www.britishcouncil.org
24
New Technology
• Technology is becoming an enabler of growth in education
and training
• Blended approaches (e-learning, virtual classrooms,
webinars and e-assessments) are all becoming more
common
• UK has been among the most innovative in developing
and promoting digital learning resources
o ‘learndirect’ established in late 1990s to embed elearning into mainstream provision and make learning
more accessible
o UK hosts the British Education Training and Technology
(BETT) exhibition to showcase cutting edge technology
drawing on an international audience
o UK Government is committed to ensure further
development of education technology is supported
• Development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
in USA has been met with new developments in the UK,
i.e. FutureLearn – the first UK MOOC platform
www.britishcouncil.org
25
British Council and Collaboration
MANAGEMENT
COMPETANCY ASSESSMENT STANDARDS VERIFICATION
STANDARDS
QUALIFICATION
FRAMEWORKS
EMPLOYER WORK
ENGAGEMENT ENTERPRISE
CURRICULUM DESIGN BUSINESS SUPPORT
CAREERS SYSTEMS REFORM
ACCREDITATION TEACHER TRAINING
POLICY CHANGE
WORK EXPERIENCE
ADVICE & GUIDANCE
LEADERSHIP FUNDING
QUALITY ASSURANCE
www.britishcouncil.org
SOCIAL MEDIA
26
Thank you
For further information or help please contact:
Name
Email
Tel
www.britishcouncil.org
27