Views

'VOCATIONAL EDUCATION: QUALITY AND STATUS'

SPEECH BY DAVID MILIBAND MP

MINISTER FOR SCHOOL STANDARDS

AT THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES

CAMBRIDGE, 18 JUNE 2003

I am here today because Colleges - Sixth Form Colleges and FE Colleges - have an essential role to play in delivering an education system that fulfils the talents of all the nation's students.

This is our vision:

that students are ready to learn at primary school because of investment in under fives education, childcare and family support

that primary schools deliver high standards in the basics allied to an enriched introduction to the world of learning

that at KS3, too long neglected in secondary schools, students get to broaden their horizons and develop more independent styles of learning, as a launching pad into the 14-19 stage

and that at 14-19 we build a system that promotes participation and progression because it is built on genuine learner choice, choice between quality options of what is traditionally called academic and vocational study, and choice between school, college and work-based learning.

For the first time the student educational pathway is therefore clear for the first twenty years of a young people's life. And at each stage two clear principles guide our drive for high quality provision.

First, that we reject the false choice between excellence and equity, and instead insist that excellence is a battering ram against inequality, not its creator.

Second, we reject the false choice between a universal service and a personal service, and instead insist that a universal service is the right basis on which to meet individual need.

This is the context for our discussion. My purpose today is to advance an argument, not to announce a policy.

An argument that we must not only make 14-19 education the spearhead of our drive to deliver a more personalised universal service, but that we have a unique opportunity to do so.

An argument that the centrepiece of this reform is student progression. Whilst the language of inclusion in important, the mere attendance of students does not satisfy our responsibility to young adults. Attendance must lead to the fulfilment of students, and not just to the filling of time.

An argument that colleges of all kinds have a key role to play in this process, because from the best we can learn how to motivate and inspire students, whether they are studying for A Levels or BTEC qualifications.

And an argument that as well as building the right structures for effective learning, we will only succeed if we challenge the outdated culture that says vocational education is not just for the disaffected, but it is second class to boot. We will only succeed when we modernise the concept of vocational education.

Unique opportunity

Let me start with our opportunity. People have talked about 14-19 reform for a long time. Various initiatives have been tried. Some good, others less so. But they have lacked a coherent structure, a clear vision and a driving ethos. Today I believe we can learn from those initiatives, but go beyond them. We have a unique opportunity to define and deliver a coherent and comprehensive approach to 14-19 reform. I say this for six reasons.

First, there are fewer and fewer people who will defend the current situation. How can they when we are 25th out of 29 OECD countries for participation in full time education and training at age 17? From the world of education to that of industry I sense a determination to make real change.

Second, there is an increasingly clear diagnosis of the problem we confront. This is that education in England has historically suffered from a narrow academic track and a weak vocational offer. Both must improve. But there is a quantitative difference in the improvement needed.

Whilst there are well established concerns that the academic track lacks breadth of experience as well as enrichment, it does deliver the central outcomes that students aim for. The same is not true of vocational pathways - many of which lack routes of progression, clarity, and employer trust. Upper secondary education systems more successful than our own, most notably in Europe, benefit from strong vocational programmes of study. We must build our own.

Third, there are exciting developments in provision underway. GCSEs in subjects like Engineering, ICT, Heath and Social Care, Leisure and Tourism, are widening the offer. The new flexibilities at KS4 allow schools to tailor programmes to student needs. QCA is developing an A Level in Critical Thinking to provide more of the intellectual stretch that many associate with the International Baccalaureat.

Around the country diverse partnerships of schools, colleges and employers are charting the future. And this collaboration, both in and outside 14-19 Pathfinders, is showing what is possible by creating new pathways for young people to fulfil their potential. A couple of examples struck me:

In the Black Country, where I was in November launching their Creative Partnership programme for Arts and Education, local language learning is being developed through new links between schools, colleges and private training providers.

And in Cumbria, a pathfinder project is improving work-related learning though the engagement of local employers, like BAE Systems, and through an awareness of local skill needs in curriculum development.

Fourth, there is a growing consensus about the foundations for a renewed system. The Government summed up its view of the direction of reform in January:

that we must build up the curriculum offer at all levels, notably for young people seeking a vocational orientation to their studies

that we must ensure assessment is fit for purpose, with recognition of achievement at foundation, intermediate and advanced levels, assessment appropriate to different activities, and a manageable burden of assessment for students and institutions

and that qualifications must promote progression up the ladder of achievement, stretching students to achieve their best.

The final reason for optimism is that we have a respected vehicle to take forward reform. The Government has unlocked the door to change, and we have tasked a Committee of real eminence, led by Mike Tomlinson, to help the nation decide whether we should walk through that door. They will be publishing early thoughts next month and I hope you will contribute to shaping the debate.

So, there really are good reasons for optimism. In the immediate term we are committed to stability and confidence, as it is the right of every student to have faith in their exam results. In the medium term reform is in our sights.

Improved Vocational Offer

In the Government's discussion paper in January, we set out our aspiration to move beyond the stale division of academic from vocational studies. We expressed our aspiration for every young person to be encouraged to pursue a mix of general and specialist study appropriate to them.

If we are to achieve this goal, then we need thoroughgoing modernisation of our conception of vocational education. I want to address this directly.

Our challenge is to break out of a vicious circle. There is the language of low status attached by too many to the vocational offer - encapsulated in the assumption that the phrase 'he is good with his hands' must be preceded by the word 'but'. And then there is the inherited assumption that subjects with vocational relevance are the preserve of disaffected students. These feed off each other, and young people and the country lose out.

We must ensure instead that education with a vocational orientation is understood as an entitlement for all abilities, and a viable part of the learning experience for all young people, with progression routes into work and into further learning. Our commitment to the expansion of higher education, notably through the development of two year Foundation degrees, is significant in this respect.

People talk about the expansion of higher education as if we are advocating more of the same - more three or four year degrees in traditional subjects. We are in fact talking about the expansion in precisely those areas of national life where we have in the past struggled - Chemical Technology; Engineering; Creative Arts; Sports Science; and Teaching and Learning Support.

So how to break out? Jane Williams will address later on the vital issue of a coherent and rigorous approach to teaching and learning across the age range and across different programmes of study. I will address issues of structure and culture.

We need, first, the development of our thinking about the general educational core of all courses. Whether you learn science through a physics class or through an Engineering course, or whether you improve literacy through a history class or a Tourism course, every student needs general educational capacity as well as specialist skills. This will be a key topic for the Tomlinson Group.

Second, we need a commitment to strengthening institutions so that the capacity for an improved vocational offer can be built. COVEs are providing an effective first step. 156 have been established to date - with another 50 to come later this month. Here is a classic example where excellent provision needs first to be shared as widely as possible, and second driven throughout the system.

Third, we need local and national engagement with the emerging needs of employers, and the operation of local labour markets. We must ensure that employers have faith in any vocational offer. We must ensure that we build on and for appropriate labour market strength. And we must ensure that the quality of work-based learning is raised, because few things are more damaging to vocational education than low quality provision.

Fourth, we need to drive up the quality of our offer to young people, breaking down the institutional barriers that deny choice. This means sixth forms, sixth form colleges, FE Colleges with distinct 16-19 provision and work based provision working in the service of the learner. At the centre of this vision are effective institutions:

schools and colleges marked by vigorous, innovative, brave leadership

schools and colleges with a centre of excellence that makes them special, and a commitment to collaboration that helps them improve

schools and colleges staffed by a strong school team, with a flexible workforce led by teachers but populated by an increasingly wide range of adults giving personal help to children young people

and schools and colleges working in strong partnerships with the community, to expand the horizons and opportunities of young people.

There is no blueprint for this provision. But there is a clear vision: that an offer to all young people will need to be based on a network of provision, with different providers supported as they play a distinct role according to local circumstances. Our view is that the evidence is clear:

16-19 provision must be distinct, offering courses and support that are tailored to the needs and ambitions of students going through this particular phase of education; Sixth Form Colleges have shown the way in this respect; there are around 100; the inspection evidence is very positive indeed; the Strategic Area Reviews offer us an opportunity to replicate their good practice

16-19 provision must respect learner choice, so that students can continue their education in institutions that are suited to their needs, be that a school, sixth form college, FE college or work-based learning provider; each base has an important role for different students; quality and choice should be our lodestars; diversity is our ally

And 16-19 provision must have curriculum breadth - a breadth that stems from collaboration between local providers on both institutional specialisms and pathways for progression; every pupil needs a home base, but many pupils will benefit from access to courses offered at other institutions, whether in a sixth form collaborative or a looser network of provision.

Changing Attitudes

This is a big agenda. In Government it is our agenda. I believe it is your agenda too. It is essential to realise the vision of curricula, assessment and qualifications that tackle our problems of participation and progression.

But there is also an agenda for the world beyond schools and colleges. The modernisation of vocational education requires that we address it.

Whilst many young people are genuinely attracted by vocational options, they are too often put off by commonly held attitudes about it. A 1950s perception continues - that vocational education is something you only do with your hands, something only done as a second best, always an alternative to general education rather than a complement to it.

This is nothing less than pernicious snobbery. It is an 'Upstairs Downstairs' attitude to vocational education. And it is founded on a dangerous myth. Medicine is not second class. Law is not second class. And music is not second class. So how can vocational education be second class?

A high class vocational offer opens doors - whether in Engineering, ICT, the creative industries, or in the traditional professions. All lead to good, skilled and well paid jobs. And all proof that in the 21st century almost any work requires you to use your head as well as your hands, to adapt general education as well as specialist training.

Changing old attitudes will not be easy. There are always people willing to pull us back. But I am encouraged that the TUC and CBI should both be so committed to taking a joint stand on behalf of young people, and on behalf of the country's economic future.

More does not mean worse. Usually it means better. Often it means different. And different does not mean second class.

Yes we should celebrate and promote the highest standards of achievement in English, Mathematics, Science. No we should not pretend that everyone can achieve the heights of the best.

But nor should we pretend that outstanding design of environmental vehicles, or the development of high standards of provision and care for elderly people, or the creation of new multimedia and virtual reality services, do not require high standards of educational achievement, serious endeavour, and dedicated work.

Policy cannot only be about changing structures. We have to change cultures as well. And we all have a responsibility to be part of that campaign for change. We need to modernise our concept of vocational education is we are to deliver the rounded education that our young people need and deserve.

Conclusion

This is crucial decade for English education. We have a unique opportunity to build on improvement. Improvement in primary schools, where our students are third best in the world. Improvement at GCSEs, where are students are high performers. Improvement in the workforce, where Ofsted say we have the best generation of teachers ever. And improvement in 16-19 provision, where we have rising standards in college inspections.

I want you to be part of that. It means the DFES joining up so the schools division and the FE division work together. It means LEAs and the LSC working together. It means colleges and schools both striving to raise standards of provision.

The prize is huge. The prize is precious. Keep the vision in mind - excellence driving equity, universal services providing the personal touch - and we will get there.