A quiet summer? Not as far as the raft of developments in education was concerned

Last updated 11:32, Tuesday, 23 September 2008

Over 20 years ago I wrote a chapter, Examinations post-16: the need for radical reform, for a book called The Revolution in Education and Training. Apprenticeships continued to make the news: the DIUS select committee announced an inquiry into the draft Apprenticeship Bill and the LSC resourced a Vacancy Matching Service amidst concerns that the gloomy economic news will have a negative impact on numbers.

I set out a number of principles including economy in operation, cost-effectiveness and accountability, access and progression opportunities, equity, clarity and simplicity, credit transfer, flexible learning opportunities and multi-agency provision.

This summer I had a sense of déjà vu.

The Government’s consultation on a 14-19 qualification strategy ended.

Respondents supported progression pathways, simplifying the qualification system, and introducing a credit-based system linking to the emerging system for adult qualifications to be in place by 2013 and fitting with existing frameworks in higher education including the UCAS tariff.

Over the summer attention focused on A-level and GCSE results and key stage test developments. The A-level results revealed a clear north-south divide.

This was the first year that regional evidence about A-levels has been presented. In the south east 29.1 per cent of entries gained an A grade whereas in the north east the figure was 19.8 per cent.

The GCSE results, despite overall improvements, showed educational inequality worsening with those who under-performed largely coming from disadvantaged areas.

These issues were brought to a head in the Conservative’s important policy paper A Failed Generation, in which they claim “33,909 of pupils eligible for free school meals did not attain any GCSE grades higher than a D in 2006/07... and 20 per cent weren’t even entered for English, maths and science”. And that “in the last year, the attainment gap at GCSE between the poorest areas and the wealthiest widened by 15 per cent”.

But as students returned to learning, schools, colleges and training providers alongside the Connexions service were delivering the Government’s September Guarantee to young people of a place in post-16 learning whatever their results.

Schools were starting on a new key stage three and in some areas students started work on the new diplomas, the Pre-U (a new post-16 qualification); and the super grade, A* for A-levels.

There were other headlines over the summer months.

The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) produced new proposals on college re-organisations with tighter criteria on mergers; DIUS and the LSC published a useful paper on skills accounts; and new flexibilities were introduced for Train to Gain although serious criticisms remain.

A welcome new coalition group – the Campaigning Alliance for Lifelong Learning (CALL) – was formed to lobby for adult education where the number of places has dropped by 1.5 million over the last two years.

For higher education, a consultation was launched on changes to support widening participation; on the proposed new credit framework for English universities; and on the new “University Challenge” – new HE centres in non-traditional places.

At the end of August the Government suddenly announced the further postponement of its flagship ContactPoint database meant to contain details of every child in England amid fundamental concerns that vulnerable children could be put at risk because of flaws in the £224 million system.

Talking of postponements, the Government should go one step further with its Machinery of Government reforms by scrapping them completely.

Delays in its ambitious timetable will mean stressful upheaval just before a General Election which, if the Conservatives win, will lead to further radical changes.

A lot of developments to watch as the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness arrives.