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Learning Partnerships were set up across the United Kingdom (UK) in early 1999 to promote a new culture across the school, further education (FE) work-based learning, and adult and community learning sectors to rationalise the range of existing local partnership arrangements covering post-16 learning. This revised report provides interim findings of the national evaluation of Learning Partnerships in November 2000. A separate report, 'Case study findings' (indexed at TD/TNC 69.280) provides an overview of key issues associated with progress, early impact and added value of Partnership Activity. The key evaluation questions addressed by these two reports are: What is the impact and added value of Learning Partnerships? How do they add value? What are the constraints; What are their costs? What is the value for money? The findings of these two reports represent an interim phase in the national evaluation with activities completed this year being repeated (using the same case studies) in 2000/2001 and 2000/2002. The contents of this report are: Introduction; Key points; Baseline and progress reporting: key issues; Key characteristics; Headline aims; Delivery objectives; Learning Partnership fund. Included as indices are: Good practice pro-formas; Added value actions.

Other related reports are indexed at TD/TNC 68.196 and TD/TNC 69.278 and the final report is indexed at TD/TNC 75.237. Show less

York Consulting were commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to evaluate the impact of the Learning Partnerships established across the United Kingdom (UK) in early 1999. The partnerships were designed to promote a new culture of provider collaboration across the educational sectors (schools, further education, work-based learning, and adult and community learning) and to rationalise the range of existing local partnerships arrangements covering post-16 learning. This interim report provides an analysis of interim progress and early impact of Learning Partnerships as at May 2001. The report is based on a review of management information, Learning Plan Executive Summaries, national case studies and regional evaluations. The final evaluation report which will be published early in 2003. The first part of the report outlines the key findings and issues from national data and the national Learning Partnerships database developed by the research team and based on Learning Plan Executive Summaries. The second part analyses the key findings from the 20 national case studies and regional evaluation reports and the final section draws together the research findings to present conclusions and key recommendations. The findings demonstrate that although progress and impact in relation to partnership is being achieved, Learning Partnerships continue to face a number of potential constraints.

Other related reports are indexed from TD/TNC 69.278 to TD/TNC 69.280 and the final report is indexed at TD/TNC 75.237. Show less

Foundation degrees (FDs) were established as a pathway for people within the workplace to build on existing expertise and continue working at the same time as studying for a higher level qualification. One of the FDs developed was in the Early Years (EY) sector. The Early Years Sector-Endorsed Foundation Degree (EYSEFD) comprises practical experience in an EY workplace, supported by a mentor, which constitutes the work-based learning (WBL) element of the course, in conjunction with academic work. This report presents the findings of a qualitative study exploring employers' and mentors' views and experiences of the EYSEFD, specifically: the nature of information employers and mentors have received about the program and their levels of satisfaction with this; how employers and mentors conceptualise their roles in relation to the EYSEFD students, particularly in relation to WBL and mentoring; the types and levels of involvement of employers and mentors with EYSEFD students, and explanatory factors for this; employer and mentor motivations for supporting the student through the EYSEFD, and feelings about their role; the logistics of accommodating an EYSEFD student in the workplace in terms of WBL, mentoring, and finances; impacts of the EYSEFD on students' work, the setting, other staff members, the EY sector as a whole and the students' future career progression; and employer and mentor views about the value of the EYSEFD to their setting, and feelings about how the experience of accommodating and mentoring an EYSEFD student could be improved. Employers experienced a range of 'de-motivators' and 'motivators' to supporting EYSEFD students. The key 'de-motivators' included: a lack of information and contact with the college about the EYSEFD and the role of employers and mentors in facilitating the WBL aspect; logistical and financial difficulties in accommodating WBL, mentoring and student attendance at college; and lack of progression opportunities within the setting. Key 'motivators' included: a strong commitment on the part of the employer to staff training; the ability to accommodate the EYSEFD logistically and financially; and confidence in the degree strengthened by good information from the college.

The report of the study of students' experiences of the EYSEFD is indexed at TD/TNC 85.381. Show less

This White Paper builds on the existing 14-19 Education and Skills White Paper and Skills Strategy [available in VOCEDplus at TD/IRD 88.163] to set out a series of reforms for the further education (FE) system, focusing on the role of the FE sector in raising the skills level of young people and adults in order to achieve productive sustainable employment in a modern competitive economy. The proposed changes will result in more choice for clients, services designed to meet individuals' needs, new, innovative providers being encouraged to enter the training market, and action to address poor quality provision. The reforms are designed to enable learners to acquire high-quality skills and to ensure that employers have the right skills for their business to be competitive in a global economy.

The policy measures include: new incentives for colleges to develop one or more areas of special excellence, with a new higher standard of accreditation (under the program of Centres of Vocational Excellence or CoVEs); a more direct role for employers and an extension of the National Skills Academies (NSAs) program; a trial program of learner accounts and a new entitlement to free training and education for the under-25s to gain level three qualifications, with the continued roll-out of the Adult Learning Grant to help with maintenance costs for those on low incomes; the creation of a single Quality Improvement Agency to oversee a new national strategy to raise the quality of FE provision and promote continuing professional development of teaching staff; improvement notices to be issued to colleges judged to be failing and requiring the problems to be addressed within a year; and a simplified system for planning and funding provision designed to reduce regulatory bureaucracy at all levels, with an enhanced strategic role for the Learning and Skills Council at the regional level, new opportunities for innovative providers to enter the sector with new competitive arrangements and open advertising, and funding geared towards demand, particularly through the Train to Gain program. Show less

Learning and Skills Beacon status recognises and celebrates high quality teaching and training and effective and well managed institutions in the UK. The standard is deliberately high and Beacons are expected to promote innovation and share their good practice with the sector. This publication contains a number of case studies that provide a description of the work being undertaken and the achievements made by the first two rounds of Learning and Skills Beacons. These include sixth-form colleges, further education colleges, public and private sector businesses and training organisations. Show less

Skills Dialogues constitute a series of consultations with all major industrial and business sectors in the UK, generating high quality authoritative skills assessments for each of these broad sectors. Their purpose is to improve the quality of information available on skills at sector level and to provide an effective means for national training organisations (NTOs) and employers to contribute to the planning and implementation of education and training provision in their sector. This report summarises the current information about skills issues in the post-16 education and training sector. Its particular purpose is to draw together common themes that affect employers and employees working in further and higher education, community and adult education, and training and workforce development. The report examines drivers of change in the sector, current employment in the post-16 education and training sector, employment trends and projections, workforce demographics, workforce development and qualifications, skills issues and recruitment, and sector responses to the skills challenge. Show less

The Success for All program (policy document indexed at TD/TNC 72.207) was established by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in November 2002. It represented a major set of policy reforms to the post-16 learning and skills sector to 2010 and beyond. The program aimed to raise standards, increase participation and improve outcomes through four interlocking themes. A monitoring and evaluation framework including separate but complementary evaluation plans for each of the four themes was also established. ECOTEC Research and Consulting were commissioned by the DfES in September 2004 to establish the feasibility of attributing impact to specific themes or initiatives within Success for All. This study is intended to support the existing monitoring and evaluation framework, by establishing a methodology for attributing impact, where targets and quantitative data collection are insufficient. This document is the final report of the study, which was completed in December 2004. A key conclusion is the varying degree to which attribution is likely to be possible for different aspects of the program. Any attribution framework will need several different elements. The report concludes by proposing a potential strategy for the development of an attribution framework, based on two related methodologies for modelling impact, one against the cross-cutting targets and the other against the theme level targets. Show less

This document provides a report on a longitudinal study of young people with special educational needs (SEN). The study is part of an investigation into the post-16 routes and experiences of young people undertaken by the Centre for Formative Assessment Studies (CFAS) of the School of Education, University of Manchester on behalf of the Department for Education and Employment (now known as the Department for Education and Skills). Overall, the investigation aims to: (1) provide a comprehensive overview of the experiences, achievements and attitudes of young people with SEN during transition from secondary education to early adult life; and (2) identify strengths and weaknesses in this transition process and highlight barriers to further education, higher education, training, employment and independent living. Specifically, this study collected baseline data about the aspirations and needs of the young people and analysed the existing quality of transition arrangements, i.e. the type and level of Key Stage 4 transition support received from schools, Local Education Authorities (LEAs), community services and other support agencies, and equality of opportunity through school provision. Changes in attitudes, circumstances and provision throughout the transition period were monitored. Show less

The Further Education (FE) Learners Longitudinal Survey examines the destinations of FE learners over a period of 18-21 months. These findings are from the Wave Two survey that interviewed learners who undertook an FE course in 2003-2004, about one year after completing their course. The Wave Two survey takes places 12 months after Wave One, and will attempt to re-interview all Wave One respondents who agreed to be re-contacted. The survey examines adult learners (19 or over) only, and focuses mainly on learners who completed their course. The key objectives of the survey are to: analyse the nature of the destinations that FE learners take after learning, such as into employment, further learning or training, and the impact this learning has on their future learning participation; assess what impact learning has on socio-economic circumstances (employment status, income), particularly the cumulative impact of further learning on the individual’s welfare; and assess what impact learning has on wider outcomes such as health benefits and active citizenship. Key findings include: one in four learners (24 per cent) had increased their highest level of qualification by the Wave Two interview and around one in eight learners (13 per cent) appeared to have increased their level of qualification following their original course through subsequent learning; in the Wave One survey 50 per cent of learners had gone on to start FE or training and by Wave Two (another year later), this proportion had risen to 63 per cent; the overall level of employment among FE learners remained similar, from immediately before the original FE course through to the Wave Two interview (61 per cent and 64 per cent respectively); learners felt that they had gained a number of skills or benefits from taking the original FE course; and a third of learners who had started a new job since the course said that the course helped them to get the job.

The report on the findings from Wave One are indexed at TD/TNC 86.302. Show less

Learning Partnerships were set up across the United Kingdom (UK) in early 1999 to promote a new culture across the school, further education (FE) work-based learning, and adult and community learning sectors to rationalise the range of existing local partnership arrangements covering post-16 learning. This analysis, which is based on 20 case studies, provides an overview of key issues associated with progress, early impact and added value of Partnership Activity. It concentrates on the focus, performance and impact aspects of Partnership development and draws interim conclusions and recommendations. The contents are: Introduction; Partnership focus; Aspects of success; Barriers to development; Value added; Performance indicators; Conclusions and recommendations.

Other related reports are indexed at TD/TNC 68.196, TD/TNC 69.278 and TD/TNC 69.279 and the final report is indexed at TD/TNC 75.237. Show less