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This article builds on the previous articles in this special issue to explore two related concepts - a 'UK policy laboratory' and 'expansive policy learning', with a specific focus on further education (FE) and skills. We argue that the potential for a UK policy laboratory in this area is based primarily on a new balance between the forces of convergence and divergence across the four countries of the UK. In this 'goldilocks zone' lie opportunities for policy learning. The methodology of the UK FE and Skills Inquiry, on which this article draws, attempted to model the conditions of the UK policy laboratory by involving a rich mix of social partners and highlighting the importance of national contexts and how these can inform differing approaches to common challenges. The Inquiry also identified 'interesting practice' that may form the basis of an initial 'common project' across the different systems. However, its pursuit will require shifts towards the more collaborative approach to FE and skills that characterises the three smaller countries of the UK. In this variegated political environment, we conclude by speculating on the wider conditions for the permanent development of a UK policy laboratory (or laboratories) and expansive forms of policy learning.

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This article discusses learner progression within further education (FE) colleges in England and the role that both internal college practices and wider system factors play in the transition of 16-19 year olds from school to further study and the workplace. Focusing on a sample of 118 learners from 19 lower level courses in a large general FE college and using a series of interviews with learners and 23 of their tutors, this paper raises issues about how far current policy levers promote the concept of progression and how inclusive practices are in FE colleges. The article concludes by suggesting that changes need to be made at both institutional and national policy levels in order to ensure effective learner progression from school, through further education to employment.

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The Edge Foundation, the Department for Education in England and City and Guilds funded and participated in an Inquiry entitled, 'Policy and policy learning across the four countries of the UK: the case of further education and skills', to compare the skills and further education (FE) systems across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The project revolved around six thematic seminars, one in each of the four countries and a further two in London to begin and conclude the programme. Themes included: aims and principles for FE and skills policy; the role of employers in education and skills; the role and governance of FE colleges; policy levers (funding, inspection, performance tables); meeting employer and learners needs and demands; learning in the workplace; and the role of localities and regions.

The final report provides a summary of some of the key ideas that were discussed during the Inquiry. The report begins with a short discussion of the conceptual ideas that lay behind the seminar series. It continues by providing brief, factual profiles of the context for FE and skills in the four countries and a series of vignettes depicting 'interesting practice' in the five jurisdictions and a section on common challenges across the UK and where policy learning might take place. The report concludes with some ideas about next steps for building on the seminar series to keep the learning process alive.

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This article explores the extent to which it is possible to incorporate global learning within the further education (FE) curriculum, drawing on the findings from the Global Learning for Global Colleges (2009-2012) research and development project, funded by the Department for International Development (DfID). Against a background of increasing pressures on the FE sector, the project worked with six colleges in England to develop initiatives to promote global learning in the curriculum. Qualitative data were collected through observations, interviews, questionnaires and phone or email conversations with staff. The research defines global learning as not just a focus on developing skills for responding to an increasingly globalised world, but an approach to learning based on a concern for social justice, developing learners who see the relevance of their learning about global issues for their everyday and future lives. A number of factors are identified as having an influence on the process of incorporating global learning: existing institutional priorities and overseas partnerships; personal experience and enthusiasm of staff; level of subject and profile of students; and exam and syllabus requirements. The findings illustrate both an enthusiasm for global learning, with colleges developing creative ways of exploring global issues with learners, and numerous challenges. The research suggests that local factors are critical and that, in the absence of a national policy requirement for global learning, these local factors need to be supported if colleges are to develop their approaches still further.

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This paper draws on data from secondary sources and in-depth interviews to explore the question: What is the impact of policy on teaching, learning, assessment and inclusion in adult and community learning (ACL) Skills for Life (SfL) provision? In particular, it focuses on the government’s use of five policy-steering mechanisms - funding, inspection, planning, targets and policy initiatives (in this case SfL). The design of the study allows us to use evidence from four sets of interviews with teachers, learners and managers of ACL in eight sites of learning (four in London and four in the North East) over a period of 26 months of considerable policy turbulence. We argue, first, that there is a symbiotic relationship between ACL and SfL provision; and second, that while the combined effects of targets and funding have the most powerful effects on tutor and manager actions, inspection, planning and tutors’ and managers’ own professional values also have an important role in shaping the teaching of literacy and numeracy in ACL sites. We conclude by suggesting that professionals at the local level should be allowed to play a greater role in SfL policy-making to ensure effective policy and practice.

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The papers and commentaries in this collection are indexed from TD/TNC 90.88 to TD/TNC 90.96. Show less

This article draws on research into the further education (FE) Area-Based Review (ABR) process in London, England over the period 2016-2018 to suggest that the significance of ABRs can be judged as to the extent they reinforce or challenge the historical marketised model of FE. The implications of ABR are viewed historically through the conceptual lens of two governance continua - market/public (economic) and centralised/devolved (political). The research, involving repeated interviews with a range of FE social partners over a three-year period, developed the concept of two inter-related logics - a dominant 'Logic A' focused on FE college viability and merger and a subordinate 'Logic B' focused on regional skills strategies and greater collaboration between social partners. The significance of ABRs is assessed in relation to the wider English policy contexts that point to a need for greater skills coordination. At the same time, a comparison of ABRs in England with the 'regionalisation' of FE colleges in the other three countries of the UK highlights its relatively unplanned character. The article concludes with a discussion around the evolving relationship between the two Logics and argues that, albeit hesitantly, FE colleges in England may be moving towards a 'Post-Incorporation' phase.

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New Labour was elected to govern the United Kingdom in 1997 with education as its central mission. This monograph explores the key points of New Labour's educational agenda as it approaches a second term in office. The study offers a detailed analysis and criticism of the Government's policies for 14+ education and training. It assesses the extent to which New Labour has met its objectives and what has yet to be achieved. Based on interviews with ministers, policy advisors and government officials, the authors describe established and developing policies for education and training. Key issues include how the `Third Way' translates to education and training policy, the impact of the Conservative government's policy on education and training, a critical assessment of the New Labour's strategy, and recommendations for future policy. It is suggested that New Labour, having dealt with the Conservative legacy in education and training policy, now needs to define its own agenda in preparation for a second term of office. The analysis provides a comprehensive overview of emerging policies and recommendations for the future, and highlights the concerns of the different stakeholders involved in education research, policy and practice. Show less

During the 25 years since Incorporation, when further education (FE) colleges were taken out of local government control, FE in England has been shaped by processes of marketisation to become a competitive national sector that has increasingly diverged from the more 'collaborative system logic' of the other three countries of the UK. However, following recent government reforms, FE in England appears to have reached a crossroads with the opportunity to participate in a more collaborative skills-based landscape at the local and sub-regional levels. This article brings together evidence from historical and international comparative system analysis, a series of UK-wide seminars and in-depth research on the Area-Based Review of FE colleges to assess the strategic direction of FE in England at this critical juncture. We argue that English FE providers can take advantage of these trends to make a transition from a reactive, competitive national sector towards a more collaborative, regional and sub-regional system focused on inclusive economic and skills development. The article concludes that the potential for cross-UK policy learning depends on whether FE in England gradually transitions towards a more collaborative future that could bring it closer to FE and skills systems in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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In this paper we argue that learning in the workplace can bring considerable benefits for learners and employers. It draws on data from in-depth interviews and secondary sources from eight sites of work-based learning as part of wider research into the effects of five national policy mechanisms within the Learning and Skills Sector. We also have evidence of the positive effects of policy initiatives, in this case, Skills for Life, Union Learning Representatives and Employer Training Pilots, and of legislation such as the Care Standards Act. However, initiative-based resources cannot substitute for longer-term, more secure funding. We have found what may be described as ‘flowers in the desert’ - provision that grows, develops and blossoms quickly with the injection of funding, but which is very susceptible to changes in resourcing and, like flowers in the desert, can wither as quickly as it grew. We conclude by arguing that initiatives and exhortation are unlikely on their own to ensure that the full benefits of learning in the workplace are realized. There is, therefore, a need both for more sustained funding from government and employers and for greater regulation, such as the ‘licence to practise’ approach taken in the Health and Social Care professions.

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The papers and commentaries in this collection are indexed from TD/TNC 90.88 to TD/TNC 90.96. Show less

Education providers and employers working together to prepare young people and adults for employment is internationally accepted as a key factor in effective technical and vocational education. In the English context, however, we argue that two related orthodoxies have prevailed - 'employer engagement' and 'skills supply' - in which education providers have striven to gain employer involvement in their programmes and meet their skills needs. The effectiveness of these twin orthodoxies has been limited by the 'New Low Skills Equilibrium' (NLSE) involving a symbiosis of weaknesses on both the education and employer sides. The article draws on findings of a two-year research and development programme in East London which explored the process of education-employer partnership working to support inclusive growth in key economic sectors. The research suggested that this aim was best supported by processes of 'co-production' that actively involved both partners in attempting to address features of the NLSE. The research also pointed to constraining factors. The article concludes by identifying the conditions required for the realisation of co-production approaches that include the development of new collaborative structures - High Progression and Skills Networks (HPSNs) - involving a wide range of social partners at the local and regional levels.

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