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In the United Kingdom (UK), prisoners who are unemployed on their release are twice as likely to re-offend as those with stable employment. Success in the workplace is more likely if prisoners have the mix of vocational skills and personal qualities which employers are looking for. This statement outlines a plan to lift prisoners' knowledge, education and skills levels along with their self-esteem, both in prison and in the key period after their release, to enable them to succeed in the workplace on their release. The plan is to be achieved through a strategic partnership between the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Prison Service and in cooperation with all the key agencies. The statement describes the partnership's aims and objectives and concludes with an outline of the new partnership model and priorities for immediate action in the first year. Show less

This document outlines a number of key proposals and opportunities for young people. Those relating to information, advice and guidance will be of most interest to schools. These proposals will help schools to deliver the 14-19 curriculum set out in the recent White Paper, as well as giving them a clearer voice in the services that are delivered to their pupils. They will also provide clearer routes to help outside the school for pupils with additional needs. Show less

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES), formally the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE), was established following the June 2002 General Election in the United Kingdom. This document outlines the Department's aims and objectives, what the targets are, and how these will be achieved. The three objectives outlined are: to give children an excellent start to education so that they have a better foundation for future learning; to enable all young people to develop and to equip themselves with the skills, knowledge and personal qualities needed for life and work; and to encourage and enable adults to learn, improve their skills and enrich their lives. The document also contains three annexes: Who's who in DfES; Working together; Milestones on the road to delivery. Show less

In this document we set out in detail how we will implement 14-19 Education and Skills and how, in doing so, we will create a system capable of offering a new set of curriculum and qualifications opportunities, truly built around the needs and aspirations of each young person. Our aim is a system of 14-19 education matching the best anywhere; a system where all young people have opportunities to learn in ways which motivate and stretch them and through hard work qualify themselves for success in life; one where educational opportunity and chances in life do not depend on accident of birth, but are uniformly available to all young people. In our White Paper, 14-19 Education and Skills, we set out our policy proposals for introducing the qualifications and curriculum changes that would be necessary to create that system. Since then, our Green Paper, Youth Matters, and our White Paper, Higher Standards, Better Schools for All, have set out how services for young people and the schools system will be reformed to achieve the same ends; and our White Paper, Getting on in Business, Getting on at Work, has set out plans for continuing skills development for adults.

Published summary. 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

This strategy, launched on 8 July 2004, summarises the UK Government's plans for early years, primary and secondary schools, 14-19 education and training, adult skills, and higher education. Five key principles of reform will underpin the drive for a step change in children's services, education and training: (1) greater personalisation and choice, with the wishes and needs of children, parents and learners centre-stage; (2) opening up services to new and different providers and ways of delivering services; (3) freedom and independence for frontline headteachers, governors and managers with clear simple accountabilities and more secure streamlined funding arrangements; (4) a major commitment to staff development with high quality support and training to improve assessment, care and teaching; and (5) partnerships with parents, employers, volunteers and voluntary organisations to maximise the life chances of children, young people and adults.

Excerpts from publication.

A progress report published in 2006 is indexed at indexed at TD/TNC 95.749. Show less

This document sets out the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and Learning and Skills Council (LSC) joint strategy for reforming further education and training through partnership within the learning and skills sector both regionally and locally. The strategy, designed to build a more effective and responsive learning and skills sector, will be implemented in a phased approach over the next three years and supported by the UK government’s largest ever investment program in this sector of education. The strategy will be underpinned by the four key principles of public sector reform: expanding choice; promoting devolution and delegation to the front line; providing flexibility and incentives for success; and an underpinning platform of high standards and accountability. The reform strategy comprises four elements: (1) meeting needs and improving choice by improving the responsiveness and quality of provision in each area to meet learner, employer and community needs; (2) establishing a new Standards Unit to identify and disseminate best practice to guide learning and training programs; (3) developing human resources through setting targets for training qualified teachers and developing strong leadership and management through a new leadership college; and (4) developing a framework for quality and success through the creation of a planning, funding and accountability system. The document sets down the goals for each of these four areas and the implementation plan for the strategy. Show less