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The Green Paper '14-19: extending opportunities, raising standards' (indexed at TD/IRD 88.170) outlines the consultation proposals to develop a coherent and flexible education system in the UK for the 14-19 age group. This document is the Learning and Skills Council's response to the paper. It is presented in two parts. The first part highlights the Council's views on six particular issues: 14-19 curriculum and the overarching award; 14-19 qualifications and assessment; Collaboration; Support and guidance for young people; Resources; and Implementation and next steps. The second part contains the Council's response to the specific questions raised in the Green Paper. Show less

One response from education providers in the UK to the imperative of improving learner outcomes is to adopt an action research approach. This approach is affiliated with quality improvement and allows educational practitioners to work through their problems and test out changes to realise desired improvements. This report describes successful action research projects that have secured improvements to learner outcomes and been sustained over time. The cases illustrate the benefits of action research for continuous improvement. The cyclical nature of the framework can act as a catalyst for sustaining the improvement over time as long as organisations are committed to the cycle and to ongoing interventions. Key principles for maximising the likelihood of sustaining the improvement are strategic, team and/or outcomes in nature. Action research and its desired improvement is liable to fail if it does not have strategic intent. It must be a team initiative and the outcomes must be communicated to all involved. The outcomes should be learner focused, tangible, disseminated across the organisation and sustainable over time. Show less

This document outlines the Learning and Skills Council's processes and policies for the identification and management of underperformance and the operation of Notices to Improve in the further education system in the 2009/10 academic year (using 2008/09 performance information) and their application to the 2010/11 year. The purpose of this guidance is to outline key changes to the approach since the previous year and to set out the transition arrangements that will apply as a result of the Machinery of Government changes. This document sets out the four areas of performance that inform commissioning and intervention. These are: financial health and financial management and control; inspection outcomes; learner health, safety and welfare arrangements; and analysis of success rates compared with minimum levels of performance (MLP).

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This report sets out the findings of a pilot project to investigate the needs of carers as learners, current provision for carers wanting to study in further and adult education, and support for carers’ learning available from social services, carers centres and other voluntary organisations. It sets out recommendations on how mainstream educational provision could be made more accessible to carers. The study identifies practical, psychological and systemic barriers to mainstream education for carers. It analyses in detail the range of policies and practices in further and adult education that contribute to systemic difficulties, and how they could be modified. It discusses key drivers for change and presents specific recommendations for government departments, government agencies, further and adult education providers, social services and carers centres and other voluntary organisations that support carers.

Carers have a range of reasons for wanting to study and an equally wide range of educational and employment aspirations. Individual needs for support vary but one thing that all carers have in common is the unpredictability of their caring situation. A carer’s capacity to attend regularly, complete assignments and sit exams is not dependent on their own commitment and self-discipline but on the health of someone else, and the needs of the person they care for which can change suddenly and dramatically. To enable carers to access and succeed in education, educational providers need to understand the impact of unpredictability, and to adapt their policies and practices to offer carer-students tailored flexibility and supportive learning arrangements, at the key points where these are needed. Recent commitments by government to support more flexible opportunities for lifelong learning by carers and to introduce measures such as greater flexibility of provision or home-based learning are to be welcomed. There is now an opportunity for all organisations with an interest in learning for carers to contribute ideas to the shaping of that commitment into national and local policies, and models of good practice, to improve carers’ access to mainstream education.

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This document reports the outcomes of the consultation on the agenda for change technical funding proposals, and identifies the issues to be resolved. It outlines options for addressing the issues, arrangements for trialling, and a timetable with milestones required to implement the agenda for change funding reforms in 2007/08, expressed in terms of the LSC [Learning and Skill Council] Business Cycle.

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Growing evaluation evidence confirms the impact of capital investment on building participation rates, retention rates and attainment, and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) recognise the crucial importance for learning of the physical environment. The capital strategy is designed to support the LSC's three national priorities: (1) creating demand for learning and skills; (2) transforming the further education (FE) system to meet demand; and (3) delivering better skills, better jobs and better lives. This document describes how the LSC's capital programme will be targeted to support the delivery of the organisation's key aims and priorities.

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In June 2003, the UK government will publish a national Skills Strategy and Delivery Plan. The strategy will establish a broad agenda for raising skill levels amongst young people and adults in close cooperation with employers to ensure that their skill needs are satisfied. The strategy will describe the roles and responsibilities of employers, individuals and government in skills development, including the government’s role in providing institutional, qualifications and quality frameworks. The aim of the strategy is to create a more demand-led learning system and it will include: a comprehensive approach to promoting participation in learning through better advice and rendering learning more attractive and accessible to learners of all ages; the government’s approach to engaging employers across all areas of skills development; adult workforce development, especially in relation to the delivery plan for the new Level 2 target for adults, i.e. to reduce by at least 40% the number of adults in the workforce without a Level 2 or equivalent qualification by 2010; and the outcomes of the review of the funding of adult learning. This technical paper sets out some of the potential options and related funding issues for colleges and providers which are being considered as part of the current review of funding adult learning and development of the skills strategy. It also reflects the work of the Learning and Skills Council Funding Group.

This technical document is published in conjunction with two reports, ‘Developing a national skills strategy and delivery plan: progress report’ (indexed at TD/TNC 73.358) and ‘Developing a national skills strategy and delivery plan: underlying evidence’ (indexed at TD/TNC 73.359). Show less

The FE [further education] White Paper, Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances (March 06) [indexed at TD/IRD 88.158] set out the commitment to develop a new approach to funding for 14-19 year-olds and to move to a position where more funding is driven directly by employer and learner choice. The Leitch Review (December 06) [final report indexed at TD/IRD 88.157] endorsed this direction of travel. The DfES [Department for Education and Skills] and the Learning and Skills Council are working together on the details of how we can put the purchasing power into the hands of the customer - whether employer or individual learner - to make sure the system is as responsive as possible to their needs. This consultation paper seeks your views on the proposed reforms required to deliver the adult skills, employer skills and 14-19 challenges. We are seeking your views on how a demand-led FE system would work in practice, including developing the new relationship with light touch planning, qualification and curriculum reform, ensuring quality and diversifying the market. We are also seeking your views on funding models for young people, adults and employers which would be implemented for 2008/09, designed to support the wider reform programme.

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The UK Vocational Qualifications Reform Programme (UK VQRP) is focused on reforming vocational qualifications for adults (learners aged 19 and above), and is a UK wide reform involving a wide range of partners. This paper provides an overview of two key reforms in qualifications: the UK Vocational Qualifications Reform Programme and the Foundation Learning Tier Programme. Show less

The aim of this review was to advise on the key challenges and opportunities facing further education (FE) colleges in the UK over the next five to 10 years and to suggest ways of maximising their future contribution. This report of the review sets out a vision for FE colleges, a set of values, and key recommendations for the realisation of this vision. Recommendations include: General Further Education Colleges (GFECs) and tertiary colleges should adopt improving employability and supplying economically valuable skills as their primary purpose; there must be a continued drive by colleges to improve quality and achieve excellence; self regulation should be the medium term goal; FE colleges should strive for long term, continuous improvements in teaching and learning based on best practice from across the sector; FE colleges must address more urgently provision which is failing, supported by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), Quality Improvement Agency (QIA) and others; FE colleges should look at what more they need to do to improve their offer to employers both through their primary role in improving the pool of employability and skills and in response to specific employer needs; the Government should articulate a core role for FE colleges, in particular GFECs, in supplying economically valuable skills; and the Government, with the Association of Colleges (AoC) and FE colleges and other key stakeholders, should develop a clear and targeted workforce development plan within the next 12 months which is published and consulted on prior to implementation. The contents are: The vision; The platform for change; The achievement imperatives; Improving management and funding; Improving inspection and information, reducing the qualifications bureaucracy; Improving infrastructure; Implementation; Summary of recommendations. Included as appendices are: The FE landscape; A view from abroad; Overview of how we worked; Foster review: terms of reference; Glossary and qualification level indicator. Show less