The Government will promote and encourage good practice in widening participation, and will keep the qualifications framework for post-16 learning under close review.

The Government should create a national partnership to develop a credit framework for implementation within the next five years [LW Ch 7]

6.1 Responses to the recent consultation on post-16 qualifications showed that there is considerable support, particularly from the FE sector, for moving towards a qualifications framework structured in terms of units of credit. This could lead to easier access, greater flexibility and the recognition of smaller steps of achievement. Such an approach is particularly relevant to the needs of adults, and to vocational, general vocational and access awards. As indicated in The Learning Age, such a qualifications framework would recognise achievement in work and through other voluntary and family activities, while being a stimulus to learning. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is proposing to undertake further work on the development of a unit-based credit framework, with particular reference to the needs of lifelong and vocational learning.

The Government should commission work to develop a national system for measuring learning gain in all forms of post-16 learning [LW Ch 7]; should include widening participation in the common standards for harmonised systems of quality assurance and measurement of performance across further education [LW Ch 7]; and should accelerate its activities to harmonise systems for measuring participation and achievement in post-16 learning and publish an annual report on progress in participation and achievement [LW Ch 1]

6.2 The Learning Age states that the Government will improve and harmonise post-16 inspection arrangements across schools, colleges and training providers, including setting in place the new independent training inspectorate. In partnership with the relevant bodies concerned, the Government will seek to develop a national framework and common procedures and grading systems; and to publish consistent performance indicators for individual providers. It will seek to establish targets to which all concerned are committed for widening participation at national, regional and local level. 6.3 The Government shares the Committee’s concern to develop a national system for measuring value added or learning gain. To do so effectively requires information on individual achievement over time. That is not currently available consistently. The Government is consulting on the creation of a database covering all 14-21 year olds. This would permit accurate comparisons between all the strands of post-compulsory education and training in terms of participation and achievement. Its establishment will be subject to the outcome of a separate consultation on the collection of individual pupil data from schools. 6.4 The DfEE is considering performance measures against departmental objectives which will reflect participation among both 16-19 year olds and adults.

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