26 September 2008

Autumn officially arrived this week. Keats’ season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is now firmly upon us but no chance to pull up the duvet; the days may be getting shorter but the ‘to do’ lists aren’t. Once again another school year opens with a barrage of education activity lined up. This is how it looks at present.

At primary level, as the 10 year Children’s Plan approaches its first anniversary, many eyes will be fixed on the Interim Report on the primary curriculum, due out before the end of October, from Jim Rose and his team. The expectation for this was set by the Secretary of State’s remit letter at the start of the year: “this will be the most fundamental review of the primary curriculum for a decade.” Over the last few months, the team has held a series of meetings with teachers, parents and others and as with the earlier Key Stage 3 review, the headline issue is the balance to be had between ‘core’ subjects and ‘soft’ subjects. The headline in the Daily Mail this week reflected the concern that ‘children need lifestyle lessons.’

The happiness or otherwise of children has been quite a worry in education recently. For many people it’s a heavy emphasis on testing and exams that generates much of the anxiety for children. Hence there will be much interest in the Sutherland Inquiry which is also due to report this autumn. This is the Inquiry set up by Government to look into the problems with the testing arrangements this year. Both it and the parallel Inquiry by Sir Richard Sykes for the Conservatives will keep the issue of testing firmly in the political limelight.

Talking of unhappiness, there is still unease about another important initiative likely to feature throughout the autumn and that is the National Challenge. While local models get under way in the Black Country and Greater Manchester, questions continue about how many schools will be on the national ‘hit list’ following the summer’s exams. For the present, the network of National Challenge Advisers is due to be in place next month as is the first review cycle by the DCSF and Government Offices. This week the Government leapt in to announce the first three National Challenge Trust schools; this story is set to run.

In the 14 – 19 world, the updated 14 – 19 Implementation Plan is due out next month setting out targets and action up to 2015. An Apprenticeship Delivery Plan and further updates on the changes to planning and funding systems will follow but many minds will be on budget announcements due later in the year and how much additional money will be available for 14 – 19 reform next year. There is also some interesting work due out before long from the National Council for Educational Excellence which impacts on 14 – 19 developments. This body was set up as part of the Prime Minister’s Government changes in the heady days of June 2007. It has been looking in particular at four ‘mobilisation workstrands’ covering parental engagement, HE participation, collaboration and business support. It has attracted some top level support so it will be interesting to see what has been unearthed.

Moving up the age range, the LSC is due to publish its Annual Statement of Priorities in October, always an important moment in the learning and skills calendar because it sets out the priorities and funding for the coming year. Many in the sector will be starting to consider what life will be like beyond the LSC and a series of updates are promised during the autumn on some of the key features including the Skills Funding Agency, the Young People’s Learning Agency and the Adult Advancement and Careers Agency. With updates also promised on Skills Accounts and Train to Gain, the much heralded demand – led system begins to take shape.

A key player in this new system is the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES,) which is currently collecting feedback for its first Five Year Strategic Plan. It remains open for comment until the end of the year but initial needs are quite clear: high – level advice to Government on ‘barriers, risks and issues’ in achieving the world – class skills vision; a regular review of progress against targets; the continuing integration of employment and skills services; and the re – licensing of SSCs. Unsurprisingly, one word in particular lingers over all comments – simplification, as in making the skills system simpler to use. The Commission is of course already looking at this and is due to present a Progress Report on simplification to the Prime Minister in November.

The Commission is already working on a full review of national occupational standards with a Report to Government due early next year but a further interesting review has just been completed and that is on STEM subjects and their importance in the labour market. This has been led by DIUS following recommendations in their Innovation White Paper in March. The CBI argued strongly for an automatic opt in for triple sciences as part of their latest Paper on STEM subjects in the summer. At the same time the Government has been consulting on its latest vision for science generally. It will be interesting to see how far STEM subjects feature in the Government’s first annual Innovation Report due out later this autumn.

Before we leave consultations, we should not forget that one on another important area of Government policy closed a couple of weeks ago and that was the right for employees to request time off for training. This proposition was put forward in the summer as part of the forthcoming Education and Skills Bill Mark 11. This Bill along with a Welfare Reform Bill and draft Apprenticeship proposals is due to enter Parliament later this year. Both the Parliamentary Skills Forum and the DIUS Select Committee have Inquiries out on Apprenticeships; it shows how important this area is.

Finally, higher education, where in his speech to the UUK Annual Conference earlier this month, the Secretary of State confirmed that feedback from his series of reviews on HE announced earlier this year will be published in October and that another review group will be set up. The aim is get as full a vision of HE in the future sketched out as a precursor to turning attention to the review of tuition fees which is committed for this Parliament. The HE Minster has already confirmed that fees for part – timers will be on the table; undoubtedly there will be others.

Oh well, it’ll soon be Christmas.

© Edexcel Policy Watch 2008. Steve Besley is General Manger of Education Policy at Edexcel. Policy watch is a service intended to help busy people understand developments in the world of education. Visit Edexcel at www.edexcel.org.uk