05 September 2008
There remains a lack of coherence in education provision for many 16-year-olds, despite attempts to create a joined-up 14–19 structure for learning, a review of local provision has found.
The education watchdog Ofsted made visits to 16 local authority areas between April 2007 and March 2008 to evaluate 14–19 provision. It found that almost all areas had well established partnerships and a 'sustained focus' on reducing the numbers of young people not in education, employment or training.
The 14–19 education and skills reforms were first set out in 2005 to create a 'comprehensive and coherent set of learning routes' for students, including diplomas and apprenticeships, as well as GCSEs and A-levels.
The Ofsted report, published on September 3, found preparations for diplomas were at an 'appropriate' stage, with the first set of diplomas being studied from this week. At the time of the visits, however: 'Half of the local authorities visited had not yet mapped the curriculum fully nor developed learning pathways through from 14 to 19 for all young people.'
Children, Schools and Families Secretary Ed Balls visited Newham College in East London on September 3 to speak to pupils starting a diploma course about why they had chosen the qualification.
He said: 'I want to see a situation where every single young person has a range of interesting, exciting and challenging options ahead of them at every stage of their education, so that they never feel tempted to drop out or give up.'
Inspectors also found a majority of students in schools were given 'impartial' advice on the full range of training options at 16, while there 'were still substantial variations in achievement between schools and between groups of students' within some areas.
The report said: 'In practice, there was still a discontinuity at age 16 for many young people.'
A spokeswoman for the Local Government Association told Public Finance that the review's findings were encouraging and showed a lot of good work was being done.
She said: 'The changes planned for the education system over the next seven years are ambitious and involve the transfer of considerable funding and control to town halls.
'Co-operation with employers, schools and other education bodies is going to be very important in ensuring the success of this strategy.'
PFsep2008
