Consultation on Further Education

On 27 March 2006 the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) published the FE Reform White Paper. This paper built upon the interim findings of the Foster Review (see UPDATE issue 1) and sought to set out the reforms needed for Further Education to “achieve its full potential as the powerhouse of a high skills economy.”

This paper outlines a number of positive reforms currently underway, such as the development of Centres of Vocational Excellence and the programme of National Skills Academies (NSAs), as well as identifying a range of new measures to support and develop the further education sector. The Government is now seeking views on the implementation of these recommendations.

This consultation will run until 4th July 2006 and the ETB strongly urges organisations with an interest in this area to respond. Whilst we welcome that there is a consensus on FE’s potential to contribute to economic and social wellbeing we believe there is still significant room for expanding the importance of, and support to, this sector.

In order to secure an informed public consensus about the proposals the ETB would be interested in collecting the considered views from our partners. Organisations responding to this consultation can send through their representations via email to the ETB or alternatively contact us on 020 7557 6432.

The consultation document and response form can be found here
 

Genders in/of Engineering

Although the number of female engineers on the ECUK Register has been steadily increasing year on year women are still seriously under-represented within the country’s engineering profession.

However, a recent study by Dr Wendy Faulkner of the University of Edinburgh may offer a solution to attracting and retaining more women into engineering. The report highlights that “professional engineering continues to be seen, and experienced, as somehow masculine”. The report recommends that promotion should focus on an enthusiasm for maths, science and technology.

The ETB recognises these messages from our research into Factors Influencing Year 9 Career Choices, which found that children often have a misleading image of what a career in science, engineering or technology involves. It is therefore important for the ETB to promote engineering as a career choice that involves skills and knowledge that many people already have, or would like to acquire, and that it can lead to a variety of interesting careers.

The report Genders in/of Engineering can be downloaded here
The ETB research is available here
For careers information visit www.scenta.co.uk 
 

Research Assessment Exercise

Gordon Brown announced a shake-up of research funding in the 2006 Budget speech, which included the abolishment of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). However, according to new research published this month, this would increase the costs and lead to a separation between teaching and research. The Treasury's alternative proposal is to make funding dependent on winning research grants.

The report, published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), highlights two major problems with the proposed government model. Firstly, by making funding dependent on winning grants it will increase the time and therefore money spent by Universities on screening applications. Secondly, it will weaken the funding stream available for laboratory equipment and strategic development, which mostly comes via the Higher Education Funding Council for England and its equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and is based on the RAE.

The ETB recognises that there are some strong arguments for a shake up in the way funding is allocated. The fact that the RAE tends to focus funding on university elites has arguably contributed to the closure of many of the smaller science departments and, as highlighted in the Lambert Review, there is question over the ability of the RAE to recognise the value of interdisciplinary research and research of a more applied nature.

However, the evidence from this recent report clearly shows that whatever the failings of the current RAE it is important not to abandon it without proper evidence regarding its impact and without a proper review into the implications of alternative models.

For further information on the HEPI report click here
Copies of the Science and Innovation Framework can be found here
 

 
HEFCE research project

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is embarking on research into the needs of employers for information about the quality and standards of HE provision and student achievement.

In 2001 HEFCE revised its Quality Assurance procedures and introduced a Quality Assurance Framework (QAF). As part of this revision they introduced Teaching Quality Information (TQI) – to provide regular and up-to-date information about the quality and standards of higher education provision to key stakeholders.

To further develop the information available to stakeholders HEFCE set up a scoping group to develop proposals for the measuring and recording of student achievement (the Burgess Group).

This research project will assess how far the public information aspects of QAF meet the needs of employers and related organisations and evaluate how far the Burgess Group's proposals meet the needs of employers and related organisations for information about students' achievement in higher education.

The research team would like to hear from any employers who have recruited graduates in the past or are planning to recruit graduates in the future.

For more information about the project click here
To view the TQI website click here
 

 
New organisations come into being

The new Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network was launched by Sir Roy Gardner and will continue the employer engagement work of the Apprenticeships Task Force. The Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) has also reformed into the Quality Improvement Agency (QIA) and the Learning and Skills Network (LSN).

For more information on Apprentice Ambassadors click here
For further information on the QIA click here
For information about the LSN click here
 

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