UK Vocational Education and Apprenticeship: the good, the bad, and the ugly?
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Transcript of UK Vocational Education and Apprenticeship: the good, the bad, and the ugly?
UK Vocational Education and Apprenticeship: the good, the bad, and
the ugly?
Alison Fuller and Lorna UnwinTUC Seminar
November 22nd 2010
Apprenticeship within a Complex VET Landscape
• Colleges, private training providers, workplace-based training, combination of sites and pedagogies
• Qualifications - competence-based, knowledge-based, combination – high status to low status
• Young and mature – 14-70 year olds• Multi-purpose – skill formation, ‘participation’ and
qualification targets social inclusion, sector specific, occupation-specific
• Multi-actors – Government, sectors, individual employers, Group Training Associations, Apprenticeship Training Agencies, professional bodies, inspectorates, awarding bodies
Scale of Apprenticeship in England
• 5.2% of 16-18 year olds in apprenticeships• 1.5% in Advanced Apprenticeship (Level 3)• 3.7% in Apprenticeships (Level 2). • 25% in full-time study leading to vocational
qualifications at Levels 1, 2 and 3• Majority over age of 19 – ‘conversions’• 12 sectors dominate – though approx. 150
apprenticeship frameworks available• 48% of starts female - but gender segregation by
sector persists
Expansive-Restrictive Continuum
• Expansive - ‘dual’ characteristics – identity of worker and learner, on and off-the-job, skill formation and qualifications with currency, platform for progression
• Restrictive – accreditation of existing expertise/fast transition to productive worker, qualifications with limited currency
• Key issue – relative roles of employers and providers
Top 10 Sectors –starts 2008/09
• Customer Service• Business Administration• Children’s Care• Construction• Hospitality• Hairdressing• Engineering• Health and Social Care• Retail• Management
What works well?
• Companies and public sector organisations with commitment to workforce development – apprenticeship aligned to business goals
• Entry to apprenticeship flexible – caters for individuals at varying points in a transition/work/career trajectory
• (Some) Qualifications recognised for different purposes – labour market, FE and HE
• Workplace learning accredited and valued
Example: New forms of Apprenticeship in Creative and Cultural Sector - Manchester
• Intermediary agency (VisionMedia) - negotiate framework & partner responsibilities, secure funding, recruit apprentices, monitor partner responsibilities & apprentices’ development
• VET providers – design bespoke inter-disciplinary content, integrate content & work placements
• Employers – negotiate work placement, identify learning processes & mentor support, integrate placements & qualification outcomes
• VET Outcome – Vocational Practice & Social Capital• Employment outcome – positioned for freelance work•
Weaknesses
• Variable quality – lack of consistency• Competence-based qualifications – may not
improve basic skills or provide platform for progression
• Provider-led - failure to secure employer commitment
• Gender segregation – females in low-pay, low status occupations/sectors
New Developments New Challenges “Apprenticeships are at the heart of the system” (p. 7
BIS Nov 2010a)• Increase numbers - goal to increase 19+ starts to
200,000 per year by 2014/15 (140,600 in 2008/09)• Focus on expansion of L3 “In most sectors, an
individual will not be considered to have finished their Apprenticeship journey until they have reached this level” (ibid p.17)
• 2013/14 - Public funding for 24+ Apprenticeships stops, individuals to take out loans (p. 8 BIS Nov 2010b)
New Developments New Challenges
• Expansion of Apprenticeships needed to meet demand created by raising of the participation age to 17 in 2013 and 18 in 2015
• Goal to improve progression from L3 to L4 Apprenticeships or HE but,
• Mismatch between L3 qualification currency and requirements of a) HE and b) professional bodies
• Glass ceilings and ladders with missing rungs• Apprenticeship as final stop or way station –
challenge for UK and German systems?
References• DBIS (2010a) Skills for sustainable growth: strategy document, full
report, Department for Business Innovation and Skills.• DBIS (2010b) Further Education – New Horizon Investing in Skills
for Sustainable Growth: strategy document, full report, Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
• Fuller, A. and Unwin, L. (2010) Fuller, A. and UNWIN, L. (2010) ‘Change and continuity in apprenticeship: the resilience of a model of learning’, Journal of Education and Work, 25(5): 405-416.
• Fuller, A. and Unwin, L. (2008) Towards Expansive Apprenticeships, A commentary, ESRC/TLRP, London: Institute of Education.
• Fuller, A. and Unwin, L. (2003) Learning as Apprentices in the Contemporary UK Workplace: Creating and Managing Expansive Participation, Journal of Education and Work, 16 (4): 407-426
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