Search

Franchised provision of higher education has been under the spotlight in recent times. Without shying away from the challenges faced by those delivering successful franchise arrangements, this paper shows how important franchising can be in extending access to higher education. The authors explain what protections need to be in place to ensure franchise arrangements work out for students. They end with clear recommendations to encourage more collaboration between franchisors, franchisees and regulators, such as the Office for Students.

In her April 2010 NILOA paper, "Opening Doors to Faculty Involvement in Assessment," Pat Hutchings called for institutions to involve students in assessment, citing the potential to increase faculty engagement. In Curtis and Anderson (2020), the first author interviewed numerous partnership experts in both the United Kingdom and the United States regarding student-faculty partnerships and the extent to which students currently engage in the assessment process. Findings from the study make it clear that there currently exists little student-faculty partnership in assessment at the program- or system-levels. Combining existing research on partnership and the expert responses from the Curtis et al. study, we present a framework, based on prototyping, for developing student-faculty partnerships in program-level student learning outcomes assessment.

This research paper is one in a series produced as part of the Cedefop project The changing nature and role of VET (2016-18). The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of how CVET is conceptualised in various international level policy documents and how it is referred to across countries. It discusses national conceptions of CVET, the providers, participation by IVET graduates in non-formal education and training (NFE), and participation of adults in VET education institutions in European Union Member States, Iceland and Norway. The paper describes how the provision of CVET by different types of provider has changed over the past two decades, discussing the main drivers of this change and speculating about possible future trends. One of the main findings is that there are many dominant conceptions of CVET across Europe and the use of this term is not consistent, sometimes not even within countries. [The research was carried out by a consortium led by 3s Unternehmensberatung GmbH, led by Dr Jorg Markowitch; the consortium includes the Danish Technological Institute, the Institute of Employment Research (University of Warwick), the Institute of International and Social Studies (Tallinn University) and Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini. The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) in Germany is supporting the project as a subcontractor.]

There are increasing calls for the UCAS personal statement to be reformed. These calls are based on the claim that the current personal statement gives unfair advantages to more privileged applicants within higher education admissions. While this topic has attracted political attention, there is much about the personal statement that remains unknown. Of the evidence that does exist, it suggests that applicants from under-represented backgrounds face larger challenges with their personal statements, and that this results in fewer offers from more selective higher education providers. However, there has been less attention on understanding applicants' perspectives and the specific challenges they face in writing their UCAS personal statement. This report offers two new pieces of evidence to address this gap: (1) By analysing 164 personal statement drafts from 83 applicants from under-represented backgrounds, this report outlines the challenges applicants face when writing a UCAS personal statement. Particular challenges were found on including an appropriate academic discussion, with 83 per cent of drafts failing to supply an evidence-based opinion about a topic in their subject area. Similarly, applicants struggled to organise their statement in an effective way, with 35 per cent of applicants struggling in at least one draft to write with cohesive paragraphs; and (2) Surveys and interviews with under-represented applicants. The applicants describe three main challenges in writing their statements: (a) the opening paragraph; (b) meeting the character limit; and (c) knowing what would impress the admissions tutors. Applicants tell of the large toll of the personal statement, with some spending 30 to 40 hours on it, which requires sacrifices in both their studies and their wider lives. Combining this new evidence and the existing literature, the report then assesses the case for reforming the UCAS personal statement by considering its compatibility with Universities UK and GuildHE's "Fair admissions code of practice." Four options for reform are considered, and it is argued that a series of short-response questions is most compatible with the "Fair admissions code of practice." To be compatible, these short-response questions should assess 'baseline' suitability for a course rather than being used to distinguish between applicants that demonstrate competencies above this. The report concludes with three example short-response questions, arguing that these have considerable potential to increase fairness in higher education admissions. [For the related policy note, see ED630778.]

This research paper is the fifth in a series produced as part of the Cedefop project The changing nature and role of VET (2016-18). Based on comparative analysis of labour force survey data from 2014, the report analyses the vocational effect on labour market and education outcomes, asking whether any advantages conferred by vocational qualifications in early career would be offset by disadvantages later in life. The report explores the functioning of the safety net and the diversion effects across countries, demonstrating how these vary considerably with the specific institutional structure of schooling and work-based training. The results indicate that VET graduates are potentially sacrificing the longer-term gains associated with further education in favour of short-term benefits. [This research was carried out by a consortium led by 3s Unternehmensberatung GmbH and including the Danish Technological Institute, the Institute of Employment Research (University of Warwick), the Institute of International and Social Studies (Tallinn University) and Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini. The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) in Germany is supporting the project as a subcontractor.]

With climate change continuing to be the biggest global threat, this paper argues that universities and colleges should take a leading role in putting the world on a more sustainable footing. Making use of the latest research and powerful case studies, the author makes a series of recommendations for students, staff and policymakers that would deliver a new approach, from changes to day-to-day operations to the core educational mission and civic role of the university. These recommendations include: (1) Redesigning the day-to-day operations of universities and colleges; (2) Reinvigorating the civic role of institutions; (3) Reshaping the knowledge structures of the university; and (4) Refocusing the educational mission of the institution to support students.

Decolonisation is rapidly becoming a familiar term in higher education institutions. Students and activist groups have helped decolonisation move onto the national agenda, backed by recent worldwide events surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement. Despite its newfound popularity, there is still substantial disagreement and misunderstanding about what 'decolonisation' actually entails. Using testimony from 16 interview respondents across academia, activism and policy, this report addresses the common misconceptions about decolonisation and recommends a series of practical steps towards its implementation. The recommendations include: (1) Get educated about decolonisation and end its conflation with equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives; (2) Reprioritise: decolonisation is both pedagogically necessary and academically rigorous; (3) Fund Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic (BAME) research; (4) Tackle discrimination, hostility and unconscious bias; and (5) Institutionalise decolonisation: create departmental roles and engage students. The findings of "Miseducation" demonstrate that decolonisation is both a vital and a beneficial next step for our universities. [Foreword written by Iyiola Solanke.]

The United Kingdom (UK) has dramatically increased the supply of graduates over the last four decades. The university system has successfully produced a huge increase in mass higher education over the last 40 years to meet an increased demand for skilled workers. It is one of the UK's most successful export industries in terms of attracting foreign students and is second only to the US in terms of scientific prestige. The coalition government's efforts to transfer the financial burden of higher education away from the taxpayer and towards graduates, and create a more efficient, competitive sector, have not yet materialised. In fact, the current system has almost no price variation and is almost as expensive as the one it replaced. This report discusses the costs and growth of higher education in the UK.

For much of the 20th century, British students were tracked into higher-track (for the "top" 20%) or lower-track (for the rest) secondary schools. Opponents of tracking contend that the lower-track schools in these systems will inevitably provide low-quality education. In this paper I examine this claim using a 1947 reform that increased the minimum school leaving age from 14 to 15. First, I show that over 95% of the students affected by the reform ("compliers") attended lower-track schools. Second, using new data, I show that for both men and women, the additional schooling induced by the reform had close to zero impact on a range of labor market outcomes including earnings. Third, I show that lower-track schools featured, among other things, large classes and a curriculum that promoted practical education. I conclude that my findings shed new light on the potential consequences of educational tracking.

In this paper, we survey the UK-based literature on school structures and school autonomy to identify settings in which alternative and more autonomous school arrangements can improve the educational attainments of pupils in the bottom tail of the achievement distribution. We also present new evidence on the effect of school academies on the age-16 GCSE attainment of students of different abilities up to 2009, before the Coalition Government changed the nature of the Labour academy programme. Within the UK education system, academies enjoy substantial autonomy in terms of management of their staff, taught curriculum, length of the school day and other aspects of their day-to-day functioning. Our results show that schools that converted to academies between 2002 and 2007 improved their overall age-16 GCSEs results by further raising the attainments of students in the top half of the ability distribution, and in particular pupils in the top 20% tail. Conversely, we find little evidence that academies helped pupils in the bottom 10% and 20% of the ability distribution. Finally, we find little evidence that late converters (2008 and 2009) had any beneficial effects on pupils of any ability. We conclude our research by comparing the experience of UK academies to that of US charter schools and Swedish free schools, and by providing some insights into the reasons why UK academies did not serve "the tail" as is the case for some US charter schools. An appendix presents Table 1: Academies and GCSE Performance--Teh Effect of Academy Conversion on Pupils of Different Abilities.

A strong VET system is increasingly seen as essential to overcoming the current economic crisis in Europe. VET is seen as a powerful tool to assist in balancing labour market inefficiencies, increasing youth employment possibilities, and reducing skills mismatch. Its inherent flexibility and closeness to the labour market place VET in a good position to contribute to a faster economic recovery and long-term sustainable development. However, crucial for this role is continuous and systematic VET renewal that assures its relevance for the labour market. This publication explores 15 European national approaches to feedback mechanisms between VET and the labour market. It illustrates the diversity of solutions currently applied across Europe and how they are embedded in national traditions and education philosophy. The study asks three fundamental questions: how inclusive are national mechanisms for feedback between the VET system and the labour market; how responsive are existing mechanisms; and how transparent? Three annexes provide: (1) Case Studies; (2) List of interviewees; and (3) List of experts responsible for the country overviews. Bibliography and references are included. [This paper is the result of a team effort reflecting the work of a research consortium led by Jörg Markowitsch from 3s Research Laboratory who together with Tanja Bacher, Carol Costley, David Etherington, Gerhard Geiger, Günter Hefler, Jelena Helemäe, Triin Roosalu, Ellu Saar, Auni Tamm, and Odd Bjørn Ure conducted the research and fieldwork and drafted the report. This work was carried out under Cedefop's service contract No 2011-0161/AO/ECVL/JB-IPS/Cooperation Labour market--VET/007/11.]

The four "home countries" of the United Kingdom are becoming increasingly different with regard to education policy. Nevertheless, they are still highly comparable as compared to education systems elsewhere. Over time, they have had a similar legislative framework (particularly in England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and, in a broader sense, there is a similar social context across the four countries. For example, there is a comparable level of inequality across many education indicators, with similar trends emerging in recent times. In-depth analysis by the National Equality Panel (2010) attributed this to the fact that policies most important for influencing distributional outcomes (such as tax and benefits) are UK-wide. In this paper, the authors take the opportunity to appraise differences and similarities in educational policies and outcomes in the four UK nations. The fact that England has pursued very different policies in the recent past than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland provides a good testing ground to undertake such a comparative review of what has and has not worked so well in terms of the education reforms that have taken place. The content of the paper is structured as follows. In Section 2, the authors discuss some key areas of education policy in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In Sections 3 and 4, they compare the countries in terms of educational performance and inequality. In Section 5, the authors then discuss evaluation evidence as it relates to key educational issues and the differences and similarities in educational outcomes across the different UK nations. Section 6 offers some concluding remarks. Data Appendix is included. (Contains 8 tables, 1 figure and 6 footnotes.)

Education is an area that is highly devolved in the UK, and the fact that all four constituent countries have pursued very different policies in the recent past provides a good testing ground to undertake a comparative review of the merits or otherwise of the education reforms that have taken place. There is, of course, an important policy context to such an analysis. Examining the performance of children educated in the devolved Scottish system in comparison to those educated in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has potential to offer a unique and valuable insight into the impact of Scottish devolution in a high profile area of public policy. When deciding whether or not to seek independence from the UK, the Scottish electorate will need to consider how a devolved Scotland has fared in educating its nation under its own terms--and hence how they might fare when taking ownership of other policy areas. In examining the key differences in attainment bearing in mind these differences, this report will help answer this question.

This paper is based on a series of workshops about innovation in teaching and learning in vocational education and training (VET) which the authors conducted in March 2009. This paper addresses some of the underlying questions that practitioners have about innovation. The paper is structured in four sections: (1) a comparison of the trends in innovation identified in the two research papers: Australia in one; the United Kingdom and Europe in the other; (2) the workshop task that practitioners undertook: to design and take an innovation to market; (3) the questions and hopes of workshop participants: hidden dimensions of "innovation" and of being "innovative"; and (4) thoughts on expanding the pool of innovative VET practitioners. (Contains 7 footnotes and 1 table.)

Digital learning makes possible the "unbundling" of school provisions--that is, it allows children to be served by providers from almost anywhere, in new and more customized ways. At the same time, because it destandardizes and decentralizes educational delivery, digital education is far harder to bring under the yoke of the quality-control systems and metrics that have been devised for traditional school structures. In this paper, Hess explores the pros and cons of input regulation, outcome-based accountability, and market signals as solutions to the quality challenge. In the end, he recommends using all three approaches in careful combination so as to leverage their strengths and offset their weaknesses. In practice, that means demanding transparent financial information from providers, holding them to account for student achievement gains whenever possible, and developing "crowd-sourcing" reporting systems to help educators, parents, and students identify the most effective purveyors of online learning. (Contains 14 footnotes.)

This paper investigates whether education weakens the relationship between early-life disadvantages and later-life SES. We use three proxies for advantage that we show are independently associated with SES in middle-age. Besides early, favorable family and neighborhood conditions, we argue that the genes a child inherits also represent a source of advantages. Using a regression discontinuity design and data for over 110,000 individuals, we study a compulsory schooling reform in the UK that generated exogenous variation in schooling. While the reform succeeded in reducing educational disparities, it did not weaken the relationship between early-life disadvantages and wages. This implies that advantaged children had higher returns to schooling. We exploit family-based random genetic variation and find no evidence that these higher returns were driven by genetically-influenced individual characteristics such as innate ability or skills. [Additional support was provided by Open Philanthropy and the USC Population Research Center.]

A White Paper issued by the Labour government--under Prime Minister Tony Blair--in January 2003 outlines potentially sweeping changes in how British universities might be funded and regulated. These changes would build on three major paradigm shifts and experiments in system building in higher education in the United Kingdom since World War II: the creation and subsequent collapse of a binary system of higher education that included both universities and polytechnics; a decrease in governmental funding and an increase in regulations; and the introduction of student fees into the previously exclusively government-funded higher education sector. The Labour government's new White Paper proposes both to increase funding and to diversify the sources, and more controversially, to allow universities to set their own fees. At the same time, it continues to rely on an accountability and regulatory bureaucracy, and incentive funding, to encourage enrollment growth and to expand access to underserved populations.

This document contains four reports on technology and further education (FE) that Lynton Gray and Ann-Marie Warrender prepared for the Further Education Funding Council's Learning and Technology Committee. The first report, "Main Themes from Learning & Technology Committee Press Surveys," examines three themes that were identified during a review of British press coverage of the role of information/learning technologies in FE: technological developments, organizational changes and learning applications. "Learning and Technology in American Community Colleges," which is based on materials presented at an American Association of Community Colleges convention, discusses the following topics: technology and teaching, distance learning, technologies and the Internet, and industry and student-centered learning. "Multimedia and Education," which is based on materials presented at an Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education conference, examines the following topics: technology for teachers, breaching the technological barriers, the impact of national initiatives, publishing and multimedia, and Canada's Open Learning Agency. "Learning Technologies in Industrial Training" explains the uses of information and learning technologies by a small sample of British companies in their own training programs. The implications of the four papers for reform of FE are summarized in a final section titled "Evidence for Action." (MN)

The report summarizes a British research project, part of a larger initiative on educational quality, concerning the extent of secondary students' knowledge about the nature of language, native and foreign, alongside development of practical language skills. The main study was an empirical investigation of the teaching of English and foreign languages at year 9 in three schools. It documented teachers' beliefs and practices with regard to knowledge about language (KAL) and the current state of year 9 pupils' knowledge in five areas (language as a system, language learning/development, language variation by use and by user, language change). The pupils' use of KAL in language performance and the relationship between their developing understanding of language and language learning were also studied. Results of another study were also re-analyzed for data concerning these issues at year 7. Overall, the project revealed substantial levels of KAL-related activity in English and foreign languages within the schools, and some suggestions of its positive contribution to learning, especially in writing. It is concluded, however, that given the fragmented and episodic nature of mush KAL work, its full potential contribution to pupils' development as language users is not being realized. Suggestions for improvement are made. (MSE)

A project was conducted to identify good practice in continuing vocational education (CVE) and the barriers to increasing the quantity and quality of CVE provided by universities in the United Kingdom. During the project, 6 research briefing seminars were attended by 46 persons, 13 researchers conducted case studies, 17 researchers conducted key issue investigations, and 21 universities participated in visits/seminars conducted by the project manager. The study found that all UK universities are committed to providing more CVE, tending toward more integration with degree teaching and research. Good practices identified for senior management include the following: staff motivation, effective financial systems, financial incentives, accreditation of CVE, and recognition for teaching. For CVE directors, these good practices were recommended: departmental coordination and information sharing, good links with central administration, coordinated external networking, and change management. Good practices for department heads were as follows: making CVE a normal academic duty and being selective about collaborators. (Eight appendixes provide the following: an extended project description; a project outline and methodology; lists of steering committee members, case studies, key issues, a list of related projects, and statistical data on CVE in 1990-91 and 1991-92.) (MN)

This study was primarily undertaken by teachers for teachers, and focuses on the potential contribution of global learning and development education (DE) methodologies to a core aspect of curriculum provision, namely writing. The aim of the study is to explore whether using global learning and DE methodologies can have an impact on pupils' achievement within writing at the primary phase. We also want to show how a school can build its own understanding, knowledge and skill base in global learning and DE methodologies in order to embed this work within the curriculum in a sustainable way. The study uses an action research methodology in one Primary school. In 2013 the school had received an Ofsted Inspection rating as Requires Improvement (RI), with a particular need to improve pupils' writing. The project aimed to see if global learning and DE methodologies could support this. An outside facilitator was used to carry out interventions to support teachers' ability to use global learning and development education to support children's writing. As a result, teachers made changes to lesson planning, teaching and the classroom environments. Impacts can be seen through reviewing staff self-evaluations of CPD, lesson observations, pupils' work, topic evaluations and progress/attainment data in relation to national age related expectations. In 2015 the school was re-inspected by Ofsted and graded as Good. "Rapid school improvement" was noted and within writing the majority of pupils were judged to be making good progress. The Ofsted inspector noted: "the school uses global learning (global education themes) very effectively" with the result that learning was "more relevant and interesting" with "pupils able to apply their knowledge and skills to real-life problems" (Ofsted, 2015: 4, 6). The inspection also reaffirmed that the school "promotes pupils" spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and British Values well. Pupils are valued and supported as individuals, while also being helped to see themselves as part of a diverse community' (Ofsted, 2015: 4). Appended to the report are: (1) Session outlines for staff meetings; and (2) Topic plans.

Creating a fertile space for debate and ideas in order to drive innovation in learning and skills is integral to LSN's (Learning and Skills Network's) mission. To achieve this LSN has pioneered a new approach to making learning work from classroom to boardroom--and created the Centre for Innovation in Learning. This new, independent think tank works with stakeholders, key thinkers, social entrepreneurs and practitioners to improve policy and practice. The Centre for Innovation in Learning is supported by a Foresight Group of politicians, business people, academics and sector professionals who take part in their private capacity and meet twice a year in a roundtable forum. This position paper reflects their deliberations on the big issues and challenges facing learning and skills in 2010 and beyond. It seeks to present a case, based on the varied perspectives of this group, for where learning and skills thinking and policy need to go next. (Contains 7 footnotes.)

This report discusses the most relevant issues concerning using student test results in OECD countries. Initially the report provides an overview of how student test results are reported in OECD countries and how stakeholders in these countries use and perceive of the results. The report then reviews the literature relating to using student test results for accountability and improvement purposes. Two general findings can be drawn from the literature: (1) accountability based on student test results can be a powerful tool for changing teacher and school behaviour, but it often creates unintended strategic behaviour, and (2) no test can be a perfect indicator of student performance. Drawing from these findings the report discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using student test results for accountability and improvement. The discussion touches upon four themes: (1) assessment design, (2) the use of test results, (3) stakeholder involvement, and (4) implementation. The appendix offers a more thorough outline of how student test results are reported in two countries--Australia and the United Kingdom (England) is. (Contains 5 tables.)

School systems aspire to provide equal opportunity for all, irrespective of socio-economic status (SES). Much of the criticism of recent school reforms that introduce accountability, autonomy, and choice emphasizes their potentially negative consequences for equity. This report provides new evidence on how national features of accountability, autonomy, and choice are related to the equality of opportunity across countries. We estimate whether student achievement depends more or less on SES in school systems employing these institutional features. The rigorous micro-econometric analyses are based on the PISA 2003 data for more than 180,000 students from 27 OECD countries. The main empirical result is that rather than harming disadvantaged students, accountability, autonomy, and choice appear to be tides that lift all boats. The additional choice created by public funding for private schools in particular is associated with a strong reduction in the dependence of student achievement on SES. External exit exams have a strong positive effect for all students that is slightly smaller for low-SES students. The positive effect of regularly using subjective teacher ratings to assess students is substantially larger for low-SES students. The effect of many other accountability devices does not differ significantly by student SES. School autonomy in determining course content is associated with higher equality of opportunity, while equality of opportunity is lower in countries where more schools have autonomy in hiring teachers. Autonomy in formulating the budget and in establishing starting salaries is not associated with the equity of student outcomes. Inequality of opportunity is substantially higher in school systems that track students at early ages. (Contains 19 footnotes, 6 figures and 9 tables.)

This paper summarizes the major pieces of education legislation passed in 1988 and 1989 in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The Education Reform Act 1988, the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, and the Self-Governing Schools Etc. (Scotland) Act 1989 will all transform education in the 1990s. In all countries, the prime legislative aims were to devolve funding and staffing responsibilities to educational institutions and to change the size and composition of college governing bodies or councils. This paper concentrates on further education (FE), summarizing each piece of legislation and briefly noting its effects on FE. Key issues raised by the legislation involve the nature of future college/authority relationships; future relationships among college principal, college management, and governing body; the development of governors or councilors; increased plant bargaining between college management and teaching and other unions; possible confusion in staffing responsibilities; colleges' responsiveness to clients' needs; the future of post-16/tertiary reorganization; governor and council or accountability; and the possibility of corporate status. (25 references) (MLH)