Policy Tracker - Keeping track of what happened in the world of education in January 2013

Little sign of a thaw here with 24 top education measures listed as still outstanding in the Government’s mid-term review launched at the start of this month.

Evidence of momentum this month includes for schools, announcements on A level reform and a report on EBCs, for colleges, papers on Traineeships and the value of learning and for HE, latest application and grant figures. 21 major Reports and 20+ key headlines this month attest to the continuing momentum

Key headlines from the month

• Free Schools. Restrictions lifted on use of buildings, plans for maths schools emerge
• Academies. 3,167 now open or in the pipeline including first PRU
• Maths. Nuffield publish latest report into post-16 variants
• EBacc. Computer science in but petition for others reaches Number 10
• A level. Reforms confirmed for 2015
• Careers. Education Committee report on changes needed
• ‘League Tables.’ Latest tables confirm evidence of the EBacc and Academy effect
• Teachers. Teaching Agency and National College prepare to merge
• Inspections. Ofsted order stretch and challenge report into teaching of most able
• Teachers’ pay. Government confirms move to new system from Sept 2013
• Wales. Minister confirms new Qual Body in place from Sept 2015
• 16-24 Traineeships. Government start initial planning
• 24+ Loans. Support funding and new materials available
• HE Grant. Down to £2.8bn for T/L but £5.8bn forecast to come from fee income
• HE applications. Relief as important Jan cycle figures up 3.5% on last year
• Postgrads. Pressure builds up for a better deal as numbers drop
• First class degrees. Up nearly 50% over the last five years
• Apprenticeships. Graduate frameworks to be developed this year
• Regional Growth Fund. Latest bidding round opens
• Education UK. New unit set up to drive export demand
• Unemployed. Drops to 2.49m, Labour propose new £1bn scheme

Reports/Publications of the month (in order of publication)

• Youth Index 2013. The Prince’s Trust undertakes its annual check on the pulse of young people and finds a slight drop in mood particularly for those whose job prospects are limited
• Coalition mid-term report. Still in it together, the Coalition reports on progress so far against its initial 2010 pledges and concurs that there’s plenty more to be done
• Unleashing Greatness. The Academies Commission reports on its inquiry into academisation and calls for greater attention to be given to access, accountability and the quality of learning
• ‘Towards a new Vocational Education and Training.’ Tim Oates challenges a number of current tenets in the VQ system and argues for greater clarity on preferred routes
• Technical Matters. Policy Exchange support the case for strengthening the UK’s technical-vocational route around an academic core with clear vocational routes
• Grant Letter 2013/14. The BIS Dept’s annual Grant Letter for HE outlines funding and priorities as the shift from grants to loans continues
• Traineeships. The Skills Minister launches a discussion paper on potential programmes for 16-24 yr olds not yet ready for employment or an apprenticeship
• The Graduate Market 2013. The annual stock take of graduate vacancies and starting salaries in leading companies finds graduate vacancies still well below pre-recession levels
• Towards universal participation in post-16 maths. The Nuffield Foundation look at how other countries manage to have such high numbers and suggest a new qualification might help
• What’s the value of a UK degree? The million + think tank tot up the figures and come up with an average net premium of around £115,000 over a working lifetime
• How to produce an access agreement for 2014/15. OFFA publish revised guidelines for all universities wishing to charge above the basic fee level
• Careers Guidance for young people. The Education Committee publish their report on the newly devolved careers system and conclude that a number of changes are needed
• 14-18: A New Vision for Secondary Education. Lord Baker et al set out their thoughts on an education system of middle schools for 9-13 yr olds and 4 pathways for 14-18 yr olds
• Reform of GCE A levels. The Secretary of State’s letter to Ofqual confirms intended reforms to A and AS levels now due to be implemented in 2015
• Key Stage 4 and 5 performance tables. The latest set of ‘league’ tables find EBacc achievement up but performance in A level facilitating subjects limited
• Government response to the BIS Committee’s Report on Apprenticeships. The Government accepts most of the Committee’s recommendations but doesn’t move on many
• Government response to the Education Committee Report on DfE governance. The Government takes on board many of the recommendations following the Dept’s review
• The impact of league table reform on vocational education in schools. A year after proposed reforms, IPPR find schools narrowing choice to ensure ‘league’ table points
• The Impact of FE learning. It really does improve life and job prospects for most according to this latest BIS commissioned research    
• International Lessons: Youth unemployment in the global context. The Work Foundation continue their work in this area seeing what lessons can be learned from others
• From GCSEs to EBCs. The Education Committee pronounce on the Government’s proposed reforms at Key Stage 4 and urge it to slow down and consider some of the concerns

Speeches of the month

• The Education Minister’s 17 North of England speech spells out some of the steps being taken to improve maths performance in schools
• Charlie Taylor’s 18 January North of England speech sets out some of the challenges facing the newly merged Teaching Agency and National College for School Leadership
• Stephen Twigg’s 23 January Policy Exchange speech lays out Labour’s approach to transforming vocational education and announces a review of work experience
• David Willetts’ 24 January ‘8 great technologies’ speech provides a progress report on the key technologies at the heart of the Government’s industrial strategy

Quotes of the month

• “On all the big issues that matter to Britain, we are heading in the right direction and I have the evidence to prove it.” The Prime Minister in his upbeat New Year message
• “A choice between extended misery if the euro survives and catastrophe if it doesn’t.” A leading economist with a lessupbeat New Year message
• “We want you to consider increasing the flexibility for those institutions that have shown strong recruitment patterns in 2013/14 and taper this away from institutions enjoying less demand.” The Government’s latest Grant Letter looks to the market
• “I could learn about veterinary somewhere else but it wouldn’t come across as well as hearing it from a vet with his hand up a cow’s backside.” A recipient to the Commission on vocational learning on why such learning is so important
• “Do they think Silicon Valley wants people who can understand calculus and linear algebra or students who turn up saying ‘don’t worry we can Google everything?’” The Education Minister defends changes to A levels

Word or phrase of the month

•  ‘Clunking and gridding.’ Maths techniques the Government doesn’t like.