Policy Watch is our regular policy update service, covering national and international developments in the world of education. We try to keep things simple, sharing the latest news and information with you through weekly updates, monthly summaries, papers and events.
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Although Parliament is in recess, that hasn’t stopped the flow of policy pronouncements and speeches. DfE published Sir David Bell’s review of the Education and Skills Funding Agency, and in doing so announced the removal of its policy role. Response from the sector has been mixed with some welcoming ESFA’s tighter focus, whereas others wondered whether an opportunity had been missed for a more radical shake up.
Apprenticeships took centre-stage as England, Wales and Northern Ireland celebrated National Apprenticeships Week (NAW). This gave policy makers the opportunity to make apprenticeship related announcements – in England, prisoners will soon be able to undertake apprenticeships for the first time, and in Wales £366m was pledged to deliver 125,000 all age apprenticeships over three years. Read the Pearson blog on NAW here.
This week finally saw the publication of the much anticipated “Levelling Up” White Paper. A mixture of new policies and previously announced ones, the White Paper does not include any new spending commitments. As you would expect, education features prominently as Ministers look to tackle geographical disparities and close widening gaps. New missions aim at improving attainment at school, with “cold spots” receiving targeted help, and increasing numbers completing “high-quality” skills training. In outlining what levelling up means to him, Nadhim Zahawi said: “I want everyone to have a chance to see their potential flourish…It is everyone’s right to have a great, world-class education and schools have a key role to play in levelling up.” Reaction to the plans has been mixed, not least because of a lack of new spending promises.
