Colleges have been placed in an impossible position. Bridget Phillipson should heed their concerns The post-16 educational landscape in England and Wales is patchy and messy. It is also unequal and unfair. For the most academic students, the expectation is that they apply to university after studying A-levels for two years. Currently, around a third of young people follow this route, and while by no means perfect, it is at least clear. The same cannot be said for the options faced by the other two-thirds. The reform of the other qualifications on offer to this age group has resulted in a worrying standoff between government officials and those on the ground. The introduction of T-levels, under the Tories, was meant to be a levelling up measure – to put vocational learning on a footing with academic pathways, equipping young people for skilled jobs and making our system more like the German one. Some of the new courses are high-quality, but slow take-up and questions about their suitability for some of the cohort mean that resistance to the phase-out of older qualifications has built up. In opposition, Labour signalled a willingness to pause and review the situation, in advance of the defunding of popular courses including BTecs. In government, however, the tune has changed. A decision about which courses will be saved will be made by ministers and civil servants by Christmas – in a separate process from the wider curriculum review that is also under way. Continue reading...

View Entire Post