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Learning After Leitch HEA/UUK/DfES practitioners conference April 17 th 2007. Professor Freda Tallantyre Senior Associate Higher Education Academy. Skills focus. Poor at basic skills : 17 th of 30 in OECD Deficiency in intermediate skills : 20 th of 30 Better at HE but still 11 th of 30
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Learning After LeitchHEA/UUK/DfES practitioners conferenceApril 17th 2007 Professor Freda Tallantyre Senior Associate Higher Education Academy
Skills focus • Poor at basic skills : 17th of 30 in OECD • Deficiency in intermediate skills : 20th of 30 • Better at HE but still 11th of 30 • Variations between sectors (e.g. utilities v hotels and catering) • Adult skills • Economically valuable skills • (What about graduate skills?)
Stretching Targets • World leader in skills by 2020 : equiv to 8th out of 30 OECD countries • Doubling attainment at most levels • 95% achievement basic skills (v 85% literacy & 79% numeracy • 90% qualified at level 2 (v 69% in 2005) • Shift balance from Level 2 to Level 3, with 1.9 million additional attainments by 2020 • 40% adults qualified to Level 4 (v 29% in 2005) : 5.5 million more attainments by 2020 (DfES say need 45%!)
Funding responsibilities • Public funding per student has halved over 20 yrs in UK • Greater investment called for by Government, employers and individuals • Government concentrate on basic skills, market failure and social justice • Employers support level 2 for all • Employers and individuals invest c50% funding for level 3 • Employers and individuals pay bulk of additional funding for level 4 • “Portion of HE funding for vocational courses, currently administered through HEFCE, to be delivered through similar demand-led mechanism to Train to Gain”
SWOT - Strengths • National and sectoral coverage • University status with employers • Accreditation as a USP • Innovation and enterprise as a sector • HEIF infrastructure • Flexible pedagogies • WBL experience • Partnerships • Flexible funding (relatively)
SWOT - Weaknesses • Lack of strategy • Administrative systems • Funding systems • Quality systems • PIs and data systems • Workforce planning systems • Communication and marketing • Staff competence and capacity • Academic buy-in
SWOT - Opportunities • ASNs for growth of adult vocational qualifications • Platform of 135,000 more level 3 for progression to HE • 400,000 more level 4 attainments p.a. targetted (additional to 600,000 existing - 66% growth) • 145,000 immigrant workers p.a. (eligibility for support?) • Huge workforce market (only c3% current CPD market) • Expansion of FDs
SWOT - Opportunities • P/t, bespoke and flexible provision • Level 5 and PG provision growth • Service economy demand for customer handling, team working, communication skills • Leadership and management skills (41% managers hold less than level 2;UK spends less than any other country in Europe on training managers;NOS to be developed for management training) • Real LLL culture • Better informed and guided adults
SWOT - Threats • Demographic decline • Innovative pedagogies under-developed • Bridging gap from level 2 to 4 • Shift in power base to employers, intermediaries, individuals • Demand-led provision harder to control/manage • Lower unit of resource in T2G type mechanisms • Co-funding reduces guaranteed core • FECs and employers may be empowered to compete • Greater diversification and fundamental change in HE culture • Paucity of concept of economically valuable skills
Joint DfES, HEFCE, HEA, SSDA, FDF strategy • Prioritise employer engagement for all HE agencies in grant letters • Address Leitch growth targets realistically (5k, 10k, 20k in first three yrs), but moving increasingly in this direction • Support all HEIs in positioning to contribute to agenda • Build on HLS Pathfinders, LLNs, EE pilots, FL Pathfinders • Seek c30 HEIs or partnerships to support initial growth targets. • National credit transfer framework, to facilitate delivery of bite size and accredited modules, APEL, accreditation of in-company training • Amend funding (including T2G type mechanism), quality, PIs, data collection and other national systems to incentivise and reward this work • 100,000 participants in FDs by 2010, including more HE in FE • Empower SSCs to approve vocational qualifications (condition of funding) • Sector based qualification and credit framework based developments