Introduction

At the 2005 National Conference it was agreed to clarify some of SEA’s policies, including those for post 16 education. A considerable amount of work and discussion has taken place in the last two years, as reported in Education Politics. As a result, this year’s conference was able to consider a paper bringing together the results of all this activity. It was divided into three parts: A. Analyisis of existing provision; B SEA’s Vision for post 16 Education and C. Current Issues. Sections A and B were agreed by Conference with some suggested amendments but most, not all, of section C was referred back for further work. So this is where we are now.

SEA’s Analysis of current provision (as amended by Conference, July 2007)

A1. The opportunity to continue in education after reaching school-leaving age varies according to social class and previous attainment. School Sixth Forms (both state and private) and Selective Sixth Form Colleges cater only for those who have already been successful at school and usually only provide academic (ie. A level) courses. Children from wealthy and middle class families mainly stay on at school or attend Selective Sixth Form Colleges. Those who have been less successful and all those who want to follow vocational courses are directed to “Widening Participation” Sixth Form Colleges or to FHE Colleges, which are inclusive institutions and cater for the majority of young people in full or part-time education after 16. They qre, however, less well funded than schools teaching the same courses

A2. The introduction of maintenance allowances for 16-18yr.olds staying on from poor families has been one of the achievements of the Labour Government, but the participation rate of 17yr. olds is still the lowest in the developed countries of Europe. There is a major problem because many young people, mainly but not exclusively from the bottem two social classes, are becoming alienated from education during compulsory secondary education.

A.3. The Tomlinson Report sought to eliminate the division of the examination structure into academic and vocational examinations, catering to different groups of children. Instead the Government retained “A” levels and has encouraged further streaming by promoting work-based vocational education for 14-16yr.olds. So middle class children continue to be tied to a narrow academic curriculum and those from lower social classes are being pushed into a vocational direction even before the end of compulsory schooling.

A4. The class divide is even more clear-cut at post 19: 80% of children from Classes I and II now attend universities compared with only 20% from Classes IV and V, despite all the efforts to widen access to universities in the last thirty years. The domination of the middle and upper classes is even more pronounced in the old universities – particularly, Oxford, Cambridge and the other members of the Russell Group. The new universities have taken the lead in widening access to students from the lower social classes and other non-traditional applicants. Such students have also benefitted from opportunities for degree-level study at FE and HE Colleges.

A5 The distinction about the content of education between “academic” and “vocational” is at a theoretical level even more deep-seated in post-19 education. University education is seen to promote personal development and leadership qualities, whereas study at FHE colleges is seen as training for employment. The recent Leitch Report focusses far too narrowly on employers’ needs and skills training and ignores the need for general education for everyone, not just those attending university The irony is that degrees in law, medicine or accountancy are directly vocational, and on the other hand, both FE colleges and Adult Education Colleges have in the past been able to provide a wide range of opportunites for personal development for members of their local communities.

A6. Even within universities there is a class divide. Fees and debt not only deter poorer applicants, they often disadvantage poorer students during their courses compared with those whose parents are able to subsidise them. Most degree courses are designed for full-time study, but many students now undertake sizeable amounts of paid work during term time. This can lead to stress, missed deadlines and lower grades than obtainable by students of the same ability free to devote all their time to studying.

A7. Over a third of students studying undergraduate courses and over two thirds of those following post-graduate courses now study part-time, but this fact is rarely mentioned in discussions of higher education, its structure or its funding.

A8. Just as in schools, there is too much testing in many universities - too much graded course work, too many deadlines and exams. Especially for students doing paid work and/or with family responsibilities, life is a juggling act. Hours of contact with lecturers have been reduced and opportunities of informal, in depth discussion and guidance are extremely limited. . It hardly needs saying that students doing a lot of paid work have no time for exploring around the set syllabus or opportunity for mature reflexion, which used to be seen as a key benefit of studying for a degree. All the emphasis now is on getting a “good” degree.

A9. Many students still enjoy and feel they benefit from their courses but there is evidence of swelling dissatisfaction among some students about what they are receiving for their fees of £3000 a year. At the same time, university staff are stressed by trying to look after too many students and course work work marking is for some an intolerable pressure, especially with students being so over-anxious about grades.

A10. The key fact behind what is happening in post 16 education is that it is underfunded. There is gross disparity about what is spent on courses and institutions funded by the LSC (£3b) and the universities (£10b). Yet the universities are underfunded by international standards.. There have always been complicated cross subsidies between teaching and research and between different subjects within each university but such flexibility has been eroded in recent years by new funding arrangements forcing the universities to concentrate on demonstrating a high research output. Research-intensive universities have benefitted from this but even they claim that the funding they receive for teaching undergraduates is inadequate, especially in the physical sciences (hence a number of closures or threatened closures of science courses). The majority of other universities have responded to the new funding arrangements by increasing numbers – cramming the students in – but without increasing staff or support facilities. This has to have diminished the quality of the student experience.

A11. FHE Colleges have been very seriously underfunded for years for the range of work they do in comparison with both schools and universities. They have suffered constant changes in the steams of money available to them and the systems of measuring their effectiveness. The present proposals with their emphasis on competing for funds for training and skills courses, will limit their flexibility. General adult education, including EFL courses, is already feeling the pinch.

B. SEA’s vision for post 16 provision

B1. Access to education should be available to all who want to learn at any stage in their lives. Opportunity should be provided for personal development as well as employment skills. Britain needs a society educatied in human values as well as a highly skilled workforce enabling it both to respond to the needs of a globalised world community. As well as hold its own in the rapidly changing, globalised world economy. So provision must take account of the need to provide opportunities for continuing education, both general and vocational, and not just for young people between 18 and 30. Community and informal education must be funded so they can play their full part in raising general educational standards.

B2. Continued improvement in pre-school provision and a genuinely comprehensive school system providing for the individual needs of all children are a pre-requisite for the development of such a society. The dichotomy between academic and vocational education and the associated idea that there are different types of children who should be streamed into different types of education needs to be abolished. An all-round curriculum should be available to all children until 16.

B3. Because the current school system fails many children, mainly from lower class backgrounds, current post 16 education needs to give priority to raising the educational level of these young people.so that they can work and be included in society. Whatever money is needed for this, and for greater levels of social support through youth clubs and informal education. to supplement traditoinal educational provision, must be found.

B4. But the need to give priority to such remedial action must not hinder the development of wide-ranging and inclusive provision for all young people nor the development of continuing education in further and higher educational institutions. While employer’s views have a place to play in planning post 16 and adult education, the views of students about their educational needs should take priority over the narrow training needs of employers.

B5. All stages of education post 16 should be permeable and selection should be reduced wherever practicable. Artificial barriers preventing students entering courses they are capable of taking should come down.

B6. The establishment of Tertiary Colleges instead of the present divided institutional structure would make it easier for students to progress easily, but where they do not exist, planned provision and cooperation between all providers in a region should be directed at the needs of students in the area and not at the financial competitiveness of individual institutions. Some form of democratic accountability needs to be set up at a wider level than Local Authorities.

B7. The value of all types of courses should be recognized and the fallacy that only doing a degree is worthwhile should be resisted.

C. Current issues and SEA policy

Policies agreed and issues remitted (in bold type) at Conference :

C1. We agreed that both FHE Colleges and Universities need a higher level of state funding, paid for out of general taxation, but agreed to remit the wider issues of post 16 funding of both institutions and students for further study by a working group.

C2. We agreed that funding allocations should treat full-time and part-time students equally. This means that funds should be given for the number of modules or units being studied at post “A” level, not for the numbers of full-time and part-time students

C3. SEA has always campaigned for free access to FE and HE – i.e. we have opposed fees. The problem is that this policy ignores the issue of part-time students who currently pay fees, or have their fees paid by employers, unless as happens in FHE Colleges, their fees are remitted (something the Government is trying to reduce). It also ignores the issue of covering the cost of our call for a vast expansion of life-long learning. It is inequitable that full-time students should be privileged over part-time students. If we call for the abolition of all fees, how will the funding gap of both colleges and universities be met? It was agreed that this issue needed further study and that we should consult the NUS about the castings and policy

C4. It was agreed that in any system where some students are paying fees and others are exempt, the exempted fees should be paid to the institution by the funding council, not be taken out of individual institutions’ revenues (as bursaries are currently)

C5..It was agreed to remit to the working group consideration of the current FHE Bill.

C6. The Government’s recent Green Paper proposes making continuing in eduication until 18, full or part-time, compulsory with sanctions against non-attenders. The NEC on 12 May were unanimous in opposing compulsion, although welcoming the introduction of extra financial incentives and the requirement for employers to give time off for education – Conference endorsed this position. The problems of lack of motivation, which start early on in schools, cannot be tackled by criminalising young people for dropping out. SEA is proposing an wide-ranging investigation into the reasons for alienation from education by young people and the development of proposals for a school and post 16 curriculum which would keep them wanting to continue.

C7. we agree that the method of allocating money to both universities and other providers of HE courses (defined as post A level or other equivalent qualifications) should be changed so that the costs of teaching students are separated from research and the maintenance of historic buildings. Teaching costs should be properly covered allowing for the employment of adequate numbers of staff with time available for teaching students

C8.. We support the proposal to give some FHE Colleges the right to validate their own Foundation degrees.

C10. We are calling for the proposed changes in A level to be postponed.for further research and discussion

Issues on which SEA feel further work is necessary before we take any stand

C11, Exactly what should we propose about the myriad of FE qualifications.?

C12. There is a movement within the universities, spearheaded by Peter Williams, Head of the QAA (the HE quality assurance body), to abolish honours degrees. A university committee called the Burgess Committee has argued that the system is not fit for purpose. Should SEA take a line on this ?

C13. The issue of maintenance grants is a difficult one as explained at length in Margaret Morris’s paper in Educational Politics (Issue 85, April 2007, pp.11-12) What policy should SEA advocate?