Title of the slideSecond line of the slide

Title: Higher Education in Further Education, and the higher vocational education conundrum

Presentation by: Nick Davy, National HE Policy Manager

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideHigher Education

Question?

Is it appropriate and efficient for the state to subsidise mainly young people from middle/higher income backgrounds for ¾ years to study literature and poetry?

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideThe Spending review outcome

The imperative“The issue is how the higher

education sector makes its contribution to deficit reduction”

Vince Cable statement to Parliament 12 Oct 2011

The budget to 2015HEFCE T- grants cut (£5 bil to < £2

bil)Student loans rise (£3 bil to £7 bil)Govt capitalises its expenditureBIS total spending on HE risesUniversity income up an estimated

10%

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideHEFCE

Old regimeSame funding

ratesSimpler rules

New regimeDifferential priceMedicine £10,000STEM £1,500New C1 Price

Group - ITW/participationStudent NumberControl

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideThe HE Market: Students at the Heart of the system?

The New HE Market – Dynamism and Efficiency?

Market Characteristics:• Price - loosened, but controlled. Loans not Price• Entry- yes, but limited; Exit – unlikely• Profit maximisers?• Competition – mainly within a differentiated

market; heritage; continuing ‘cold spots’? More demand than supply

• Information – PI/KIS• Technology – Productivity – Blend/Flex/ICT? Regulator - HEFCE

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideMovements since the White Paper

Movements since the White Paper? HEFCE from Regulator to Overseer (BIS

Response to WP/TC) Marketisation to Liberalisation?

Places for High Achieving Students likely to grow (tariff)

Limited Growth for Lower Price Courses (margin)

Private Sector – unregulated until at least 2013 Possible problems with Access – Adult Level 3

Loans Evidence: decrease in part time applications Diversity – new entrants

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideThe Problem?

England’s economic/training problems:• Low level skills (Leach)

– Low skills equilibrium (Low skills work low aspirations)• Lack of intermediate skills (UKCES)But:• All the financial incentives – 3 Years Bachelors

degrees• Poor progression ‘structures’ from vocational

Q to HEFCE funded HE (L3Voc Q – 50%; A Levels – 90%; AA – 13%, including NPHE)

• Separate sectors – secondary, FE, HE• Under-used – Accreditation of Learning• Lack of diversity – 3 year degree part or

fulltime fits all

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideAccess/WP still a major problem

Participation rates of disadvantaged young people (Q1 and Q2) in entry tariff institution groups (OFFA)

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Higher Vocational Education and the House of Lords: A comparative case study

Weakness of (Higher) Technical Education:• Samuelson (1884) – weakness of technical education• Industrial Training Act 1964 – establishment of

industry training boards• Employment and Training Act 1973 – the establishment

of the Manpower Services Commission• Weiner – the anti-technical education English culture

(1981); • the ‘low skills equilibrium’ argued by Finegold and

Soskice in 1988 • Dearing (1997) – foundation degree development• UKCES (2011 2012) • The Skills Commission (2011)

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideHigher level technical skills: supply and demand issues

The Evidence:Supply - Structure/Systems: “Our study has shown that there is no

clear or simple vocational ‘ladder’ of progression to higher levels”[Connor H and Little (2005) Vocational ladders or crazy paving? Making your

way to higher levels London LSDA; revisited in 2009 – same conclusions]

UKCES has found that “19% of employers reported skills gaps in 2009 and that the highest number of skills shortage’s are accounted for in Associate Professional and Technical Occupations”

[UKCES, The UK Employment and Skills Almanac 2010: Evidence Report 26, 2011, p. 116]

“we are currently weak in the vital intermediate technical skills that are increasingly important as jobs become more highly skilled and technological change accelerates”

[DBIS, Skills For Sustainable Growth, 2010, p. 4]

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideCreating a more diverse HE system; supply/funding decides demand?

HEFCE Paper (Diversity: Opportunities and Challenges 2010/11): The major problem of creating diversity is a cultural one – the popularity of the 3 year residential Degree.

Some Potential: (a) Part-time (b) FEC HE (c) Accelerated/Intensive – but probably lack of demand.

But – Is it not a funding issue? Funding drives institutional behaviour and therefore demand behaviour?

• 30% of the £2.1bn spent on adult FE student funding is allocated to full-time students. (0.67 million students)

• A rough estimate is that over 90% of the £10.3bn spent on HE student funding is allocated to full-time students (1.1 million students)

[Corney/Fletcher (2007) : Adult Skills and HE: Separation or union?]

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideCollege based HE

Claims - HE in FE:• Deliver distinctive higher vocational education

[not entirely supported by Parry/Scott]• Short cycle HE; sub degree – HNC/D; FD;

NPHE-professional/higher vocational• Complementary to HEI suuply [supported by

Parry/Scott]• Local – lower living costs[supported by

Parry/Scott]• Access/WP – Localism [supported by Parry/Scott]• Local Regeneration – inward investment; skills;

close to employers [Evidence?]

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideNew?

? “ taking courses below advanced level and studying part-time. If too many of these colleges were removed from their intimate connection with local industry and commerce there might well be a serious risk that the nation's needs for technicians and skilled manpower generally would be increasingly neglected. The close local relationships that these colleges have done so much to foster must be preserved. Moreover, if the colleges as a whole ceased to be administered by local government there is some risk that the links with school education - which are essential if technical education is to provide an alternative ladder of higher education for boys and girls who are unable to follow, or are unsuited to, a sixth form and university course - will also be weakened”

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideSome encouraging movements: Supply

Where structures/ladders (supply) exists demand influenced?

Some contemporary data* on progression from Advanced Apprenticeships:

• From AA to HEFCE funded + NPHE [2/3 years after completion] – 13%– Accountancy – 50%– Engineering – 21%– Business administration – 19%– Health and Care – 25%– Children’s Care – 19%• Figures also available for L3 Q progression by

county/region

*Smith S and Joslin H (2011) Apprentice Progression Tracking Project. Centre for WBL. University of Greenwich

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideSome practical measures

Continue to support the expansion of cost-effective HE at non-research providers. (this will allow growth in numbers)

Re-examine support for part time HE Build on the apprenticeships pyramid for HA in appropriate

vocational areas. Address issues with HA – funding, transferability/portability

Develop a CATS for applied/vocational HE; clear progression pathways

Promote QCF at higher levels Support the credit of quality in-house company/charity

training schemes Create and promote robust APL schemes Integrate and promote NPHE – Loans? Allow student numbers quota transfer Ensure prestigious Universities meet WP targets

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideThe Medium Term

Some Ideas – and this is the medium term? Create a system of tertiary education not a sector-

Permeability between secondary/further/higher – A tertiary system: collaboration and competition

Colleges – key: sponsorship/links of academies/UTC; supply to HE; apprenticeships at all levels; HE

Use Loans and funding to support a diversity of HE deliveryand

Need for a cultural shift – long-term – Political leadership Promotion of the importance/status of the

applied/practical Apprenticeships/Higher apprenticeships Involvement of the professions – social mobility One Planning and Funding Body/Greater integration?

Title of the slideSecond line of the slideQuestions

Thank You

Questions and Discussion