Ofsted highlights curriculum contradictions

Anyone who wishes to gain insight into the profound contradictions underlying current government thinking on the curriculum would be well advised to read a recent Ofsted best practice report: ‘Apprenticeships for young people’. ( http://bit.ly/ICSXFr )

The findings of this informative report included the following:

·         A recognition that ‘young people who had previous experience of vocational training were more successful in making good progress with their apprenticeship framework than those starting straight from school without it.’

·         A strong emphasis on the value of work experience for school students and commentary on the incompatibility of this with a GCSE based curriculum. ‘Employers saw successful work experience at school as an important factor.’

·         A strong recognition of the importance of employability skills: ‘Most of the providers or employers did not see pre-entry qualifications such as GCSEs as a deciding factor in choosing applicants.’

·         A strong case for all school students to have access to high quality impartial careers guidance.

·         Some examples of schools discouraging ‘bright’ pupils from ending their general education at 16 to pursue apprenticeships.

Recommendations to government and schools included the following:

·         ‘improve the national availability of careers guidance on post-16 options so that young people can make informed and independent choices about their education and training’

·         ‘improve the local coordination of work experience so that willing employers can respond to more requests for such experience across a wider time-frame’

Now, contrast this with some of the DfE’s policy announcements in the last 12 months:

·         Accepting the Wolfe report recommendations that all 14-16 year olds spend no more than 20 per cent of time on vocational subjects

·         Cutting £200 million from the national careers budget and replacing a face-to-face Connexions service with a telephone line and website

·         Removing the requirement for schools to provide careers education and work experience

·         Giving the National Curriculum Review a remit that focuses on knowledge and academic subjects rather than employability skills

·         Drastically cutting the number of vocational qualifications that count in school league tables  

Considering that concerns about Ofsted’s independence or otherwise from government have been expressed in a number of places, it is encouraging to see Ofsted draw its own evidence-based conclusions. However, I wonder how this will inform future policy development:

·         Since potential employers clearly see the value of vocational courses for pupils aged 14-16 does this report not present a strong case against their marginalisation in the curriculum?

·         Since this report reflects the desire consistently expressed by employers for young people to leave school with a range of employability skills should these not be at the heart of the national curriculum?

·         Does this report justify the removal of the requirement on schools to provide careers education or work experience?

·         Does the accountability framework including the proposed destinations measure value schools which guide pupils onto apprenticeships rather than towards higher education?

·         Why has the provision of careers advice for school age pupils been left to individual schools when the case for national and local coordination is so clear in this report?

I am just asking……….