Aligning the Educational Systems for Economic and Social Growth

Charles Pickford

Director of Employer Partnerships

c.pickford@fdf.ac.uk

www.fdf.ac.uk

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Mission Statement

• To meet the demands of workforce development, business improvement and the knowledge economy, fdf will seek to stimulate, support and sustain employer partnerships with the University and College sector.

About Foundation Degree Forward - fdf

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‘If we are to become a leading knowledge based economy we must create new routes into higher education and new forms of provision….We have to develop new higher education opportunities at [the intermediate level], orientated strongly to the employability skills, specialist knowledge and broad understanding needed in the new economy.’

Modernising Higher Education: meeting the global challenge: February 2000 DfES

New approach

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Leitch Review of Skills

3.56: Concentrating too much on younger age groups could create further longer term problems for the amount and the use of high level skills in our workforce…As the Higher education White Paper stated, new higher education growth should not be ‘more of the same’, based on traditional three year honours degrees. Rather provision should be based on new types of programme offering specific, job-related skills such as Foundation Degrees.

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‘The Foundation Degree will offer a new vocationally-focussed route into higher education. It will be academically rigorous and will provide an accessible and flexible building block for lifelong learning and future career success, drawing together further and higher education and the world of work. It will be designed to be highly valued in the labour market and appeal to a wide range of students, including the most able...For students wishing to continue their learning, there will be the opportunity to progress to an honours degree with only one-and-a-third extra years of study.’Secretary of State for Education 2003

Integration of work based and academic

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• Employer led

• Integrate academic and work based learning

• Delivered to meet the needs of the employer and employee

• Provides access to HE for work based employee / students

Foundation degrees

Level 2

Level 6

Level 7

Level 3

Level 5

Level 1

Level 4

Foundation degree

Honours degreeYr 3

Yr 2

Yr 1

A - level

CPD

Professional qualifications

Postgraduate degrees

GCSE A*-C

Advanced Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship

Young Apprenticeship

NVQ3

NVQ2

NVQ1

Advanced Diploma

Intermediate Diploma

Foundation Diploma GCSE D-G

How do Foundation degrees fit with other qualifications?

• Traditional campus based, subject led higher education

OR• Work based, career led higher education

Both are equally valid - this is not a polarising agenda but one of providing appropriate opportunities for different communities of learners

Fd provides clear choice

Sarah

“…education would lead to life changing outcomes.”

“..I hoped that I could be an example to my children. To show them that if I could do it then so could they.”

“..has prepared me for the next stage of my life by starting me a journey to first recognise and realise my own potential, and then develop the skills to achieve it.”

“I feel sure that the degree will improve my career prospects and open up new opportunities. I used to suffer from a lack of confidence – I feel that the course has now given me much more confidence in my abilities and I take on new challenges with a more ‘can do’ attitude.”

Kathy Coveney, Tesco Compliance Manager

National growth in Foundation degree student numbers

4,32012,310

23,945

37,81946,779

60,580

71,999

87,339

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

100,000

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Academic year

Nu

mb

er

of

Fd

stu

de

nts

HEIs and FECs in England involved with Fd provision

Source: Foundation degrees: key statistics 2001-02 to 2007-08 (HEFCE 2008), Table 3

Academic year

% of Pre-92 HEIs

% of Post-92 HEIs

% of FECs

2001-02 26% 46% 12%

2002-03 25% 57% 22%

2003-04 22% 71% 41%

2004-05 38% 80% 65%

2005-06 44% 85% 68%

Sectoral profile of Fd provision

Type of institution deliveringFd courses

Who teaches Foundation degree students?

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• In depth analysis of employers needs• National Fd Framework Specifications• Characterising work based learning by sector

and setting• Developing employer led consortia• Establishing networks of specialist providers• Accreditation of employer based training• Developing blended learning solutions• Redesigning the curriculum to support

progression from and in the workplace• Information Advice and Guidance• Reaching the SME business community

Underpinning fdf strategies

• ICT and Telecoms

• Retail

• Travel and Tourism

• Utilities

• Bio-pharmacy

• Aircraft Maintenance

Employer led consortia

• Recognised business need• Commitment from HE providers• Existing solutions not fit for purpose• Look beyond self interest• Organisational and individual capacity• Leadership and ambition• Not wedded to historical practice• Pragmatic and solutions driven• Looking to meet current and future needs

Characteristics of employer led consortia

• Fully captures higher level workplace training

• Provides HE credits and / or incorporation into an HE award

• Delivered via highly skilled facilitators

• 119 engagements with employers

• Provides a methodology for institutions

• Community of practice (30+ institutions)

Employer Based Training Accreditation – The ebta service

‘By formally recognising the knowledge that our managers already had…, underpinning their knowledge with formal learning, comparing Booths’ business practices with other retailers and considering current industry initiatives our aim was to increase the awareness, motivation and confidence of our managers’.

Therese Edmunds – Training Manager

Booths

‘The accreditation process in which fdf and EBTA have played a significantly supportive and guiding role has added value to Booths’ existing programmes as well as providing a route onto the Fd, blending different learning philosophies and building on existing processes and structures in a highly cost effective manner.’

Therese Edmunds – Training Manager

Booths

Jobs of the Future

• It is clear that as a knowledge economy, the UK will increasingly compete based on the commercial value of its ideas and the higher-level skills of its people

• As key drivers of social mobility, education, skills and lifelong learning give people the tools they need to progress

Source Jobs of the Future, Cabinet Office, Sept 09

• For individuals, skills are the currency from the economies of the past to the economies of the future

• How do we stimulate and then respond to demand from individuals to raise their skills?

• What is the role for Universities and Colleges?

What next

Non-participation in higher education 1

No single agency has the widening of participation in HE across the life course as its core mission

There is untapped need for professional information, advice and guidance for adults across the life course

The 'potentially recruitable' usually see little need to participate in HE The potential benefits of

HE need to be made more apparent to this group

Non-participation in higher education 2

HE experiences within social networks shape the perceptions of 'potentially recruitable' adults across and within generations

Identification with 'people like me' in HE in terms of education, social and employment background influences decision-making across and within generations

Fuller et al. (2008) Non-Participation in higher education. TLRP

Non-participation in higher education 3

There is an appetite for high quality, work-based and employer-supported provision, and for recognised qualifications that offer adults tangible returns

If more employers were to make this sort of provision available, the latent employee demand (6 Million adults with Level 3 qualifications) could be released

Charles Pickford

Director of Employer Partnerships

c.pickford@fdf.ac.uk

www.fdf.ac.uk