Education director of Edge, Peter Mitchell, discusses the latest
educational review and its implications for the vocational
education community. The Wolf review, announced by Michael Gove
last month, will consider how to make the growth of vocational
education as smooth as possible.
It is a major opportunity to witness a real breakthrough in the
establishment of University Technical Colleges. Mitchell sees these
colleges as a fantastic foundation for the review to base its
research: "An infrastructure is emerging, and it is my hope that
Wolf can build on it". These colleges, with clear routes into
higher education and workplace learning, that offer a new, exciting
model for 14-19 education.
It is hoped that the review will evaluate the ethos of UTCs, and
see the positives in their balance of the theoretical and
practical. "High quality technical teaching is a blend of theory
and practice that lets students keep their options open while
pursuing interests in depth. It is vital that the review recognises
this, bringing the best out of the combination."