Hardly a day goes by without the mention of labour supply problems and skills shortages affecting all areas of the UK economy. Our country is witnessing a ‘perfect storm’ of immediate workforce disruptions caused by the pandemic and Brexit, overlaid with the structural challenges of retraining employees for the digital age. There is no quick fix to this problem, as it takes time to develop skilled staff. This will certainly be on the minds of all politicians including the new appointments at the Department for Education, which describes itself as the ‘department for realising potential’…
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Baker Dearing CEO, Simon Connell, featured in Education Today magazine, Feb 202…
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UTC Sheffield Principal, Alex Reynolds, featured in Education Today magazine, Jan 2021…
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12 November 2020 Open letter to the Department for Education and Ofqual I write from University Technical College South Durham, a specialist STEM school for 14 to 19 year-olds in the North East of England, in response to communication from OCR about level 2 and level 3 technical qualifications. Following Awarding Body discussions with Ofqual on assessment requirements for this Covid-disrupted year, we have been told that students are expected to complete all units as in a normal year. However, the real impetus behind my letter was a deeply moving conversation with a class of…
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UTCs are transformational. A much higher percentage of UTC students, from disadvantaged backgrounds, go on to university when compared with other secondary schools. As the most extraordinary school term in living memory draws to a close it is fitting that the final post of this series, which has highlighted the value of a UTC education, focuses on where students go next. UTCs provide young people with an educational journey with a destination at the end. What’s the point of getting great examination grades, or making substantial academic progress at school, if there isn’t the right…
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Changing schools when you’re 14: UTCs provide a fresh start for many young people in a supportive, smaller school environment. As well as offering strong employer and university engagement and a focus on STEM subjects, the other big difference between UTCs and most other secondary schools is that our students join at the age of 14. Indeed, as do schools in many other parts of the world, UTCs start at age 14 for a very good reason: to ensure that young people do not disengage from their studies during the critical final two years of…
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A number of measures have been announced today to help young people leaving education as part of the government’s Plan for Jobs 2020. The government will introduce a new Kickstart Scheme in Great Britain: a £2 billion fund to create hundreds of thousands of high quality six-month work placements. It is aimed at those aged 16-24 who are on Universal Credit and deemed to be at risk of long-term unemployment. Employers will be paid £1,000 per trainee taken on, as part of a plan to treble the number of traineeships from 10,000 to 30,000. The…
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UTCs support the local economies of which they’re a part. To deliver economic prosperity, our education system must meet the demands of local employers. And that’s just what we do. Local employers are central to UTCs: a mutually beneficial relationship exists between the two groups. Employers have strong representation on UTC governing bodies, support and shape curriculum projects, provide work experience placements and offer careers advice and mentoring. And, in return, they benefit from the talent pipeline of ‘work-ready’ young people leaving UTCs to become apprentices and employees within their organisations. Through this symbiotic relationship,…
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