Bridgehead | Education PR

📝 A recent survey by the Learning and Work Institute has found that more adults than ever are engaging in learning - thanks to a growing number of “informal” online platforms such as YouTube videos, artificial intelligence and social media, reports Josh Mellor in FE Week. 📱 This year's survey asked a representative group of 5,000 adults about learning they take part in, their motivations and its benefits. It found that since the pandemic, the proportion of adults who mainly learned online increased from 47 to 63 per cent. Adult online learning came in the form of YouTube and TikTok (46 per cent), completed online assessments (40 per cent), emails (38 per cent) and social media pages such as Instagram or WhatsApp (24 per cent). 🗣 Though praising the rise of self-directed and informal methods of learning, the Learning and Work Institute's Chief Executive, Stephen Evans, emphasised the "need to ensure people have routes to more formal learning and accreditation where they want to and where that would be of benefit to them." Evans also called on local and national governments to "set a clear goal to reduce inequalities in access to lifelong learning and promote a lifelong learning culture". #learning #adultlearning #online #education https://lnkd.in/ejXt6-M3

💼 What was in the budget for FE, skills and apprenticeships? 💰 At the top of the list was a £300 million additional investment for the further education sector next year - though it is not yet clear what precisely this funding will be used for. 📈 The Treasury also told FE Week that the Department for Education would get some extra cash to support colleges with extra costs associated with the Chancellor's hike in employer national insurance contributions. 📋 Other announcements include an 18 per cent uplift in the apprenticeship minimum wage from £6.40 to £7.55, a £40 million investment to help deliver new foundation and shorter apprenticeships in "key sectors" as part of apprenticeship levy reform, and the introduction of two pilot 'trailblazer' devolutions schemes for the West Midlands and Greater Manchester Combined Authorities, which mayors say will "unlock more funding and extra flexibilities" for local skills provision. #budget2024 #labour #skills #apprenticeships #colleges https://lnkd.in/eNvjm8zz

✍ In a recent FE Week piece, digital skills consultant Julia Von Klonowski argues that the government must preserve the "essential pathway" that BTEC courses provide for young people to develop practical skills, particularly in the digital space. 🌐 Klonowski argues that BTECs provide a "lifeline for many students who, for various reasons including personal challenges and disrupted education need an accessible, flexible option." Though noting T-Levels are an "excellent addition" to the educational landscape, Klonowski suggests the "reality is that they aren't suitable for every 16 year old", while several difficulties remain in access, course requirements, and recruitment in the digital sector. 🗣 "If we want to close the skills gap, particularly in the digital industries, we must ensure that Level 3 qualifications remain responsive to the needs of all learners, as well as the needs of employers. BTECs are central to this ambition. They will help ensure that every young person can pursue a digital career and take advantage of the endless opportunities available in this exciting sector." #digitalskills #skills #btecs #tlevels https://lnkd.in/eccfjQhn

🏛️ The UK House of Lords' Industry and Regulators Committee has written to the Government today following its inquiry into skills policy in the UK to call on Ministers to ensure that apprenticeships and training programmes meet the UK economy’s future skills needs. ✍ Included in a number of the inquiry's findings was that the skills system in its current form is "complex, short-term, and lacks strategic direction, making it difficult for those engaging in the system to understand it". Though ceding that the government's planned changes to the apprenticeship system was in a fledgling phase, the inquiry also identified issue with the Apprenticeship Levy, skills devolution, and the "lack of opportunities for young people who do not attend university." 🗣️ Baroness Ann Taylor, who chairs the Lords Committee, said that the inquiry "has raised fundamental concerns that apprenticeships and training programmes are not meeting the UK’s future skills needs. We also found that the lack of opportunities for young people who do not go to university is of great concern. We look forward to seeing the Government’s future policy plans in this area and invite them to take our findings and recommendations on board as they flesh out their initial proposals.” #apprenticeships #skills #furthereducation https://lnkd.in/eat-BcSM

🎓 Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick has proposed the withholding of government loans for the "lowest performing" university courses in order to use saved cash to fund the "biggest expansion of apprenticeships and vocational skills programmes in a generation". 💰 In a speech yesterday, the Newark MP said that witholding student loans "to the worst performing 10 per cent of courses for graduate outcomes" would mean 130,000 fewer students going to university. With supposed savings, Jenrick suggests that the government could "expand the 100 per cent funding for small businesses taking an apprentice younger than 19 to include SME and enable universities to become new Institutes of Technology". 🗣 "We are sending people to university who would benefit far more from building practical skills", Jenrick told the Centre for Policy Studies. His plan would mean, he continued, "No drama, or excuses – just delivering the real-skills we need". https://lnkd.in/eBkQcE-i

📝 A new report by University Vocational Awards Council (UVAC) in collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University has emphasised the value of adult apprenticeships as "essential for growth and an area that requires investment", reports PBC Today & BIM Today. 👨🏭 Charlynne Pullen, principal research fellow at Sheffield Hallam University and author of the report, said that the current apprenticeship system provides "significant benefits" for adults and their employers at all levels and career stages. Though acknowledging that young people and those with less work experience need additional support, Pullen calls on decisionmakers to "not lose sight of the support needed for adults to progress, to upskill, to reskill, and to learn new skills at a range of points in their career." 🗣 In response to recent proposals to cut public funding for a number of level 7 apprenticeships, Dr Mandy Crawford-Lee FRSA, Chief Executive of UVAC, said that a reduction in levy funding for these apprenticeships would be a "major blow" to construction employers, the wider economy and the skills development of both senior level staff and those in specialist roles. "Given this government’s current focus is economic growth and addressing social mobility, it makes no sense to introduce policy that could undermine it", Crawford-Lee continued. https://lnkd.in/eSFCtj3h #construction #apprenticeships #training

✍ In a recent FE News piece, AELP CEO Ben Rowland argues that a proposed defunding of level 7 apprenticeships would be a "major mistake" - putting sustained economic growth and apprenticeship accessibility at risk for minimal short term benefit. ⚠️ Rowland suggests the "abrupt" proposals will have "negative impacts" on not just learners and programmes, but more broadly on the skills system and economy on the whole. "Sustained economic growth", he continues, "requires us to invest in tomorrow’s solicitors, clinical practitioners, AI data specialists, town planners and accountants as well as – not instead of – our future care staff, AI experts and green construction workers." 🗣 "It’s vital government ministers and officials – particularly in HM Treasury – act in line with their claim that skills are an investment into the country’s future: a small initial outlay in extra skills spending through their proposed reformed levy will see direct savings to the budget and more widely the country will enter a positive fiscal loop – greater skills means higher productivity, and that will rapidly result in growing GDP and tax receipts." https://lnkd.in/ejNJjG-7 #skills #aelp #training #apprenticeships

📈 Provisional Department for Education data has showed that apprenticeship starts grew by 3 per cent in July compared to last year, despite concern that employers cut training investment when Labour entered government, reports Billy Camden in FE Week. 📶 19,410 people enrolled on an apprenticeship in the month of the general election compared to 18,790 in July 2023. Overall starts reported to date for the full 2023/24 academic year hit 338,640, which is 0.6 per cent higher than the 336,510 reported at the same point in the previous year. ⚠️ Concerns remains, however, that businesses anticipating Levy reform are opting to withdraw training investment until plans are finalised - with repercussions expected for apprenticeship start figures in the latter months of 2024. Simon Ashworth, Director of Policy and Deputy CEO at AELP, told FE Week that "AELP members continue to report that some employers have withheld training spending in anticipation of significant levy flexibilities." ✅ Ashworth nonetheless reassured providers that the AELP are "confident that the reforms outlined by the prime minister at his recent conference speech show that 50 per cent flex is not on the agenda, and that there is no reason for employers to delay any apprenticeship spending this year". #skills #apprenticeships #aelp #education https://lnkd.in/ezcVZ8bM

✍ In a recent FE Week op-ed, Skills Minister Jacqui Smith explains how the new government intend to navigate the their 'pause and review' of the planned defunding of a number of Level 3 qualifications - particularly BTECs - deemed to be in 'overlap' with T Levels. 🏅 Though praising the "excellent offer" of T Levels, Smith nonetheless recognises the "need to retain other qualifications alongside" both T-Levels and A levels." Where the review identifies the balance of learner and employer needs within a sector requires level 3 qualifications other than T Levels and A levels, Smith pledges to "maintain the relevant qualifications" - despite the fact that these "may well be in areas that overlap with T Levels" - a change in approach compared to the previous government. ✅ The outcome of the review will be communicated by the end of this year. "This is an exciting time for further education because we have a real chance to reshape the landscape so that it creates opportunities for everyone. I am confident that this sensible and measured approach will help us build on the common ground that so many of us share." #BTECs #TLevels #furthereducation #skills https://lnkd.in/eH37mGMn

🤖 It's the technological innovation on everybody's lips - but what might Artificial Intelligence (AI) mean for further education provision across the UK? 🗞️ In this month's edition, we sit down with AI Ethics and Governance specialists Richard Foster-Fletcher 🌎 and Rebecca Bradley FCIPD to hear their thoughts on AI in FE: what the current climate looks like, how to implement AI ethically and effectively, and what AI could mean for the future of further education provision across the UK. 🗣️ "When it comes to AI in education, best practice really needs to be grounded in three key areas: transparency, ethics, and inclusivity." 🗣️ "The government must make a bold, strategic investment to put AI tools in the hands of every teacher in further education." Read the full newsletter here👇: