Drop in mature HE applications a warning sign for ministers
31/01/2012, by Paul Stanistreet. filed under Uncategorized; No Comments.The higher education applicant data released by UCAS yesterday will come as something of a relief to ministers who may have been bracing themselves for much worse.
The figures show an overall drop of 8.7 per cent among UK-only applicants – including a 9.9 per cent drop in England. Although significant, the figures are considerably less dramatic than some predicted, particularly given the spike in last year’s applications prompted by the announcement of the tripling of tuition fees from 2012-13.
The disproportionate drop in applications from mature applicants is, however, a serious concern and is one that ministers would do well not to ignore. It should act as a warning sign for ministers who have put widening participation and social mobility at the heart of their reform agenda in higher education and who, in their higher education White Paper, set out a vision for a more responsive, diverse and student-centred higher education sector.
Of course, as universities minister David Willetts has argued, it may be that mature students are opting for more flexible options, looking to study part-time or by distance learning – as part-time applications do not go through UCAS (and, indeed, as applications stay open to the end of June and mature students often apply later), we will have to wait to see the full picture.
But the drop in full-time undergraduate applications from mature applicants is substantial enough to start alarm bells ringing. In particular, it raises questions about the extent to which increased fees are acting as a deterrent to mature applicants who are typically more debt and risk averse and who often have to face juggling higher study with a range of other family and work commitments. No doubt, these inhibiting factors will have been compounded by recession and an uncertain labour market.
These, briefly, are some of the headline figures: While there has been a small drop in applications from 18 year olds of 2.6 per cent, broadly in line with demographic trends, among those aged over 21 there has been a more significant slump of 11 per cent. Applications from 23-year-olds are down 13.5 per cent, while for 24-year-olds the figure is 10.7 per cent. Applications from those aged 25 to 29 are down11.8 per cent, from those aged 30 to 39 by 9.9 per cent and from those 40 and over by 10.5 per cent.
Clearly, further analysis of these figures will be necessary, particularly around the impact on different socio-economic groups – and, of course, as a picture of all mature applications to HE it is incomplete – but it is clear that more needs to be done to improve our understanding of mature learners’ attitudes to loans, their distinct and diverse support issues, as well as to improve communication of the new loans system to mature learners. We are still some way from achieving a system of higher education that meets the realities of life for a diverse student body.
A drop in mature applicants would seriously dent the government’s ambitions for social mobility and economic renewal and sends an unfortunate message with regard to the emerging shape of the reformed HE sector and its responsiveness to the needs of learners who missed out on higher education the first time around.
Participation by mature adults could be further constrained by the introduction of further education loans for people aged 24 and above from 2013 and the ‘unconstrained recruitment’ of students achieving AAB grade or above at A-level, which will make it more difficult for mature students who have come to higher education by a non-traditional route to gain a place at a leading university and is likely to lead to a funding squeeze at new universities – the institutions which have contributed the most to efforts to widen participation on HE.
NIACE has long argued that higher education should not be viewed in isolation but as part of a wider framework of lifelong learning. Putting mature students at the centre of thinking about higher education will produce a more responsive, flexible and student-focused sector, that should improve access overall for students from non-traditional backgrounds. As Nick Pearce, Director of the Institute of Public Policy Research, has argued, the greatest steps forward in higher education have come when mature students have taken precedence in policy.
Ministers cannot afford to be complacent about the recruitment of mature students. In particular, the government needs to think hard about how it communicates its message to potential mature students, with regard not only to the information it makes available, but also to how it is used and what support is available to adults – who often have no access to either the formal or informal networks of support younger and more advantaged students take for granted – to make sense of it all.
Leave a commentWot, no Wikipedia?
18/01/2012, by Alastair Clark. filed under Uncategorized; 3 Comments / Comment on this.It goes to illustrate just how much smaller the world has become that legislation currently going through US Congress can impact on learners in the UK – and wherever people can connect to the Internet. And love it or loathe it, the user-generated online encyclopaedia Wikipedia - which is now regularly used by millions as a first-stop-shop for information - has today decided to close access to all of its English-language pages for 24 hours. This is as part of the debate happening across the world about copyright and access to materials, which has major implications for adult learners now that so much information and learning activities are accessed online.
Wikipedia’s protest is against the proposed legislation in the US which aims to stop illegal downloading and streaming of movies and TV shows, which many believe could also result in altering the Internet’s ability to provide a platform for free speech.
Rights-holders are reported to have been stunned at the way that their material has been so easily copied and freely used across the Internet and are mobilising to protect their interests. In the meantime the culture of online sharing for free has grown to the point that its advocates have made a political stand, and across Europe Pirate parties have gained modest but noticeable electoral success.
Of course those who make their living through the creation of content – be it text, music, video or audio – need to be paid for their work in the same way as farmers are paid for carrots and potatoes. The lines seem to get easily blurred, however, as professionally-created material increasingly sits alongside the growing body of user-generated content, which is created and, mostly, shared for free.
What does all this mean for adult learning though? Three things.
1. There is rarely a good reason why publicly-funded electronic learning materials should not be shared freely with learners elsewhere. Happily, the Open Educational Resource movement is gaining traction and increasingly materials are being shared using Creative Commons or Open Government licensing.
2. Rights holders should be protected, but not at the cost of easy access. Where there are legitimate reasons to charge for access to content, pricing needs to be affordable and payment methods simple and clear.
3. The tools and online spaces where some of the contested content sits – for example YouTube - have additional value for learners. They provide the medium for learners to post their own content as part of their learning and to share it with others. We really can’t afford to jeopardise the viability of these sharing spaces.
Communication tools and the ways that we access information are changing rapidly, including the ways that we learn. Having good access to information as well as to the spaces to share and discuss are important issues for adult learners and NIACE is engaged in the debate, which we are taking forward this Friday at our seminar called Open Educational Practice - making best use of free resources.
Leave a comment (3)The Skills Dilemma
12/01/2012, by Simon Beer. filed under Uncategorized; No Comments.2011 proved to be a dizzying period for those with an interest in skills, with tuition fees, the end of educational maintenance allowance, cuts to further education funding and rising youth unemployment all making headlines. The riots also threw sharp focus on employment and skills opportunities available to young people.
In March 2011, the Wolf Report highlighted a particular problem with young people taking poor quality vocational courses that lack currency in the labour market.
The Leitch Review of Skills (2006) initiated a process of change, moving from a skills sector centrally planned by training providers and skills funders into one led by employer demand. However, challenges remain. Employers continue to report skills gaps and local and regional imbalances in skill levels. Spatial concentrations of low skills have become more glaring in the current economic climate; as have local concentrations of high unemployment, in particular for young adults. Against this back drop, a growing body of commentators is arguing that the skills problems we face are related not only to skill supply but also to poor skills utilisation.
The Skills Dilemma: skills under-utilisation and low-wage work, released this week by the Work Foundation, is the latest contribution. It warns that the under-use of skills in the UK is resulting in lost productivity both for businesses and the economy as a whole. It argues that this trend could partly explain why the UK is lagging behind comparable countries in terms of labour productivity, despite efforts to improve the skills of its workforce.
The report shows that the problem is especially prevalent at the lower end of the labour market, where jobs too often provide little autonomy, progression or support. For employers, under-use of skills can be a waste of a valuable asset; it can result in a less motivated workforce, which may also be less productive. From the employee’s point of view, under-use of skills means little autonomy, responsibility or progression, along with the frustration of knowing one’s skills is going to waste.
The Skills Dilemma calls for wider recognition of the matter and urges policymakers to implement measures to begin tackling the problem. Among the report’s chief recommendations is the implementation of measures aimed at promoting better job design. It also recommends the establishment of a workplace innovation fund that could provide small-scale funding for skills utilisation projects and support for employers taking steps to address the issue.
This call for skills utilisation needs to be taken more seriously by policy makers. In particular, the report’s contention that any approach to skills utilisation must ‘take into account a holistic understanding of skills’ is one I completely endorse. I also agree with the emphasis in the report on the need for workplaces that provide meaningful encouragement, opportunity and support for employees to use their skills effectively. NIACE’s record of work that champions expansive workplaces and learning through work underlines this.
In the current climate, the likelihood of agencies taking up the ideas in The Skills Dilemma is hard to gauge. But as the report points out, a skills utilisation approach does at least carry the win-win promise of enhancing the employer’s bottom line and enabling workers to fulfil their potential.
Leave a commentAre we on the right track?
06/01/2012, by Sue Southwood. filed under Uncategorized; No Comments.There are far too many people with very poor basic skills in this country and the current system is not working for them. The number of young people out of work, education and training is at a record high (since records began in 1992) and recent research by Centre for Cities found a strong link between results in English and maths and youth joblessness. Last year’s Government’s review of vocational education, led by Professor Alison Wolf, recognised the value of strong English and maths skills. But will these proposals meet the needs of young adults and employers, and what else needs to be done? This is the focus of a NIACE seminar this month where Professor Wolf will detail her views and take part in a discussion with a range of professionals working to support young adults into learning or work.
The key issue at stake here is that, while no-one is in any doubt about the need to promote successful progression into employment or higher-level education and training for school-leavers, there is a lack of agreement on what curriculum will work best. Employers use GCSE English and Maths as a benchmark, but many still find that new recruits have inadequate literacy and numeracy skills; City and Guilds and others have raised concerns that Professor Wolf’s reference to GCSE English and maths as the ‘gold standard’ is ‘misguided’ and doesn’t take into account the importance of motivation in learning. NIACE has long-argued that motivation is critical and all post-compulsory learning needs to be meaningful, relevant and attractive for learners to engage and persist in.
Professor Wolf is absolutely right that GCSEs in English and maths are important ‘passport’ qualifications and many young adults may be missing out on them, but unfortunately not all young people feel the curriculum that leads to these qualifications is right for them - especially if they have become disengaged with school. Some young adults see the English and maths taught in schools as irrelevant to their lives and resent being made to go back and study more of the same. Also, those who are at the margins of society may be overwhelmed by the benefit system, housing and employment issues, their lives may be chaotic and their state of mind may mean that tasters and opportunities for informal, small steps to formal learning are more manageable for them. Policy also needs to reflect the diversity of young adults’ lives especially for those who have caring responsibilities, live independently with little or no family support or have children of their own. Making learning a priority for this group is a challenge faced everyday by voluntary and community sector organisations struggling with ever-reducing resources.
‘A lost generation’ of young adults with no appetite for learning and few choices in the labour market is not in anybody’s interests. The system isn’t working but the question remains, how do we best fix it?
Find out more about this seminar
Leave a comment“So, what will the new NIACE look like, then?”
29/11/2011, by David Hughes. filed under Uncategorized; No Comments.This is the question which I have been asked most often since I was appointed to the NIACE role. It’s a great question to ask and I will make an attempt to answer it, but before I do, I will share a few thoughts which the question provokes for me. The first is that my welcome into NIACE and in making the transition from ‘gamekeeper to poacher’ has been extremely warm and positive. I am grateful for the support I have received in recent months from all sorts of people across the adult education world. And I do mean across the world, with welcomes, offers of support and contacts from people in many countries.
This has led me to realise how lucky I am to be at NIACE. There is a lot of support for the organisation as well as expectation about the role we play, both supporting practice and being the critical friend of Government. We act as the interpreter of policy, retaining the long term perspective, providing the policy memory; we support practitioners bringing people together to share good practice and to learn from our research; we advocate on big issues when and where they occur and we speak out when things are not right. To lead NIACE is challenging, rewarding and enjoyable.
Increasingly, as I become part of the furniture and no longer the new boy, other, perhaps, more pressing questions are being asked: What can we do about the significant drops in adult participation in learning? Are you worried about the fate of adults who want to learn in HE? How do we address the 5.2 million adults who need entry level literacy? What can we do about the 8.4 million people who have never been online and used the Internet? What role does adult education have in the new localism and the Big Society? What do you think the impact will be of introducing Level 3 loans for adults over 24 years of age? How will colleges face up to the challenges of being more independent and of being even more accountable to the communities which they serve? I could easily go on because there are many more similar questions which I think need to be asked, need to be debated, need to be addressed.
I know that many people are now asking those big questions; my list might not be the same as yours, but most people working in the sector are worried about the future. Funding cuts do that, they make people worry and they also mean that previous gains and wins can sometimes be lost. My biggest worry at the moment is that the adult education sector is so focused on survival that the big policy and practice issues are not being debated and discussed enough. That’s why I think that one important role for NIACE is to help stimulate informed and open debate about the big issues in adult education. We will do this in partnership with others and we will provide the spaces and the intelligence where we can. We hope that you will join us and contribute to the debate.
I have also had many people asking me about the transition I have had to make personally in moving from the Skills Funding Agency to NIACE. From the outside I can see how dramatic the move has been, but for me it doesn’t feel very different. I am still fighting for the same things, I still have the same values, the same passions and the same focus…I just have a different platform and space in which to fight for what I believe in and have always believed in. When I joined the Learning and Skills Council in 2000 I was signing up to an organisation given the task of delivering a learning revolution; unfortunately I think there is still some way to go on that journey. At NIACE we have a simple purpose; to support and make the case for all adults to have the opportunity to participate in and benefit from learning throughout their lives. I like that, I believe in it and think most people in adult education are working towards that, even those in the funding bodies.
“So, what will the new NIACE look like, then?” Having been at NIACE for less than three months, I have had the luxury of saying that I am still listening to what others want it to look like. That is probably starting to wear a bit thin but also reflects the need for NIACE to listen to its members and stakeholders. I want us to deliver what you want, meet your needs, support your agendas because that will help us to achieve our purpose. NIACE is a strong and confident organisation doing great work but, it also needs to change. There is so much to build on, so many good projects, publications, events, campaigns that the change is mainly about facing up to the new environment. NIACE is now a lot smaller than it was a few years ago, but we still have a hundred staff doing great work and I am confident that we can sustain that. More importantly is how we use our resources, how NIACE operates.
A major part of the change therefore is for NIACE to be more of a facilitator, helping to stimulate and inform debate and bringing practitioners together to help overcome the isolation they often experience. Given the funding challenges, we also need to focus our energies on the policy and practice issues which will have the most impact in line with our purpose and we need to enter into strategic alliances with others to ensure that we can combine resources rather than simply compete. If we are to be true to our purpose we need to support better learning for all adults wherever they are learning: at work, in college, in the community, informally, and so on. We also need to be vigilant to ensure that we speak out for those people and communities who are not being given adequate opportunities and support to learn and to succeed.
By the spring we will have a new NIACE strategic plan setting this out and starting to set out what the organisation will look like. Before then I will be doing more listening and learning. Lifelong learning is great, isn’t it?
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