UK Vocational Education and Apprenticeship: the good, the bad, and

the ugly?

Alison Fuller and Lorna UnwinTUC Seminar

November 22nd 2010

Apprenticeship within a Complex VET Landscape

• Colleges, private training providers, workplace-based training, combination of sites and pedagogies

• Qualifications - competence-based, knowledge-based, combination – high status to low status

• Young and mature – 14-70 year olds• Multi-purpose – skill formation, ‘participation’ and

qualification targets social inclusion, sector specific, occupation-specific

• Multi-actors – Government, sectors, individual employers, Group Training Associations, Apprenticeship Training Agencies, professional bodies, inspectorates, awarding bodies

Scale of Apprenticeship in England

• 5.2% of 16-18 year olds in apprenticeships• 1.5% in Advanced Apprenticeship (Level 3)• 3.7% in Apprenticeships (Level 2). • 25% in full-time study leading to vocational

qualifications at Levels 1, 2 and 3• Majority over age of 19 – ‘conversions’• 12 sectors dominate – though approx. 150

apprenticeship frameworks available• 48% of starts female - but gender segregation by

sector persists

Expansive-Restrictive Continuum

• Expansive - ‘dual’ characteristics – identity of worker and learner, on and off-the-job, skill formation and qualifications with currency, platform for progression

• Restrictive – accreditation of existing expertise/fast transition to productive worker, qualifications with limited currency

• Key issue – relative roles of employers and providers

Top 10 Sectors –starts 2008/09

• Customer Service• Business Administration• Children’s Care• Construction• Hospitality• Hairdressing• Engineering• Health and Social Care• Retail• Management

What works well?

• Companies and public sector organisations with commitment to workforce development – apprenticeship aligned to business goals

• Entry to apprenticeship flexible – caters for individuals at varying points in a transition/work/career trajectory

• (Some) Qualifications recognised for different purposes – labour market, FE and HE

• Workplace learning accredited and valued

Example: New forms of Apprenticeship in Creative and Cultural Sector - Manchester

• Intermediary agency (VisionMedia) - negotiate framework & partner responsibilities, secure funding, recruit apprentices, monitor partner responsibilities & apprentices’ development

• VET providers – design bespoke inter-disciplinary content, integrate content & work placements

• Employers – negotiate work placement, identify learning processes & mentor support, integrate placements & qualification outcomes

• VET Outcome – Vocational Practice & Social Capital• Employment outcome – positioned for freelance work•

Weaknesses

• Variable quality – lack of consistency• Competence-based qualifications – may not

improve basic skills or provide platform for progression

• Provider-led - failure to secure employer commitment

• Gender segregation – females in low-pay, low status occupations/sectors

New Developments New Challenges “Apprenticeships are at the heart of the system” (p. 7

BIS Nov 2010a)• Increase numbers - goal to increase 19+ starts to

200,000 per year by 2014/15 (140,600 in 2008/09)• Focus on expansion of L3 “In most sectors, an

individual will not be considered to have finished their Apprenticeship journey until they have reached this level” (ibid p.17)

• 2013/14 - Public funding for 24+ Apprenticeships stops, individuals to take out loans (p. 8 BIS Nov 2010b)

New Developments New Challenges

• Expansion of Apprenticeships needed to meet demand created by raising of the participation age to 17 in 2013 and 18 in 2015

• Goal to improve progression from L3 to L4 Apprenticeships or HE but,

• Mismatch between L3 qualification currency and requirements of a) HE and b) professional bodies

• Glass ceilings and ladders with missing rungs• Apprenticeship as final stop or way station –

challenge for UK and German systems?

References• DBIS (2010a) Skills for sustainable growth: strategy document, full

report, Department for Business Innovation and Skills.• DBIS (2010b) Further Education – New Horizon Investing in Skills

for Sustainable Growth: strategy document, full report, Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

• Fuller, A. and Unwin, L. (2010) Fuller, A. and UNWIN, L. (2010) ‘Change and continuity in apprenticeship: the resilience of a model of learning’, Journal of Education and Work, 25(5): 405-416.

• Fuller, A. and Unwin, L. (2008) Towards Expansive Apprenticeships, A commentary, ESRC/TLRP, London: Institute of Education.

• Fuller, A. and Unwin, L. (2003) Learning as Apprentices in the Contemporary UK Workplace: Creating and Managing Expansive Participation, Journal of Education and Work, 16 (4): 407-426

More info: a.fuller@soton.ac.uk; l.unwin@ioe.ac.uk