After a torrid debate about Labour’s spending plans, Angela Rayner has indicated which of the Party’s education policies will make it into next week’s Manifesto. The Tories, themselves (at least officially) ditching the ‘austerity economics’ of George Osborne and Phillip Hammond, have continued to accuse Labour of ‘reckless’ spending. But as previous posts have argued, […]
What’s happened to University Technology Colleges – the 14-19 schools created by one time Secretary of State Kenneth (now Lord) Baker? Citing ‘academic snobbery’ for the failure to establish proper technical education in this country, which he argues has caused skill shortages and contributed to further industrial decline, Baker has established 60 UTCs with employer […]
This week’s ONS labour market data shows unemployment’s rising again. A slight increase to 3.9% in the last quarter (the number of people working also fell) but enough to suggest that the labour market’s cooling.- if not reaching full capacity (pay has continued to grow in real terms). Youth unemployment grew more significantly. Up to 11.2% […]
The government has just published another Action Plan (apparently this is the third!) for T-levels, now buoyed by the enthusiasm of Secretary of State Gavin Williamson ‘a former FE student myself’ for vocational alternatives. Having much in common with Labour’s Specialist Diplomas, there are some important differences. Unlike the post-16 Ts, the Dips started […]
Over a third of German secondary school students go on to a vocational/technical programme. Now, Gavin Williamson, the latest in what is getting to be a long line of Tory education ministers, has promised that UK young people will have even better opportunities than young Germans, by the end of the next decade. https://www.tes.com/news/gavin-williamsons-tory-conference-speech-full […]
