England

For the information relevant to Re.ViCa see England from Re.ViCa.

By Nick Jeans, Sero and and Giles Pepler, Sero

For entities in England see Category:England:Category:England] - and also see Category:United Kingdom.

For an overview of the four home nations of the UK see United Kingdom.

Partners situated in England

• Sero Consulting
• School of Education, University of Leeds

England in a nutshell

England is the largest of the four "home nations" of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom is a political union of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In the much longer term the total or partial break-up of this union appears inevitable to some commentators but the best evidence is that such a discontinuity is still some years ahead, and further ahead than it was, given the recent global recession. However, already (as in Canada) the various education systems in the four home nations of the UK are significantly different and getting more so. Even the authoritative OECD finds it impossible to provide unified reports on some aspects of the UK educational system.

The population of England is 53 million. The capital city is London - also the capital of the United Kingdom.

For more details on England see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England

Education in England

Since it is considerably larger in population than the others combined it is common for observers to equate England with the United Kingdom. In the realm of education, this is a mistake - one has to analyse the constituent home nations.

Schools in England

Children must attend school from the ages of 5 until 16. However they will soon have to be in some form of compulsory education or training (at school, college or university) until 19. There are three levels of school education: primary, secondary and tertiary.

Although many children attend publicly funded schools, private schools also exist and cater for a percentage of the population. State schools are free, while independent ‘public’ schools charge fees. State schools educate more than 90% of English pupils, with 7% in independent schools, rising to more than 18% of 16+ pupils. The pupil/teacher ratio in Independent schools is 9.4:1. This compares with a ratio of 16.9:1 for maintained mainstream state schools.

Pre-school in England is relatively unregulated, and is not compulsory. The first exposure many children have to learn with others outside of traditional parenting is day care or a local government run playgroup. This type of activity is not generally considered schooling. Pre-school education is separate from primary school. Pre-schools are usually run by local councils, community groups or private organizations and pre-school is offered to three- to five-year-olds.

Primary schools cover years 1 to 6 (11 years old), with the emphasis on developing English language and literacy skills, numeracy and basic mathematics as well as health and creative activities. In a decreasing number of areas the primary stage is taken in separate infant schools (years 1-3) and junior schools (years 4-6).

Secondary schools cover year 7 (11 years old) to year 11 (16 years old), with many of them catering for general advanced level education for the 16-18 age group (years 12 & 13). Core subjects are taught for the first two years and a selection of electives are introduced thereafter, culminating in the main public examinations (GCSEs) which are normally taken in year 11 at age 16. Pupils may leave secondary schools at this time or continue to study at schools, sixth form colleges or further education colleges for A levels. Students generally need at least 5 A*-C GCSE Grades, including English and Mathematics as a prerequiste to start A-levels.

A small number of local authority areas still have Middle Schools for 9-13 year olds and another minority organisational variant is separate Junior High (11-14 year olds) and Upper Schools (14-18 years).

Primary education

Most children in England start school during the academic year that they are going to be five. In Primary education the emphasis is on developing English language and literacy skills, numeracy and basic mathematics. Students progress to secondary education at the completion of primary schooling without any examinations, but throughout both primary and secondary phases there are formative National Curriculum assessments, colloquially known as SATs, used to measure the attainment of children attending maintained schools in England. They comprise a mixture of teacher-led and test-based assessment depending on the age of the pupils.

Secondary education

Secondary education is from year 7 (11 years old) to year 11 (16 years old). Core subjects are taught for the first two years and a selection of electives are introduced thereafter, culminating in GCSEs. Pupils may leave secondary schools at this time or continue to study for A levels, though not all secondary schools offer this option. Students generally need at least 5 A*-C GCSE Grades, including English and Mathematics as a prerequiste to start A-levels.

A minority of pupils - generally the less academically able - may undertake part of their secondary programme in further education colleges in years 10 and 11.

The post-compulsory level

General upper secondary education

A-levels are part of the tertiary Further Education process, but often studied at secondary schools. A-levels can be studied by students in Years 12 and 13 in a Sixth Form institution, as an optional part of secondary school. This is an integrated part of a Secondary Education institution in many areas of the country, while others have separate Sixth Form Colleges - this is normally done as a direct continuation of the secondary education process and hence most students study for the qualification from ages 16 to 18.

The term Sixth Form has been retained as a vestige of the old system and is used as a collective term for years 12 and 13. The first five years of English secondary schooling were previously known as forms.

Sixth form education is not compulsory in England and Wales; however, university entrance normally requires at least 3 A-level qualifications, and perhaps one AS-level.

It is also possible for students to take A Level programmes in further education colleges - see Further Education & Sixth Form Colleges below.

Vocational education

Whilst a small amount of vocational education takes place in schools, the vast majority is provided by further education colleges and training providers. See the entries for 14-19 Univesity Technical Colleges and Further education: Curriculum below.

14-19 University Technical Colleges

The 14-19 year age range has been the focus of much curriculum reform (both attempted and partially implemented) during the early years of this century, although the end of compulsory schooling at 16 cuts across this age band. The most recent attempt to focus on this age group has been the introduction of University Technical Colleges (UTCs). So far (mid-2012) only three are in existence, with a further 25 approved for starts in 2012-2014 and further increased numbers promised over the next 4-5 years. It seems likely that the UTC curriculum will be centred around a mixture of 14-19 Diplomas and traditional GCSEs and GCE A Levels.

Further and higher education

Further education in England is provided by FE colleges and work-based training providers. Colleges in the English further education sector are grouped in five categories: General Further Education Colleges (GFE); Sixth Form Colleges (SFC); land-based Colleges (AHC); art, design and performing arts Colleges (ADPAC); special designated Colleges (SD). Many of these colleges also provide work-based vocational training programmes.

Higher education is provided by Universities, University Colleges, Colleges of Education and also in more than half the GFE colleges.

Universities in England

Since it is considerably larger in population than the others combined it is common for observers to equate England with the United Kingdom. In the realm of education, this is a mistake - one has to analyse the constituent home nations.

England is the most complex of the home nations with well over 100 institutions which are universities or of university status and in receipt of HEFCE funding. Only one institution is fully private (University of Buckingham) but all universities seek to maximise their income from other than state sources. In addition some 200 colleges also receive some funds from HEFCE for teaching university-level courses and 29 of these belong to the “Mixed Economy Group” of FE-HE colleges.

Below is a list of 18 which are better known for large-scale e-learning implementation or significant activity (including research) related to this.

• University of Bolton
• University of Cambridge
• Canterbury Christ Church University
• University of Derby
• University of Leicester
• University of Liverpool
• Institute of Education
• Middlesex University
• Northumbria University
• University of Nottingham
• Open University
• University of Oxford
• Oxford Brookes University
• Sheffield Hallam University
• University of Southampton
• Staffordshire University
• University of Wolverhampton
• University of Worcester

For those who want to check against more "official" lists, Universities UK (UUK), the Association of UK universities, has 132 members, but this includes some university colleges also. The HERO web site at http://www.hero.ac.uk/uk/universities___colleges/index.cfm also links to all universities and colleges.

University Colleges

As noted in Wikipedia, the term "university college" is used in a number of countries to denote institutions that provide tertiary education but do not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. Precise usage varies between countries.

In the UK the situation is confused, but not identical to the general situation. Typically, university colleges are independent institutions which are too small to be counted as universities and usually also have some restriction on their ability to grant the full range of degrees especially research degrees (doctorates). In the past, as university colleges grew and developed in sophistication and competence, they tended to become approved as universities - this process is ongoing.

(By tradition, some prestigous institutions that are or were part of the University of London are also called "University College". These are covered above.)

At present (due to many having been upgraded recently) there is a historically low number of university colleges in the UK. Although several are active in e-learning and took part in the UK benchmarking exercise, none are currently engaged in large-scale e-learning activity. Among those of most relevance longer-term are:

• University College for the Creative Arts (at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester)
• University College Falmouth
• St Mary's University College, Twickenham, London
• University College Plymouth St Mark & St John

The links given are to their benchmarking activities on the UK wiki covering e-learning.

Colleges of higher education

In the typical British way, there is no definition of a "college of higher education". However, in general terms they consist of institutions which are small and specialised and which do not award their own degrees - but in the typical British way this rule is only a guideline. Areas of specialisation are usually one or more of music, dance, drama, art, teacher training, theology, agriculture or nautical studies.

A very few are innovative in e-learning, but not many. Examples of those who are include:

• Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication

Further Education & Sixth Form Colleges in England

There are currently (April 2011) 351 Colleges in the England further education sector. Just under twenty years ago there were around 450 but since 1993, when these colleges were removed from direct local authority control and became autonomous institutions incorporated by Act of Parliament, mergers and closures [mainly the former] have reduced their numbers by over 20%.

Colleges in the English further education sector are grouped in five categories:

• 227 General Further Education Colleges (GFE)
• 94 Sixth Form Colleges (SFC)
• 16 land-based Colleges (AHC)
• 4 art, design and performing arts Colleges (ADPAC)
• 10 special designated Colleges (SD)

GFE colleges largely provide vocational education and training for the 16+ age group and training for businesses. Most (but not all) provide some general education courses at GCSE and A/AS Level; many provide limited vocational training for 14-16 year olds by arrangement with local secondary schools and the majority provide some higher education courses in partnership with universities. A small number have contracts to provide prison education, but with internet access restricted in penal institutions, the opportunities for virtual education are limited. Both in size (measured by annual budgets) and numbers of institutions, they form the largest part of the further education sector. Annual enrolments are mostly in the range of 10000-20000 learners; some rural colleges are considerably smaller and the largest few have up to 50000 enrolments per annum. The majority of learners are aged 16-24.

Sixth Form Colleges (SFC) are much more like extensions of schools beyond the compulsory phase. They provide largely academic courses (GCSE and A/AS Level) in preparation for university entrance. Some provide a limited range of vocational courses and adult education programmes, but the bulk of their student population consists of 16-18 year olds, studying full time. They range in size from 650 learners (the smallest) up to 2500, with the majority in the 1000-1750 range.

The sixteen land-based colleges (AHC) focus on vocational training for land-based industries and recreational management, largely, but not exclusively, in the sectots of agriculture, horticulture, equine studies and land and recreation management (e.g. farm management, forestry and golf courses). Most of them include some higher education courses in their portfolio and undertake some distance learning, often with international students. They range in size from around 500 to 3000 annual enrolments, with the largest contingent in the age range 16-24.

The four ADPAC colleges are specialist colleges, focusing on vocational training in art, design and performing arts, although, confusingly, not all cover all three sectors. They are more akin to small specialised FE colleges than other parts of the sector. They are small in size (smaller than most SFCs) and the majority of 16-24 year old students will be preparing for further vocational training.

The 10 Special Designated Institutions (SD) are largely colleges of adult education, and although they do contain a small number of students under 21 years old, they are relatively peripheral to VISCED.

In addition to the 351 colleges described above, there are some 70 independent colleges which provide learning and vocational training to people with physical and learning disabilities. The majority of their students are aged 16-24 and the colleges are members of NATSPEC, the national association of specialist independent colleges. Many of these (e.g. National Star College have pioneered online learning and virtual education for youg people with disabilities.

Training Providers

Although GFE colleges deliver much vocational training for young people, a significant amount is also delivered by private training providers. These range in size from small, locally based organisations offering 100 training places or less, to large national companies offering over 1000 training places annually. Their 'trade' organisation is the Association of Employment & Learning Providers (AELP) - the linked website gives further details of membership and programmes. These private training providers specialise in offering Apprenticeships.

Education reform

The past twenty years have seen a continuing flurry of changes to all parts of the English education system, most notably in schools and further education. By the early 1990s the vast majority of secondary schools were non-selective comprehensives (though there remained wide variation in social and ethnic composition and academic achievements). Only 146 grammar schools remained, concentrated in a small number of local education authorities, especially Kent and Buckinghamshire. Sixth Form Colleges and FE colleges were still maintained by, and funded via the education authorities of local councils.

From 1993 onwards there have been large scale changes in governance, funding and curriculum in both the schools and further education sectors, resulting in increased diversity and numbers of schools, the removal of an increasing number of schools and all FE sector colleges from council control, and a gradual reduction in the number of colleges, through merger and occasional closure. These changes have not reduced bureaucracy and central control (as has often been sought), but have certainly increased confusion amongst parents and young people and stress levels for staff and managers. The major changes are summarised below and explored in more detail in the sub-sections following

Governance & Management:

• increasing numbers of schools (e.g. Academies) are now governed and managed independent of local authority control
• from 2011 onwards organisations are empowered to apply to set up 'free schools' based loosely on the Swedish free school model. There are very few of these yet, but (2012) 24 of these are now open, with a further 200 approved. It seems likely that the first virtual 'free school' will be approved during the year.
• since 1993, FE sector colleges, including SFCs, have been autonomous independent corporations out of local authority control. There is currently (2012) some interest being expressed by a number of SFCs in transferring to Academy status in order to improve their funding.

Curriculum and qualifications

• a national schools curriculum for the years of compulsory schooling was introduced in 1994 and has been tinkered with and modified several times since then. It is currently (2012) being revised yet again, with the promise that it will be 'slimmed down'.
• separate GCE O Levels and CSEs were replaced by a single combined GCSE examination structure in the late 1980s. The current English Secretary of State has recently (2012) suggested that GCE O Levels might be re-introduced.
• the first year of 2-year GCE A Level courses was separately accredited as a stand alone qualification AS Level from 2002, but there are currently (2012) proposals for the reform of GCE A Levels which may involve abolishing the AS level separate qualification.
• a new system of accrediting work-based vocational training NVQs was introduced during the early 1990s. A parallel set of qualifications for school or college-based vocational education GNVQs was introduced at the same time, but these were phased out by 2007 and replaced with Applied GCSE and A Levels
• in an attempt to bridge the academic/vocational divide and provide industry-standard qualifications of high status, Diplomas for 14-19 year olds were introduced in 2008; these may replace Applied GCSEs and A Levels by 2013, but take-up has so far been disappointing and the present English government is not supporting their continuation.
• several attempts to simplify the enormous number of separate vocational qualifications have met with little success

Schools: Governance & Management

There are an increasing number of state school types in the UK – including three different kinds of academies, four major kinds of maintained schools, independent schools, grammar schools and others. Most state schools are ‘maintained’ by the Local Authority. All maintained schools follow the national curriculum, national pay and conditions, and are overseen and supported by the Local Authority. There are four main types of maintained schools. Their differences are over who employs the staff; who owns the land and buildings; and who controls the admissions arrangements. Community schools are run entirely by the Local Authority which employs the staff, owns the land and buildings and decides on admissions arrangements. Foundation and trust schools are run by a governing body which employs the staff and sets admissions criteria. Land and buildings are usually owned by a charity or by the governing body. Voluntary Aided schools (VA schools) are usually Faith schools run by the governing body which employs the staff and sets admissions criteria. Land and buildings are usually owned by a religious organisation. Voluntary Controlled schools (VC schools) are like VA schools but the Local Authority runs the school, employing the staff and setting admissions, but the land and buildings are usually owned by a charity such as a religious organisation.

Free Schools, traditional Academies and Academy converters all have the same status in law: they are all ‘Academies’ which means they are all independent schools which are funded by the state, must meet certain requirements set by the state, and are founded and held accountable through a legally binding “funding agreement”. They are independent in that they do not have to follow the National Curriculum, though they must be ‘broad and balanced’ in curriculum and must teach certain subjects including maths, English and science. The differences between free schools, traditional academies and academy converters are over who sets them up; why they are set up; whether there is a predecessor school; and what the ‘provider’ has to demonstrate in order to be given permission to set one up.

Academies are publicly funded independent schools, free from local authority control. Other freedoms include setting their own pay and conditions for staff, freedoms concerning the delivery of the curriculum, and the ability to change the length of their terms and school days. Academies are usually existing poorly performing state schools which are given to a new provider. They can be set up by Universities, FE colleges, education charities or businessmen. The provider must form a charity and cannot make a profit. Academies are held accountable through a ‘funding agreement’ – a contract with the Government. The Department for Education (DfE) ‘brokers’ between academy providers and schools which are underperforming. Academy converters are existing, usually high performing schools which opt out of Local Authority control to gain independence and autonomy. Existing state schools apply for academy status. The school governing body signs a funding agreement with the Government. Outstanding schools go through a rapid approval process, but all schools can apply for academy status. As of 1 June 2011, 1244 schools have applied to be an academy since June 2010. 831 of these applications have been approved. 430 have converted and are now open, an increase of 46 since 1 May 2011. The total number of open academies, including those opened under the previous government, now stands at 704. (http://www.education.gov.uk/academies/a0061176/latest-information-on-academies) The Government will open more sponsored academies (turning around underperforming schools) this year. 88 schools have now (June 2011) been identified and will open in the next academic year. This ‘sponsored academy’ programme is in addition to the 1,200 schools that have already applied to convert to academy status (‘convertor academies’). The academy programme was previously focussed on underperforming secondary schools. The Government is now using academies to tackle weak primary schools as well and the weakest 200 primary schools in the country will become academies in 2012/13. (http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/inthenews/a0077837/michael-gove-face-reality-reform-urgently)

A small number of Academies were formerly independent schools and the new 14-19 University Technical Colleges are also Academy Trusts.

Free Schools A Free School is a non-selective school that operate independently within the state system. It receives public funding according to the number of pupils it attracts and is independent from the Local Authority. Like all state schools it is subject to inspection by the national inspectorate Ofsted. It is also held to account through the results it achieves. It can be closed down if it underperforms. Free schools are adaptations of the charter school programme in the United States and the Free School programme in Sweden. The Coalition Government allowed groups to apply to set up Free Schools from June 2010. The first schools opened in September 2011; by September 2012 there will be 24 operating and a further 200 are likely to be approved.

In England Free Schools must:

• Teach students only from reception to 19 years old age range. Any school teaching nursery or over-19s cannot be funded for those years as a Free School;
• Abide by the Schools Admissions Code;
• Have more than 5 pupils over the age of 5;
• Take account of the SEN Code of Practice;
• Be run by a Charitable Trust;
• Provide a broad and balanced curriculum including the core subjects such as Maths, English and Science, although they do not have to follow the National Curriculum;
• Achieve good results and do well in inspections.

Independent state schools have existed for several decades. In the 1980s, City Technology Colleges were established in deprived areas. In the 1990s, existing state schools were given more freedom and independence under the status of Grant Maintained schools.

Independent schools are independent from both national and local government in finances, governance and operations. They are regulated lightly by government and inspected by a range of bodies. Independent schools vary from those set up by foundations in the middle ages through to new companies and charities running schools. They are funded by school fees, gifts and endowments and governed by an independently elected board of governors.

Grammar schools select their pupils on academic ability, although they can be maintained by the state. From 1985 onwards no new Grammar Schools were established, although there is currently (2012) a proposal to establish one in Kent, which is one of the few remaining Local Authorities to have kept Grammar Schools.

Schools: Curriculum

National Curriculum

The National Curriculum was introduced into England, Wales and Northern Ireland as a nationwide curriculum for primary and secondary state schools following the Education Reform Act 1988. Children aged five to 16 in 'maintained' or state schools must be taught the National Curriculum. Within the framework of the National Curriculum, schools are free to plan and organise teaching and learning in the way that best meets the needs of their pupils.

The purpose of the National Curriculum was to standardise the content taught across schools in order to enable assessment, which in turn enabled the compilation of league tables detailing the assessment statistics for each school. These league tables, together with the provision to parents of some degree of choice in assignment of the school for their child (also legislated in the same act) were intended to encourage a ‘free market’ by allowing parents to choose schools based on their measured ability to teach the National Curriculum.

National Curriculum subjects

The National Curriculum, taught to all pupils in state or maintained schools, is made up of blocks of years, known as key stages:

• Years 1 and 2 of primary school are known as Key Stage 1
• Years 3 to 6 of primary school are known as Key Stage 2
• Years 7 to 9 (the first three years of secondary school) are known as Key Stage 3
• Years 10 and 11 are known as Key Stage 4.

Compulsory National Curriculum subjects are the same for Key Stages 1 and 2:

• English
• Maths
• Science
• Design and technology
• Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
• History
• Geography
• Art and design
• Music
• Physical education

These subjects remain for Key Stage 3 and the following subjects are added:

• A modern foreign language
• Citizenship

Schools also have to teach religious education, though parents have the right to withdraw children for all or part of the religious education curriculum. In addition, schools are advised to teach personal, social and health education (PSHE) and citizenship, together with at least one modern foreign language. At secondary level schools also have to provide:

• Careers education and guidance (during Year 9)
• Sex and Relationship Education (SRE)

In Key Stage 4, children study a mix of compulsory and optional subjects. The subjects they have to do are:

• English
• Maths
• Science
• Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
• Physical education
• Citizenship

Schools must also offer religious education, SRE and at least one subject from each of the four 'entitlement' areas:

• Arts subjects
• Design and technology
• Humanities
• Modern foreign languages

Review of the secondary curriculum: In September 2007 a new secondary curriculum was published, intended to give schools more flexibility. The new curriculum aims to:

• cut back on the amount of compulsory subject content
• give teachers more time and space to personalise their teaching by offering catch up lessons in the basics, and creating opportunities for all pupils to deepen and extend their learning
• develop a stronger focus on the development of personal attributes and practical life skills
• help teachers to make connections between the subjects and to view the curriculum as a whole

As noted above, this is now subject to further change! The current government believes that over the years the National Curriculum has come to cover more subjects than it should and wants to slim the curriculum down to cover only essential subjects. To help develop this new National Curriculum for 5 to 16 year olds in England, the review will consider what subjects should be compulsory at what age and what children should be taught in the main subjects at what age. Following public consultation, the aim is to begin teaching the new National Curriculum in maintained schools from September 2013. To begin with this will only cover English, mathematics, science, and physical education, with the new curriculum for other subjects coming in 2014.

Further education: Governance & Management

In 1993 the further education sector (including SFCs) was taken out of local authority control and colleges became independent, autonomous corporations. This major change in governance was accompanied by changes in funding systems, which are described in England#Administration and Finance below. In GFE colleges one of the main impacts has been an increased search for external funding through providing customised training and business services and a reduction in the total number of colleges - there has been a net loss of almost a third of separate GFE colleges through mergers since 1993.

Private training providers (members of AELP) are private companies, subject to UK company law.

Further education: Curriculum

There is no statutory curriculum for English colleges in the further education sector. The majority of learners study part-time with most undertaking vocational and work-related training; this also provided by private training providers, frequently in competition with colleges.

Vocational training programmes run at all levels, with a bewildering variety of accreditation (see section on Quality assurance, inspection and accreditation below). In addition to vocational training, large numbers of further education learners study:

• basic skills;
• ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), though cuts in government funding mean this number is reducing;
• GCSEs and GCE A Levels.

Over half the GFE colleges provide higher education courses, with both Foundation and full degrees. The first GFE college to have its own degree awarding rights was Bradford College in 2012 and this trend is likely to increase.

Administration and finance

All schools in England have considerable autonomy in managing their own administration. However, the extent of autonomy varies according to the type of school: the administration of local authority schools is overseen by the relevant local authority, whereas Academies have a greater degree of independence. The degree of independence may vary, depending on whether the Academy is owned by a larger company, or is free standing.

FE sector colleges, including Sixth Form Colleges, are independent autonmous corporations responsible for managing their own affairs.

The funding of schools in England is complex, both for capital and revenue funding and varies according to the nature of the school's governance - whether it is an Academy, or a local authority school.

Most capital funding flows from central government, but with local authority schools this is channelled via the local authority. In the case of Voluntary Aided schools, most of which are faith schools, 15% of capital funding is provided by the sponsoring foundation.

Schools

Capital investment: the Building Schools for the Future programme (BSF) has been stopped and capital investment in education will be less generous up to 2015, targetting schools in the worst condition. Government focus is now to cut red tape and tackle urgent demand from rising birth-rates. This contrasts with the BSF programme in Scotland where a major programme of school renewal is still under way, including the replacement of all the secondary schools in Eileann Siar (the Western Isles).

Financial management: the Government scrapped the the financial management standard in schools (FMSiS) requirement on schools from 15 November 2010. FMSiS will be replaced by a simpler standard, drawn up in association with schools themselves which will give governors and heads, local authorities and Government assurance about value for money and effective use of public resources.

"Reducing Bureaucracy": the 2011 Schools White Paper ‘The Importance of Teaching’ describes a long term programme of work to reduce bureaucracy and give schools greater freedom to decide how they fulfil their functions in a number of areas, including:

• inspection and self-evaluation
• lesson planning
• assessing Pupils Progress (APP).
• financial management
• qualifications
• removal of statutory duties
• cutting guidance and improving communications to schools
• reviewing data burdens

A number of changes to statutory requirements are already being made:

• the requirement for schools to cooperate through Children’s Trust partnerships and to have regard to the Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP) will be removed. The requirement for Children’s Trust Boards to produce and publish a joint Children and Young People’s Plan has also been removed.
• Schools are being given more autonomy to decide what school improvement support they need. The duty on local authorities to provide school improvement partners to each of their maintained schools is being removed. Schools will be able to buy in this type of support from their own budgets should they feel it is required.
• There will no longer be a requirement for schools to provide a school profile, leaving governing bodies and schools to choose how to publicise their school to parents. From 1 September 2011 schools will no longer have to carry out a lengthy consultation process with the local authority, school staff and parents on changes to the school day including lunch times and start/finish times.
• The requirement for schools to set statutory performance targets will be removed from September 2011 meaning the targets for 2012, which schools have just set and submitted to local authorities, will be the final time this is centrally required. In future, schools will decide what targets and measures to set for themselves along with choosing what forms of external support they want and determining how to evaluate themselves.
• Data collection requirements on schools (including the School Census) are being reviewed, aiming to streamline the data returns completed by schools for central government. The Department is committed a 30 per cent reduction in frontline data collection burdens by 2011/12.

Colleges

FE sector colleges are independent autonomous corporations which administer their own affairs but are subject to inspection from Ofsted and audit from the Skills Funding Agency (GFE colleges) or Young Peoples' Learning Agency (SFCs). The Skills Funding Agency funds provision for the 19+ age group (and GFE colleges overall) and the Young Peoples' Learning Agency funds SFCs. Funding levels are decided by the agencies and funding follows the learner, but only for agency approved courses - provision which is not agency approved is at colleges' expense and they can decide what fees they will charge learners.

Training Providers

Private training providers - members of Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) are private companies, subject to UK company law. (AELP) They are funded by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA).

Quality assurance, inspection and accreditation

Qualifications and accreditation: schools, further education and training

Because many qualifications, especially general academic ones, are available in both schools and colleges, the two sectors have been combined here and the sub-sections below describe different types of qualifications and accreditation.

General and academic qualifications

GCSE is the main qualification taken by school pupils at age 16. English schools are largely judged by the percentage of pupils gaining 5 'good' GCSEs - at grade C or above - including English and Maths. The UK government announced in 2010 that it was extending this judgement into an English Baccalaureate and has published DfE Performance Tables to indicate which subjects can be counted in this.

The main general academic qualification for 16-18 year olds remains the GCE A Level. The first year of 2-year GCE A Level courses was separately accredited as a stand alone qualification AS Level from 2002.

Vocational qualifications

There is still a myriad of separate accredited vocational qualifications in England, in spite of several attempts to simplify the system. Many of these are highly specialised and industry-specific. Sector Skills Councils oversee qualifications in their industry area.

GFE colleges have maintained their core business of vocational training, largely for 16-24 year olds, and have absorbed the accreditation and qualification changes described in the section above. They are also currently involved in adapting their programmes and courses to the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF), aims to link the English vocational accreditation framework with European systems.

A national system of accrediting work-based vocational training NVQs was introduced during the early 1990s: this is paralleled by Scotland's vocational qualification framework of SVQs. A range of more general qualifications for school or college-based vocational education GNVQs was introduced at the same time, but these were phased out by 2007 and replaced with Applied GCSE and A Levels.

Apprenticeships

The current UK government is increasing the amount of vocational training provided through Apprenticeships, which are available to young people at three levels:

• Apprenticeships - designed for young people leaving school at 16+ with average levels of attainment, with successful completion equated to 5 'good' GCSE passes
• Advanced Apprenticeships - also available for young people leaving school at 16+, with successful completion equated to 2 GCE A Level passes
• Higher Apprenticeships - leading to qualifications at NVQ Level 4 and sometimes a Foundation Degree

Academic/vocational qualifications

In an attempt to bridge the academic/vocational divide and provide industry-standard qualifications of high status, Diplomas for 14-19 year olds were introduced in 2008; these may replace Applied GCSEs and A Levels by 2013, but take-up has so far been disappointing, although the likely take-up by University Technical Colleges may reverse this trend.

Accreditation and quality assurance: Universities and colleges of higher education

These are reviewed through an institutional audit. Further education colleges that provide higher education programmes are reviewed through an academic review at subject level.

Quality assurance for UK universities and other institutions engaged in higher education is overseen by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA).

Institutional audit aims to ensure that institutions are providing higher education, awards and qualifications of an acceptable quality and an appropriate academic standard; and exercising their legal powers to award degrees in a proper manner.

Where a university or college of higher education has collaborative arrangements that are too large or complex to be included in institutional audit, they have a collaborative provision audit.

Academic review at subject level looks at subject areas against the broad aims of the subject provider. Judgements are made about the academic standards and the quality of learning opportunities for students.

QAA also reviews healthcare education. Major review of NHS-funded healthcare programmes in England recognises the key importance of teaching and learning within a practice setting, as well as within higher education institutions. The Department of Health has contracted with us to carry out this work. The General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) has contracted with us to carry out QAA GOsC review of osteopathic programmes of study and universities and colleges that provide them.

Inspection: Ofsted

All education and training below higher education is inspected by Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education.

Schools: Ofsted inspects the care of children and young people, and education and skills for learners of all ages undertaking courses in schools, colleges or with training providers. It is independent in that it does not report to government ministers but directly to Parliament. Ofsted carries out hundreds of inspections and regulatory visits each week, publishing its findings within the Inspection reports area of its website.

A school inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Inspection is a process of evidence gathering, particularly through lesson observation, in order to provide an evaluation of how well a school is performing. Inspections take place over two days, and dialogue with senior managers in the school plays a central part. The school’s self-evaluation provides the starting point for inspectors, and the views of pupils, parents and other stakeholders are taken into account. Inspections are conducted by an inspection team. The size of the team is determined by the number on roll. Inspections result in a written report indicating one of four grades: outstanding, good, satisfactory or inadequate.

The frequency of school inspections depends on the outcome of schools’ previous inspections and an annual assessment of their subsequent performance. Schools that were satisfactory at their last inspection are inspected within three school years from the end of the school year in which that inspection took place. About 40% of these schools will receive a monitoring visit between inspections to check on progress. Schools judged inadequate at their last inspection will continue to receive regular monitoring visits and are reinspected after a specific period.

Good or outstanding schools are inspected once within five school years from the end of the school year in which that inspection took place unless there are concerns about their performance, safeguarding or welfare arrangements. Good or outstanding schools not inspected three years after their last inspection will receive an assessment of their performance, called an interim assessment report. This assessment will draw on test and examination results and information about, for example, pupils' attendance. It will explain to the school and to parents why the school will not be inspected in that academic year.

Schools receive between zero and two working days’ notice of a section 5 inspection, with most receiving between one and two days notice. HMCI may arrange for any school to be inspected without notice where there are particular reasons, such as those connected to pupils’ welfare, or where there are concerns about safeguarding or rapid decline in performance. Monitoring visits will be conducted without notice.

After an inspection of a school, Ofsted publishes a report on the school on its website. In addition to written comments on a number of areas, schools are assessed on each area and overall on a 4-point scale: 1 (Outstanding), 2 (Good), 3 (Satisfactory) and 4 (Inadequate). Schools rated Outstanding or Good might not be inspected again for five years, while schools judged less favourably are inspected more frequently, and may receive little or no notice of inspection visits.

Figures published in March 2010, show that revised inspection criteria, which were introduced in September 2009, have resulted in a reduction from 19% to 9% in the number of schools judged to be outstanding, and an increase from 4% to 10% in the number of schools judged to be inadequate.

Sometimes a school is placed into special measures if it is judged as 'inadequate' (Grade 4) in one or more areas and if the inspectors have decided it does not have the capacity to improve without additional help. Schools placed into special measures receive intensive support from local authorities, additional funding and resourcing, and frequent reappraisal from Ofsted until the school is no longer deemed to be failing. Furthermore, the senior managers and teaching staff can be dismissed and the governing body may be replaced by an appointed Interim Executive Board (IEB). Schools which are failing but where inspectors consider there is capacity to improve are given a Notice to Improve (NtI).

Colleges and Training Providers: FE sector colleges are inspected by Ofsted, together with a wide range of associated provision.

Private training providers are also inspected by Ofsted, under the same framework as FE sector colleges. Until recently, there was a Training Quality Standard scheme, designed to encourage excellence, but this is being scrapped by the current government in 2011.

Information society

Successive UK governments have taken initiatives (and courted publicity) to provide high speed broadband access across the whole of the UK. The most recent initiative was outlined by the current government in 2010 by the Culture Secretary and refined in November 2011 to provide ultra-fast broadband to a number of major cities.

Two major Government agencies have been at the heart of ICT developments in English education during this century:

• Focusing largely on higher education, but also reaching out to further education, JISC has run a major series of research programmes, together with Regional Support Centres (across the whole of the United Kingdom) which have been highly rated by practitioners. Since the change of national government in 2010, which signalled major reductions in funding for ICT research and development, JISC has increasingly divided its work into separate 'companies' and has a continuing, if reduced, research programme. One of the most effective of these is JISC Techdis which focuses on assistive technology for supporting learners with disabilities.
• For schools and to a lesser extent the further education and adult education sectors the main agency up until 2010 was BECTA. BECTA worked most closely with schools in recommending preferred procurement solutions and conducted extensive monitoring of technology take-up and the effectiveness of its use in schools, further and adult education and commercial vocational training. Unfortunately it tended to operate in separate compartments and this blurred its internal and public relations and it became a prime candidate for the honour of being the first quango to be axed by the newly elected coalition government in 2010. Many of its research reports are still highly relevant to the use of ICT in schools, colleges and adult education - see the References section below, but it largely ignored significant developments in virtual education in Scotland - e.g. SCHOLAR. The main reason (apart from debt reduction) given by the government for its closure was that schools were more than capable of making their own purchasing decisions for IT equipment and that a monitoring function was no longer necessary. The jury is still out on these assertions - and no mention was made of its work with further and adult education.

Since the demise of BECTA, there has been little development of ICT monitoring and research in schools, and only a restricted amount in further education and skills through the Learning & Skills Improvement Service Excellence Gateway (LSIS).

ICT in education initiatives

Nationally, the major English ICT in education initiatives have been driven by BECTA and JISC, particularly the JISC Techdis brand in developing assistive technology. In work-based vocational training, evidence of much e-learning development can be seen on the ALP e-learning site, but this site has been archived by LSIS, as the local improvement grant scheme, which fuelled much of the e-learning innovation, was axed at the end of 2011. The archived website does, however, contain a number of useful case studies of e-learning development. ALP has now rebranded itself as the Association of Employment & Learning Providers and its website makes no mention of e-learning, nor does it have a listed member of staff with responsibilities in that area.

For much of the first decade of the century, the largest initiative (mainly impacting on schools, but with some impact on FE colleges) was the The South Yorkshire e-learning Programme (SYeLP) , branded as e-sy.info. Established in 2001, using EU Objective 1 monies, it was a partnership of the four local authorities in South Yorkshire: Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and Sheffield City Council, with support from Yorkshire Forward and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Although the project has now finished, it has left a substantial imprint on ICT in education in the sub-region.

EXite (Exploiting Information Technology in Education) is a new leadership programme for ICT in schools and academies. It builds on the original SLICT (Strategic Leadership of ICT) intervention programme, led by two of the directors of the original project. It was piloted in September 2011 and rolled out nationally from January 2012.

It will advise schools on learning platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Google Apps, Moodle, Twitter, Microsoft's free live@edu email service, greater use of web 2.0 technologies and mobile learning and will provide a framework of professional development opportunities for school leaders to review use, strategically plan and embed new technologies. The elements of EXite include face-to-face professional development days, online materials, toolkits, resources and Skype workshops.

Internationally The British Council provides a very wide range of learning resources to help people learn English. Learn English Online has 500,000 learners, over 2,000 teachers, and over 80 teaching centres in 49 countries. You can get LearnEnglish apps on Android, iPhone and Ovi mobile platforms, as well as Facebook apps. The British Council has an island for learners and teachers in the Second Life virtual environment, offering the chance to visit the UK virtually. The island provides interactive LearnEnglish activities and quests based on UK culture where you can learn English in different ways, solve puzzles and problems, learn about the UK and meet people in other parts of the world. Learn English Online has another section called ‘Fun and Games’ where you can play a variety of games and listen to jokes to help practise English. There are also podcasts for practising English language listening skills on a computer, or to download and save on a mp3 player. Videos are also available in the ‘Listen and Watch’ section and there is a section of the website for children at http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/ which includes guidance for teachers and parents, as well as a further complete section called ‘Teaching English’.

Virtual initiatives in schools

We have identified at least eleven virtual school initatives in England and it likely that there are more to be found. Following a period of enthusiasm in the first few years of the century, there was a relatively fallow period before renewed growth appeared to start in the past three years, although new growth has occurred alongside the demise of at least two organisations. Apart from The Bridge Academy, none of these is fully state funded and the others all rely to a greater or a lesser extent on fee income. Those that we have found can be generally be grouped into three categories - full virtual school; supplementary school; blended learning offering - and serve a range of overlapping constituencies:

• The Bridge Academy is a pupil referral unit managed by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham which caters for 175 boys and girls aged 11 to 16 who are not accessing mainstream schools.
• Briteschool appears to be unique in the UK in offering live Primary support (from age 9 onwards, sometimes from age 8). It falls within the scope of VISCED as it offers both Primary and Secondary education for home-schooled and expatriate students.
• ConnEct Chronic: Home Learning is an online teaching service hosted by Loughborough College.
• Nisai Virtual Academy is an online learning community and real-time teaching environment.
• Notschool.net is an online learning community offering an alternative to traditional education for young people who, for a variety of reasons, are unable to engage with school or other complementary provisions such as home tutoring or specialist units.
• Oxford Home Schooling provides KS3 courses and a range of IGCSEs and a wider range of GCSEs and GCE A Levels to support parents who wish to homeschool their children.
• Periplus Home Education provides live, online teaching for young people aged 11-18. Students can choose to do a full taught curriculum, individual subjects at any level or intensive, short-term tuition prior to exams.
• vision2learn for schools operates as a supplementary school, providing a wide range of courses at KS3 and KS4 and vocational qualifications online.
• The Web School offers full time tuition to learners aged 11 – 19 in virtual classrooms led by live, qualified secondary teachers.
• Wolsey Hall Oxford uses a learning management system to provide online learning for 14 to 18 year olds studying A-Levels and IGCSEs through personal tutorials, rather than classes. The business has been supporting students on distance learning courses since 1894.

At least two examples of virtual schooling which existed up till 2010 have disappeared or gone into administration:

• Accipio Learning claimed to be the UK’s leading provider of live, interactive, online education and offers a learning experience that is similar to a mainstream school. In partnership with schools and local authorities, Accipio teach the most challenging pupils and help them achieve academic success and re-integrate into mainstream school. However in August 2011 Accipio Learning went into administration.
• The Digital Learning Community was a self-contained initiative/team within the East Riding Council, School Advisory Service, providing direct teaching services to schools in the shape of lessons broadcast via the Internet to subscribed school cohorts. Courses were typically from 6 to 12 lessons of between 30 and 60 minutes and were charged to external (not East Riding) schools at per pupil fees of between £60 and £180 per course. DLC provided lessons for schools across the country, claiming over 600 learners from 64 different Primary Schools in at least five different Local Authorities. Lessons at Secondary level were also provided, so it would have fallen within the scope of VISCED if it was still operating. However, the website [1] is no longer available and contacts have gone. This organisation appeared to be similar to the support to pupils excluded from mainstream schools in many Local Authorities, which exists in most, but below the radar and not advertised or fully acknowledged by the DfE.

Some of these (e.g. Wolsey Hall Oxford and Nisai Virtual Academy operate internationally and may have a significant number of non-English students; likewise some of the other United Kingdom virtual schools - e.g. InterHigh School - although based outside England recruit significant numbers of English homeschoolers.

Virtual initiatives in colleges and training providers

MoLeNET

The Mobile Learning Network (MoLeNET) initiative funded and supported 104 projects involving approximately 40,000 learners and over 7,000 staff, in the 3 years 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10

MoLeNET was a unique collaborative approach to introducing and supporting mobile learning in education and training via supported shared cost mobile learning projects. The LSN MoLeNET Support and Evaluation programme provided technical and pedagogic advice and support, materials development, continuing professional development, mentoring, facilitation of peer-to-peer support, networking and resource sharing, research and evaluation.

LearnDirect

University for Industry (http://www.ufi.com/home2/aboutus/aboutus.asp) is the organisation behind the learndirect brand, set up in 1998 to use new technology to transform the delivery of learning and skills. Ufi Ltd is a private limited company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Ufi Charitable Trust, a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity.

Through the learndirect brand, Ufi has helped more than 3 million people gain skills and qualifications in areas such as Maths, English and IT. Learners use the internet to access their courses and qualifications which range from basic skills to vocational and leadership and management. Training is also provided to employers, and Ufi has worked with thousands of businesses in the last decade.

10,000 people log on and learn with learndirect every day. Ufi runs the Life in the UK Test for the UK Border Agency. It had a turnover of £140 million last year. It has 500 direct employees. It also indirectly employs about 2,000 people in a network of centres around the country. More than 500,000 Skills for Life test passes have been achieved with learndirect. Leandirect claim that learners can earn £2,240 more on average after learning with them. More than 34,000 people have achieved a Level 2 qualification with learndirect. It has worked with more than 6,000 businesses through the Train to Gain initiative, with training designed to fit around business priorities.

Learndirect provides a wide range of online courses to improve employability and raise the skills of the working population. From basic skills to NVQs and other qualifications, online courses mean learners can log on and learn wherever suits them best, be it at home, at work, in one of the learndirect centres in local communities, or anywhere with internet access. Wherever people choose to do their learning, support is on hand to help them on their way.

Qualifications offered include Certificates in Literacy and Numeracy and National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). Learndirect offer a range of courses designed to match the National Curriculum in Adult Literacy and Numeracy. These are nationally recognised qualifications and are similar to having a GCSE. Learndirect also offers a range of courses in IT - from the beginners Digital Literacy Certificate, through to the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) and ITQs. NVQs are qualifications which demonstrate ability at work and training is delivered mainly on the job. NVQ assessment recognises performance at work with a nationally recognised qualification in:

• ITQ
• Team Leading NVQ - Level 2
• Management NVQ - Level 3
• Health and Social Care NVQ
• Business and Administration NVQ - Level 2 and 3
• Customer Service NVQ - Level 2 and 3

Sheffield Online College (http://www.online.sheffcol.ac.uk/) has been offering online learning to learners and their employers since 1997, making it one of the first colleges in England to use the internet in this way. The experience gained in this field is reflected in the quality of its courses, and in the acclaim that the courses, course teams and individual tutors have received. The college has won many national awards since 1997 and all courses lead to nationally recognised qualifications. The Online College is also the home of online teaching and learning resources for the use of learners, tutors and employers in Sheffield.

The 'Online Professional' courses have a client list that includes The British Council, The Federation of Small Businesses, Edexcel, Kent Adult Education Service, Lloyds TSB, South Yorkshire Police, NSPCC, The Open University, Proctor & Gamble, Devon County Council and UNISON trade union. Online College courses have also been undertaken by more than 1,500 further education colleges and universities. Thousands of individual learners have studied online with The Sheffield College.

Courses available include English from Level 1 (Literacy for Adults) to GCSE and A level, as well as IELTS for international students who want to study or work in an English-speaking country.

The ten week Level 1 English course is free of charge and leads to the national Adult Literacy level 1 qualification. Students have their own online tutor to provide guidance and support you through a programme focused on life in South Yorkshire. Students study at their own pace at a time that suits them, supported by the tutor who marks work and helps improve grammar, spelling, punctuation and understanding.

The Level 2 Literacy is a fully tutored ten week English online course with a nationally recognised qualification at the end which is the equivalent to grade C or above at GCSE English. It is free of charge and prepares students to pass the one hour adult literacy test, which is taken at Sheffield City College. Students can study where and when they choose, s supported by a tutor who is in regular contact by email. The tutor marks work and gives feedback on how to improve.

GCSE English Language Online is probably the best known online course in the UK. It has been running since 2001 and over one thousand people have gained grades A*-C. Almost 45% of those learners get A or A* and the pass rate at C or above is 99.7%. It is a one year online course beginning in September and ending with an exam in May or June the following year. Students belong to an online class and have their own online tutor. The course has won five national awards.

IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is the most important English qualification for international students who want to study at university or do professional work in English speaking countries. The course provides students with their own UK native English speaking tutor, who contacts them online two or three times a week and marks their work. Students can interact with their fellow IELTS students at any time and have unlimited opportunities to practise their reading and writing. They can also take a one-to-one practice mock Speaking IELTS test with their tutor, either face-to-face or via a web camera and watch video clips of an IELTS test showing students who achieve a high score in IELTS, teaching others how to achieve similar success. The online A Level English Language and Literature course is suitable for people who want to progress from GCSE and need to achieve at level 3 to progress to university, a college foundation degree course, or because their employers expect a high level of English.

2 Foundation degree courses are also available – in eCommunications and eBusiness and Management. Students can study fully online with the Sheffield College (for three years, part time) then progress to Sheffield Hallam University for the BA Hons (two years, part time). The courses exploit a range of online technologies such as online forums, blogs and wikis and explore how these technologies can be used in business.

The Management and Leadership Award and Certificate - Level 5 from the Chartered Management Institute is designed for practising middle managers who wish to develop their core management skills and practices and learn how to fully exploit the resources of the internet.

LeTTOL (Learning to Teach Online) has had almost 3,000 students from across the world since it began in 1997. It is an online course aimed at teachers, lecturers, trainers and content developers who wish to transfer their existing skills to an online environment.

An offshoot from LeTTOL, The Effective Mentor's Toolkit course addresses the skills and knowledge that mentors need to be effective in the mentoring role. In addition it explores how modern technologies can enhance the role, using such things as email and the internet to support and provide information to mentees.

Getting to Grips with Moodle aims to introduce students to a range of Moodle's content creation, communications, interactivity, and management tools; and consider how they can be used effectively in an educational and training context. The course is supported by a tutor. The course is not aimed at 'techies' but at ordinary teachers and trainers who want to develop online provision for their learners.

CIPD – the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (http://www.cipd.co.uk/training/) offer ten different portfolios of Human Resources Courses at levels 1-7:

Coaching

Employment law

Learning and development

Management and people management

Organisational development

HR management

Psychology at work

Recruitment and selection

Reward management

Talent management

The courses are designed to be flexible, with multiple start dates throughout the year, and often blend face-to-face and online learning. The institute also offers support for in-house delivery, so that learners can study in their own workplace. It claims over 13,000 learners per year at Foundation, Intermediate or Advanced levels. Learners can choose the mode of study they would prefer. For example:

• Full time - candidates are required to attend a number of taught sessions at their centre totalling at least 21 hours per week. The sessions are usually held during the day.

• Part time - candidates are required to attend one or two taught sessions at their centre. Each session usually lasts between 3-4 hours, and they are held in the evening and/or during the day.

• Supported distance learning - candidates study in their own time, using learning materials such as workbooks. Many centres integrate workbooks with online learning media contained within their virtual learning environment. Candidates are supported by their centre through periodic face-to-face tutorials and group workshops (online or offline at an approved centre).

• Block - candidates attend a series of taught sessions, usually delivered in blocks of three to five consecutive full days over a specified period.

• Mixed mode - aimed at experienced individuals who may require some distance learning support from their centre but are generally ready for assessment. Centres running mixed mode programmes are approved to offer competence-based assessment which enables candidates to use evidence from their workplace to meet the majority of CIPD's qualification requirements. The type of learning input and support provided by the centre will vary according to the centre's resources and the needs of the candidate.

Virtual College (http://www.virtual-college.co.uk/), founded in 1995, works with companies and public sector organizations (including UFI, NHS, Police and General Electric) as well as providing e-learning to individual learners. Based in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, it employs over 70 people including technical staff and designers, but it is not clear how many are teachers, nor how many live online classes are delivered (as opposed to self-contained courses).

As well over 150 e-learning courses available direct from the college or developed alongside distance learning partners, it also runs its own Learning Management System. It claims to have over 600,000 current registered online learners, mostly on vocational courses such as Business Skills, Continuing Professional Development, Fire Safety, Food Hygiene Training, Safeguarding Children, Housing Associations, Moving and Handling, NHS & Social Care, Health & Safety, Healthcare, Engineering and Productivity. Two of the most popular online courses are Food Hygiene Level 2 and a mandatory electrician's course.

Free E-Learning Courses for NEETs are also available from the 1st September 2011 until the 23rd December. The following courses can be accessed free of charge: Time Management, Customer Care, Health & Safety in the Workplace, Data Protection in the Workplace, Money Matters and Climbing the Career Ladder.

The Virtual College Network is also home to numerous e-Academies; specialist websites that concentrate on a sector to ensure that a team is meeting specific training needs, as well as providing a hub for updates and developments in policy and legislation. The most recent addition to the e-learning network is the 21st Century Apprenticeships hub, which is designed to help organisations get the most out of advances in training solutions, maximising learner progression while minimising costs and administration.

Oxford Open Learning (http://www.ool.co.uk/) offer a wide range of GCSE, iGCSE and A level courses, as well as ‘Skills for Learning’ courses, including ‘Everyday Good English’, ‘Everyday Mathematics’, ‘Everyday Information Technology’ and ‘Everyday Bookkeeping’. It has been offering course materials since 1988. It provides courses for students who are over 18 years of age. Its sister company, Oxford Home Schooling, provides similar courses for students who are under 18 years old.

Last year 79% of Mathematics GCSE students achieved a grade C or above, set against a national average of just 50%. Students are usually adult learners, some of whom under-achieved in school and now wish to rectify that, and some who, whilst having a generally good academic background, now need a specific qualification to make progress in their career.

Oxford Open Learning provides the student with written course materials that have been developed to cover a particular syllabus or specification. All course materials have regular activities and self-assessment tests. Courses also include tutor-marked assignments which students send to their tutor for marking. Tutors make regular contact by telephone with their students to maintain motivation.

Oxford Open Learning make the point that all GCSE English courses (as opposed to IGCSE English courses) now include controlled assessment. Coursework is unavoidable and it must be directly supervised by the tutor. This is not practical for adult learners studying independently on home study courses, so OOL recommends the IGCSE English courses instead. The ‘I’ in IGCSE stands for ‘International’ but IGCSEs are recognised as having the same standing as “ordinary” GCSEs by government, schools, colleges and employers. The main difference with IGCSE specifications is that they are exam-only. There is no controlled assessment before the final exams and you do not need to submit coursework. This is ideal for distance learners and students of home study courses.

Vision2learn (http://www.vision2learn.com/) is run by Creating Careers Ltd (http://www.creatingcareers.com/) which claims to be the UK’s leading company developing and supplying accredited e–learning to the Further Education sector. The company is based in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Vision2learn’s vocational qualifications have been running since 2001 and are suitable for people aged 19+ and as they lead to national qualifications are eligible for government funding in England. Learners can choose from a range of online courses and receive help from an online tutor employed by a local college. These courses can be accessed from www.vision2learn.net. Colleges that use these courses include Doncaster and Somerset.

The sister site, Vision2learn for schools (www.vision2learnforschools.com) delivers over 50 courses and resources online to 14-19 year olds in a range of vocational subjects including computer, work, and life skills. Learners achieve nationally–recognised accredited qualifications. Schools earn GCSE equivalence points contributing to their Level 2 achievement targets without having to find teachers who are expert in these subjects.

Cambridge English Online (http://www.cambridgeenglishonline.com/) began in 2002, specializing in innovative English language learning materials, but is now creating more resources for other subjects. It works in partnership with the British Council, BBC and Cambridge University Press. It also hosts Learn English Mobile, which lets publishers and developers of mobile English learning and teaching apps showcase them in one place, so that students can find them more easily.

Online College of Art and Design (http://www.artcoursework.com/coursefinder.html) provides school and Further Education courses, including: IGCSE in Fine Art or Art and Design; A level in Art and Design; Foundation Diplomas in Art and Design, Fine Art or Graphic Design; ABC awards in Animation or Interior design; ABC Certificates in Animation or Interior Design; ABC Diplomas in 3d Modelling and Animation, Computer Aided Design or Interior Design. It also offers Recreational courses and portfolio preparation for university.

Each student gets a personal tutor who gives supports through the online course, marks art work and answers questions, as well as a student course co-ordinator. There is also an online art club where students can discuss their art work with fellow OCAD students.

Tutors tend to be freelance and part-time.

Online College of Art and Design (OCAD), 83a High Street, Stevenage, Hertfordshire SG1 3HR UK

Virtual initiatives in Higher Education

Very major initiatives (GELIs)

These are the following:

Open University University for Industry (Ufi) London University External Programme

It should be noted that the main focus of Ufi is FE but there is a small amount of HE delivery in the Work-Based Learning area from partner universities via a specialist Ufi subsystem.

Current prima facie MELIs

There are fewer than there were in the heyday of English e-learning during the UKeU era. However, the following are prima facie cases:

University of Liverpool – joint venture with Laureate at MSc level University of Derby (a former member of GUA) Staffordshire University

MELIs now faded to NELIs

These include:

Middlesex University – Global Campus (downsized after key staff losses) Anglia Ruskin University – Ultraversity and Ultralab (both now closed)

New NELIs some maybe rising to MELIs

These all need investigation but are likely to include:

University of Bolton (said to have taken over Ultraversity) Canterbury Christ Church University – arrangement with Hibernia College of Ireland Essex University – joint venture with a commercial provider for Foundation Degree University of Leicester – featured in the MegaTrends report Northumbria University – including operation as an ASP provider.

Failed initiatives (FELIs)

The best known example is the UK e-University (UKeU) which is very well documented and will not be described further. This is often said to have lost around £50 million but in fact around £10 million of this was used after it closed to support a number of Academy initiatives including the Pathfinder programme, so that the actual loss was rather less.

A less well-known but actually larger failure is the NHS University (NHSU), which seems to have lost around £90 million and achieved no practical results at all. Until recently there were no reports on this at all except for one strictly confidential and little-known report on technology but one excellent report has recently become available – not quite public but for subscribers of the Observatory for Borderless Higher Education (OBHE). However, the archives of NHSU are closed (as they are for IU but not completely for UKeU) and many technical aspects were not covered in the OBHE report.

References

• http://www.pisa.oecd.org/pages/

Relevant websites

• Commission