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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

England in a nutshell

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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 small 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. Pre-schools are usually run by local councils, community groups or private organizations for 3 to 5-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 education 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, which is achieved after the first year of an A level course.

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 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.

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.

Each university in England has at least a minimal entry on this wiki. For a list of universities in England (current as at April 2013) see Category:Universities in England

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:

In late 2012 most of these were upgraded to full universities, as noted in the list above.

There still are a few university colleges in England that have not been promoted to "university" status. For a list of university colleges in England (current as at April 2013) see Category:University colleges in England

Colleges of higher education

Colleges of higher education tend to be 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:

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.

For a list of major colleges in England (current as at April 2013) - including all members of the 157 Group - see Category:Colleges in England

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 (allowed to select the more gifted pupils) 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.

Since 1993 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
  • since 2011 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 24 of these are now open (2012) with a further 200 approved to open soon. It seems likely that the first virtual 'free school' will be approved during this year.
  • since 1993, FE 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. The four types of maintained schools follow the national curriculum, national pay and conditions, and are overseen and supported by the Local Authority.

  • 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, while 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, 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 pre-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. 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 and 430 have converted and are now open. 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 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 operates 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; 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; 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, a further 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 is also provided by private training providers, frequently in competition with colleges.

Vocational training programmes are 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 also 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.

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), which 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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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.

At the time of writing (2012) a new Ofsted Chief Inspector has recently taken up post and it is likely that there will be further changes to both school and college inspections in the next few years.

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 twelve 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:

  • Academus offers Academus Alternative for Schools and Local Authorities and Academus Independent for Parents and Guardians of children aged 11-19. Classes are deliberately small, with no more than 12 pupils and a pastoral care system with extra-curricular opportunities. Academus works with pupils unable to attend mainstream school for a variety of reasons, including: Home-schooled; international expatriates; unable to attend school for medical reasons; excluded from Secondary School; Special Educational Needs (S.E.N); victims of bullying; School-phobic. It offers GCSEs, iGCSEs and A Levels.
  • 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.
  • The Cloud School offers the IGCSE in English, Maths, Science, History, Economics, Sociology, Development Studies, Child Development and World Literature. AS, A2 and other examining boards are also available, as well as pastoral care with coaching programmes, adaptation to special needs and community activities.
  • First College is a small family business offering iGCSEs in all mainstream subjects as well as pre-GCSE courses and Advanced Spanish and French. Delivery is through live interactive small classes for 11 -17 year olds. Normal class size is 10-12, sometimes a maximum of 15, with a teacher-student ratio of 1:5. As an indication of size, there are 7 named teachers on the website.
  • ConnEct Chronic: Home Learning is an online teaching service hosted by Loughborough College.
  • Nisai Virtual Academy provides education to children (8 to 18) unable to attend mainstream schools. It works in partnership with Local Education Authorities (LEAs) to meet pupils' legal requirements and to deliver a service that complements and extends services that are already in place. The educational provision of the NVA meets the requirements of the National Curriculum of England and Wales, up to and including GCSE.
  • 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.
  • The Virtual School provides education free of charge, through videos available as Open Educational Resources on YouTube Edu Channel and within the Virtual School’s own platform. It does not, however, provide direct teaching as the other listed virtual schools do.
  • 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 taught 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.

Some virtual schools (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 and First College UK) although based outside England recruit significant numbers of English homeschoolers.

Many local authorities now run what they call "Virtual schools" for looked after children. These do not generally provide direct teaching, but tracking and planning to secure a good standard of education for children in the care of local authorities. The Virtual School Head (VSH) role was successfully piloted by eleven authorities. The evaluation of the pilots, 'Looked After and Learning - Evaluation of the Virtual School Head Pilot', published in 2009, found that the virtual school head role can make a significant difference, especially when the VSH has a strategic role and sufficient seniority to influence practice and the use of resources across the authority. Having a VSH is one of the key ways in which a local authority can demonstrate to inspectors that it is discharging its legal obligation to children in their care.

Virtual initiatives in colleges and training providers

None of the organisations listed below can claim to be a fully virtual college offering a comprehensive range of courses, with the possible exception of LearnDirect. They can be categorised as brands within a larger mainstream college; projects developing innovative e-learning initiatives; or private providers, often operating in one or more specialist subject areas.

Most of the initiatives and providers listed cater largely for adults, but include numbers of learners aged 16-21 on their books.

Brand within a college:

  • Sheffield Online College is part of The Sheffield College and 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.
  • Pembrokeshire College Online specialises in Science subjects, offering A-levels in Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Maths, as well as AS-levels in Economics and Law.

Project initiative:

  • The MoLeNET (The Mobile Learning Network) was a unique collaborative approach to introducing and supporting mobile learning in further education and training via supported shared cost mobile learning projects.

Large-scale national provider:

  • LearnDirect was established in 1998 to use new technology to transform the delivery of learning and skills. Although primarily targeted at adults, a number of learners are aged from 18 to 21.

Private providers:

  • The Virtual College works with companies and public sector organizations as well as providing e-learning to individual learners through over 150 e-learning courses available direct from the college or developed alongside distance learning partners and it also runs its own Learning Management System. Its main clients are adults, but also include 18-21 year olds.
  • Oxford Open Learning offers 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 and provides courses for students who are over 18 years of age, both within and outwith the United Kingdom. Its sister company Oxford Home Schooling provides similar courses for students who are under 18 years old.
  • Vision2learn has run 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.
  • Cambridge English Online began in 2002, specializing in innovative English language learning materials, but is now creating more resources for other subjects. It is primarily a resource developer and repository, rather than a direct deliverer of online learning.
  • Online College of Art and Design provides school and Further Education courses in the art and design subject areas and also offers Recreational courses and portfolio preparation for university.
  • Home Learning College claims to be the UK’s biggest provider of professional distance learning courses, with over 50,000 students each year and a pass rate of over 85%. It offers courses in Accounting, Bookkeeping, Internet and Web Design, Marketing, Social Care and Childcare.
  • UK Open College offers GCSEs and A levels as well as vocational courses. Coursework can be submitted by post or email. Almost twenty percent of students are studying from outside the UK and the average age of students is 36. It has one of the largest number of home study courses available - over 600 - most of which lead to fully recognised awards and qualifications. As an indication of its size, there are 17 members of the support team named on the website; however it also has a network of other tutors.
  • Courses Direct is one of England’s largest providers of distance education courses, delivering over 600 qualifications with a total of 8721 active students currently registered. It also provides distance vocational education in Ireland, Australia & New Zealand.

Virtual initiatives in Higher Education

Very major initiatives (GELIs)

These are the following:

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:

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:

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 on 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.

Lessons learnt

General lessons

We have found a significant amount of virtual schooling in England with at least twelve organisations meeting the VISCED criteria for classification as virtual schools. However, national statistics show almost 100,000 children being homeschooled - it is not illegal in the United Kingdom - so it is perhaps slightly surprising that most of the virtual schools are relatively small, with several targeted towards chronically sick children and those excluded from mainstream school. Most virtual schooling is in the private sector and involves fee paying, but there is not compelling evidence to suggest that virtual schools only recruit children from economically advantaged families. With plans well advanced for the creation of more than one virtual Free School, it remains to be seen whether this new area of provision will result in small or more significant increase increase in pupil numbers.

The provision of virtual courses in supplementary schools has increased substantially over the past ten years and seems likely to continue to do so.

We have found no virtual colleges in England targeted towards the 16-21 age group. Where learners in this age group are involved in virtual provision, it tends to be with organisations providing vocational training for adults. However, many colleges of further education provide a number of online courses, following the supplementary school model.

Notable practices

  • Much innovation has been project driven - e.g. by MoLeNET. This has proved a catalyst in many organisations, but sustainability is often an issue in a straightened economic climate: momentum is not always maintained when special funding ceases.

A perennial problem for staff development in the use of technology is: which comes first – the kit or the training? MoLeNET used a radically different approach to traditional CPD: buy the kit first, distribute it to teachers willing to experiment with it, then share successes and failures with other staff to give further ideas on how the kit might be used. It is easy for institutions to waste money on staff training where teachers are introduced to innovative practices which turn out to be impossible to implement in classrooms because they lack the necessary equipment. This waste of money is, however, invisible, so the practice tends to continue without a proper examination of its effectiveness. Any waste of money is much more visible using the MoLeNET model, if kit is bought but then not used. But precisely because it is so visible, there is a much stronger incentive to do something with it and kick-start the process of staff development.

  • There is increasing use of social media [e.g. Facebook, Twitter] in virtual education.

References

Relevant websites
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