Isle of Man

by Paul Bacsich for Re.ViCa and then VISCED

For entities in Isle of Man see Category:Isle of Man

Partners situated in Isle of Man

None.

Isle of Man in a nutshell

The Isle of Man is a British Crown Dependency set in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom is responsible for the Island's defence and ultimately for good governance, and for representing the Island in international fora, while the Island's own parliament and government have competence over all domestic matters.

The Isle of Man has a population of 80,000 according to a recent census. Thus it is comparable in size to many smaller towns in Europe, such Chester, Warrington, Wigan, Stevenage, St Albans and Bedford in England. However, as an autonomous region it has to deliver the full panoply of domestic government and policy - no small task, even if it can adopt or adapt a certain amount of UK policy.

Isle of Man education policy

This is similar to that in the UK.

Schools in the Isle of Man

For schools, this is similar to the UK. Many students from the Isle of Man go on to study at UK universities.

More details

Education is compulsory between the ages of five and 16 and is offered at the Department of Education and Children’s 35 primary schools and five secondary schools.

There are 6,566 pupils in primary schools (including nursery) and 5,671 11 to 18 year olds in secondary schools (summer term 2011).

The Department of Education and Children also operates a number of pre-school units for children aged four and offers places for younger children in classes for five-year-olds where space permits (see under Early Years).

The majority of 16-year-olds continue in education, either in their school’s sixth form or at the Isle of Man College.

It is possible to study for further and higher education qualifications locally via the Isle of Man College and the Isle of Man International Business School.

Although parts of the education system mirror those offered in the UK, the Isle of Man has its own curriculum, Essentials for Learning. This requires schools to focus not only on academic achievement but also to ensure children develop a wide range of social and interpersonal skills and the ability to be resilient, reflective and resourceful learners.

Teachers are continually assessing and monitoring the progress children make and use that information to plan their next steps in learning. Because of this continuous process of assessment there is no need for external testing until children reach Key Stage 4.

In Key Stages 4 and 5 children are able to access the normal range of external qualifications, such as GCSE and A Level, which are offered in UK schools.

Public examinations at age 16 are the main focus of achievements for the majority of pupils. These mostly take the form of GCSEs but many pupils also take vocational qualifications.

The total number of A Level (or equivalent) entries in 2010 was over 1260. A further 235 entries were for AS Levels (worth 0.5 of an A Level). The number of students entered for A levels in each school is relatively small (below 100) and results inevitably vary depending on the strength of the year group. In 2010, students received awards in almost 40 separate titles ranging from Physics to Applied Business Studies. Apart from General Studies, the subjects recording the most entries were History, English Literature, Maths, Geography and Biology. Other subjects with more than 40 entries included Art, Business Studies, English Language, Psychology and Sociology.

Higher education

Universities in the Isle of Man

There is as yet no self-sufficient autonomous institution of higher education in the Isle of Man.

However, the Isle of Man International Business School has been established to promote and deliver Higher Education on the Isle of Man. It operates as a a centre for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, professional training and business consultancy. Currently it offers a range of undergraduate degree programmes validated by Liverpool John Moores University. A number of the professional certificates involve elements of distance learning and/or e-learning.

The UKOU supports students in the Isle of Man (but they pay higher fees than UK students) and it has a study centre on the Island.

Polytechnics in the Isle of Man

The Isle of Man has an FE college, Isle of Man College, which offers a variety of degree programmes sourced from outside the Island. For example, the BSc Combined Hons Computer Science is developed with and validated by the University of Chester but delivered at the College, as are courses in Manx Studies and Public Health. Other programmes - e.g. in Construction and Real Estate - are developed in collaboration with and validated by Liverpool John Moores University.

Education reform

The Bologna Process for HE

The Isle of Man is not part of the European Union thus is not bound by Bologna. Having said that, it is normal for the Isle of Man to copy the main aspects of UK policy in such areas. The UK believes that to the first order of approximation its institutions already conform to Bologna.

Other activity

The Isle of Man International Business School has been established to promote and deliver Higher Education on the Isle of Man and is planned by the government to become the nucleus of a Higher Education Institution on the Island.

Administration and finance

It is ad hoc and the subject of some current debate.

Quality assurance

There is no institution yet to which HE quality assurance directly applies and it is not yet clear to which agency the Isle of Man International Business School would submit itself when the time is right. If it is a UK agency it is more likely to be a UK university or OUVS since the QAA does not directly validate institutions. However, it could well be a US accrediting agency.

In general terms the UK QAA would oversee the quality of all UK HE provision which is delivered on the Island.

Information society

Towards the information society

There is an interesting policy review on the Digital Divide done in 2004.

Information society strategy

There is little visible sign of major supply or consumption of e-learning capability in HE or FE on or from to the Island.

At the schools level, things are very different. As noted by the Department of Education:

Back in September 2000 all teachers were first provided with a laptop computer and all schools were fitted with wireless networks. This scheme, which included extensive training for teachers, was world leading and continues to the present day.

A wireless broadband network links all schools in the Island and delivers a high speed filtered internet feed together with extensive learning resources and a highly effective communications system. This same intranet facilitates a support service through which some 4,500 computers are maintained directly from a central location.

To the general public on the Island, perhaps the most visible aspect of the ICT initiatives is the Manx Telecomputer Bus, which is sponsored by Manx Telecom and is the Department's innovative approach to delivering the very latest technology to schools across the Island. Recently refurbished and re-launched, it is basically a mobile classroom containing 23 wireless iMac computers with flat screens and an electronic whiteboard. When the bus arrives at a school it connects to the school’s own network so pupils’ existing work can be accessed and their work saved back onto the school server. At the same time as delivering exemplary lessons to pupils, teachers receive the very latest training while on board.

ICT in education initiatives

None known.

References

The Island's Department of Education maintains a policy page on Higher Education from which some of the material for this entry has been taken.

There is a similar page on Further Education.

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For OER policies and projects in Isle of Man see Isle of Man/OER

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