DOCUMENT RESUME ED 443 957 CE 080 499 AUTHOR Hughes, Maria Quality Improvement in the Work-Based Sector: Summary TITLE Report. FEDA Comments. INSTITUTION Further Education Development Agency, London (England). ISBN-1-85338-567-0 ISBN PUB DATE 2000-00-00 NOTE 13p.; Edited by Jackie Mace. "With contributions from Andy Westwood, Teery Rudden, Michael Ratcliffe, Liz Aitken, and Graham Knight." AVAILABLE FROM Further Education Development Agency, Citadel Place, Tinworth Street, London SEll 5EH, United Kingdom, Tel: 020 7840 5302/4, Fax: 020 7840 5401, e-mail: [email protected] Web site: http://www.feda.ac.uk. For full text: http://www.feda.ac.uk/PDF/ISBN1853385670.PDF. PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070) Reports Research (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Access to Education; Adult Education; Certification; Change Strategies; *Education Work Relationship; Educational Change; *Educational Needs; *Educational Quality; Employment Experience; Foreign Countries; Job Training; Leadership; Literature Reviews; Needs Assessment; Postsecondary Education; Prior Learning; Private Schools; Professional Development; *Program Improvement; Public Schools; Strategic Planning; Teacher Improvement; Technical Institutes; Trainers; *Vocational Education; *Work Experience Programs IDENTIFIERS *United Kingdom ABSTRACT The provision of work-based training in the United Kingdom was studied to identify strategies for developing and improving the work-based sector. Data were collected from the following sources: a literature review; a postal survey completed by 245 work-based training providers; follow-up interviews; and regional meetings. More than 64% of respondents had been running work-based government-funded training for 6 years or more. Many providers were working across a wide variety of qualifications and occupational areas. The study established that, despite the existence of examples of good and improving practice, new and more challenging standards for work-based learning are needed. The following areas were deemed priority areas for development: advice, guidance, and pastoral support; key skills; learning with information and computer technology; development of a self-critical, self-improving culture; leadership and strategic planning; and mandatory professional qualifications for staff. The following were among the recommendations emerging from the study: (1) teachers, employers, and career advisers should reinforce the legitimacy of the work-based route to qualifications and success; (2) providers need additional training to raise their own key skills levels above those they are teaching and assessing; and (3) detailed explanation of how practice may be developed and improved is required. (Contains 14 references.) (MN) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. quality learning eAtt3 Q_ lity improvement in the ark-based sector Summary report PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement ATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION ED CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. O Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. BEST COPY AVAILABLE of Maria Hughes contents 1. Introduction Published by FEDA 1 2. Review of existing information 1 Feedback should be sent to FEDA publications, 3 Citadel Place, 3 3. The FEDA survey Tinworth Street, London SE11 5EF 4. Conclusions and implications for development 5 Tel: 020 7840 5302/4 Fax: 020 7840 5401 Notes 9 FEDA on the Internet www.feda.ac.uk Registered with the Charity Commissioners Editor: Jackie Mace Designers: Dave Shaw and Joel Quartey ISBN 1 85338 567 0 © 2000 FEDA You are welcome to copy this paper for internal use within your organisation. Otherwise, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owner. Acknowledgements This report was compiled by Maria Hughes, Lead Development Adviser, Skills, Learning and Work, FEDA, with contributions from Andy Westwood, Employment Policy Institute (EPI) and a team of FEDA staff, including: Terry Rudden, Michael Ratcliffe, Liz Aitken and Graham Knight. 1. Iniroaucuon z. Review of existing information From April 2001, training providers, FE colleges and The review drew upon available publications the adult and community sectors will operate within and articles to ascertain: a single funding and quality framework. Given the How published evidence assesses increasing importance of work-based learning and the work-based learning sectors workforce development, raising quality across the How this evidence supports potential whole of the new sector will be central to its success. development strategies for organisations FEDA therefore undertook research into the quality involved in the delivery of work-based learning. improvement needs of the work-based sector. The research began in the autumn of 1999 and included Views on quality of provision a review of existing information on the characteristics The starting point for the review was the 1998-99 of work-based learning, a postal survey of providers, annual report of the Training Standards Council's follow-up interviews and regional meetings. Chief Inspector.1The report revealed that half of the three hundred providers inspected in the first year Research questions were found to have at least one 'less than satisfactory' The research sought answers to two questions: or 'poor' aspect to their training. The report is critical of a variety of aspects of work-based training. What are the characteristics of providers Fifteen per cent of the training was less than of work-based training supported by satisfactory or poor, and nearly half of the inspected government funds? organisations had at least one area of weakness and What are the development needs will need to be re-inspected within a year. of organisations and their staff providing Other bodies, such as the Industrial Society training in this area? and Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD),2 have reported a lack of quality in other training provision in many areas of delivery. Most notably, the Industrial Society survey observed: The biggest barriers to training are poor trainers.3 Other work-based training While the TSC may have influence over all work-based learning, its remit is to inspect training supported by government funds. There is a great deal of work-based learning, formal and informal, which is being under- taken independently of government support. The Government Statistical Service4 states that 40% of the UK population aged 25-64 participate in job-related education the highest in its international survey. Seventy-four per cent of adult education and training receives at least partial funding from the employer again a higher proportion than any other country (OECD 1998).5 IPD research,6 however, shows that there is a lack of hard information on how much training is happening. The last attempt to gauge the value of training taking place was made by the Employment Department (ED) in 1993 and published three years later by the Department for Education and Employ- ment (DfEE).7 That survey put the total cost of training and on-the-job instruction at nearly £600 a year per employee. 4 Quality improvement in the work-hased sectnr I 1 Developments m II Who are the trainers? Many sources, most notablythe IPD and Industrial A growing body of inspection evidence and official Society,11 suggest that online work-based learning DfEE data suggest that there may be problem areas will make up the majority of work-based learning in in publicly funded provision. A degree of disquiet is the near future. However, the ability to use this also evident across the range of work-based training. medium effectively needs further development. Many other bodies concerned with human resource development have expressed concerns about its Perceptions of trainees usefulness to both individuals and employers.8 The Institute of Manpower Studies (IMS) (1988)9 The DfEE's Analytical Services Division provided FEDA defined four different categories of 'trainer': with information on retention, modes of delivery and the opinions of the participants about their training on The training manager the major government-funded programmes, these being: with planning, organising responsibility deliverer only The dedicated instructor Modern Apprenticeships (MA) The occasional trainerwhose main role is and National Traineeships (NT) outside training, but delivers related training Other Training for Young People (OTYP) The integrated training role with formal Work-Based Learning for Adults (WBLA). development responsibilities alongside Key messages from these surveys include: job-specific role. Between 20 and 25% of former MA participants said According to the IMS, dedicated trainers were in they received no training from their current employer. ageing staff were not being replaced within decline Three-quarters of former MA and OTYP participants small operations as well as large in-house operations. think the scheme is at least 'fairly useful'. Participation in publicly funded Of those who did not complete the WBLA scheme, three-quarters cite 'a disability problem' work-based training as a reason for leaving early. There appears to be a downward trend in the take-up Younger people tend to leave schemes of government-funded work-based training. for a full-time job, but the WBLA leavers DfEE statistics19 suggest that in 1998: are more likely to enter education.12 The number of young people in work-based training What are the characteristics on 28 June was 8% lower than it was a year ago. of providers? The number starting work-based training schemes was down 13% over the year. There is a wide range of organisations delivering The number starting schemes in the government-funded work-based learning. However, three months to 28 June was 52% lower the Training Standards Council's Chief Inspector's than in the same quarter last year. annual report indicates that, although there are In the three months to 28 June, the number of people some large, national organisations, many providers starting Modern Apprenticeships was down by 30% are small-to-medium size enterprises (SMEs) compared with the same period last year. operating on a very localised basis. On other training schemes for young people, The Training Standards Council's Chief Inspector's the DfEE reported that participant figures on report also notes that there are many small providers 28 June were 27% lower than they were a year ago. with little or no formally trained deliverers, operating The number of adults in work-based training a small number of government-funded contracts. schemes in England and Wales on 28 June Delivery can be very poor and outcomes modest. had fallen by 34% from last year. Spare capacity is limited and the sector has experi- Compared with 1994, when there were 133,100 enced a significant turnover of organisations. Many adults on work-based training schemes, the overall have ceased to operate after TSC inspections, having drop in the number of participants is 74 percent. lost government funding. It is likely that this decline was in some part the Some groupings of companies are now being set up, result of uptake of the New Deal, coupled with and the emergence of the Association of Learning better employment prospects. Providers indicates a greater self-awareness of the sector as a significant force in post-16 education and training. 5 2 I Oualitv imorovement in the work-based sector 4. I ne r um survey Responses to the survey Eighty-three respondents had been inspected by the TSC. Thirty-four per cent had completed Responses to the postal survey were received from a Self-Assessment Report (SAR) and were 245 work-based training providers. The range of addressing strengths and weaknesses. responding organisations appears to reflect the None of those operating for less than overall make-up of the work-based training sector. two years had been inspected. Over half of respondents contract with only Figure 1 I Responding organisations (%) one TEC, indicating that they are locally based Private trainer 36 companies. Thirty-fourper cent contract with Employer training own staff between two and five TECs and report difficulties 11 in the variations between TECs' initial assessment, Employer training other people's staff 16 quarterly reviews and outcome payments. An employers' association 5 A large number of providers in the survey are Charity 11 working across a wide variety of qualifications Public body (such as hospital trusts and occupational areas. Differences in the 9 and local authorities) requirements of Awarding Bodies, which often Further education college 8 conflict with TEC requirements, are reported as significant operational difficulties. Training company that belongs to an 3 FE college, university or independent school Almost half of respondents employed ten or fewer dedicated full-time staff and 66% employed five or fewer dedicated part-time staff. Forty-nine per cent ding rganisations Me of rasp employ between 1-5 full-time trainers and 89% employ ten or fewer part-time trainers. e Over 64% of respondents have been running work-based government-funded training for 6 years About the learners or more, with 27% having been established over 16 years. Thirteen per cent of the respondents Survey respondents were working with a wide have been providing government-funded range of learners in terms of ability and types training for two years or less. of programmes (and therefore differences in funding and tariffs). o An underlying trend is the absence of new providers entering the market. Many new Eighty-one per cent of providers said their trainees providers find it difficult to survive. This was per- were on programmes leading towards qualifications. ceived as being related to TECs' policies that control Most are aiming for level 2/3 qualifications. entry and tend not to contract with new providers. Some are disadvantaged/reluctant learners Funding methods currently do not encourage new the 'hard to help'. providers as start-up costs are high, and a sizeable Nearly twice as many of the trainees proportion of funding is paid retrospectively on supported by survey respondents were achievement of outputs. New providers are therefore employed or had employed status. either very specialist or large national providers Thirty-one per cent of providers had no trainees moving into a new vocational or geographic area. from ethnic minorities. When this was raised at o The numbers of trainees that respondents meetings and interviews, some considered this were responsible for varied from two to be in line with the low volume of their local to more than 15,000. ethnic minority population. SST COPY AV 6 Duality imornvPrnPnt in fla wark.haciati earfnr I 'I support neeas Management and delivery of training The majority of respondents thought thatthey Many work-based training providers appear needed little or no support for development, and to be operating as managing providers attributed poor quality to inadequate funding, lack rather than direct deliverers of training. of time and resources, the structure of NVQs and Managing subcontractors, who provide excessive bureaucracy. the training, is a complex process. In many cases, This may reveal a gap in perceptions of quality subcontractors are much bigger organisations, and awareness of needs and the absence of a (often the local FE college) and the contract self-critical, self-improving culture. Because sharing with the provider is simply one of many. and exchange of practice are rare, benchmarking Staff and time resources for managing practice against that of others is limited. However, subcontractors appear to be insufficient some acknowledged that quality is a problem and to do justice to the job (often the responsibility have welcomed TSC inspections. of one or two members of staff). While some respondents are receiving significant Nearly half of respondents have only one member support from their TECs or Awarding Bodies, staff of staff supporting trainees in over 50 locations. development and updating activity is limited due Respondents saw this as manageable, as long to lack of time and money. Trainers, as opposed to as the assessment function was separate from managers, appear to have little access to briefings pastoral support. These views reflect adherence on contemporary issues or to opportunities to to TEC reporting and monitoring arrangements, share ideas and develop materials and practice. but suggest that co-ordination of learning on This lack of inclusion in policy development and off the job is not actively pursued. on curriculum and standards may mean that Resources allocated to learning are work-based trainers have little purchase on much less than that for assessment the education and training system. (seen by many as a proxy for learning). The areas seen by providers responding Despite the aspiration to secure learning at work, to the survey as needing most support the predominant mode of delivery is off-the-job were related to IT development and training provided by a subcontractor. Management Information Systems (MIS). Seventeen per cent of respondents claimed to Manytrainers dealing with hard-to-help groups be delivering some learning online and 9% were are acutely concerned that they have little considering this. IT delivery seems to be partic- access to specialist resources and ularly well developed for training for occupations good quality training materials. in the legal sector, with more developed materials Over two-thirds of respondents to and expertise in this area and, possibly, better the FEDA survey said they are prepared access to computers. to share resources/good practice. There were some caveats to this, with a view that this should About the trainers be on a 'something-for-something' basis. In 30% of organisations responding to the FEDA There was widespread dislike of key skills being survey, none of the staff had either a teaching or separately assessed, and most respondents training qualification and only one-third had over reported difficulties in delivering key skills. 90% of their trainers qualified as assessors. Poor initial assessment was seen as Trainers are not likely to be educated to degree level an issue needing to be addressed. and few are members of professional associations. There is significant support for all trainers to be qualified, but some also called for a range of professional qualifications to be available to match the range of roles required to support work-based training.13 High value is placed on occupational competence 69% agreement with the view that relevant occupational experience is more important than qualifications and 61% disagreement that trainers need teaching experience more than relevant occupational experience. 7 d I natality imnrnytamant in the work -based sector LI. t,onclusions Advice, guidance and pastoral support While pastoral support for individual trainees and implications is reported to be often good, it requires further development in other areas of trainee support. for development Significant issues that have emerged include: The image of work-based training and its impact on recruitment Careers advice is not seen to be sufficiently positive There is considerable consistency in the issues about the value of the work-based route and this has emerging from all aspects of this investigation into a negative impact on the image of work-based training work-based learning. While good and improving and recruitment to it. For many young people, the practice is in evidence, there is a need for new and work-based route may be highly appropriate and more challenging standards as the importance of result in high levels of achievement. But it is work-based learning grows. In particular, there needs still considered to be a 'last resort' option. to be demonstrable impact on: Messages from teachers, employers and careers the development of individuals advisers should reinforce the legitimacy of the the business success of employers work-based route to qualifications and success. the country's skill base. Initial assessment and action planning As new systems and resourcing models are put into Poor practice in initial assessment and preparation place, consideration must also be given to the support of training plans is seen to be a problem area by the base for learning in the workplace. Work-based learning TSC and others. The lack of appropriate assessment must play a key role in securing a learning culture across tools and expertise to use them results in a poor start British industry, and this will take considerable time for many trainees. Given the wide range of contexts in and investment. which learning takes place, individualised approaches These issues are important for all providers are required that interpret the results of customised which, as this research has shown, involves many screening and diagnostic tests, and provide guidance different types of organisations, from FE sector colleges on effective learning opportunities. to small private or voluntary sector providers. Simple, appropriate and effective methods of initial Areas for development: assessment and action planning need to be developed and staff training for their use provided. key messages The FEDA research has revealed a number of Retention and successful completion priority areas for development, these being: Although the FEDA survey did not find conclusive proof, anecdotal evidence suggests that retention and successful completion is as problematic in the work-based route as in other post-16 provision. Further investigation of factors influencing retention and successful completion is required, followed by guidelines and support for improvement. Supporting training in the workplace In work-based learning, there are many people outside the formal training process who make an important contribution to trainees' success. The success of work-based training is crucially dependent on encouraging ownership by: employers line managers/supervisors peers mentors, etc. BEST COPY AVAILABLE Examples of the ways in which this support is harnessed and the benefits to learning should be identified and widely disseminated. -haced cecter Quality imnrovement in the work I Learning with ICT Key skills Developing IT capacity Trainers' key skills capacity The major development in work-based learning is Key skills delivery is seen as a major difficulty across predicted to be in online learning. Work-based training the work-based route and providers' confidence levels providers may find it difficultto adapt to this new demand are very low. Key skills capacity may be as big an as their IT capacity- in terms of personal ability, issue for some trainers as for their trainees. infrastructure and curriculum applications Providers need additional training -and funding appears to be limited in many cases. to secure this - to raise their own key skills levels There are several strands to this issue relating to above those they are teaching or assessing. equipment, materials and expertise. Work placements and job roles vary in the extent to which they provide Relevance of key skills ready access to computers and in the relevance of Lack of conviction is apparent in the extent to which IT to working practice. These issues may be resolved the mandatory key skills are seen to be relevant to over time but, in the immediate future, they disadvan- the work-based route, particularly the Application of tage some individuals and hinder the development Number and IT. While work-based trainers are agreed of some firms. that there needs to be more support for trainees to Supporting development in the private sector develop basic skills, there is concern about whether with wholly public-funded programmes of support there are opportunities to develop key skills in all may not be appropriate. However, because of the occupations, or whether particular key skills are importance of the relationship of IT capacity both to genuinely required to enable trainees to do the development of individuals and to a more highly certain jobs. As one provider commented: skilled workforce, the responsibility for improving Employers want people who are numerate, capacity must be shared by government and they don't use pi or mathematical concepts. individual providers. It appears to be common practice to 'leave the key skills Providers in the work-based sector should have until last', even in Modern Apprenticeship programmes, access to matched funding opportunities to where key skills are a mandatory requirement. This relays develop their ICT capacity. powerful messages to trainees and employers about the The lack of knowledge and expertise on the part of lack of importance of key skills. It also suggests that training providers, both in terms of their own skills in key skills development, as opposed to assessment, ICT and in their capacity to spot applications in the is given scant attention. workplace, are issues that need to be addressed. More consideration should be given to the relevance and application of key skills in the workplace. Management Information Systems The relevance of key skills to particular vocational MIS will be needed to provide the Learning and Skills areas should be addressed and vocationally focused Council (LSC) with information in a consistent format materials should be developed. and to ensure that trainees' progress is tracked so that difficulties are identified and addressed promptly. A review of employer requirements is needed The varying scales of operation need to be taken into to define key skills for employability more clearly. account, however, as over-complex arrangements Integration into the workplace may be beyond the capacity of small providers. The proposed changes to key skills are reported to MIS requirements need to be considered in have made their integration into vocational learning close consultation with work-based providers to more difficult. Some trainers have great difficulty in ensure that compliance is possible, especially in finding naturally occurring opportunities for assess- smaller companies. ment of key skills, and many reported concerns about the new Key Skills tests. These concerns relate to the inconvenience of taking time away from the workplace to sit the tests and to trainees' largely negative experience of external tests. Development of good practice in teaching and learning key skills in the workplace is required. 9 6 I Oualitv imnrovement in the work-based sector Developing a self-critical, self-improving culture Encouraging exchange of practice Support activity to extend current practice The absence of a strong culture of sharing and While the experience of TEC support was variable networking means that many providers are simply across the FEDA sample of providers, it proved to be unaware of different ways of operating, and have little valuable to some organisations and will be missed. on which to base comparisons of their own practice. The LSC provides the opportunity to develop a more Providers are relatively new to the process of self- comprehensive approach to quality improvement, assessment of their strengths and weaknesses for which could build on current arrangements. TSC inspections, but many report significant benefits This should include exemplars of good practice from this process. The practice of preparing that are analytical as well as descriptive, and Self-Assessment Reports could be built indicate not just what is being done well, but upon and benchmarking encouraged. why this is the case, and how it may be replicated. Encouraging networking and sharing within a Detailed explanation of how practice may be competitive environment between profit-making and developed and improved is required - covering not-for-profit organisations may present difficulties. particular areas of concern, including: The issue of public funding for such activities will also initial assessment, action planning and review need to be resolved. However, the challenges faced by equal opportunities - policies and practice all providers in the new arrangements within the LSC learning support for people with disabilities may provide a common purpose, especially if there and learning difficulties are clear benefits to all participants. motivating disenchanted Cross-sector quality groups, which could be and hard-to-help trainees subject- or issue-based should be convened. monitoring trainee progress. These could operate on a regional basis and make An action research approach to developing practice use of ICT solutions, such as e-mail groups and video would enable trainers to learn on the job. conferencing, in addition to face-to-face meetings. Such groups would need to be supported and Models for learning at and through work managed to ensure that they remained focused While there is a great deal of rhetoric about work- and that outcomes were disseminated. based learning, in practice, most learning appears to be undertaken in traditional off-the-job modes. More research into models for learning at work is required to demonstrate how the on- and off-the-job experience could be co-ordinated to secure better learning. This should be concerned with both formal and informal learning activities and include a consideration of open, distance and online learning methods. BEST COPY AVAILABLE 0 Quality improvement in the work-based sector 17 AL