By Isle of Wight Observer
I have never regretted moving to the Island 26 years ago, during which time, I have been involved with two very different educational institutions: Ryde School as Headteacher, and the Isle of Wight College as governor, latterly as chairman.
With a pleasing symmetry, I spent 16 years with each – though simple arithmetic shows that there was some overlap in my service. An independent school is relatively easy to run – there is a tight academic curriculum, resources are plentiful and there is no excuse for anything other than good outcomes. It is much more challenging to run an Further Education (FE) College when the government has continually undervalued this sector. FE funding has fallen by 8 per cent in real terms over the last 10 years – with each full-time student funded only to about £4,000 per annum, compared with a secondary school pupil who receives 50 per cent more.
When I first became a governor, I was struck by the sheer complexity of the FE curriculum. The backbone of FE delivery has been the Business and Technology Education Council qualifications (BTECs). These include 20 vocational and practical areas of learning such as child care, health and social care, construction, plumbing and engineering. Courses are studied at various levels producing numerous permutations to be staffed and timetabled for more than 4,000 students, including 1,700 full-time 16 to 19-year-olds, a third of whom are retaking maths or English GCSE. The college also works in partnership with employers, welcoming 100 apprentices who attend the college for a day each week. A similar number study for degrees in partnership with the University of Portsmouth – in 2021 the Department for Education designated the college as the University Centre Isle of Wight.
It is no wonder that I was in awe of the two principals with whom I worked; they were visionary, energetic and optimistic, and always focused on their students. A trip to the college for a governor’s meeting was a humbling experience; I saw results improve and students benefit from strong and professional teaching before progressing to higher education or employment.
Recently, the Prime Minister announced his intention to combine A Levels and Technical Levels (T Levels) into an Advanced British Standard. There are too many students completing ‘uneconomic degrees’, which train people for jobs that do not exist. As Gillian Keegan, Secretary of State for Education, observed during her recent visit to the Island: “The arbitrary targets set by a previous government to get 50 per cent of young people into university were counterproductive and out of touch with the needs of business.”
Over the last two years, FE colleges have introduced T Levels. These courses have a high standard of entry requiring good GCSE passes including maths and English, and are designed to prepare people for skilled work without having to go to university. A T Level is the equivalent of three A Levels and requires the student to spend 80 per cent of their time in the classroom and 20 per cent in work placements. Subject areas covered include accounting, agriculture, building services, digital business services, education and early years, engineering and manufacture, management and administration, legal services, science and health science. At last, the government has woken up to the value of vocational training.
The Isle of Wight College, with specialisms in business and engineering, is well placed to respond to local needs having invested both in Newport and the state-of-the-art Centre for Excellence in Composite, Advanced Manufacturing and Marine (CECAMM) facility in Whippingham. These proposed changes are for the good: while many professions will
always require graduates, we will see a growth in the FE sector as bright young people train for jobs that are desperately needed, while earning every bit as much as their graduate contemporaries.