UVAC journal introduction

Citation

Anderson, A. and Carter, J. (2011), "UVAC journal introduction", Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, Vol. 1 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/heswbl.2011.50501aaa.001

UVAC journal introduction

Article Type: UVAC journal introduction From: Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning, Volume 1, Issue 1

For over ten years, the University Vocational Awards Council (UVAC) has championed higher level vocational and work-based learning through events, our annual conferences, advocacy and a range of research reports and good practice guides. Until relatively recently, however, high-level skills and work-based learning have been marginal to the mainstream debate on the future of higher education both in the UK and internationally. Higher education policies in the UK have prioritised participation rates of young people and increasing the number of graduates entering the labour market, rather than the development of the knowledge and skills of the existing workforce. Too often, higher education has been associated with young people, rather than young people and adults; with entry to the workforce rather than with developing the skills of the workforce and lifelong learning; with “going to university” rather than learning at work and with predominately large qualifications, particularly bachelors and even foundation degrees rather than the provision of a range of flexible programmes, qualifications and credit that meet the needs of specific groups of learners and, where appropriate, their employers. “Studying” has been equated and used interchangeably with “learning” – when learning can also take place through practice, reflection, observation, etc. and in a variety of environments – the workplace being one of the most important. The agenda is, however, changing, thanks in particular to the work of UVAC members in pioneering new approaches to the development of higher level skills and work-based learning.

In the UK, higher education needs to develop a far more prominent role in the development and deliver work-based learning if the economy is to have the skills it requires. The Leitch Review of Skills (HM Treasury, 2006) highlighted that around three-quarters of the UK 2020 workforce have already left compulsory education, so, in the long-term, the UK economy will need more people currently in the workforce to acquire high-level skills. The UK Commission for Employment and Skills[1] predicts a 23.8 per cent growth in the number of managers and senior officials in England between 2007 and 2017, growth of 20.3 per cent in professional occupations and growth of 19.1 per cent in associate professional and technical occupations over the same period. Higher education will need to support the existing workforce to develop the skills the economy requires. Regrettably, this role is in its infancy, with the higher education share of the UK market for higher level Continuing Professional Development estimated at only 6 per cent by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (Campbell, 2009). Roodhouse and Mumford have also noted that employees see professional bodies and employers as far more credible deliverers of work-based learning than higher or further education institutions and that the gap is progressively widening (Roodhouse and Mumford, 2010). Debate, and thereafter, action, will be needed to address such issues if higher education is to realise and develop its role in developing the workforce.

The importance of the adult market for universities and colleges delivering higher education in the medium to long term is further emphasised when considering that in the UK the number of 18-20 year olds (who currently account for over 70 per cent of entrants to full-time undergraduate programmes) is, as a result of demographic trends, projected to fall sharply between 2010 and 2019. The surge in the demand for UK university places in 2009 and 2010, resulting from recessionary pressures and difficult labour market conditions may, given demographic factors, be a short-term phenomenon. Falls in the number of 18-20 year olds will be particularly marked in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and some English regions. This will call for higher education to engage more fully with employers to up-skill existing adult employees through work-based provision and flexible bespoke learning programmes. With an ever-tightening graduate job market, young people will, in the medium to long term, increasingly question the tangible benefits of a higher education programme, particularly in relation to its costs and the associated debt it is likely to entail – which may well lead to increased demand for work-based programmes where individuals cannot just work and learn, but also have their learning through work recognised and accredited. The higher education sector as a whole and many individual universities and colleges will need to embrace work-based learning and the development of higher level skills for those in the workforce as part of a sustainability strategy, to compensate for the decline in the size of the “A” level cohort and increased international competition for overseas students.

Developing work-based higher education programmes is also fundamental for social mobility. In the UK, at 16-19 young people from lower socio-economic classes are far more likely to pursue vocational courses and apprenticeships than those from higher socio-economic classes. The Milburn Review (the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions) stated that twice as many young people from lower socio-economic classes choose vocational routes as do young people with parents in professional occupations[2]. Young people from the top-three socio-economic classes are twice as likely to participate in higher education as those from the bottom-four classes[3]. Noting the high propensity of individuals from lower socio-economic classes to follow vocational programmes, it is instructive to consider the proportion of individuals following such programmes in England that progress to higher education:

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  Of level 3 apprentices, 6 per cent progress to higher education (Skills Commission, 2009).

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  Of holders of level 3 vocationally related qualifications, 40 per cent (VRQs – BTEC Nationals, etc.) progress to higher education (HEFCE, 2007).

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  In contrast – 90 per cent of those with general and applied “A” levels progress to higher education[4].

There is, of course, substantial international interest in research, policies and practice in higher level work-based learning and accordingly Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning (HESWBL) will not just focus on UK developments, as illustrated by the international representation on the editorial advisory board. It will also challenge existing perceptions of what higher education is, should and can do by focusing on work-based learning and will showcase excellence and innovation in practice developed by UVAC members and others. Until the launch of HESWBL, no journal has focused specifically on the interface between higher education and learning in the workplace – an area of growing academic and practitioner interest. We believe there will be considerable interest in higher education – nationally and internationally – in HESWBL as the independent journal combining academic and scholarly practitioner-focused papers. UVAC looks forward to the debate and the positive change HESWBL will stimulate.

Adrian Anderson Chief Executive of UVAC

Professor Joy Carter Chair of UVAC and Vice Chancellor of the University of Winchester

Notes

1. 1.

   SSDA/UK Commission for Employment and Skills 2008.

2. 2.

   The Panel on Fair Access to the Professions (2009) p. 22.

3. 3.

   Full-time Young Participation by Socio-Economic Class, 2007/2008 – quoted from the Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance call for evidence.

4. 4.

   HESA online statistics.