The Wolf Report
Report and Analysis from ASDAN
March 2011
ASDAN welcomes the Wolf Report, in particular the conclusion that “all young people should receive a high quality core education which equips them to progress, whether immediately or later, to a very wide range of further study, training and employment”.
ASDAN qualifications, which are explicitly designed to supplement a core curriculum, and develop skills for learning, skills for employment and skills for life, have an important role to play in supporting the development of “generalised skills”.
ASDAN’s curriculum programmes can also be deployed to accelerate the acquisition of literacy and numeracy, highlighted as an absolute essential within the Wolf Review.
The following sections have a more detailed commentary on aspects of the Wolf Report, specifically from an ASDAN perspective.
It is true that the release of the Wolf Report was associated with press briefings that targeted some of ASDAN's qualifications. We must reassure centres that there was no direct criticism of ASDAN qualifications anywhere in the Wolf Report. This assertion is backed up by a personal communication from Professor Wolf herself.
What is also true is that policy makers and officials within the Department for Education still do not fully appreciate the distinction between vocational/practical qualifications and more generalised life skills/personal development/PSHE/Wider Key Skills qualifications, which can supplement and complement both academic and vocational learning pathways. Needless to say, ASDAN is working hard to educate the educators.
Not every recommendation is relevant to ASDAN. The critical elements are highlighted below. Please do not hesitate to contact ASDAN if you need further reassurance regarding the position of ASDAN qualifications in performance measures and the future curriculum.
Best wishes
Marius Frank
Chief Executive ASDAN
ASDAN Analysis of the Wolf Report
Wolf Report Executive Summary
p.8 ‘Any young person’s programme of study, whether 'academic' or 'vocational', should provide for labour market and educational progress on a wide front, whether immediately or later in life.’
p.10 ‘…young people change jobs very frequently within a labour market which is also in constant flux. So students need general skills and the education system needs to respond quickly and flexibly to change.’
‘Today's labour market conditions bear very hard on young people. Underlying structural trends have been made worse by recession. We need to ensure that students have every opportunity to gain the most important and generalisable skills... including those gained in employment.’
ASDAN completely supports these views. In a context of the highest youth unemployment rates seen in decades, the ASDAN focus on skills for learning, skills for employability and skills for life positively assists all young people to prepare for, face and overcome the harsh realities. ASDAN leads the field in equipping young people with the CBI 'Employability Skills' referred to later in the Wolf Report (Page 130).
The ASDAN Certificate of Personal Effectiveness for learning (CoPE) qualification, for example, is not only now endorsed by over half the Institutions of Higher Education across the country for added value and for differentiation in the HE admissions and selection process, but is highly valued also by employers who see it as a guarantee of the achievement of essential skills required for effective entry and performance in the workplace.
The ASDAN Employability Qualifications, written to the generic CBI definition of Employability and recognised across all Sector Skills Councils (occupational sectors) are also significant to the Alison Wolf and government agenda.
Recommendation 1
‘The DfE should distinguish clearly between those qualifications, both vocational and academic, which can contribute to performance indicators at Key Stage 4, and those which cannot.’
ASDAN is confident of a fair hearing in this process.
We do not do vocational qualifications, although our qualifications are non-GCSE subjects. We have written to government and to Professor Wolf, to explain the distinction between the vocational/practical qualifications, and generalised life skill/personal development qualifications.
Additionally, our qualifications do not count for 2 or 4 multiple GCSE equivalencies. We have also made this point, so that there is clear water between ASDAN qualifications and the criticisms within the Wolf Report of such vocational qualifications that have little value in the labour market and for further study.
Our qualifications have been designed from the outset as 14+ qualifications, not adaptations of 16+ qualifications. We are therefore confident of passing any decision criteria that are agreed to screen all vocational and academic qualifications. And we are mindful that this will take some time.
Recommendation 2
‘At Key Stage 4, schools should be free to offer any qualifications they wish from a regulated Awarding Body, whether or not these are approved for performance measurement purposes, subject to statutory/health and safety requirements.’
Although this may seem counter-intuitive to Recommendation 1, this recommendation encourages Headteachers to innovate, and meet the personalised needs of learners, with courses, programmes of study and qualifications that best suit their needs, abilities and requirements.
For example, some incredibly bright and gifted students may choose, for example, two expressive arts GCSEs and RE instead of a Humanities subject. This clearly would not fit the E-Bac criteria, but, in agreement with parents and the student concerned, would meet the needs of that particular student. ASDAN believes that Recommendation 2 encourages schools to respond to the need rather than the performance measure.
Recommendation 3
Non-GCSE/iGCSE qualifications from the approved list (recommendation 1 above) should make a limited contribution to an individual student’s score on any performance measures that use accumulated and averaged point scores. This will safeguard pupils’ access to a common general core as a basis for progression. At the same time, any point-based measures should also be structured so that schools do not have a strong incentive to pile up huge numbers of qualifications per student, and therefore are free to offer all students practical and vocational courses as part of their programme.
This of course refers mainly to multiple equivalency qualifications. ASDAN awaits a decision from the government on this, but ASDAN is strongly asserting that 20% of the performance measure could come from a life skills/PSHE/personal effectiveness qualification such as ASDAN CoPE, PSD or Employability qualifications.
Recommendation 4
Performance of the lowest quintile of students
ASDAN has a clear role to play here, with our programmes and qualifications designed explicitly to promote achievement in special school and special needs settings, especially in core literacy and numeracy skills. ASDAN has a long track record in supporting the ‘Achievement for All’ and the overall raising achievement agenda, and welcomes this recommendation.
Recommendation 7
Programmes for lowest performing learners
As stated in our reply to Recommendation 4, ASDAN has a major role to play in the effectiveness of programmes for LDD learners, specifically to impact on literacy and numeracy.
Recommendation 9
Students who are under 19 and do not have GCSE A*-C in English and/or Maths should be required, as part of their programme, to pursue a course which either leads directly to these qualifications, or which provides significant progress towards future GCSE entry and success.
ASDAN welcomes the focus on progress rather than qualification, and will seek to work closely with government to ensure that our expertise can influence the new programmes necessary to have impact in this age range.
Recommendation 10
CPD for Maths Teachers
ASDAN again offers its services to the government, so that deep numeracy and numerical capability is developed in all learners, rather than narrow formulaic teaching in order to pass examinations.