ABSTRACT

The other members of the Nuffield Review, not contributing to the Round Table, are: Mrs Jill Johnson (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service); Prof. Ewart Keep (University of Warwick Business School); Prof. Richard Pring, Ms Susannah Wright (University of Oxford Department of Educational Studies)

This Round Table will report on the major independent Nuffield Review of education and training for 14-19 year olds in England and Wales. This phase has been the focus of government and research attention in the UK and internationally. The comparatively low, but rising, participation rates in the post-compulsory phase in England and Wales have long been cause for concern. The changes in the labour market and wider society also make this a priority area, not just in England and Wales, but also in Europe and internationally.

The Nuffield Review takes an independent, long-term, system-wide and comparative approach to reviewing 14-19 education and training in the UK in order to analyse and inform current and future policies. In particular, the Review focuses on a critical analysis of how 14-19 education and training provision promotes the inclusion and empowerment of young people by evaluating the impact of reforms and the performance of UK systems.

The Review is now in its second year and is focusing on the following themes, the first two of which will form the basis of the brief contributions to this Round Table:

1. Participation, progression and attainment

As young people move through the 14-19 'system' they have to make a number of decisions about whether to study, where to learn, and what to learn. This pattern of decision making appears to be changing with the result that a greater proportion of young people in England and Wales are following academic courses and vocational participation is becoming more school-based. The corollary is declining participation in work-based routes. The contributions in this strand will therefore address the following questions:

• What factors are producing the shift to a school-based system of 14-19 education and training and the associated academic drift in patterns of study? To what extent does current government policy address the longer term implications of this trend?
• Which characteristics of apprenticeships and their socio-economic contexts in selected OECD countries can shed light on why many apprenticeships do not (and perhaps will not) work effectively in England and Wales?

2. The institutional dimension

The current government focus on 14-19 education and training in England raises questions about the institutional arrangements required for its effective delivery. Currently, different institutional and delivery arrangements for 14-19 education and training pertain in different parts of the country as the result of historical, geographical, demographic and policy factors. This paper will explore two broad questions:

• What institutional arrangements might be necessary to underpin clear and effective progression routes for all 14-19 year olds in England?
• How far will current government reforms in England address issues of equity, participation, progression and attainment in an emerging 14-19 phase?

3. Aims and values

This strand of the Review explores the following issues within 14-19 education and training:

• What are the issues concerning the content of the curriculum?
• What are the values underpinning these issues?
• What are the differences at stake - and the nature of these differences in terms of values, the nature of knowledge, the relevance to the economy and society?