County signs up to education changes for 14-19 year olds

Major changes to the way 14-19 year olds are educated across the county were given the thumbs up at an event which attracted more than 60 delegates from schools, colleges and other organisations last week.

The event, which aimed to pull together all the different strands of work with this age group in Herefordshire, took place at the Royal National College for the Blind on 31st October. The county's schools, colleges, training providers, the Learning and Skills Council, Connexions and Herefordshire Council all signed an agreement to work collaboratively to raise standards and improve the achievement of the county's young people.

The way education is provided for 14-19 year olds is currently being reformed. There is a new commitment to all young people for them all to undertake learning or training to the age of 18 by 2015. In addition, significant changes are being made to the content and range of courses and qualifications young people can choose to take and the way they can be trained or educated.

The reform has been called for as a result of evidence that the country's top performers do well, but that other young people in the UK are lagging behind young people from Europe and Asia and the gap is growing.

"We don't deliver well for all learners in the UK at the moment," said Polly Garnett, 14-19 strategy manager. "Even those who do well academically can struggle when they leave formal education because they don't have the knowledge and skills to prepare them for the world of work," she continued. "White, working class boys are one of the most under-performing groups in education nationwide, and we need to change this quickly if we are to prevent a large proportion of our young people from failing to reach their full potential."

At the heart of the reform is the concept of creating an individual learning programme for each young person which focuses on what the student wants to learn rather than what is on offer at their school or college.

With 17 new diplomas at three different levels on the horizon, together with GCSEs, A levels, apprenticeships and a drive to extend young people's experiences in the world of business, enterprise, entrepreneurship and employment, students may soon attend more than one place of learning. It is anticipated that many young people will use a mixture of providers which will sometimes require them to spend time at a different establishment than their main school or college.

To make this work successfully, all organisations providing education for 14-19 year olds across Herefordshire need to work collaboratively and in a culture of mutual trust.

Councillor Jenny Hyde, cabinet member for children and young people, said: "We have already begun to change the way we help our young people and many schools and colleges have arrangements in place to help their students access courses in other establishments, including the workplace.

"This new way of working provides Herefordshire with an exciting opportunity to make a real difference to young people's lives and career aspirations. All young people have a right to success, not just those who achieve high academic grades.

"Signing up to this collaborative agreement paves the way for working together to bring these changes about and improve standards and opportunities for our children."