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Businesses want the education system to improve at giving young people the skills they need for work, says the 2014 CBI/����app Education and Skills survey.

In the survey of 291 companies employing nearly 1.5 million people, over half (61%) are concerned about the resilience and self-management of school leavers and a third (33%) with their attitude to work. By contrast, nearly all firms (96%) are satisfied with young peoples’ IT abilities when they enter the workplace.

Firms want primary schools to focus on developing literacy and numeracy (85%) with around one-third not satisfied with these skills among school leavers. Half (52%) are urging schools to develop a greater awareness of working life among 14-19 year olds with support from businesses. Companies are prepared to play their part with two-thirds (66%) willing to take on a larger role in the school careers system.

Ofqual has accepted ����app's application to be recognised to offer the new GCSE 9 to 1 qualifications. Confirmation was received on 13 May 2014.

New qualifications in English language, English literature and mathematics will be rolled out from September 2015, subject to accreditation, with the first awards being made in the summer of 2017. Further subjects will follow a year later. The reformed qualifications will have a numbered grading system, from 9 to 1 (with 9 being the highest grade available).

The BBC and ����app College have joined forces to launch a Higher Apprenticeship and degree programme for business management in the creative industries.

• This is a unique opportunity for talented young apprentices to earn while they learn and get a high-quality university degree.
• Participants gain both a ����app College Business Management Degree and a Leadership and Management Higher Apprenticeship.
• Work placements at the BBC will provide enviable experience of working at the heart of the media industry.
• First degree-level Business scheme to be offered by the BBC.
• Two-year scheme opens up entry to the brightest from all backgrounds.
• Applications are open from 14 April until 4 May 2014.

The two-year scheme targets those without a degree and opens up entry into the creative industries to the broadest range of backgrounds.

Alongside teaching at ����app College to understand key aspects of business – from management and leadership to business law – successful candidates will have the opportunity to develop hands-on experience through three placements within the BBC. These will take place within three of five areas: Television, Marketing and Audiences, Future Media, Policy and Strategy, or Worldwide.

The scheme provides a Leadership and Management Higher Apprenticeship incorporating a ����app College BA (Hons) Business Management* degree with all fees paid, validated by Ashridge Business School, one of the world's leading business schools.

A new report published today urges the government to radically overhaul the way the current school curriculum is developed to ensure it better meets the needs of the future economy.

The report, 'Making Education Work,' follows a six-month review of England’s education system by an independent advisory group consisting of prominent business leaders and chaired by leading academic Professor Sir Roy Anderson.

The report's key recommendations are:

• A cross-party body should ensure the school curriculum is aligned to the future economy.
• A levels should be slowly replaced with a Baccalaureate system.
• The importance of interpersonal skills should be recognised and evidenced.
  

With the content of the school curriculum continuing to change with each new administration, the report recommends the establishment of a new independent body, made up of teachers, employers, higher education and importantly, political parties. The new group would aim to establish a long-term political consensus on the school curriculum, with ultimate responsibility for delivering and assessing that curriculum continuing to be vested in the government.

The Making Education Work report also recommends:

• The A level system should slowly change to a baccalaureate-type system which supports a broader curriculum, to keep career options open and enable flexibility in later life.
• England should formally adopt a formal framework for key competences, to include important attributes like team working, which are predicted to become increasingly important in the job market.
• The testing of higher level reasoning skills, rather than just knowledge of theory or facts, should carry greater weight in qualifications, as more roles in the future will require these skills.

Here’s our comment on the Department for Education and Ofqual's decisions on GCSE reform, including changing the grading structure and removing coursework.

Here's a statement from ����app on the change to the GCSE and A level reform timetable.

Here's what we have to say after Ofqual looked into and gave conclusions on our business separation measures (awarding and publishing) at ����app.

Here’s our comment on the Department for Education and Ofqual's consultations into the reform of GCSEs.

A ����app spokesperson said:

"����app has fully engaged with the Department of Education and Ofqual to determine the right format for the reformed GCSE examination. We agree with both organisations that a change to the grading structure is needed, to ensure that new examinations can be clearly differentiated from the current standard."

On the removal of coursework/controlled assessment:

"Reducing the role of coursework and controlled assessment will help improve public confidence in GCSEs, and this is in the interests of learners. However, young people in all high performing education systems increasingly demand those broader skills important for success in employment, and in higher education. We will continue our work in the UK and around the world to find new ways to rigorously and reliably assess these skills."

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A new study shows an established vocational route into degree study, and that vocational skills are a ‘recipe for resilience’ in a changing labour market.

New research published today indicates that university graduates who only studied vocational qualifications at sixth form or college were more likely to be in employment than their peers who had studied purely academic qualifications such as A levels.

Analysis of Labour Force statistics in a new study by London Economics, commissioned by ����app, showed that, across age groups and gender, graduates with BTECs had an average full-time employment rate of 80%, compared with 74% for A level-only graduates.

On the day a government consultation closes on the future of vocational qualifications being taught in schools and colleges, these figures underline the role that qualifications that develop vocational skills could play in reducing the UK’s historically high unemployment rates now and in the future.

Although many more A level students progress to university than those studying vocational qualifications, thousands are now starting degrees having completed BTECs and other qualifications, often after a period of time in the workplace. Almost 40% of BTEC learners are aged 27 or above when they achieve their degree, compared with only about 10% of A level learners.

The figures indicate that A level learners take a much more ‘linear’ path compared with ‘non-linear’ BTEC learners, who have a mix of education and employment experience. However, over half of BTEC graduates progress straight to university on completing college or after a short break.

Figures showed that graduates who had studied BTECs at school and college were on a par with their A level-only peers in terms of the jobs they subsequently secured. On some measures they did better: more BTEC-only graduates were found to be working as Managers, Senior Officials, or in Associate Professional roles compared with A level-only graduates (48.9% versus 45.1%).

The other main findings of the report included:

• 56.1% of BTEC students with a degree studied Engineering, Maths and Computing and Business and Finance compared with only 26.8% of A level students.
• On average, BTEC students graduating from university are as likely to achieve a first-class degree as their A level peers (BTEC graduates at 12.2% compared with 11.4% for A level).��
• Male graduates with a BTEC in the Tyne and Wear and northern regions, West Yorkshire, East Anglia, parts of the West Midlands and Northern Ireland earn more than those who only did A levels at college and sixth form, though this effect is reversed in London and the south east.
• Across all regions, BTEC graduates in skilled trade occupations earn more.

Rod Bristow from ����app said:

“We already know that there is a strong positive correlation between having a vocational qualification such as a BTEC and being in employment. This new data shows that vocational qualifications, like A levels, also give you the opportunity to excel at university.

“This research is no reason to rest on our laurels. With unemployment rates at a historic high amongst young people, we need to learn the lessons from these insights.

“All students, whether they are taking an academic or a vocational route, should have the opportunity to develop the workplace skills and experiences that employers clearly value, and which are enabling success at degree level in disciplines that are critical to growing our economy, like Engineering and Computing.”

Dr Gavan Conlon of London Economics said:

“Having looked at the data of tens of thousands of workers across several sectors over a number of years, this analysis is clear that those learners who attained their degree through the BTEC route are more likely to be employed.

“With a rapidly changing economy, people need to continually update and adapt their skills, and we’re seeing people take up degrees later in life, as well as school leavers. The blend of skills and motivation developed through vocational qualifications and time in work may prove to be the recipe for long-term resilience in the employment market.”