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A demand-led system of vocational education may flounder, says research

A demand-led system of vocational education may flounder unless the incentives offered to individuals, employers and education organisations have proper "teeth", says new research published by the Learning and Skills Development Agency's (LSDA) research centre.

The report, 'Emerging policy for vocational learning in England' (published this week), is based on research carried out by a team from the University of Oxford's Department of Educational Studies and the RAND Corporation, commissioned by LSDA. It highlights the practice within the UK of an approach that relies on inducements, such as employer training pilots and means-tested adult learning grants, that encourage participation in learning.

The report points out the reluctance to use mandates or rules to compel individuals or companies to engage in education or training. But this voluntarist approach, it says, can only address short-term objectives and often fails to tackle more fundamental, long-term issues - a factor that has been recognised by the present government - most recently by Gordon Brown in his speech to the Labour Party conference on 27 September.

While targets have a role in directing behaviour, researchers questioned whether there are enough penalties for failing to achieve them. "Policies may provide too many carrots and too few sticks," says the report. "The challenge is to stimulate the ‘right' kind of demand, yet retain the principle of voluntary participation and engagement."

In the past UK governments have tended to intervene on the supply side of education and training, attempting to change institutions (such as schools and colleges) the curriculum, and qualifications. But the researchers argue that, until recently, they have paid less attention to whether or not there is adequate demand for learning. Where demand is taken into account, policies appear to be more focussed on individuals than the demands of the labour market, the report says.

But even when local policy-makers have the data and resources about the labour market, this only takes into account general demographic trends. "This is particularly worrying in a system that will increasingly depend on local analysis of labour market conditions to better match supply and demand," says the report. "It remains to be seen how well local learning and skills councils and sector skills councils can assess specific skill needs as required by the new national skills strategy."

The report calls for:

• a better understanding of all the factors that affect economic outcomes and a more integrated policy process for addressing them

• greater attention to the limitations of inducement-type strategies in the absence of capacity to change

• the need for more capacity-building that will provide necessary investments in infrastructure; for example, in the area of teaching capacity

• recognition of the limitations of a voluntarist approach that relies on goodwill and often contradictory levers such as funding, targets and inspection

• consideration of the adoption of regulations and mandates to provide a real incentive that will involve stakeholders (such as employers) in learning

• more attention to the goals and purposes of the system at different levels for different clients, rather than a battery of initiatives to provide something for everyone

• less emphasis on targets (particularly those linked to qualifications) and more emphasis on learning processes and the investment needed to enhance quality.

The report also points to problems facing further education colleges where funds have been cut for some post-19 programmes that do not focus on priority areas such as adult basic skills. Maria Hughes, research manager at the LSDA, said the report reflects the competing demands of the vast range of beneficiaries and users of the vocational learning system, each with a different agenda. "We have an extremely crowded scene and sometimes there are conflicting pressures," she says. "There are rarely ‘either/or' alternatives.

"For example, we need both to improve quality and widen participation in vocational learning. Some employers should be contributing more to the cost of training, but equally some small employers need to be encouraged to develop their company and staff through financial incentives. Because the area is so broad there is a need to have distinctive policies to meet different needs. Problems arise when the overall message is not clear and the rationale for different aspects of policy is not articulated."

The report highlights differences between vocational learning in England and the systems elsewhere in the UK. Policies in Scotland and Wales, it says, place greater emphasis on social inclusion, through programmes that link lifelong learning to citizenship and national well-being, or language and culture.

The work, commissioned by LSDA's research centre, was carried out by researchers from the University of Oxford's Department of Educational Studies through the ESRC Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE) and the RAND Corporation.

Emerging Policy for Vocational Learning in England: Will it lead to a better system? by Cathleen Stasz and Susannah Wright is published by the Learning and Skills Research Centre, based at the Learning and Skills Development Agency. Copies can be obtained from: Information Services, LSDA, Regent Arcade House, 19-25 Argyll Street, London W1F 7LS. It can also be downloaded from the website at www.LSDA.org.uk/publications

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