Association of Colleges
Colleges Respond to Wolf Report
03 March 2011
Colleges respond to Wolf Report
Martin Doel, Association of Colleges Chief Executive, said:
“The difficulties facing young people in today’s labour market are not a reflection of the quality of vocational education per se – they are instead fundamentally related to the state of the economy, the challenges Colleges and others face in picking up the pieces where pupils leave school with few or no qualifications and an education system that has centrally prescribed qualifications.
“Colleges would recognise that the market value of vocational education is, in a large part, dependent on the expertise of those teaching it – this is why Colleges welcome the recognition in the report that they have a strong track record in delivering high quality vocational education, and that there would be benefit in them having greater freedom to deliver this training in ways that meet the needs of more young people, their communities and their future employers.
“We particularly welcome Professor Wolf’s recommendation that Colleges can play a leading role in vocational education for students from the age of 14 and the recognition that lecturers in Colleges have much expertise to offer young people fully justifying equivalence in their teaching status with school teachers.
“We also appreciate the importance of English and Mathematics in ensuring young people have successful careers and fulfilling lives, and look forward to working with the Department for Education to see how Colleges can further contribute to meeting this critical objective.”
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