Million Plus

MillionPlus has questioned many of the proposals put forward by the Department for Education’s consultation on higher technical education. Among the issues include kitemarking all qualifications at level 4 and 5 (in England) and requiring all providers to submit these to the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education prior to being able to offer them to students. This is likely to lead to increased Ofsted engagement. The proposals also appear to be attempting to shift provision at these levels to further education colleges only, and by implication stating that there is no value to be gained for students undertaking these programmes at universities. In 2016, 45% of all “other undergraduate” courses, predominately those at levels 4 and 5, were being taken at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). That such a sizeable proportion of existing level 4 and 5 provision takes place at universities is often overlooked and has certainly been lost in recent debates on technical education.

Download MillionPlus response to the DfE consultation on higher technical education »