157 Group publishes adult entitlement policy paper
25th July 2011
For immediate release: Monday 25 July 2011
157 Group publishes adult entitlement policy paper
BEGINS
The 157 Group of 27 large and regionally influential colleges has published a policy paper entitled Adult further education - the unfinished revolution, setting out proposals for a truly market-driven further education sector. In her foreword to the paper, Professor Alison Wolf, who recently published her independent review of 14 to 19 vocational education for the Department for Education, supported the 157 Group's calls to free up the qualifications system to enable greater choice and flexibility for adult learners.
The policy paper aligns closely to the five core principals embedded throughout the recently published Open Public Services White Paper, in which the prime minister David Cameron and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg called for choice, decentralisation, diversity, fairness and accountability.
Lynne Sedgmore CBE, executive director of the 157 Group, said, "This policy paper is seen as our most challenging to date and has been published to influence the government's thinking around access to education and skills training in its FE loans consultation, which will be due out shortly. It is important to reinforce that we are not calling for additional funding to support the adult entitlement and that we fully support the government's ambition for change in its reforms. We simply ask for greater flexibilities in order to provide individuals with greater choice and we believe this sits well within the coalition government's drive for freedom, fairness and responsibility."
Frank McLoughlin CBE, chair of the 157 Group and principal of City and Islington College, said, "Adult further education learners should be able to make their own choices, and in order to do this, colleges must be given the rights to manage fee policies, as higher education institutions do. We fully support the coalition government's five principles, as outlined in its recent white paper, and hope that this policy direction will lead to a fairer entitlement for adults in further education colleges."
Alison Wolf, Professor of Public Sector Management, King's College London, said, "Since the new government, there have been steps taken to create freedoms and flexibilities for the further education sector, but there is still much work to be done if we are to place individuals and employers centre stage. We need to do more to place real purchasing power in students' hands."
ENDS
Notes for editors Adult further education - the unfinished revolution can be downloaded in PDF format at http://www.157group.co.uk/files/adult_further_education_the_unfinished_revolution2.pdf
About the partners
The 157 Group represents 27 of the most influential colleges in the FE sector. It was formed in 2006 in response to paragraph 157 of Sir Andrew Foster's report on the future of further education colleges, in which he argued that principals of large successful colleges should play a greater role in policymaking.
CONTACT Gemma Knott 07581 354 750
Email [email protected]
The 157 Group Limited P O Box 58147 London SW8 9AF Website: www.157group.co.uk
