Aiming Higher:

1
Aiming Higher issues around IAG, admissions and
the transition to HE for vocational and
work-based learners
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Progression rates and the pool of new HE learners

• Currently there are significant variations
  between rates of progression to HE for groups of
  learners with qualifications which may be broadly
  categorised as academic, vocational or
  work-based. The approximate national rates of
  progression for those with the following
  qualifications are
• A level learners 85
• BTEC learners 50
• Advanced Apprentices 3-4
• In 2007-08 in Greater Manchester there were
• Over 11,000 A2 learners
• Approximately 10,000 learners registered on Level
  3 BTEC qualifications
• Just under 17,000 Advanced Apprentices

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Progression rates and the pool of new HE learners

• To take two popular occupational sectors as
  specific examples, in Greater Manchester in
  2007-08 there were
• 4184 learners registered on Level 3 Business and
  Administration Advanced Apprenticeships
• 1810 learners registered on Level 3 Construction
  Advanced Apprenticeships.
• From among all of the different types of Level 3
  study, it is the Apprenticeship model which is
  targeted for the most significant growth in the
  near future.

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Barriers to progression

• In research undertaken by Aimhigher Greater
  Manchester in 2007-08 on
• barriers to progression for vocational and
  work-based learners the main
• barriers were identified as
• Cost a fear of debt and lack of understanding
  of financial support available
• Application process lack of IAG and support and
  lack of clarity in application procedures,
  particularly for part-time entrants
• Learner confidence - learners think that they may
  not be suitable as HE learners
• Ensuring support from employers and parents
  employers and parents may not be clear about the
  benefits of HE and the value of the vocational or
  work-based route there may be a lack of role
  models to raise aspirations in the workplace or
  in the parental home.

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Barriers to progression

• Some suggestions from Aimhighers research as to
  how things could be
• improved are for providers of vocational and
  work-based learning to
• review their IAG strategy
• build IAG into tutor/trainer staff development
• start progression work earlier
• use learner ambassadors as role models.
• Institutional strategies such as these will go
  some way towards addressing the
• barriers but bodies such as HEFCE, UCAS and DIUS
  also need to address
• barriers at national level.

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National issues - entry to HE

• In addition to more general issues around parity
  of esteem between academic and vocational/work-bas
  ed qualifications, there are also more specific
  admissions issues related to the value of
  work-based entry qualifications for HE
• Many admissions staff are not aware that
  Apprenticeships are a framework of qualifications
  and contain technical certificates and key skills
  as well as NVQs
• Progression from BTECs to HE is much better
  established than progression from Apprenticeships
  and many Apprenticeships have a BTEC as their
  technical certificate, yet it is not widely known
  that no matter which awarding body owns technical
  certificates, all such qualifications must meet
  the same National Occupational Standards for the
  occupation in question
• Apprenticeships are rarely mentioned in
  information about required entry qualifications
  for HE in prospectuses or on websites.

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National issues - entry to HE and data

• Work is currently underway on bringing Advanced
  Apprenticeship frameworks into the UCAS tariff
  and while this may go some way towards raising
  the status of the Apprenticeship, it must be
  remembered that most Apprentices are likely to
  wish to progress to part-time study and will not,
  therefore, apply through UCAS.
• There is also a national lack of data on rates of
  progression to HE by those with work-based entry
  qualifications, particularly Apprenticeships, and
  this makes it difficult not only to grasp the
  true scale of the issue of progression for
  Apprentices but also to judge the true success of
  any initiatives, such as the Step-In to HE
  Project, which aim to address these issues.

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National issues - data

• There is no requirement for UCAS, HESA or HEFCE
  to collect data about entry qualifications for
  part-time learners
• There is a range of evidence to suggest that
  progression to HE may not follow on immediately
  from the completion of a Level 3 work-based
  qualification and this further complicates the
  tracking of work-based learners as Level 3
  work-based learning providers may not identify HE
  as their learners immediate destination
• It is difficult to access easily data on the
  numbers of Advanced Apprentices completing their
  frameworks successfully in specific occupational
  areas and particular sub-regions.

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National issues - data

• In order to address these issues, it would be
  useful to
• Collect data on part-time entrants to HE
  including their specific entry qualifications
• Recognise that there may be a delay in
  progression and make use of the proposed unique
  learner identifier to track learners throughout
  their learning careers
• Encourage the new Level 3 funding bodies to make
  information about Apprenticeship completion more
  specific and accessible.

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National issues - part-time study

• Having overcome many barriers to progress to HE,
  Apprentices and other work-based learners
  studying part-time then face a range of other
  issues around part-time learning. In a report on
  part time study in HE commissioned by DIUS and
  published in September 2008 Prof. Christine King
  highlights some of key issues.
• 40 of learners in HE in UK now study part-time
  and the demand for part-time study is increasing
  at a greater rate than that for full-time study
• The current divide between learners classed as
  full-time and those classed as part-time is
  increasingly artificial as the majority of those
  learners classed as full-time now also work
  alongside their studies yet they are eligible for
  a greater level of financial support than those
  classed as part-time

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National issues part-time study

• Part-time learners are also disadvantaged by
  practices such as long holiday periods irrelevant
  to the employed and fewer support services
  available for those studying in the evening or at
  weekend.
• In her report Prof. King states that whether
  learners wish to study full-time or part-time,
  all learners need to have access to systems which
  enable them to study flexibly on campus, at
  local college, at home, at work, online or on a
  module by module basis.
• Among her recommendations from the report Prof.
  King calls for HEFCE to consider appropriate
  funding mechanisms to promote flexible study and
  for a consultation on the feasibility of
  developing a national application system for HE
  which incorporates part-time study.

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The Step-In to HE Project

• To address barriers to progression to HE for
  Apprentices and other work-based and vocational
  learners, Aimhigher Greater Manchester and
  Greater Manchester Strategic Alliance have been
  funding the Step-In to HE project since September
  2007.
• The project aims to build learners confidence in
  their ability to progress to HE via a new short
  study skills course, the Step-in Module
• The course is at Level 4 and worth 10 credits
  (requiring the course to be delivered in 7
  sessions of 3 hours each) and validated by the
  University of Bolton
• Course content covers research skills, personal
  development planning and writing techniques as
  the three key areas identified by Aimhighers HE
  partners as critical for success in HE

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The Step-In to HE Project

• The project targeted Advanced Apprentices who had
  completed or were about to complete the
  requirements of their framework in its first year
  and targeting has now been broadened to include
  learners with other Level 3 work-based or
  vocational qualifications
• Four centres with large numbers of Advanced
  Apprentices and experience of delivering at Level
  4 have worked together to develop the course and
  prepare for its delivery
• Funding of 160,000 approximately was allocated
  for the first 2 years of the project, including
  funds to offer those sponsoring learners to take
  the Step-In Module a grant of 100 on a learners
  successful completion of the course (sponsors
  could be employers or learners, and the course
  fee is 118)

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Outcomes from Year 1

• A pilot cohort of 36 learners was recruited
  across the 4 centres in Year 1 with 32 learners
  completing the course by the end of July 2008.
• Of the 32 learners who completed the Step-In
  Module, 12 of these stated the intention to
  progression to HE as soon as possible
• A further 13 learners stated the intention to
  apply to HE within the next 1-2 years
• Learners who expressed the intention to progress
  to HE were followed up in November 2008.
• Of the 12 learners who stated the intention to
  progress to HE as soon as possible after
  completing the Step-In Module, 7 have started HE
  courses (22 of learners)

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Outcomes from Year 1

• Of the 7 who have started HE courses, 5 have
  started on the HE course to which they stated
  they wished to progress on completing the Step-In
  Module, 2 learners started HE courses other than
  those to which they stated they wished to
  progress, and other learners still intend to
  progress
• 5 of the 7 went on to Business and Management
  courses
• Of the 13 learners who stated the intention to
  progress to HE within the next 1-2 years, 5 still
  have the intention to progress, 2 have changed
  their minds and it was not possible to contact
  the remaining 6
• If those learners from Year 1 still intending to
  progress actually do so, this will equal another
  31 progressing to HE, totalling an overall
  progression rate of 53.
• Anecdotal evidence from those who have completed
  the course shows that they believe it has helped
  them make the transition to HE.

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Successes

• Year 1
• The partnership established between the delivery
  centres helped enormously in finding solutions to
  practical problems as they arose
• A shared scheme of work and common bank of
  materials were found to be useful by all tutors
• Delivery and assessment methods were judged to be
  suited to the needs of the target group
• Year 2
• Aimhigher Greater Manchester established their
  new Work-based Learning Partnership and appointed
  a Work-based Learning Champion in each of the 10
  Greater Manchester boroughs to recruit for a
  range of activities aimed at increasing
  progression for Apprentices and other work-based
  learners, including Step-In

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Issues

• Year 1
• Mid-year starts are still not commonplace on HE
  courses which made marketing more problematic
• Systems for referring learners from work-based
  learning teams to HE teams within centres were
  not established and responsibility for promoting
  the course, collecting names of interested
  learners and establishing start dates had to be
  placed with specific named contacts empowered to
  take the necessary actions.
• Year 2
• A range of marketing methods was found to be
  unsuccessful in recruiting for the course and
  face-to-face presentations to groups of potential
  learners and their tutors were found to be the
  most successful way of generating interest
• The second half of the academic year appeared to
  be the optimum time for recruiting learners

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Future sustainability

• The challenges for the future sustainability of
  the project will be
• To ensure that processes for recruitment become
  established so that a continuous stream of
  learners is available for delivery centres.
• To ensure the financial sustainability of the
  course.
• To ensure that Advanced Apprentices and other
  work-based learners begin to be recognised as a
  target group for recruitment for appropriate
  work-related HE courses.
• Work-based Learning Champions will go a long way
  towards ensuring a steady stream of recruitment
  in future. This must be backed up by a
  continuing commitment from delivery centres to
  give designated staff an appropriate time
  allowance to market the course directly to target
  groups and to maintain a flexible attitude
  towards systems for marketing and recruitment
  which may not be geared towards pro-active,
  rolling recruitment.

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Future sustainability

• It is likely that many Advanced Apprentices will
  find their employers unable or unwilling to pay
  course fees but will find it difficult to pay the
  fee themselves as many are on very low pay
• It may be helpful for centres to pay fees for
  learners and claim the grants for successful
  completion themselves but it will not be possible
  to continue to offer grants indefinitely,
  although project funding will be available for
  grants in 2009-10 and for some project
  coordination time
• There are other ways in which financial
  incentives could be offered to promote the
  Step-In Module and the subsequent take up of HE
  for example, it may be possible to offer learners
  who have completed the Step-In Module a discount
  from the fee of any HE course they go on to take
  subsequently
• Some Progression Agreements for Advanced
  Apprentices have been developed in two pilot
  sectors and captured in GMSAs Pathways tool
  work is ongoing in including progression routes
  and related Progression Agreements across other
  popular sectors.

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s.leech_at_open.ac.uk