1. 14-19 education and training in England: the concept of an extended upper secondary education phase revisited
Ken Spours, Ann Hodgson and Lynne Rogers
Centre for Post-14 Education and Work
UCL Institute of Education

2. Why revisit the 14-19 phase in England?
USE increasingly important phase globally
England has a ‘half-realised’ USE phase - RPA but lacks a sense of overall purpose (including a sense of the future), the learner, the curriculum, institutional formation and meaningful stakeholder collaboration
England’s ‘exceptionalism’ – elective and narrow general education; low status vocational education; institutionally fragmented; middle ranking global performance; poor employer engagement; detached universities and under-resourced

3. International trends and tensions in USE
Towards universal participation – mostly full-time
Issue of relationship between general and vocational education
Interest in pedagogy linked to demands for creativity and innovation
Tensions
Both end point and education transition point – diverse needs
Embraces both compulsory and post-compulsory – degrees of compulsion and regulation
Curriculum commonality and specialisation?
Uniformity for social cohesion and diversity to meet individual needs
Reconciling the needs of the society, economy and individual

4. Conceptualising USE & situating English 14-19 education
Educational or employment logics – England educational logic
Tracked, linked or unified systems - curriculum, qualifications and assessment– England now moving in the tracked direction
Integrated or segregated institutions – England primarily integrated but socially segregated - England has both due to selection by examination at 16+
Anglo-Saxon; Asiatic or Nordic global models of accountability and professionalism – England’s extreme Anglo-Saxon model +
England’s exceptionalism – elective subject-based curriculum, depth rather than breadth and absence of a curriculum conception

5. Problems of the tracked direction
Curriculum, qualifications and assessment
Continuation of a narrow curriculum – either theoretical or applied not both
Progression problems for overlooked middle and lower attainers in both general and vocational tracks
Institutions
Many 14+ institutions not viable and also offering narrower curriculum
Performance – academic elite + long underachieving tail = middling performance measured internationally
USE system
Prevents creation of a coherent and inclusive USE system with common purpose for the 21st Century

6. Learners’ development
Learners marginalised by subject-based curriculum and institutional self-interest
Development needs of young people are often ignored
Learners outside the academic track face immense challenges in navigating the system
Adolescence
identity formation
cognitive and motivational strategies – ‘becoming’ an adult and a worker
Developing a sense of career goals

7. Learners’ transition & decision-making
Challenges of transitions – vulnerability of some learners, inequalities in careers guidance and opportunities and impact of selection at 16+
Challenges of decision-making during adolescence and the need for ‘time’
The complexity of careers in the 21st century
Inequalities in careers guidance, impact of selection at 16+
Opportunities to engage in work placements and work experience: authentic understanding

8. An extended upper secondary phase
Pace – Learners learn at different rates
Need for open and more transparent system with ‘curriculum space’ to really place the learner at the centre and create a place for all learners
Lessening the emphasis on summative assessment at age 16+ would give rise to greater opportunities

9. Case for an extended phase - 14-19
Direction of international debate is for late selection and against early school leaving
The English case for an extended phase is more specific:
Need for a USE phase with a clear educational and developmental purpose
Gradual transition towards greater specialisation with greater breadth and balance for all learners – 21st Century learning
Reducing/eliminating the 16+ barrier
Young people – learning and achieving at their own pace – stage not age

10. Curriculum-led approach
Curriculum/organisation distinction in the phase – a curriculum framework has to overarch institutional diversity
Curriculum-led approach - an overarching curriculum framework with clear purposes and principles and balances of breadth and specialisation, theoretical and applied
Increasing quality and breadth of general education – greater range of subjects post-16, research and activity based with personalised Core
Enriching vocational education – Tech Bacc (for breadth and depth), greater access to workplace learning, in-built general education and a vocational pedagogical approach for all

11. Strong institutions in a collaborative formation
Institutional early vocational specialisation faces big obstacles in the English competitive system – low recruitment/low attainment/ low breadth/low efficiency syndrome
High quality vocational education assisted by institutional collaboration, co-ordinated approach to employers as a way of building ‘High Progression and Skills Ecosystems’ (HPSEs)
Improving the quality of vocational institutions to concentrate vocational resources; professional expertise; vocational pedagogy and ‘live projects’; co-ordinated relationship with employers and workplaces and progression routes.

12. Conclusion
Completing the construction of an extended high quality, universal and inclusive English USE phase
Importance of overarching curriculum principles and frameworks that engage with the demands of learning for the 21st Century
Holistic and multi-dimensional approach to reform that is curriculum-led
Vocational learning not only as a ‘track’ but as a mode of innovation and a 21st Century mindset
Treating the transition of young people seriously
Institutional collaboration at the local level for cost-effectiveness and equity