National Reforms in Vocational Education and Training and Adult Learning

2021

There have been no reforms to date in this area

2020 

There have been no reforms to date in this area.

2019 

Apprenticeships policy 

On 14 October 2019, the Welsh Government launched a consultation on the structure of apprenticeship frameworks. Proposals in the consultation include introducing a new, simplified structure; focusing framework development on occupational sectors and pathways; and ensuring frameworks are fit-for-purpose, meet individual and employer needs, and support the overarching direction of apprenticeship policy. The consultation, which ran until 9 December, built upon a previous consultation that ended in March 2019 on the changes to the role of the issuing authority and the criteria for issuing apprenticeship frameworks. The Welsh Government is currently (March 2020) reviewing the consultation responses.

The apprenticeship policy for Wales (published in February 2017) seeks to create a minimum of 100,000 high-quality apprentices in Wales between 2016 and 2021. Developed in consultation with business, it focuses on four priority areas:

• increasing the number of apprentices aged 16-19, by increasing the take-up of quality apprenticeships among school leavers
• addressing skills shortages, by developing apprenticeships in growth and emerging sectors in particular, such as ICT, engineering, construction, and financial and professional services
• developing higher-level skills, by focusing on apprenticeships at Level 4 and above
• developing skills pathways, by integrating apprenticeships into the wider education system and making it easier to enter into an apprenticeship from another learning route.

In February 2020, the Minister for Economy and Transport made a written statement in which he outlined progress in reprioritising apprenticeships towards growth sectors and emerging occupations; encouraging more apprentices to continue their learning to at least Level 3; expanding higher-level apprenticeships; and piloting degree apprenticeships. He also indicated that Wales is on target to exceed the aim for 100,000 high-quality apprenticeships.

Restructuring community-based adult learning 

Following a 2018 consultation, the Education Minister announced the next steps forward for the delivery and funding of community-based adult learning on 12 July 2019.

The development of community-based adult learning will be taken forward in two stages.

Stage one will focus on the planning and funding of existing provision across Wales. It will:

• introduce a revised funding model that ensures an equitable distribution of funds across Wales – taking into account population density, and economic and educational disadvantage
• improve the planning of provision to bring it into line with wider further education (FE) planning, and focus on essential skills provision
• restructure existing community-based adult learning partnerships, to align them with Regional Skills Partnerships and provide a more robust focus on the economic and social demands of the country.

Stage two will focus on developing a national strategic body for community-based adult learning in Wales. In doing this, the Welsh Government will:

• learn from current national organisations, including the National Centre for Learning Welsh and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol
• undertake a feasibility study to determine whether an existing provider would be suitable for taking on this role
• work with the sector to develop the remit for the national body, ensuring it supports existing provision, builds on good practice and develops a strategic overview that encourages and strengthens the opportunities available for adult learners across Wales.

The Welsh Government’s strategic aims for adult learning were previously set out in the July 2017 policy statement, Adult Learning in Wales. This aimed to:

• ensure all learners in Wales have equal and fair access to government-funded provision
• help Welsh Ministers to decide how to allocate funding in the most efficient way.

In June 2019, the National Assembly for Wales published an overview of adult learning in Wales.

Prison education review 

In March 2019, the Welsh Government published Reforming Outcomes: a review of offender education in Wales. This independent review, which was led by David Hanson MP, aimed at improving education and employability support in prisons and for prisoners on release in the community. It considered the needs of three distinct groups - young people, women, and men - and made recommendations in the following areas:

• accountability structures
• inclusivity with stakeholders
• social clauses – Welsh Government’s employment power
• through the gate services, which support resettling prisoners in the community
• female offender education
• digital infrastructure.

Education, training and libraries in prisons in Wales have been devolved to the Welsh Government since 2009. The Welsh Government provides these services through a joint Memorandum of Understanding with Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, and with funding provided for this purpose by the UK Government.

2018 

Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 

See the item in 'National Reforms in School Education'.

Assembly Committee inquiry report on apprenticeships in Wales 

The National Assembly for Wales’ Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee published a report in February 2018, as part of its inquiry into apprenticeships.

The inquiry, which began with a consultation held in spring 2017, examined several aspects of apprenticeships including:

• parity of esteem between academic and vocational routes
• accessibility of apprenticeships to people from low income families and to disabled people
• the barriers to taking up apprenticeships
• gender stereotyping
• the development of higher level apprenticeships
• employer engagement.

The recommendations of the report for the Welsh Government include that it should:

• continue to tackle prejudices and conventions regarding gender and careers so that the widest opportunity is available to all
• produce a clear, disabled person-specific action plan to address the under-representation of disabled people in apprenticeships
• set a target for the number of Welsh-medium apprenticeships – the Welsh Language strategy sets specific targets for pre-16 Welsh-medium education, but not for post-compulsory education
• establish a universal grant to cover living costs for all apprentices, as is available for Welsh university students from 2018/19.

The report also recommends that the inspectorate, Estyn, should consider inspecting the availability and quality of careers advice on vocational courses and training (including apprenticeships); and that the Welsh Government should look at what levers it has to incentivise schools. Regional education consortia should also consider what support and challenge they can provide to schools in this area.

The Welsh Government responded on 1 May 2018, accepting, or accepting in principle most of the recommendations of the Committee’s report.

Article last reviewed March 2021.