The prime minister will pledge to break down boundaries between further and higher education in a major speech today announcing a review of the post-18 education system.
Theresa May will call for a “parity of esteem” between academic and technical options in order to “create a system of tertiary education that works for all our young people”, in a speech she is set to give in Derbyshire this afternoon.
The government-led review, supported by an independent external chair and panel, is expected to take a year, with an interim report published later in 2018.
‘False boundaries’
The prime minister will also pledge to use the review to look at “the whole post-18 education sector in the round, breaking down false boundaries between further and higher education, so we can create a system which is truly joined up”.
The review will look at how disadvantaged students and learners receive maintenance support, both from government and universities and colleges, and it will explore approaches to flexible life-long learning, including part-time and distance learning, for adults retraining.
It will also look at university tuition fees and Ms May will acknowledge concerns with the current funding system and pledge to make it fairer.
‘Patchy funding’
The prime minister is expected to say: “For those young people who do not go on to academic study, the routes into further technical and vocational training today are hard to navigate, the standards across the sector are too varied and the funding available to support them is patchy.”
She will warn against a mindset that favours academic over technical qualifications and she will urge people to “throw away [the] outdated attitude” that university is the only desirable route for young people and that vocational training “is something for other people’s children.”
Plans for a review of tertiary education funding were announced in the Conservative Party’s manifesto in May.
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