The sector must ensure that adult learners have greater access to excellent provision for basic skills, training for work and learning for personal development.

Success for All (DfES, 2001)

THE SCOPE OF WORK-BASED LEARNING PROVISION

This Guide is intended to help providers of work-based learning (WBL) programmes that are funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The Raising Standards Guide to Jobcentre Plus Programmes in this series covers WBL learning programmes that are managed by Jobcentre Plus. To help readers, the terminology that is used in the context of work-based learning is described in the Glossary. This Guide uses the terminology of Skills for Life rather than that associated with key skills. If you feel confused by the terminology or are unfamiliar with it, consult the Glossary before starting to read this Guide.

Many different types of organisations run WBL programmes, including private businesses, public organisations, chambers of commerce, charities and further education (FE) colleges. About 20 per cent of learners are with FE colleges. Most learners are with providers that run WBL programmes as a business activity. A minority of learners are in schemes run by their own employer. A description of each type of WBL appears below.

Apprenticeships

• Apprenticeships, formerly known as Modern Apprenticeships (MAs), consist of a framework that includes a main NVQ, a technical certificate and key skills qualifications. For apprentices, the main NVQ is at Level 2, while for advanced apprentices, it is at Level 3.
• All frameworks include key skills in communication and application of number at Levels 1, 2 or 3.
• Most learning takes place in the workplace although many learners also attend off-the-job training sessions at regular intervals.
• Most apprentices are full-time employees.
• About 20 per cent of apprentices left school with five or more general certificates of secondary education (GCSEs) at grade C or above.
• Apprentices are between 16 and 25 years old.

NVQ learners

• NVQ learners do not complete a full framework; they just work towards an NVQ in a particular occupation.
• NVQ learner numbers in the under-19 age group are falling as funding shifts towards Apprenticeships and Entry to Employment (E2E).
• These learners often have high levels of need in relation to literacy, numeracy or language. About a quarter of NVQ learners have additional social needs or additional learning needs.

Entry to Employment

• E2E programmes began in summer 2003. The forerunner was the Life Skills programme.
• E2E aims to develop confidence, motivation and personal effectiveness, and to help learners to get jobs, enter Apprenticeships or go to college.
• Literacy, numeracy and ESOL are major components of E2E. E2E learners are expected to improve their skills by at least one level during their programme.
• Work tasters and work placements form a vital part of E2E.
• Some E2E learners work towards an NVQ at Level 1.
• Providers are encouraged to offer E2E learners key skills qualifications at Level 1, especially if they intend progressing to an Apprenticeship.
• E2E learners are between 16 and 19 years old.

Employer Training Pilots

• Employer Training Pilots (ETPs) began in 2001, and involved providers working with small- and medium-sized employers to identify the basic and vocational skills gaps that affect their productivity.
• Since 2001, over 130,000 employees and 18,000 employers have taken part in ETPs.
• Low-skilled and qualified employees are targeted.
• Employers are subsidised for releasing learners during working hours.
• Learners can work on their literacy, numeracy or ESOL skills, or work towards an NVQ at Level 2. Some do both.
• The ETPs will end in 2006. They will be superseded by the National Employer Training Programme. This aims to extend literacy, numeracy and ESOL learning to all employees who need it.

CURRENT ISSUES IN WORK-BASED LEARNING PROVISION

In the past, many WBL providers concentrated on NVQ assessment. As a result, relatively few staff have been trained as teachers. Even fewer have any experience of literacy, numeracy and ESOL. The introduction of key skills meant that many NVQ assessors had to start assessing, and even teaching, key skills. Yet many were ill-equipped for this change in their role. Although providers are striving to remedy this situation, the skills gap still exists. Many providers are finding it hard to meet the development needs of their staff.

There is one central issue in work-based learning provision: how can we improve the provision of literacy, numeracy and ESOL in work-based learning to help learners acquire key skills?

Many WBL learners need to improve their literacy, numeracy or language skills in order to achieve their key skills qualifications. Some are not getting adequate opportunities to do this. This is hampering the efforts of providers to improve achievement rates. Around two-thirds of apprentices in the service industries do not achieve the key skills elements of their framework. Although success rates are rising, two-thirds of apprentices still do not complete their programmes – the completion rate for 2003/04 was 33 per cent, according to the LSC’s Annual Report 2003/04.

There is also some confusion about how Skills for Life provision fits into work-based programmes. People tend to talk about literacy, numeracy and ESOL support, as though the learning of these skills is something bolted on to the main programme. The current focus on Skills for Life gives us the ideal opportunity to challenge assumptions and adopt new approaches.

For instance, WBL providers might like to consider how their provision would change if they started from an assumption that all learners need to improve their literacy, numeracy or language skills, just as they start with the assumption that learners will need to learn occupational skills. In reality, not every learner will need to work on their literacy, numeracy or language skills. But then not every wood trades apprentice has to be taught how to use a saw. Some have the skills already. By building in Skills for Life provision from the outset, providers would be in a much stronger position to meet the needs when they arise. Currently, much WBL provision has a fundamental design weakness because Skills for Life provision is not designed in.

This Guide espouses an approach in which meeting the learning needs of the individual is central. Learning that meets a fundamental need can never be a bolt-on extra. In short, literacy, numeracy and language learning has to be seen as an integral part of work-based learning.

Managers of WBL programmes face a major challenge. The WBL context is particularly complex. The key players have to work as a team, but in many cases the team members are employed by different organisations. The trainer or assessor and the workplace supervisor may feel they are pulled in different directions, with the trainer or assessor trying to get the learner through a qualification and the workplace supervisor trying to get the orders out of the door. This tension can only be resolved if providers and employers make a commitment to working together for the benefit of the learner.

The Employer Training Pilots (ETPs) have gone some way towards addressing this issue, with subsidies to employers to allow learners time off for training during working hours. Learners are responding well and drop-out rates are low. But, when the National Employer Training Programme takes over where the ETPs leave off, there will still be major challenges. Innovative and creative strategies will be needed to ensure literacy, numeracy and language learning is fully integrated into vocational programmes.

There can be no ‘one size fits all’ approach to meeting learners’ literacy, numeracy and language needs. No two learners do the same job. And no two learners have the same gaps in their skills. Skills for Life provision in work-based learning not only has to be occupationally specific, but also highly individualised. This adds to the challenges facing providers.

The literacy, numeracy and language skills of the workforce are critical to economic success. Young people entering employment without these skills cannot realise their potential, either at work or in their personal lives. All those involved in work-based learning are in a unique position to make a difference. The learning curve is steep, but the benefits for learners and employers will be far-reaching.

THE SCOPE OF THIS GUIDE

This Guide is designed to help providers achieve excellence in their literacy, numeracy and ESOL provision for learners in work-based learning. By taking each of the five questions of the Common Inspection Framework for Inspecting Education and Training in turn, it is designed to help providers interpret the requirements of the Common Inspection Framework and the adult basic skills curricula for provision in communication, reading, writing and numeracy.

The Guide also sets out the characteristics of best practice in literacy, numeracy and ESOL provision, in particular by drawing on real examples. The examples are designed to give staff in colleges practical help and ideas for improving their literacy, numeracy and ESOL provision.

We wanted this series of guides to offer practical help to providers and practitioners – a ‘How to’ guide that would really focus on what works. For that reason, as well as providing sample materials that can be adapted for different learning environments, the guides illustrate what success might look like. For example, how do we know when a learner has made an important new step in their learning? What might be the outcomes of a successful initial assessment? The short descriptions of the progress made by real learners in real situations help to answer such questions.

Finally, the guides all highlight comments from inspectors on this area of work in inspection reports and other documents. These extracts are included to help readers gain an insight into how Ofsted and the ALI evaluate and report on this context for learning.

WHAT IS SUCCESS IN THE WORK-BASED LEARNING CONTEXT?

Success is based on the WBL provider having a strong ethos of putting the learners’ literacy, numeracy and language needs at the heart of the programme. Banish any notions that learning these skills is a secondary issue or a bolt-on extra. Literacy, numeracy and language skills are fundamental to success in work-based learning. Valuing and encouraging the literacy, numeracy and language learning that takes place at work is a crucial part of embedding this provision in all aspects of learners’ programmes.

Everyone in the organisation must understand and support the Skills for Life strategy. Managers in WBL providers need to take the lead in developing this, working closely with employers and other key players.

Have clear definitions of responsibilities. Who will be responsible for initial assessment? Who will teach what? Who will coordinate the different elements? Who will quality-assure the provision?

The methods of identifying what each learner needs to learn must be sound. Giving learners literacy and numeracy screening tests is not enough. To build up a meaningful picture, providers need to use a range of tools and techniques.

Some of the best learning happens in the workplace. Even more could happen if workplace supervisors had greater awareness and confidence. This means effective planning of literacy, numeracy and language learning. WBL providers need an armoury of different learning opportunities that they can deploy in various combinations to create a relevant, individualised programme for each learner.

Well-trained, well-supported staff are the final piece in the jigsaw that comprises the joint aims of effective practice and continuous improvement in work-based learning.

The test of success is seeing learners attaining new skills and being able to use them usefully in their lives – where they really can make a difference. One E2E learner told us what Skills for Life learning has meant for him:

I used to look at my little brother doing his homework and wish I could be like him. Just to see him using a pen and writing – it made me realise that I don’t want to be the idiot any more. Now I have ambitions. I am going to run my own garage one day.

An apprentice said:

I just thought I was thick when it came to maths. I just accepted it and pretended it didn’t matter. But it was undermining my confidence. They’ve been great – both at the training centre and at work. Everybody has really understood what I need. They’ve gone out of their way to teach me in ways that I can relate to. And they find me opportunities to practise what I’ve learned. That’s important for me. I have to do something several times in a real situation and then it sticks. I’m really getting into maths now. I’ve passed the national test at Level 1. Now I’m thinking of doing the key skills at Level 2.

Stories such as these are a tribute to the many WBL staff who have set out on the path of developing their own skills and knowledge so that they can improve Skills for Life provision. They need our wholehearted support. They need training opportunities that truly meet their needs. Above all, they need the time and resources to do the job properly.