FAQ - General Practitioner Questions
Why is there a drive to raise attainment?
Again this touches on equity and social inclusion issues. Raising pupil attainment means improving children's life-chances by opening up new opportunities, emphasising the enjoyment and engagement of all pupils in the learning process, and personalising education to meet the individual needs of all children and young people.
What can schools and colleges do to promote attainment?
Promoting participation and engaging learners between the ages of 14 -19 demands that schools and other providers offer greater, more comprehensive and more genuine choice of what, where and how to study. Sustaining improvement depends on making progress across the board: raising attainment, improving standards of behaviour and levels of attendance, and ensuring the safety and well-being of children and young people in both school and college programmes.
What is an Education Improvement Partnership ? (EIP?)
Education Improvement Partnerships are one of the eight key government reforms covering schools. EIPs will enable groups of schools to work together to raise standards and take on wider responsibilities for the children and young people in their local community.
How does Aimhigher link with Education Improvement Partnership initiatives?
Education Improvement Partnerships with strong collaborative links with universities and colleges are encouraged by the Department to pool their Aimhigher funding to widen participation in further and higher education.
What are aspiration raising activities ?
These activities offer local pupils, their teachers and parents the opportunity to gain a unique insight into life on university campus. Aimhigher South Yorkshire encourages partner institutions to provide a progressive, coherent programme of interventions with target groups.
Which ages are targeted in aspiration raising activities?
Events are designed for a range of ages from primary school pupils to those of College age. Pre GCSE activities concentrate on raising aspirations and awareness of the HE experience regardless of where or what students want to study. Beyond GCSE, the focus changes. Events for older pupils and students are geared towards helping them to make informed decisions about their educational choices when they've completed school or college.
How are teachers supported in aspiration raising activities?
Certain HE institutions provide a range of activities which aim to support teachers, by providing resources to enrich the educational experiences of students of all ages across a number of subject areas.
What is vocational education?
Vocational education is a set of work-related subjects and courses you can study in school, college, at a training centre or in the workplace.
What are vocational qualifications?
Vocational qualifications are practical qualifications based on getting skills which relate directly to specific industries such as engineering, catering, business, youth work or leisure and tourism.
What’s different about vocational learning?
You can learn in a more hands-on and practical way focusing on your chosen career pathway. Vocational Learning allows you to get direct work experience in your chosen area of work. Its likely that the programme of study will concentrate more assessment via course work and students will be required to produce a portfolio (rather than formal exams). You will get the skills employers are looking for along with nationally recognised qualifications to take you on to a job or to a place at college or university.
Who are vocational courses designed for?
Vocational courses are designed for those who want to learn specific skills for particular jobs, such as being a software engineer, retail manager, youth worker or graphic designer. They are for people who want to develop skills they can use in the workplace, such as dealing with customers, working in a team or communicating with others, or want to learn about different industries like engineering, health and social care or leisure and tourism.
What skills will I get with a vocational HE qualification ?
If you are studying a vocational qualification you will have developed your skills both in the subject area and in the many other areas that employers value such as communication, teamworking, time management, IT and so on. Higher Education will further develop these skills and enhance your career progression. You are much more likely to gain employment if you have higher level skills and the financial rewards for someone with skills at Levels 4/5 are greater. That's not all though - completing a Higher Education qualification will give you much personal satisfaction and you will find studying at this level with people in a similar situation will be very enjoyable!
How do foundation degrees fit with the WP agenda ?
These are a new type of degree, introduced in 2001 as new vocational qualifications that are employer-demand led. Employers lead in the design through their Sectors Skills Council to ensure that they provide the skills and knowledge to meet their current needs, while academic rigour is ensured by validation by a university. It is envisaged that these will be a major progression route for vocational learners and provide a conduit for entry to HE Institutions, attracting 'non-traditional learners' to HE
How do foundation degrees help in attracting 'non traditional learners' ?
Foundation degrees are delivered in innovative and flexible ways, often designed around the requirements of the workplace and the commitments of the employee. They can be studied full-time or part-time. They can involve day release, block release at agreed points or they can be delivered entirely by distance learning with support from tutors and workplace mentors agreed between the employers and educational institutions Further information on Foundation Degrees can be found at Foundation Degree Forward.
