uk education trends and qualification reform and... · growth in btecs – entry rate by...
TRANSCRIPT
UK Education Trends and Qualification Reform
26/03/2015 1
Head of Policy and Qualifications
Margaret Farragher
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Summary
• Latest higher education progressions trends
• The impact of qualification reform
• The effectiveness of the English baccalaureate on future option choices
• Changes to the UCAS Tariff
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1. Latest Higher Education Progression Trends
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2014 End of Cycle – “A buyer’s/student’s market”
Headlines
Record number of applicants enter
HE
Increased focus on “quality” by Higher Education Providers
(HEPs)– static acceptance rate
Absolute difference in
entry rate between men and women is
larger than ever before
Significant social change – growing reduction in rich/
poor gap
Growth in demand driven
by BTEC learners
University “winners” get stronger/ HE market forces
take effect
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Record numbers enter HE – Acceptances by domicile
For the first time over half a million
people placed in HE. 512,400 applicants
were placed, an increase of 3.4%.
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Growth in BTECs – Entry rate by qualification held
The proportion of the 18 year old population in England who entered HE and held a BTEC qualification increased to 6.7% in 2014. This is the highest entry rate
holding BTECs recorded; 18 year olds in England are around 120% more likely to enter HE holding a BTEC
than they were in 2006.
Qualifications pipeline
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Looking to the future, the pool of applicants holding
BTEC qualifications will grow, whilst the number
holding A levels decreases
Attained and predicted A level grades diverge
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Since 2010, the chance of achieving ABB or higher
grades has fallen. In 2014 the chances of achieving ABB or
higher grades fell, proportionally, by 5% for the
AAA and AAB predicted grade profiles and 9 % for the ABB
grade profile.
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The Impact of qualification reform
An HE admissions perspective
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New A levels – UK
New Highers - Scotland
Decoupled AS - England
New GCSEs – England, Wales and NI
Coupled AS – Wales and NI
VQ reform - England
New Nationals - Scotland
New Welsh Bacc - Wales
New Core Maths - England
Science practical grades - England
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What does this mean for learners?
Will the significance of the reference,
personal statement and GCSEs increase?
Complex picture of AS contributing
to final A level grades for some A
levels only
Impact on selecting the right three/four
A levels
Information and
advice on other options
New AS and A level qualifications are
designed to prepare students for HE/
enhance employability
Be ambitious in choices “buyer’s
market”, importance of firm choice
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What questions are the reforms raising for teachers?
How important are predicted grades to
universities? How to predict A
levels where there is no AS?
Will the EPQ and new Core Maths
level 3 qualification
become popular as the ‘fourth’
qualification?
Will GCSE grades become more
important?
Will interviews and admissions tests become increasingly
commonplace?
Will universities continue to look at the AS where it is
provided? Or require it for some
courses
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What questions are the reforms raising for universities and colleges?
Impact of A level reform on grades, already decreasing
population of A level learners
Entry requirements
taking into account growth in BTECs and science
practical, other new qualifications
Provision of HE Courses to take into account A level changes and/or limited
access to different subjects
Importance of the reference in
explaining whether choice of subjects has been limited.
Consider processes to manage review of
personal statements and references and applicant contextual
information
The reliability of predicted grades
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The English baccalaureate
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Possible impact of the English Baccalaureate
GCSE subject choice
A level subject choice
HE subject choice
• 2010: Introduced as a performance measure • Rationale: Increase the take-up of ‘core’ academic qualifications –
languages, science and history • Too early to note any concrete impact – 2015 entry students will be first
affected • Could reduce GCSE subject choice and thus limit learner choice at A level
and HE
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Current HE subject choice
Source: UCAS Analysis Note 2015/01
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Changes to the UCAS Tariff
In brief…
• UCAS is introducing a new Tariff for the 2017 admissions cycle • The new Tariff addresses many of the shortcomings of the
current model and enables international qualifications to be included
• The new Tariff is based on a significantly different method to the current Tariff
• The primary purpose of the new Tariff is to provide a broad metric for higher education providers (HEPs) which will be used for management information and reporting purposes to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) for the 2017-18 Student Record onwards. Tariff using HEPs can continue to use the new Tariff in setting entry requirements and making offers
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Design principles
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1. Transparency Clear process for allocating Tariff points
2. Meets the needs of the HE sector
Supports HEPs that use the Tariff for management information purposes and admissions purposes
3. Cost effective Lower cost than the current process and/or no charge to awarding organisations
4. Comprehensive Has the scope to accommodate all UK regulated Level 3/ SCQF Level 6 qualifications
5. Sustainable Robust enough to cope with qualifications reforms across the UK, and to last for a minimum of ten years
6. Flexible Sufficiently flexible to cope with the widest range of qualifications and accommodate future changes to them
7. Support fairness Fair to the greatest number of applicants across the UK and in support of the widening participation agenda
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New Tariff method
Size bands - qualifications will be allocated a size band of 1 to 4, based on their guided learning hours/notional learning hours Grade bands – qualifications will also be allocated a grade band. The new Tariff has 12 grade bands across a value range of 3-14. These grade bands spread across the breadth of Level 3 / SCQF Level 6 New Tariff points are determined by multiplying size and grade bands
Tariff points = size band x grade band
Resources - new Tariff
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Resources currently available to support the switchover are available on the UCAS website: https://www.ucas.com/advisers/guides-and-resources/tariff-2017
What is UCAS doing to help?
• Qualifications reform web page including HEP statements and FAQs
• Qualification Information Profiles for new A levels and other reformed qualifications
• Analysis and Research • Conferences and events • UCAS products and services to
include new qualification features
• Awareness raising • What else can we do to help
you?
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