19 November 2007

EDUCATION MINISTER CONSULTS SUCCESSFUL STAFFORD COLLEGE
The Minister responsible for Further & Higher Education, Bill Rammell MP will be in Stafford on Wednesday morning. He will meet students at Stafford College and have talks with Principal Stephen Willis and Town MP David Kidney about the Government’s ambitious skills training plans.

David Kidney MP says the Minister is welcome to see for himself how successful Stafford College has become:

“Whether it is students’ own experiences or the results of official inspections, Stafford College is proven to be high performing. More young people are attending the College and gaining qualifications that will serve them well in their working lives. More employers are turning to the College to deliver skills training for their employees.

“The College has shown an ability to grow and accept more responsibilities for meeting Government aims and employers’ targets. Foundation Degrees, Train to Gain and Apprenticeships are just some of the examples of this willingness to rise to today’s skills challenges.”

Minister Bill Rammell MP says of his visit:

“Stafford College has been noticeably successful in engaging employers in skills training through our Train to Gain programme. This is an important agenda because raising skill levels in our home workforce is crucial to our being able to stay ahead in global markets.

“I have heard David Kidney describe in Parliament his joint work with the College to promote Train to Gain and apprenticeships. I want to understand more clearly how this co-operation works and see whether it can be extended to other parts of the country.”

Editor’s Notes:

3. Foundation Degrees allow students to acquire the skills needed to undertake a specialist degree subject, and F.E. Colleges like Stafford can deliver the appropriate training.

4. Train to Gain is the Government service to help businesses get the training they need to succeed and stay successful. The budget for the ‘Train to Gain’ programme will rise from £440m to over £1billion in 2010-11 supporting an expected 872,000 learners that year. There are two elements: skills brokerage (helping employers identify training needs and the provision to deliver it) and the training provision itself, which is flexible and responsive. Stafford College is part of a consortium in Staffordshire delivering the training provision both at College and more often in the workplace.

5. Apprenticeships are once again a popular form of skills training after being rescued from a disastrous decline in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. A massive expansion of funding for apprenticeship places over the next three years will fund over 400,000 Apprenticeship places in England by 2010/11. This includes 281,000 places for young people (16-18) and 125,000 for adults over the age of 19.

6. For young people the Learning and Skills Council will play a crucial role in helping achieve the ambition to increase participation post-16, raise attainment at 19 and reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET).

7. F. E. Colleges like Stafford will be involved in the delivery at post 16 of all 14 diplomas lines across the country leading up to 2013 when every young person has an entitlement to study vocational courses leading to diplomas. Nearly £6.8 billion is being invested in learning places for young people - an increase in funding of £758m by 2010.  This will be on course to have a full 100 per cent participation in education and training when the participation age is raised to 18 and will cement the delivery of the challenging Level 2 and Level 3 targets at 19.   

8. There will be a right to basic skills and Level 2 training where needed, coupled with the biggest ever investment in this area. DIUS will spend around £1.5 billion per year on first steps training – including over 3.6 million learners on ‘Skills for Life’ courses over the spending review period. This will include developing a joined up, one stop advancement service for adults to support people to identify training, develop skills, access child care support and find long term employment.