This piece was written for FE News. One of the most common areas of discussion I am having with senior management in the Further Education sector right now is that of “demonstrating positive intent and impact”. This is perhaps unsurprising, since Ofsted have recently included sections on Intent and Impact in their proposed new Education […]
Further Education
Staying Ahead of the Curve in Anticipation of the New Ofsted Framework
The recent release of the Ofsted consultation on a new inspection framework for FE and training providers (as well as for other sections of the education system) was extremely interesting. One of the things that particularly jumped out was the suggested move away from achievement rates (long mooted), to more formally considering progress and destination. […]
What Does Our STEM Report Mean for the Further Education, Higher Education and Economic Development Sectors?
Hopefully you will by now have seen our recent report — Focus on the Demand for STEM Jobs and Skills in Britain — but if not, you can download a copy for free by clicking on the front cover image below. In addition to the report, we also ran a webinar summarising the main findings, […]
New Career Coach: A Tool to Help You Guide Young People Along the Careers Journey
“What do you want to do when you grow up?” This is a question that most young people probably get asked at some point, and very often the answer will be something connected with what they like doing, or something they’re good at, or perhaps something wonderfully ambitious but hopelessly unrealistic. For any young person […]
Three New Faces for Three Key Goals: Bless Customers; Increase Presence; Explore New Territory
With 2019 now thoroughly underway, we thought it about time we introduced you to three new faces on our growing team, and how they fit in with our plans for this year. John Gray – Director of Further Education The number one priority at Emsi has always been to “Bless the Customer”. This is […]
Damian Hinds’ Battersea Speech Signals a Welcome Intent to Tackle Skills Shortages at the Local Level
In a major speech at the iconic Battersea Power Station on 6th December, the Secretary of State for Education, Damian Hinds set out the Government’s plans to get more people into skilled jobs. Beginning his speech by setting out that perennial problem of the British economy, low productivity, and how this is hampering economic […]
Overcoming the “Inability-to-Articulate-What-Skills-Are-Actually-Needed” Gap
The world of work and the way we think about work are currently undergoing seismic shifts. Whilst much of the focus on this tends to be on the issue of automation, and what that might mean for both employers and employees, there is something that is perhaps even more fundamental. We’re talking about skills. […]
Case Study: Leeds City College — Measuring the Impact of its Apprenticeship Provision
Ever since the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy in April 2017, the apprenticeship landscape has been changing so quickly that many colleges have been left wondering how on earth they can begin to navigate the new reality. Here are just some of the challenges that have been created by the new system: 1. The […]
Introducing Course Vision — A New Online Tool to Help You Align Your Courses to Skills Demand
In our recent series — Three Steps to a More Relevant Curriculum — we demonstrated how Labour Market Insight (LMI) can be used by education providers to rise to the challenge of developing course provision that is both better aligned to the skills needs of employers, and which is likely to produce better employment outcomes […]
Three Steps to a More Relevant Curriculum: Step 3 — Identify Skills and Build a Business Case
This is the final part in this series (you can see Steps 1 and 2 here and here). In recent years, there has been a noticeable shift in the way employers view potential employees, with skills components, rather than simply qualifications or job titles, taking on a far more prominent place in hiring considerations. This […]
