Idris Elba, Paul Johnson & Alison Wolf: A Blockbuster Combination?

A couple of weeks ago a London college hosted a visit from global superstar Idris Elba, who is amongst the top twenty highest-grossing actors in the world. Elba is also a talented musician - having produced a number of recordings, collaborated with many other stars, and set up his own label – and was receiving a “Paving the Way” award from MOBO (Music of Black Origin) which has been running an annual awards show for thirty years. When asked where he would like to have the stone laid, he chose Barking and Dagenham College, where he did a two year BTEC Performing Arts course that was the first step on his career as a performer: “this was the first place I got to fall on my face as an actor and get back up to be supported by great people and a great college.”

He is, of course, one of many products of the Further Education system, which has a long history of producing highly successful alumni. But it’s gratifying to have someone so prominent speak so warmly about his FE experience, because there’s still a big difference in the public profile and prestige of FE in comparison to the Higher Education sector. Although there is better public recognition of FE than ever before, it’s still thought of by too many people as being the route you go down when you don’t do well academically, rather than a positive choice for those who thrive on practical and experiential learning.

Which takes us to Paul Johnson, not quite as much a superstar as Idris Elba, but one of the country’s best known economists, who is about to give our Annual Lecture on 2nd July. A few years ago he wrote an article for the Times (still available on the Institute for Fiscal Studies website) entitled “My son taught me a lesson about university” (Times, 5th January 2018). In it, he contrasts the experience of his two teenage sons. “For son number one it was easy. Go from great A-levels into a great university.” But for son number two – who wasn’t as academically-inclined and was looking for a higher apprenticeship in computing – it was “staggeringly hard even to find the right opportunities”. The article graphically sketches the stark contrast between the smooth, well-supported, straightforward process of applying to university, and the opaque, complicated, arduous process of finding and then applying for an apprenticeship. Johnson’s reflection on this experience still resonates today: “It is our failure to get enough young people into high-quality, job-based training at 18 that creates our skills shortages, low wages and productivity problems.”

Some things have improved since Paul wrote his piece. In 2018, as he reported, only 1,800 school leavers secured a higher apprenticeship. Currently the figure is over 7,000, although that still represents a tiny proportion (less than 2%) of the total number of apprenticeship starts. UCAS have done a great job of making degree apprenticeships far more visible to all university applicants. But it is still far more difficult for young people – even those supported by professional parents – to get an apprenticeship at any level. For those who don’t have the benefit of parental know-how – those from disadvantaged and non-professional backgrounds – the mountain to climb is even steeper.

Sadly, this problem has been endemic to the English education system for a long time. Which takes us to the formidable and highly influential Professor Alison Wolf, who nearly a decade ago produced a report – “Remaking Tertiary Education” (Education Policy Institute, Nov 2016), which first proposed the idea of a Lifelong Learning Entitlement, finally due to be launched in 2026/27. Her trenchant analysis of our post-18 education system remains highly relevant: “Around half of current 18 and 19 year old pupils in England go on to tertiary education. The opportunities offered to the other half are limited, shrinking, and grossly under-resourced in comparison.” This situation – exactly what Paul Johnson found to his dismay in 2018 – remains largely unchanged today, with painfully slow progress over the past ten years. The expansion of the university sector has got more young people into three year degree courses, but the proportion from disadvantaged backgrounds is still woefully low – the percentage of those on free school meals going to university, although it has risen, is nearly 21% lower than their more affluent peers. And it is still far too difficult for those who don’t go straight from A-levels to higher education to navigate a positive pathway towards successful qualifications and training.

The current government has this issue firmly in its sights and is about to announce a number of policy initiatives designed to break the log-jam. There is a huge amount of heavy lifting to be done. The spectacular extent of Idris Elba’s success makes him exceptional, but reminds us just how possible it is for an individual from a modest background to progress to a great career through a vocational education route, as many indeed have. But we need more. We need to reach a point where there is much better access for those from disadvantaged backgrounds to academic and vocational pathways, much better understanding of the merits of each, and where both are recognised as having equal value.

Putting Idris Elba, Paul Johnson and Alison Wolf together in a room to have a conversation about education might not make for a blockbuster movie, but would be fascinating, as I suspect they’d discover a surprising amount of common ground. They’d certainly make a great line-up for a future conference…