Skills England Has A Simple Plan

Listening to Phil Smith, the Chair of Skills England, at a recent event hosted by John Cope of PLMR Communications, was a reassuring experience. He is articulate and knowledgeable, a highly credible figurehead for the new organisation, and admirably clear about his priorities for the agency:

1. Engagement with all the many stakeholders in the skills system;

   
   

2. Data, to inform decision making;

   
   

3. Simplification.

   
   

This third priority might set alarm bells ringing – the narrative that the technical skills qualification system is too complicated has been used to justify the drive to de-fund Applied General qualifications, despite being based on evidence that is hard to find.

Luckily, Phil Smith isn’t talking about that, but about a drive to make the system simpler for consumers to use. He used the example of a Smartphone, a sophisticated and technically complex device which is nevertheless easy for consumers to use. It’s a good analogy – a skills system responsive to all the many occupations, sectors and industries that make up our economy is bound to be inherently complex, as anyone reading the Post-16 White Paper will be reminded. What we need to focus on is the user interface of the skills system, and leave the market to determine what courses and qualifications are meeting consumer demand. There are hundreds of makes and models of cars on sale in the UK, and to try and reduce this to a handful is a pointless project. If they meet safety and emissions standards, let customers enjoy the benefits of choice, an approach that we can only hope will be applied to the design of V levels.

The analogy Phil Smith used to illustrate his idea of simplification was Transport for London. This was joy to my ears since it’s something I advocated in an article for the Times Educational Supplement in 2016, nearly ten years ago, but the idea may well now gain an audience coming from an authoritative public figure. Again, it’s a great analogy, since London’s transport system is far from simple, coordinating private and public sector players, harnessing buses, trains, tubes, boats and bicycles, serving a huge and diverse population with all kinds of travel needs who make over 4 million journeys a day. The technical and administrative sophistication required behind the scenes to keep such an intricate network running is impressive.

But from the user point of view, it’s simplicity itself. You need one single payment card or device,  access to the Journey Planner on the TfL website to find your best routes, and that’s about it. The combination of web-based tools, physical guides and maps, real-time updates on how well the network is running , and staff available at many stations to offer face-to-face advice and assistance, adds up to a positive customer experience. Something similar for skills is needed, with the same core features: a unified price and payment system, web-based information backed up by personal advice and guidance, and real-time updates on availability and cost of courses. A nationally designed template could be customised by strategic local authorities in each travel-to-work area.  So if you want to train as an electrician, simply key in your postcode and you get full time, part time, and apprenticeship options in your area, with clear up-to-date details of level, price and duration.

For university applicants there is of course already a high quality service available, courtesy of UCAS. The big difference here is that school and college leavers are a captive audience, readily accessible to recruiters and in daily contact with teachers and advisers in every setting. For those wanting to offer adult students reskilling and upskilling opportunities, there is no equivalent to the UCAS pre-applicant database and therefore no simple way of communicating directly with them.

Our research into the potential demand for the Lifelong Learning Entitlement suggests there are 15 million in the market, taking into account the numbers of adults with Level 3 or above qualifications in the 18-60 age range. But they are a very diverse group, with a range of possible motivations for looking at the LLE, from those who are ambitious to climb the career ladder to those looking to reskill to ward off potential career stagnation or redundancy. Moreover, drawing down an LLE loan is a relatively complicated decision, involving a cost/benefit analysis of whether the anticipated rewards for completing higher qualifications justify the future cost of loan repayment through the tax system. The solution here would be a national LLE “Journey Planner”, managed by a body like Skills England, with links to more detailed regional skills information portals. If this were backed up by a network of independent advisers available for face-to-face guidance – just as the UCAS system is – then the service would be inclusive and accessible.

A participant at another recent event presenting the findings of the RSA/UfI Digital Badging Commission observed “we’re trying to graft a 21^st century infrastructure onto a 19^th century delivery system”.  Which is exactly what TfL have done, demonstrating that building a modern communications platform to coordinate a transport network with its origins in the late Victorian era actually makes the whole system work far more effectively. A similar approach, combining a TfL-style interactive journey planner with initiatives such as Digital Badging that will move us to a more unified customer tracking and payment system, will give us the infrastructure we need to make consumer interaction with our complex skills system a much better – and simpler – experience.