Mr Gove's Reply

He replied! (Well, he got his lackey to do it, but it's a start!) When I had heard nothing back from my email in the "promised" twenty days in which the ministry will respond, I printed it out as a letter, affixed stamp and tally ho. Just goes to prove that the power of good ol' letter writing is not lost.
Full of ministerial spin and hyperbole (to be expected I suppose) it is a reply at least. And, of course, I will be writing back again...my response to follow later this week...

Dear Ms Musson,

Thank you for your letter of 18 October to the Secretary of State.  I have been asked to reply on policy relating to the curriculum. You raise some interesting and important issues about our education system and the needs of young people today.  The question ‘what is the point of education?’ is one to which I fear I cannot do justice in this reply.  The Department has, however, been clear on the aims of the national curriculum – to which a lot of your letter relates – and these are closely aligned to requirements of education you identify.  You specifically mention the importance of knowledge.  This is a conviction we share: the whole national curriculum has been revised recently to focus much more on the key knowledge that students should acquire by the time they leave school and giving teachers – the experts - much more autonomy over how this should be taught.  The new national curriculum will be taught from September 2014. By slimming down the compulsory programmes of study we are giving schools much more freedom to design their wider curricula to meet the needs of their pupils. All the subjects you identify have unquestionable value but there are only so many hours in a day!  We want to prescribe less and trust teachers more – to make decisions around the curriculum that are in the best interests of their students. You also raise the issue of the value placed on skilled employment.  You may be aware that an extra £20million is being made available to the government’s new Traineeships programme to support even more young people into Apprenticeships and other jobs.  Traineeships are part of the government’s wider aim to ensure the future workforce possess the skills employers want in their employees.  The Government values vocational education and that is why the Secretary of State asked Professor Alison Wolf to carry out an independent review which concluded in March 2011.  Professor Wolf found that vocational education was immensely valuable as part of a broad curriculum. However, she also made clear that changes were needed to prevent schools enrolling pupils on low quality qualifications that do not promote progression to further education or employment. In the coming weeks, the Government will publish details of the Technical Level qualifications that will be reported in school and college performance tables. Tech levels are high quality level 3 vocational qualifications which meet new rigorous standards including endorsement by professional and industry bodies that they will prepare a young person for entry to a particular occupation.  Some Tech Levels will confirm occupational competence directly whereas others will provide a route into an advanced or higher Apprenticeship or onto an occupational degree or higher education course. We have also introduced the Technical Baccalaureate measure which will recognise the highest level of technical training in vocational skills at level 3.  The TechBacc measure recognises the achievement of students taking an approved Technical Level qualification, a level 3 maths qualifications and the extended project qualification. Both Tech Levels and the TechBacc will be introduced for courses beginning in September 2014, for reporting in the 16-19 performance tables from 2016. I agree that we need to inspire young people to consider a broad range of subject choices, allowing them to choose from a wider range of careers. A key way of achieving this is to increase engagement between schools and businesses. Hearing directly from employers, whether through workplace visits, taster sessions or inspirational speakers, can help motivate young people and raise their aspirations. The importance of giving young people more real-life contact with the world of work is outlined in the government’s vision for careers inspiration, published on 10 September. This can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-inspiration-vision-statement. I hope this response clarifies the government’s position on some of the big questions you pose in your letter.

If you need to respond to us, please visit: www.education.gov.uk/contactus, and quote your reference number allocated at the top of this letter. Yours sincerely, Maleck Boodoo Standards Division