1. How can stakeholders benefit from the two national initiatives? Tami McCrone, NFER 3 rd June 2015 Presentation for LSRN workshop: Developing Clear Messages

2. How can stakeholders benefit from the two national initiatives? Tami McCrone, NFER 3 rd June 2015 Presentation for LSRN workshop: Developing Clear Messages

3. Who will the Centres serve? Policy Makers College Managers Training Directors Academics Learners Practitioners

4. OECD messages Skills Beyond School (2014) countries, such as the UK, that favour 3 or 4 year degree programmes often have weak provision at the sub-degree level post-secondary VET is less well understood than school or university in the next decade, two thirds of EU employment growth will be in technical and associate professional occupations; many will need high-level skills and knowledge, but not necessarily a full bachelor’s degree. http://www.oecd.org/education/skills-beyond-school-synthesis- report.htmhttp://www.oecd.org/education/skills-beyond-school-synthesis- report.htm

5. OECD messages Skills Outlook (2015) One in seven UK students leave school before completing upper secondary education. Many leave without the right skills to find a job. The report suggests some actions: Ensure that young people leave school with range of relevant skills Help school leavers to enter the labour market Dismantle institutional barriers to youth employment Identify and help NEETs ‘off the radar’ to reengage Facilitate better matches between young people’s skills and jobs http://www.oecd.org/edu/oecd-skills-outlook-2015- 9789264234178-en.htmhttp://www.oecd.org/edu/oecd-skills-outlook-2015- 9789264234178-en.htm

6. The impact of the new VET centres – what will success look like ? What will learners have that they don’t have now? What will employers be doing differently? What will practitioners be doing differently? How will the system have changed?

7. Approaches to sharing and embedding ‘academic research’ Knowledge producers disseminate their knowledge Research, Development, Diffusion Problem-solving Practitioners identify problems and ask researchers to find answers Intermediaries help to translate evidence into guidance for practice Linkage Social interaction Researchers and practitioners work as ‘co- producers’ and users of evidence Adapted from Becheikh, N., Ziam, S., Idrissi, O., Castonguay, Y. and Landry, R. (2009). ‘How to improve knowledge transfer strategies and practices in education? Answers from a systematic literature review’, Research in Higher Education Journal, 7, 1–21.

8. Summary of messages Where is the evidence of impact on learners ? How will the research findings be shared and embedded? Greater collaboration – greater engagement – greater use of the evidence in practice and policy Who will the centres serve?

9. Over to you! How can stakeholders benefit from the two national initiatives? Over to Anne and/or Andrew to provide some more detail….. How can practice be improved by the production and use of evidence ? What knowledge needs and/or areas for research should be addressed?

10. NFER provides evidence for excellence through its independence and insights, the breadth of its work, its connections, and a focus on outcomes. National Foundation for Educational Research The Mere, Upton Park Slough, Berks SL1 2DQ T: 01753 574123 F: 01753 691632 E: enquiries@nfer.ac.uk www.nfer.ac.uk McCrone, T. (2014). Changing attitudes to vocational education (NFER Thinks: What the Evidence Tells Us). Slough: NFER. http://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/99947 / http://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/99947 / Tami McCrone: t.mccrone@nfer.ac.ukt.mccrone@nfer.ac.uk @TheNFER