Departments of Arts and Humanities globally face increasing financial threat from falling enrolment, rising costs, and 'strategic realignment' at university level. In the UK, in particular, cuts to the Arts and Humanities sector are becoming endemic, with complex ramifications for prospective students as well as academic and professional staff. In…

In this paper, authors reflect on the implications of the report titled "Bold Beginnings: The Reception Curriculum in a Sample of Good and Outstanding Primary Schools" (Ofsted, 2017). This report is a review of curriculum for four-and five-year-old children in the United Kingdom. The "Bold Beginnings" report argues for teaching…

In 2017, 31% of students progressed from further education (FE) to higher education (HE), with many coming from non-traditional backgrounds such as vocational and educational training (VET). The skills, expectations and experiences that VET students bring to HE will differ significantly from those of the traditional A-Level entrants, who are…

The vocational and academic routes that make up the English education system have different purposes, for different stakeholders, with different outcomes; they can be complementary routes but are not analogous. Consequently, calls for parity of esteem belie the fundamental intention and importance of each. While these calls have persisted for over…

This article reports the findings of four separately commissioned evaluations of alternative provision (AP) undertaken in three local authorities in the UK. The evaluations were specifically predicated on the principles of children's rights and used a combination of qualitative research methods and documentary analysis to elicit the experiences of…

This article discusses the conceptualisation, organisation and philosophical orientation of academic history culture in UK higher education. It problematises the extent to which a dominant history culture in UK universities implies and uncritically reproduces normative understandings about the subject; about its epistemological standing,…

Many factors influence students' experiences in upper secondary education and beyond, including upper secondary curricula, programme design and support for students. But a good transition from earlier levels of education is the first, essential step in a successful journey through upper secondary education and into further education and/or…

A reading of college-based HE (CHE) teachers' self-identified academic development preferences against an understanding of the professional demands of academic practice in Higher Education (HE), whilst being mindful of the specific college-based context, serves to add the experiences of CHE teachers to the HE sector understanding of 'the staff…

The Further Education (FE) sector has been considered by successive UK governments as significant to developing a global competitive edge as well as enhancing social justice. Consequently, these governments have shown keen interests in the sector and have introduced reforms and policy initiatives that have led to cultures of marketisation,…

Purpose: Using the example of an amalgamated secondary school qualification (International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme--IBCP), in which both vocational education and training (VET) and academic subjects are taught, the paper aims to discuss the use of skills and knowledge gained during the IBCP for post-secondary school activities.…

Raising the attractiveness of vocational education and training (VET) has been on the UK as well as the European agenda for some time, primarily for economic and social development reasons. However, little is known about the role of skills competitions in improving the attractiveness of VET. This study uses data from 110 interviews with…

This paper investigates differences in higher education outcomes according to the qualifications with which students enter university. The study is situated in the context of increasing marketization, competition and privatization in post-16 qualifications, combined with an increase in students entering higher education with either vocational…

This article provides a reflective perspective on the role that research-led teaching plays in the development of future arts workers in higher education. It explores the challenges faced by lecturers developing curricula in the performing and creative arts and argues that the increasing focus on employability can conflict with universities'…

The article addresses the issue of children and young people's well-being at school. The issue has been known as topical for already some time. In recent decades, in order to be able to determine the true nature and essence of the phenomenon of well-being, the necessity to find the ways for identification of children and young people's…

The rationale for the study is to enhance our understanding of how young people learn and engage with vocational subjects within the lower secondary years of compulsory education. The concept of pre-vocational education has recently emerged to describe the initial transitional phase of preparing young people for employment in specific occupational…