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1. Improving success at Level 2

Improving success at Level 2 — the facts

The importance of achieving NVQ Level 2 skills, both to individuals and to the economic prosperity of the nation, is supported by research and has been well documented (see, for example, the Leitch Review). The achievement at Level 2 by adults and young people in the UK is significantly below that of many of our competitors. Yet Level 2 is the minimum qualification for individuals to have a good chance of a successful working life as well as helping to strengthen the national economy.

For some years, the Government has been directing public spending towards its targets for achieving Level 2 qualifications. While there has been some progress in the achievement of those targets, considerable challenges remain.

Level 2 targets

  • By 2006, the target was to increase the proportion of 19-year-olds achieving Level 2 or higher from 67% to 70%
  • By 2008, to increase this proportion further — from 70% to 72%
  • By 2010, to reduce by at least 40% the number of adults in the workforce who lack an NVQ Level 2 or equivalent qualification (which means an additional 3.6 million gaining their first Level 2 or higher qualification)

Train to Gain targets

  • Engage with 33,000 employers in 2006–7
  • Engage with 53,000 employers in 2007–8 and in successive years to 2010

Young learners aged 14–19

Young learners may achieve their Level 2 qualifications through the established routes:

  • five GCSEs A*–C
  • general vocational qualifications such as GNVQs (to be phased out in 2007)
  • National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs)
  • other vocationally related qualifications (VRQs).

From September 2008 the new Diplomas will offer young people a new route to Level 2 (and higher) qualifications, with a much stronger emphasis on applied learning.

There has been a significant change in my teaching. I now focus more on the needs of learners; draw links between their previous and new learning; and allow them to make and discuss mistakes, and to work faster or more slowly where needed.

Anonymous, from Subject Learning Coach survey

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Challenges for managers

Learners working towards their first full Level 2 qualification face many challenges whether they are young people or adults. To support learner achievement at Level 2, therefore, managers will need to consider how to implement a range of critical success factors.

What managers can provide

  • Good initial guidance and assessment
  • Individual target setting that’s realistic and motivating, plus support in achieving targets
  • Early achievement via a curriculum designed to enable each learner to achieve quickly and to build confidence
  • Relevance — a strong vocational focus combined with functional skills

In addition, managers will need to ensure that teaching and training:

  • meet the diverse needs of learners by offering differentiated methods of delivery and assessment
  • motivate learners by offering variety, relevance and active involvement rather than passive learning
  • develop independent, confident and critical learners.

Learners love the sessions: there has been 98% attendance on E2E, and an improvement in the achievement rate for key skills since we changed the lessons and introduced the new resources and delivery methods. Learners are staying on the programme longer, and therefore progression rates are improving. The whole programme has improved teaching competence in staff.

Simon Healy, Chief Executive, Shape

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How NTLCP can help your teachers and trainers

Your Subject Learning Coaches work with the high quality, subject-based resources that are available free of charge as part of NTLCP. Using these, Subject Learning Coaches can enable your teachers and trainers to meet the challenge of ensuring that their learners succeed and achieve the Level 2 qualifications they need.

Imaginative approaches tailored to individual needs and interests are the hallmarks of successful teaching and training. Your Subject Learning Coaches will enable staff to support and help each other in innovative ways, thus helping you to build the motivated, creative, flexible team of teachers and trainers you will need.

Let’s look at some examples of how NTLCP can support the critical success factors…

Critical success factors Some examples of how NTLCP can help
Initial assessment and guidance Accurate initial assessment is essential to the design of individual (personalised) learning opportunities. The E2E (Entry to Employment) CPD resources will help your staff to design relevant, motivating assessment activities and to develop skills in making objective judgments and giving feedback to learners.
Individual target setting to motivate learners E2E also focuses on how to work with learners to set appropriate SMART targets and how to use ‘motivational’ dialogue to help learners overcome personal challenges.
Relevance, with a vocational focus and functional skills woven in The resources for Land-based Studies and Health and Social Care help staff to link theory to practice and to develop schemes of work and lesson plans that enhance skills development.
Differentiated teaching and learning to meet individuals’ needs In the resources for Business you’ll find several CPD activities you can use. For instance, there’s a card activity called ‘What is differentiation?’ designed to help all staff to understand the concept of differentiation and then apply it.
Variety, relevance and active engagement in learning The Science materials offer eight different activities to bring variety and engagement into learning. Active learning and developing resources to achieve it is one of the CPD activities in the ICT box.
Independent learning and critical thinking Managed discussion is one of many successful ways of developing critical thinking. The Mathematics materials include a range of activities that will strengthen the effective use of questions and help teachers to manage discussions.

The E2E resources have been used to develop staff skills in reviewing learner progress and target setting. Staff are more focused on achievement as a result of the work, and more willing to look at different ways of delivery. Our organisation has transformed the way we do initial assessment. We have created a more ‘assessment centre’ approach. We are also looking to see how we can integrate this into the mainstream apprenticeship programme.

Maxine Cutter, Skills for Life Manager,
City Centre Training

Participation in the Professional Training Programme for Subject Learning Coaches is a golden opportunity for individuals to enhance the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to implement practical changes to improve the way training and teaching is delivered nationally to maximise learner achievement and retention.

Martin Lawson, Staff Support and Development Manager, JHP Training

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Getting the most from your investment

  • Have a Subject Learning Coach in each of the subjects your organisation offers. If you haven’t, think carefully about how to select the best teacher or trainer to work with your staff to achieve success at Level 2.
  • Give your Coaches your full support! And that includes allowing them time to attend subject coaching network meetings and time to work with their colleagues.
  • Use the free desktop flipchart of coaching questions for managers, with its accompanying resource directory. It will help you focus your staff on how to increase successes at Level 2.
  • If you haven’t already got it, obtain the free publication ‘Improving success for learners at Level 2: young people and adults’ published by the DfES. Click here to download the interactive resource or contact Prolog on 0845 602 2260 quoting product code T&LL2GUIDE, to order a hard copy. Please note, orders are limited to 10 per organisation.

The impact on staff is evident. In some areas, in particular, I’ve observed a renewed energy and enthusiasm, with whole groups of staff talking about teaching and learning, revamping their approaches and developing new resources.

Ruth Nelson, Teaching and Learning Co-ordinator,
Sheffield College

In a session on using data to review achievement and progression, we used subject coaching questions to help staff look at how to turn partial achievement into full achievement, and worked as an ‘action learning set’ to come up with solutions.

Peter Clarke, Subject Learning Coach Rathbone, Cumbria

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