January 2018
Price: £95 PLUS VAT
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This timely seminar examined next steps in the policy drive to raise educational attainment and improve social mobility in England taking place in the context of:
- DfE’s social mobility action plan - publication outlining reforms to provide underperforming local authorities, in addition to the opportunity areas, with a range of targeted support including from the free schools programme, Teach First and business sector;
- Social Mobility Commission - State of the Nation 2017 report recommending that Regional Schools Commissioners should be given responsibility for managing the supply of teachers and ensuring coherence between skills development and local industrial strategies; and
- Opportunity areas - publication of delivery plans for the first 6 areas following the Government announcement of £72m in funding to improve social mobility through education in 12 areas considered to be cold spots for social mobility.
Delegates discussed key issues for the implementation of opportunity area plans - including:
- The configuration and coordination of the individual local partnership boards;
- Measures to evaluate progress and ensure accountability of the initiative; and
- Steps to closer align the education system with the needs of the labour market.
Further discussion assessed priorities for raising educational attainment more widely, examining best practice initiatives and their scope for transferability in addition to the effectiveness of university-school and education-business partnerships as well as research schools, such as the 11 selected to support the opportunity areas.
