Collaborative Approaches to 14-19 Provision - Communities and ...

14-19 PATHFINDERS: THE SECOND YEARpromotion of work-related learning. However, from 2004 the Secondary SchoolAchievement and Attainment Tables (formerly Performance Tables) have included allqualifications approved for use pre-16 at Entry Level, Level 1 and Level 2 (except gradedexaminations which will follow in 2005). AS levels taken early will also be counted. Generalvocational, occupational, vocational-related and key skills qualifications are all included andhave been allocated points under the new scoring system. There was some evidence that thiswas beginning to impact on school attitudes towards vocational qualifications. This changehas the potential to reverse the incentives for broadening the curriculum, making it possiblefor students who may not achieve through GCSE to contribute to school scores throughalternative qualifications.125. The most common barrier to broadening the curriculum and developing work-relatedlearning, however, was the cost of such provision. These costs had several dimensions,including the direct costs of teaching, transport costs and the costs of collaboration. Much ofthe funding for provision was channelled through initiatives and projects includingpathfinder, IFP, ESF and Area-Wide Action Plans. Some pathfinders had decided to restrictthe use of funding to developmental activities in an attempt to increase the likelihood ofsustaining the provision. In other pathfinders there were attempts to gradually reduce projectfunding and encourage schools to pay for provision from their mainstream budgets (forexamples, see Sheffield and Knowsley case studies). Some schools expressed willingness toachieve this, but a more common response was that it would not be possible to maintaincurrent levels of provision and if funding was lost there would be an inevitable narrowing ofthe curriculum. While some pathfinders seriously attempted to address the issue of financialsustainability, others seemed implicitly to expect that other forms of project funding wouldbecome available once current streams expired.126. We return to the issue of sustainability in the final section of this report. The variousdimensions of sustainability, including the financial, will also be a major theme of theevaluation of the third year of pathfinders.42