Reforming Systems Is Not Enough: Is Capability the Missing Factor in Apprenticeship Reform?

The forthcoming Budget and the Milburn Review will bring further focus onto participation, opportunity and workforce development; apprenticeships are once again set to occupy a central place in national policy discussions.

This is hardly surprising.  

Apprenticeships enjoy broad political and public support because they are associated with economic growth, social mobility and productivity, while helping employers address workforce needs.  Yet that very popularity creates a challenge.

When policymakers are looking for visible and positive interventions, apprenticeships are often among the first places they turn.  Unlike many other parts of the education system, whose core structures tend to evolve more incrementally, apprenticeships have been the subject of significant reform over the past decade.  Whilst eye-catching new initiatives are in pursuit of worthwhile objectives, there is less focus on what is required to deliver them successfully, or the implications of the change-approach.

It brings to mind the observation from the visionary management consultant Peter Drucker that “plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”

Is there sufficient focus on the hard work?

Policy discussions understandably focus on structures, funding and governance.  Yet experience from education, public services and government change programmes consistently suggests that implementation capability, notably people, expertise and systems, is often the decisive factor in determining whether reform achieves its outcomes.  A recurring lesson highlighted in National Audit Office reports is that implementation risks are often considered too late in the policy-making process.

So, is there sufficient focus on the ‘hard work’?

A decade of continual change

Over the past decade, apprenticeship assessment organisations and other delivery stakeholders have adapted to the introduction and evolution of end-point assessment, repeated assessment-plan reviews, changing regulatory expectations, advances in digital technology and artificial intelligence, reforms to technical qualifications, and wider machinery-of-government changes, including the transfer of responsibility for apprenticeships from the DfE to DWP.

Systems should not stand still.  But, every reform places demands on the organisations responsible for implementation.  This implementation burden needs to be considered, particularly because demands are amplified when reforms overlap, a stable long-term policy horizon is absent, and when major change is occurring simultaneously across technical education and the devolved nations.

In the case of Apprenticeship Assessment Organisations, they have been expected to redesign assessments, strengthen quality assurance arrangements, support employers and providers through transition, develop new expertise and respond to changing expectations, while also improving efficiency and reducing costs.

There can be a temptation within policymaking to announce change and quickly move on to the next challenge.  Yet successful reform requires periods of consolidation as well as periods of innovation – and in education this takes a long time.  Organisations need time to embed changes, evaluate impact and learn from implementation.  

The associated operational capability required to enable reform is not merely an outcome of a reform ambition, it is a prerequisite for success. 

Every significant change relies on organisations having the people, expertise, leadership, systems and resilience needed, while maintaining on-going quality and public confidence.  That includes government departments, agencies, regulators, assessment organisations and providers alike.  Without those foundations, even well-designed reforms may struggle to deliver the intended benefits for learners and employers.

Balancing ambition with delivery capacity

We need the right balance between ambition and delivery capacity – and the right balance becomes particularly important when apprenticeships are being relied upon to contribute towards critical economic and social objectives.  

Getting delivery capacity in the right place requires investment in organisational and professional capability.

Like other key stakeholders, many Assessment Organisations are already doing precisely that through workforce development, stronger quality assurance arrangements, technological innovation and continuous improvement.  Sector-wide initiatives also have a role to play.  FAB’s Excellence Programme, which includes a Charter and Professional Pathway are practical contributions that will strengthen Awarding Organisations and promote professional development and recognition.

But this cannot be the whole answer.  Sustainable success also requires the alignment of policy ambition and the enabling system: realistic timescales, meaningful engagement with delivery organisations, and enough stability for reforms to take effect and to be optimised; history tells us that reform succeeds when investment in systems is matched by investment in the people and organisations responsible for delivery.

Capability determines success

When we are on the cusp of another phase of development that will impact apprenticeships, and technical education more broadly, perhaps the most important question is not what reforms are introduced next but whether sufficient attention is being paid to the capability required to make them work.

Policy creates opportunity; capability determines whether that opportunity is realised. Before celebrating the ambition of the next reform, we should ensure that the delivery system has the capacity to deliver it well and as intended.

By Rob Nitsch, Chief Executive of the Federation of Awarding Bodies