Identifying local economic issues and key LEP priorities to develop a curriculum with intent

What are your thoughts on the new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework, particularly with regard to what is has to say about curriculum?

The new inspection framework really suits colleges, particularly vocational institutions.

The framework will focus on progression and intent.

We, as a college, are really obsessed with progression and making sure that our curriculum meets the needs of what local businesses need.

What do you think Ofsted is looking for by calling colleges to produce a curriculum with “intent”?

For me, curriculum intent is about making sure our curriculum meets the needs of local and regional employers, and can ensure it makes real impact so that our students complete their courses with us and have the skills and knowledge to actually fill the identified skills gaps within our area and can then support the local and regional economic development.

How does LMI help BCoT to develop a curriculum that meets local skills needs?

LMI helps us because our mission is to give young people and adults the skills, they need to meet the economic requirements of the area. If we don’t know what those requirements are, it’s a bit like trying to play football without knowing where the goal is.

So, the LMI provides us with a really clear direction on what we need to be doing, and what areas are going to grow, what areas are going to restrict, and how we need to be planning for the future.

It tells the curriculum managers these are the particular things you need to be looking at, these particular areas you need to be looking at, these are the particular levels you need to be looking at.

What it allows us to do is to modify our curriculum in advance of those things occurring. A good example will be in Basingstoke, where there’s going to be a lot of construction work and house building. So, it’s allowed us to build up our construction department and also look at things like modular housing, which we expect to be coming on stream into the future.

How has Emsi’s Course Vision tool helped you develop a curriculum with intent?

The Emsi Course Vision tool has been really helpful for us. Particular areas which have included engineering, animal management and sport, where what we’ve been able to do is identify in much more detail, what the LEP key priorities are. What that means is we can see what the actual jobs and skills demands are. That means what we were able to do is identify what courses, and what types of courses, and what level those courses need to be, to meet the future needs of the region.

The information we get from the tool has allowed us to more easily identify what the key LEP priorities are, as well as what the local economic issues are, so we can make sure we’ve identified the growth opportunities which are coming up, and what the future skills requirements are of the area.

That means our curriculum is being future proofed by using this tool.

Anthony Bravo, Principal and CEO of Basingstoke College Group