Government Offices act on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) formerly (DfES) in support of the aims of the White Paper, which are to:
- ensure that every young person masters functional English and maths before they leave education
- improve vocational education
- stretch all young people and help universities to differentiate between the best candidates
- re-motivate disengaged learners
- ensure delivery of an appropriate curriculum
We work with employers and Higher Education Institutions through Sector Skills Councils. These councils will be responsible for the development of new Diplomas in 14 broad sector areas. This means that for the first time in this country, we are establishing employer-designed specialised Diploma qualifications, which combine skills development and general education. Delivering this entitlement will require profound change in the education system but no single school will be expected to deliver the full range of options as part of the entitlement.
We will work with local authorities and local Learning and Skills Councils to implement reforms, including the delivery of the new Diplomas. This will involve running progress checks which will measure the progress of local authorities in preparing for the new Diplomas and national entitlement. In addition, GO Directors of Children and Learners will chair Regional Panels that will assess consortiums wishing to deliver the new 14-19 diplomas.
GOs also share good practice amongst local authorities in their region.
