Chapter 13 – Developments in the 1960s and the1970s

This chapter will complete the developments in the 1960s and then describe the some of the developments in the 1970s. Numbers grew steadily in further education as a result of the developments since 1944 and in1964 there were approximately 1.7 million students in major establishments of FE in England and Wales. Of these there were over 180,000 full-time and sandwich students and approximately 1.5 million part-time and evening students. The teaching force since 1956 had grown from 11,500 to approximately 34,000 supported in 1964 by over 60,000 part-time teachers and instructors. The investment in building programmes was in excess of £200 million and this included £180 million committed since 1956. Note the continuing importance of part-time staff in the FE sector as they brought with them an up-to-date knowledge and experience of the specialist workplace. The National Plan envisaged that over 70,000 full-time and sandwich students would be studying in colleges by 1969/70, well in excess of the Robbins Committee’s estimate of 50,000.

The Robbins Report 1963

In 1963 the Robbins Report was published and would have major implications for the expansion of the university sector. It was entitled ‘Higher Education’ and comprised six volumes and was chaired by Lord Robbins. Its terms of reference were: ‘To review the pattern of full-time higher education in Britain and in the light of national needs and resources, to advise the Government on what principles its long- term development should be based. In particular, to advise, in the light of these principles whether there should be any changes in that pattern, whether any new types of institution are desirable for planning and coordinating the development of the various types of institution’.
It was a major reform of the university sector but for our purposes the recommendation to create the Colleges of Advanced Technology (CATs) are note worthy and it was recommended that these institutions were ultimately to be granted charters as technological universities. Other recommendations were made regarding regional and area colleges that were offering higher education and could now gain the same opportunity to award degrees equivalent to the universities. In order to achieve this recommendation the Council for National Academic Awards was established in 1963. Thus the CNAA was created replacing the National Council for Technological Awards (NCTA).
Following the Robbins Report numbers in higher education increased with the majority of the growth being in polytechnics and other maintained colleges offering advanced further education although it must be stressed that it was from a relatively low base. Colleges also showed a significant growth as a result to provide training to tackle the shortage of qualified teachers. Table 1 shows the student numbers in universities, colleges and colleges of education in 1971-72.

Table 1.Numbers of Students on Full-Time and Sandwich Higher Education Courses in Britain for 1971-72 (in 000’s).

Source: ‘Education: A Framework for Expansion’ HMSO. 1972.
Key: * Includes approximately 3,000 students in polytechnic departments of education.

The government in 1972 had set a target of 750,000 students taking full-time and sandwich courses by 1981 in both universities and colleges.

Technician Courses and Examinations (Haslegrave Report 1967).

In 1967 the Secretary of State for Education and Science invited the National Advisory Council on Education for Industry and Commerce (NACEIC) to review technician provision including examinations. The NACEIC felt that the developments since the White Paper ‘Better Opportunities in Technical Education’ e.g. the Industrial Training Act, the work of the CNAA and the changing purpose of the higher national courses, merited such a review. A Committee was established and was chaired by H. L. Haslegrave and published its report in 1969. Its remit was: ‘to review the provision for courses suitable for technicians at all levels (including corresponding grades in non-technical occupations) and to consider what changes are desirable in the present structure of courses and examinations.’

The Committee carried out a detailed analysis of national courses leading to technician, business and comparable certificates awarded by CGLI, the six REBs, Ordinary and Higher National awards and the General courses. The Committee did not regard individual college courses or those leading to examinations of professional and similar bodies as part of their remit but did consider their possible impact and relationship on their final recommendations. The committee paid due consideration to the relationship with the work of CNAA and the emerging Dip. HE. qualification. The committee carried out a comprehensive analysis of the role of the technician and provided some fascinating statistics using the results of surveys carried out by the Scientific and Technological Manpower Division. For example in 1965 the various industrial sectors employed 622,000 technicians and other technical supporting staff, of whom approximately 400,000 were in manufacturing industries, 72,000 in the public sectors of industry, 46,000 in construction and 89,000 in central government and local government. Approximately 100,000 of the national total were employed in research and development and approximately 66% of these were in industry.

Employers had indicated that over 700,000 technicians would be required in 1970. A similar survey in 1968 showed the following analysis: there were 710,000 technicians and other supporting staff in the industrial sectors surveyed, an increase of 14% compared with 1965. Of these 454,000 were employed in the manufacturing industries, 84,000 in the public sector of industry, 61,000 in construction and 91,000 in central and local government. Approximately 106,000 of the national total were employed in research and development and roughly 75% of these were in the manufacturing industries. Employers again revised upwards the number of technicians required and indicated that between 1968 and 1971 an additional 70,000 would be required.

After a wide ranging set of consultations the Committee recommended the creation of two Education Councils namely the Technician Education Council (TEC) and the Business Education Council (BEC). TEC had the following terms of reference: ‘To plan, administer and keep under review the development of a unified pattern of courses of technical education for technicians in industry; and in pursuance of this to devise or improve suitable courses, establish and assess standards of performance, and award certificates and diplomas as appropriate’. BEC had a similar set of terms of reference. The Secretary of State accepted the Committee’s recommendations and so TEC and BEC were born. These proposals were to have a profound effect on the way colleges operated and managed technical education from then on. Scotland established similar Councils to cover their technician and commercial programmes.
Tables 2 and 3 shows the overall state of student enrolments in FE colleges between 1964 and 1968 which helped inform the Haslegrave Committee.

Table 2. Enrolment on Courses in FE Colleges between 1964 and 1968 in England and Wales.

Source: ‘ DES Statistics 1967’.

Note – advanced courses included CNAA first and higher degrees, preparatory courses for first and higher degrees, HND/Cs, Diplomas in Management Studies (DMS), Diplomas in Art and Design and final professional examinations or College Diplomas or Associateships if above ONC or GCE ‘A’ level.

Table 3 shows the number of candidates entering for business studies courses between 1962 and 1968.

Table 3. Number of Candidates Entering Business Courses between 1962 and 1968.

The new arrangements had a profound and lasting influence on the FE sector. Colleges and the staff had to come to terms with totally different approaches in the way the curriculum was written, delivered and assessed. The creation of TEC and BEC represents possibly one of the most significant developments in the FE sector particularly in curriculum reform. It gave massive stimulation to staff development and staff had to learn totally different lexicology e.g. behavioural objectives, standard and common units etc. it took four years from the Report to the creation of TEC and BEC. However it must be remembered that a total redesign involved approximately 300 different courses and 90 CGLI committees and the Joint Committees effecting 250,000 students and 500 colleges. The new system inevitably had its critics who complained of the administrative burdens. I will describe the progress of the Councils in later chapters.

Commercial Education

As I have mentioned before commercial, business and management education took much longer to become established in the FE sector as the numbers in table 3 showed. Table 4 shows the business courses enrolments between 1964/65 and 1967/68.

Table 4. Courses and Student Enrolments in Business Studies in 1964/65 and 1967/68.

A list of the recognised of what was then being referred too as non-technical subjects e.g. business studies and retailing is shown below.

The Royal Society of Arts, Pitman’s Examinations and other awarding boards continued to offer an extensive range of examinations in commerce, secretarial and other commercially/office related studies.

Education: A Framework for Expansion (1972)

This important White Paper stressed the need to continue the expansion of education for the next ten years to make a contribution to society and the economy. The report accepted the key role the colleges at all levels to meet the changing demands of industry and commerce. The report picked up many of the recommendations of the James Report on Teacher Training and accepted that teachers in FE should receive initial teacher training. The government were planning that the fastest expansion would be in the polytechnics and other non-university colleges and set a target of approximately 375,000 places in these institutions. The report also stressed the need for employers to increase training and support for their employees and to this effect supported the proposals by the Haslegrave Committee. The White Paper welcomed the James Report and accepted the creation of a two year programme leading to the Diploma in Higher Education (Dip. HE). Careful consideration was required to be given to the relationship between the Dip. HE. and the HNDs and to the other courses being developed by the Technician Education Council (TEC) and the Business Education Council (BEC) established following the Haslegrave Committees recommendations. For the non-university sector Scotland would prepare its own White Paper. The Scottish White Paper would be presented by the Secretary of State for Scotland as it must be remembered that the responsibility for all university education resided with the British government.

Industrial Training, the Manpower Services Commission (MSC) and the Rise of Quangos

Although the existing apprenticeship programmes continued to be the main vehicle for industrial training they urgently required reform. In a sense the apprenticeship programmes were treated as being separate from other technical and vocational curricula/qualifications frameworks and in many ways represented two distinct populations of people who would eventually enter the same employment sectors. It is only recently that any real attempt has been made to integrate apprenticeships with the national qualifications framework. In addition to the weaknesses highlighted earlier the craft unions exploited them for entry into their then highly demarcated trades. Employers sadly valued them for providing cheap labour and relieving the burden of training costs. Following the implementation of the Industrial Training Act 27 statutory Industrial Training Boards (ITBs) were established between 1964 and 1969. By 1966 13 ITBs covered 7.5 million workers but already complaints were beginning about their administrative pressures. The reality of the woeful state of technical education for skilled and unskilled workers continued to highlight the limited opportunities for further study and the low levels of appropriate work based qualifications. The ratio of skilled to unskilled workers actually decreased and the number in absolute terms of skilled workers remained such the same in the period between 1911 and 1951.

Table 5 shows the numbers of workers gaining qualifications between 1929 and 1964.

Table 5. Number of Workers Gaining Technical Qualifications between 1929 and 1964 (in 000s).

Source: ‘British Economic Growth. 1856-1973’. OUP. 1982.

The figures in table 5 again reflect that in spite of some progress the situation of the workforce and their qualifications was still very poor both in absolute and relative terms.

In spite of some real progress following the Industrial Training Act, pressure for reforms was growing especially from small companies. These concerns were of such a magnitude that they attracted attention in the 1970 General Election with the Conservatives arguing for a major review of the 1964 Act. The Conservative Party subsequently published a Green Paper ‘Training for the Future – A Plan for Discussion’ in 1974, which carried a foreword by Robert Carr the then Secretary of State for Employment. The Paper acknowledged the achievements of the ITBs the volume of training having increased by 15 % between 1964 and 1968 but argued strongly that weaknesses in the system must be addressed and actioned. The original paper was significantly altered following wide consultation with amongst others the CBI and the TUC – interesting to note their involvement and influence on the government on this occasion – a rare occurrence! In 1973 the ‘Employment and Training Act’ was published and led in 1974, to the creation of the Manpower Services Commission (MSC). The Act gave the Secretary of State for Employment unprecedented powers to intervene directly in the education system. For example the MSC and its staff could make the arrangements to ‘assist people to appoint, train in order to obtain and retain employment and to help and advise employers to recruit qualified employees’. The MSC was answerable to the Secretary of State for Employment who had powers to ‘direct’ and ‘modify’ the Commissions functions. However the MSC had considerable freedom over its budget and assumed a wide range of responsibilities over institutions and services including the ITBs, job and skill centres.Initially the MSC was responsible for funding programmes for adult retraining but as unemployment increased in the mid-1970s it became very involved in training schemes for the unemployed especially for young people.

In a sense the creation of the MSC was to strengthen the existing governmental structures in managing the training of young people and non-advanced work based education and training. The DES had up to this point been slow and manifested a great deal of inertia in responding to the challenges that needed to be addressed by these issues especially with increasing youth unemployment. The DES had not been particularly committed to developing the youth service, and adult and further education. One interesting facet of the MSC was it had the freedom and power to operate outside the traditional structures of local and central government and was able to receive specific grants and as such was not dependent on the Rate Support Grant (RSG) regimes.

In 1974 the unemployment level was approximately 2.5% but the rate for people under the age of 20 stood at approximately 5%. By 1977 the unemployment rate had risen to 5.5% with the under 20s representing 30% of this total. The number of registered school leavers in 1974 was 20,000 and by 1977 had risen to approximately 240,000. The MSC was clearly mandated to try and cope with this growing crisis.

The MSC included two executive bodies namely the Training Services Agency (TSA) and the Employment Services Agency (ESA). The Act introduced limits on the ITBs to raise levies, imposed exemptions from levies for companies whose training programmes met specific criteria and transferred operating costs from industry to the public purse. The MSC was a tripartite quango funded by the Department of Employment. The MSC had a major impact on technical education having as it did a central overall responsibility for the co-ordination of public employment and training services including a significant funding role for the ITBs. The early 1970s witnessed the first oil crisis and during the following prolonged recession the government reined back public expenditure. The MSC’s budget increased from £ 125 million in 1974/77, stood at £641 million in 1978/79 and became over £1 billion by1981/82. The MSC concentrated on temporary employment schemes, largely ineffective work experience programmes and short duration training schemes all of which were poorly evaluated and overall did not improve skills levels. This was a classic example of political expediency and the operation of short termism – the quick fix mentality ruled ok! The MSC schemes spawned a plethora of acronyms – the alphabet soup as it was later referred to. The first programme was the Training Opportunities Scheme (TOPS) followed later by the Youth Opportunities Programme (YOP) – notice the title scheme – behind every scheme there are schemers? Figure 6 shows some of the schemes and their associated acronyms.

Figure 6. Acronyms/Alphabet Soup describing Various MSC Programmes/Schemes.

In 1976 the MSC and the DES joined forces to create the Unified Vocational Preparation (UVP) scheme targeted at school leavers entering work, for which training had not previously been provided. This programme focused on the fact that of the 750,000 young people leaving school each year 50% of them were aged 16 i.e. the minimum school leaving age. Of these 600,000 entered the labour market and approximately 50% of these received little or no further training. A high proportion of these were females who still were less likely to enter occupations offering any long-term training or were unlikely to gain day release or opportunities for further part-time study, again reflecting the sorry state of education and training for females. The continuing low participation rate in further education and training still plagued the post-16 education system. The paucity of relevant provision for about 40% of school leavers was derisory when compared with the resources committed to the remaining 60%. This worthy initiative attempted to tackle this problem but sadly had little impact and did not even progress beyond its pilot stage although it did provide a basis for later developments.

However history judges the achievements of the MSC it did have a major impact on education and training during the time of its existence especially on colleges and the way they managed work-related training and non-advanced education (later to be referred to as NAFE). The unemployment situation continued to get worse and the MSC was under great pressure to be seen to deal with this issue and the training of young people and there wren increasing criticisms of their schemes. As a result in 1977 the Commission established a working party chaired by Geoffrey Holland to carry out a comprehensive review. The working party was mandated to examine the problem of ‘young people and work’. The report became known as the Holland Report and it proposed a new training programme – the Youth Opportunities Programme (YOPs). This was started in 1978 with an annual budget of £170 million. It was designed to provide opportunities for disadvantaged young people and comprised six months work experience. Over the 5 years of existence the programme attracted a lot of criticism and sadly recruited low numbers. Eventually in 1983 it was replaced by the Youth Training Scheme (YTS) which was initially 12 month programme of basic vocational training with a 13 weeks off-job training or further education. The Scheme recruited 300,000 trainees in the first year and initially the training was seen as better than its predecessor and in 1986 it was extended to 2 years but weaknesses still existed. One of the major defects was that many of the trainees were trained in occupations that were not experiencing skill shortages. I will describe the progress of MSC programmes/schemes in chapters 14 and 15.

These initiatives had placed the state centre stage for the Thatcher government to bring in some major reforms in education and training. The first half of her administration (1979-81) witnessed a multitude of changes including the dismantling of the ITBs and by the late 1980s their number had declined to eight although a number survived including the Boards representing Engineering (EITB) and Construction (CITB) and these continued to operate the levy/grant scheme.

Other Agencies.

In 1978 the Department for Education and Science (DES) established the Further Education Curriculum and Development Unit –later to be referred to as the Further Education Unit (FEU) which as the title suggest produced a series of excellent research/discussion/guidance publications to support colleges to improve their curricula with a greater emphasis on vocationalism. The FEU had a number of aims – review the FE curricula by identifying duplication, overlap and gaps in provision, set priorities to improve provision, carry out research with other bodies to develop the FE curricula and to disseminate information on curriculum development. The FEU initially focused on the need to improve the transition from school to work for the majority of school leavers who still did not receive any further training via college attendance. Therefore much of the Unit’s efforts centred on ‘vocational preparation’ emphasising the need for student-centred approaches for this new student population. One FEU publication was particularly regarded namely ‘A Basis for Choice’ (ABC). The FEU contributed a great deal to the FE sector in the early days and became a well respected organisation.

The Further Education Staff College (FESC) had been opened in 1963 to improve the efficiency of colleges and to provide facilities for training and research in FE. Its main focus was on senior staff in colleges and provided a forum for FE staff to meet and network with employers and other key partners in FE. The Staff College published some very useful publications and research papers e.g. the Mendip Papers on such issues as the efficient use of college resources and many other topics relevant to college management. It also developed links with overseas technical and commercial institutions. However its funding was always insecure from the LEAs but it did establish a useful focus for colleges and provide resources and information to the college sector.

Students

As a result of these reforms the pattern of destinations for school leavers changed dramatically. This was a period of high youth employment and when the majority of companies offered no formal training. However from the late 70s as a result of the significant decline in the youth labour market and the emergence of MSC programmes/schemes shown in figure 1, the post-school destinations changed. Table 7 illustrates the percentage for the 16, 17 and 18 year-olds in 1973 and 1980.

Table 7. Destination Data as a Percentage in 1973/74 and 1980/81.

Source: DFE Statistical Bulletins 1995

The figures indicate some interesting trends e.g. the growth in FE for 16 year-olds, the decline of employment at 16 and the continuing and depressingly low participation rates in education. There were continuing concerns during this period that the majority of young people enrolled on academic subject full-time courses in schools and colleges with a marked reluctance to undertake practical and technical studies. I will continue to describe these trends in later chapters.

Teachers in Further Education.

In 1934 there were 3,854 full-time teaching staff divided between those teaching such subjects as mathematics, modern languages and science and those with industrial training and experience who taught the technical subjects. These were ably supported by about 10,000 part-time teachers mostly drawn from industry and commerce. Technical education from the earliest times benefited greatly from part-time instructors/teachers bringing with them relevant and up to date awareness and knowledge of industrial techniques. One recurring criticism of colleges from successive inspection reports is that many full-time staff have little or no real experience or up to date experience of relevant industries. The majority of these staff entered technical education straight from their own full-time education or those who had left industry many years before. By 1977 the numbers of full-time staff in Polytechnics, FE Colleges and Adult Institutes had risen to approximately 77,000 (15,400 being employed in the Polytechnics) and these were supported by 130,000 part-timers. All of these staff were employed and paid by the LEAs.

Statistical comparisons are difficult during this time because of the increasing numbers and changing pattern of institutions e.g. Polytechnics/Colleges of Education/Colleges of Higher Education but the figures at least indicate the massive growth in staff numbers over this period.

Prospective FE teachers could receive training in five specialist colleges, four in England at Bolton, Garnett (now part of the University of Greenwich), Huddersfield and Wolverhampton. Wales and Scotland also had their own colleges of Education (Technical). Others entered the FE sector directly after taking degrees some with Post Graduate Certificates although it must be remembered that teachers were still not required to have Qualified Teaching Status (QS) as in the schools. Others entered colleges after working in industry bringing initially a valuable insight into industrial practices. Some full-time and part-time teachers studied the CGLI Further Education Teachers Certificates e.g. 730 which conferred qualified teacher status. This was sometimes taught in the colleges. During this time a number of key reports were published which considered FE teacher training including Russell (1966) and the three reports by Haycocks (1977). Although not all the recommendations of these reports and the subsequent circulars were implemented it was a start in improving the quality of teaching in FE which numerous inspection reports had said was adequate but often uninspiring.

The pattern of FE and HE is shown below in Figure 8. Important to note that Polytechnics were only given autonomy from LEAs in 1988 and ultimately became universities.

Table 8 shows the pattern of HE and FE institutions in 1970 and 1980.

Figure 8. The HE and FE Institutional Landscape in 1970 and 1980.

Key – shaded sections denote the FE- LEA funded sector

Source: Cantor. L. M. and Roberts. I. F. ‘FE A Critical Review’ RKP. 1979.

Other Important Reports and Relevant see chapter 12 for more detail on the Industrial training Act) Developments in the 1970s.

• 1970 Report of an ‘Inquiry into the Pattern and Organisation of the College Year’ published. Chaired by Joseph Hunt.
  
• In 1970 ‘Structure of Art and Design Education’ published. Chaired by William Coldstream.
  
• In 1971 Dainton Report published.
  
• In 1972 the school leaving age raised to 16.
  
• In 1972 Report on ‘Training Teachers.’ (James) published – recommended professional training for FE staff and the introduction of a new qualification Diploma in Higher Education (Dip HE).
  
• In 1972 Report on ‘Teacher Education and Training.’ (James) published – recommended professional training for FE staff and the introduction of a new qualification Diploma in Higher Education (Dip HE).
  
• In 1972 a White Paper ‘Education: Framework for Expansion.’ published – responded to the James Report.
  
• In 1972 Advisory Board for the Research Councils established to advise DES.
  
• In 1973 Employment and Training Act – MSC created.
  
• In 1974 Report on ‘Flow into Employment of Scientists, Engineers and Technologists.’ (Swann) published.
  
• In 1974 Vocational Courses in Art and Design published. Chaired by A. S. Gann.
  
• In 1975 ‘Training Teachers in FE’ Haycocks Report published.
  
• In 1976 Callaghan’s Ruskin Speech – initiated the so-called ‘Great Debate’ but only focussed on schools and universities with no consideration of FE.
  
• In 1976 Advisory Council for Applied Research and Development established.
  
• In 1978 YOP introduced.
  
• In 1978 ‘A Basis for Choice’ (FEU) published – recommended provision of non-specific vocational courses in schools.
  
• In 1978 Report on the Working Group on the Management of HE in the Maintained Sector published.

Chapter 14 will continue to describe developments in the 1980s including the rise of the MSC, the development of the CPVE and the creation of NVQs.

References:

A comprehensive book list is provided in a separate section of this website whilst other primary references are given at the end of each chapter.

In addition a comprehensive chronology and glossary are provided in separate sections of this website.