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Tertiary education providers need a ¡°unified voice¡± that can coordinate regional partnership work and?help develop local credit transfer frameworks that allow students to seamlessly move between institutions, according to a new report.

The paper, published by the Lifelong Education Institute and Newcastle University, argues that devolution and skills reforms over the past decade or more have suffered from ¡°problems of fragmentation, geographical confusion, a lack of oversight and ¡®ownership¡¯, and wasteful gaps and overlaps that jeopardise the formulation of effective skills development policy¡±.

It uses the example of the north east to show how institutions themselves have often had to rely on informal cooperation where government-led interventions have failed to have the desired impact.

The region has five universities, nine further education colleges and 20 private providers serving 2 million people ¡°yet there is no single entity that can speak to the regional skills agenda, shape interventions or influence funding allocations across a myriad of programmes and initiatives¡±, the report says.

Its central recommendation is therefore to create ¡°regional education partnerships¡±, starting in the north east, that can advise, guide and inform skills development.

These could align with existing governance structures such as local mayoral authorities and work with the Labour government¡¯s new Skills England body to develop a strategy that addresses an area¡¯s skills needs as well as negotiate funding and strengthen the links between course design and the local labour market.

The REP could also create a regional ¡°skills passport¡±, the report suggests, which would function as a mechanism to ¡°badge¡± courses that are portable to other education providers or businesses in the region.

This form of localised credit transfer system could overcome some of the problems encountered with trying to develop a model on a wider scale, it says, which ¡°is a more complex task¡±.

Institutions have traditionally been reluctant to agree to accept students from another provider, even if they have already completed a large number of credits elsewhere.

But for the report¡¯s model to work, ¡°all that is required is for mutual credit recognition between partner institutions to be an explicit part of the agreement that underpins regional pipeline partnerships¡±, it says.

Credit transfer would also facilitate ¡°lifelong learning pathways¡± ahead of the introduction of the coming Lifelong Learning Entitlement in 2026-27.

The report further recommends that the government create a regional skills innovation fund and ¡°fully devolve¡± the 16-19 and adult skills funds to allow local funding decisions to be made.

Employer co-investment should be incentivised by matching public funds to sector-focused hubs, for example in green energy or health, ¡°to guarantee that local businesses have skin in the game for skills supply¡±.

The report¡¯s author, Mark Morrin, said that ¡°place must be at the heart of the UK¡¯s skills and industrial strategy¡±.

¡°To meet the government¡¯s mission for growth, we need regional partnerships that unite schools, colleges, universities and employers in service of their local economy,¡± he added.

¡°Collaboration across educational institutions isn¡¯t just desirable ¨C it¡¯s essential to unlock innovation, deliver lifelong learning, and ensure that people and places across the UK benefit from economic transformation.¡±

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com?