Context of WBL in the UK

The history of WBL for academic credit in the UK goes back to 1980s (Evans, 2001, 61). According to Evans, the reasons behind it were the rapid change in the social and economic situation and hence the educational life of the country during that period, and the perceived inadequate skill and knowledge levels of the workforce in general. The earlier myth that learning at HE level cannot happen in the workplace was challenged with this new initiative which put great effort into expanding HE while urging companies and HE to be more active together through partnerships, collaborations, widening access and opening those challenged boundaries. WBL introduced many mutual benefits for both education institutions and employers with partnerships formed to enhance the learning of employees. The main focus of the learning paradigm was learning from experience by moving away from the traditional curriculum and institutional structures. Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) was one of the innovative and radical introductions to the traditional and conventional HE system. This has two parts: Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) and Accreditation of Prior Certified Learning (APCL) (Evans et al., 2010), also known as APL (Boud and Solomon, 2001). The UK FE system provides education for 14–19 year olds as well as adult learners and includes 385 FE colleges and over 1,000 WBL providers, as well as personal and community learning providers (Turville, 2007). This illustrates how industry and HE institutions have considered the need and importance of WBL in the development of overall economy in the country.

According to the “Business, Innovation and Skills” Committee report of House of

Commons on Apprenticeships (Flyvbjerg, 2011), in 2011, the UK Government had invested £1.2 billion into the apprenticeship programme. The same year it was reported 457,200 people started new training as an apprentice. These figures demonstrate the significance and importance of the apprenticeship scheme to the UK economy. The committee had recognised that the skills development of the UK workforce is a key component of long-term sustainable economic growth. It is therefore vital that the apprenticeship programme is fit for purpose and delivers a workforce which reflects the needs of employers. It further reports that the UK cannot be satisfied with only providing entry level apprenticeships. Together, Government, employers and colleges need to be far more ambitious in expanding and delivering higher and advanced apprenticeships.

The report submitted to the parliament by the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (Denham, 2008) emphasises the support of business innovation. It highlights the need for the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and the Technology Strategy Board to work with partners to take forward the Sainsbury

recommendation to double the number of knowledge Transfer Partnerships and increase their flexibility and applicability to a range of educational institutions including FE colleges.

In the white paper published by the government (Rammell, 2007) a very strong

emphasis has been given for WBL indicated under the “framework which spreads success and eliminates failure” as the Framework for Excellence operational in all colleges and

providers of WBL from June 2008 by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). It also indicated that WBL success rates were now close to 59%, the 2007/08 target. This also highlights that there is a difference between pre-HE and HE WBL where FE colleges and other vocational level institutions fall under the category of pre-HE WBL whilst university level WBL programmes fall under the HE WBL.

The project undertaken on behalf of Professional Associations Research Network (PARN) for Linking Professional Associations with HEIs in relation to the provision of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) (Friedman and Williams, 2008) discusses the ways in which HEIs and professional bodies are working together in relation to CPD, and what they consider to be the advantages and disadvantages of these partnerships. The report offers guidelines to HEIs for best practice in developing promotional materials and web pages, along with a set of recommendations for HEIs, professional bodies, the research partners and the government, intended to improve partnership working in the area of CPD.

Davies and Ryan (2010) in their research to explore the effectiveness of OL materials to support the mentoring of trainee teachers in the UK, who follow a one year P/G Certificate in Education (PGCE) in workplace settings identified a significant gap in the professional training needs of trainees: the knowledge and skills to engage effectively in multi-agency working. They propose that one possible solution to this is to develop online materials for trainee teachers and their work-based mentors. They also recognise that for multi-agency working, the mentoring process is the best opportunity to support and engage trainees. In the event where mentors themselves may lack expertise in this area of work, mentors and trainees would benefit from support materials provided they are easily accessible, flexible, and interactive, regularly modified and updated.

Garnett and Gibbs (2007) believe that WBL has yet to fully establish itself as a field of study although it does show signs of doing so. They further acknowledge that the diversity of the HE work-based curriculum and current student participation is comparatively limited. This highlights the extent of the cultural transformation that would make a reality of employer and university WBL partnerships. Its full emergence according

to Garnett and Gibbs will be concerned as much with academic endeavour and the development of its practices as with the political and power struggles that exist in any field of study.