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CVER News:
CVER at the LSRN Workshop

3 June 2015

Sandra McNally introduced the Centre for Vocational Education Research (CVER) at the Learning and Skills Research Network (LSRN) Strategic Workshop held in London on June 3rd 2015. The Network brings together those interested in research on vocational education and training (VET) and is an excellent platform for networking between practitioners, researchers and policy makers. The workshop was an opportunity to learn about the work of the Commission on Adult Vocational Teaching and Learning and the Education Training Foundation (a presentation was given by Richard Atkins, Principal at Exeter College, and Jenny Williams, Director of Vocational Education and Training, ETF).

During the discussion following Sandra's presentation, several priorities for CVER were highlighted by participants. These include the following:
  • The need to get a better understanding of the VET sector in England as a whole, describing the different actors that are involved (the individuals that participate, the institutions that provide training and the employers who engage staff in training) and the different paths taken by learners.
  • The need to look beyond earnings when measuring success of vocational education and training, for instance by evaluating the impact of VET on social mobility and wellbeing more generally.
  • Understanding the role employers might play in informing research and the importance of gaining a better understanding of the benefits of VET to employers and society at large. Such research is necessary in order to be able to get more firms interested in engaging in training and hiring apprentices.
Data quality and completeness were a concern to many participants, and strategies to overcome those limitations were discussed. CVER is pursuing a three year research agenda, which is scrutinised by our Steering Group, and is a dynamic process. Events like the LSRN Strategic Workshop enable us to meet practitioners and VET researchers of other disciplines, which in turn feeds back into the design of our research programme. It can also lead to interesting partnerships to trial and evaluate policy interventions that can only be implemented with the help of other organisations. We are very happy to receive comments and suggestions on our activities and research, which can be sent to cver@lse.ac.uk.