Have too many people been left behind, post-secondary?

Recent decades have seen significant policy success on increasing the numbers of young people attending and successfully completing higher education. According to Education at a Glance 2020, across OECD countries 45% of 25- to 34-year-olds have participated in tertiary education compared with only 28.4% of 55- to 64-year-olds – although this varies across countries. This is likely to increase to 49% over the next few years.

But what about the other 50% – have we given as much attention to (young) people who do not attend higher education?

These developments are forcing many governments, colleges and universities to relook at their education systems. There is a realisation that too much attention has been focused on high-status resource-intensive research universities. The top 100 universities listed by the Academic Ranking of World Universities (2019) represent only 1.4% of total students worldwide.

Attention is shifting to the colleges and universities – often in smaller cities and towns – which the overwhelming majority of our students attend. One thing is clear, we cannot allow a survival-of-the-fittest approach to dominate policy.

Responding to these seismic changes, the Independent Commission on the College of the Future was established in 2019 to examine the role of VET colleges across the four nations of the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). The UK-wide final report from the Independent Commission on the College of the Future, published in late October, made 11 recommendations.

This is a timely report. Other countries (such as Ireland) are pursuing a similar direction of travel. A key message is centred around creating a more diverse and seamless post-secondary education system, embracing both vocational and higher education, in recognition that people’s life circumstances change.

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