Next week, it will be back to school for students across the country and with record numbers not gaining a place at university, pressure is mounting to improve at GCSE and A-level.
But where does this leave those who are less academic? The Learning and Skills Network (LSN) recently reported on how schools and local authorities can provide better opportunities for the thousands of 18-24-year olds not in education, employment or training.
LSN supports training and staff development programmes, but also supplies services directly to schools, colleges, training organisations and the private sector.
John Stone
John Stone has been chief executive of LSN since 2006. Before that, he was principal of a further education (FE) college, where, he explains he had taken the institution through a major merger, which gave him a taste for the more entrepreneurial and commercial aspects of educational life.
"I was looking for a new challenge, so when LSN phoned me, I let them put my hat in the ring, because this post is more overtly commercial, even though LSN is a charity, and that commercial side is something I'd greatly enjoyed."
Stone says there is still little comprehension that charities have to be commercial. "They have to earn money in an efficient manner and provide services that people want and are prepared to pay for," he points out. The difference between a charity and a fully-commercial organisation lies not so much in the execution of daily business, he believes, as in the ultimate aim. "Everything we do is focused on our core objective, which is to support education and training."
Commercial skills
Stone brings not just a knowledge of education but also a level of comfort with commercial skills that is still unusual in the sector. "I enjoy running a business," he says. "The central challenge of the job is understanding what the people who are to benefit really want – and that includes anyone involved in the design and delivery of education and training."
LSN employs 300 full time staff and one of its recent innovative moves has been becoming a partner in running an FE college in Reading. This is a unique development, says Stone, but may not remain so for long. "We increasingly see ourselves as developing a new form of consultancy support," he explains. "Consultants are often criticised for diving in and then disappearing. But we are interested in long term relationship and sharing the risk. When we talk about processes and models, we want to talk about things we've done ourselves, where we have learned the pros and cons. This is really about being a consultancy that also does things."
Prior to this appointment Stone was principal of Ealing, Hammersmith and West London. He was also vice-chairman of JISC, chair of the Association of Colleges London Region, a board observer at the London Development Agency and a board member of West London Business, Regenesis and the Southall Regeneration Partnership.
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