Levelling up with Ascentis

As the United Kingdom looks to continue its recovery from the impact of COVID-19, education is once again at the forefront of Government policy. This year, the Government published their ‘Levelling Up White Paper’. The aim of this policy paper is to ‘end the geographical inequality which is such a striking feature of the UK through improving economic dynamism and innovation to drive growth across the whole country, unleashing the power of the private sector to unlock jobs and opportunity for all’.

Whilst education does not have to come directly from school, college or university, there is no overlooking the importance these avenues have on communities. The UK school system is necessary in order to enhance social welfare and economic growth; improve social mobility; increase employment opportunities; progress personal growth; for innovation to flourish.

Building the foundations

Just as the Government’s ‘Review of post-16 qualifications at Level 2 and below in England’ will testify, English & Maths qualifications provide another route for learners who cannot access GCSEs or Functional Skills. It is no coincidence that of the 22,000 learners enrolled on this qualification in 2019/20, 72% of these learners are over 19 years old and 34% of those have SEND needs. These qualifications give another chance for those looking to grow their future prospects and level-up.

At Ascentis we have a wide range of English & Maths qualifications that can be used across Colleges, Adult Education Centres, Training Providers and Specialist Schools. To suit the needs of any learner looking to improve their job and career opportunities.

The latest published census data for England and Wales in 2011, indicated that approximately 2% of the population (863,000) could not speak English well or at all, this percentage increased to between 8/9% of the local population in London (ONS, 2015). Over the subsequent years, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) qualifications have become the foundation for those learners looking to improve this skillset. During the two previous academic years impacted by COVID-19, ESOL continues to have over 145,000 learners each year (2019-20, 2020-21)

Ascentis have been at the forefront of this ESOL movement. Continuously providing new material, assessments and tools for teachers and learners to ensure that ESOL stays relevant to the changing times. As a result of disruption from COVID-19, Ascentis launched new ESOL reading online assessments available at Entry 2, Entry 3 and Level 1.

Looking to the future

The Governments Levelling Up White Paper states ‘levelling up is realising the potential of every place and every person across the UK, building on their unique strengths, spreading opportunities for individuals and businesses’.

For decades now, Access to Higher Education has been an integral cog of the national education framework. Providing learners with a route in Higher Education; ensuring that no matter the learners age there is always a route back in education to ‘level-up’:

• Access to HE Diploma (Allied Healthcare Professions)
• Access to HE Diploma (Business)
• Access to HE Diploma (Health and Social Care)
• Access to HE Diploma (Primary Teaching)

These are just four of the abundant Access to Higher Education Diplomas that learners can be enrolled on. Enabling these learners to progress onto university and then fill various job roles that are integral to life here in the United Kingdom.