The organisation of 14–19 education and training in England: beyond weakly collaborative arrangements

As a result of reforms over the past two decades, institutional arrangements for upper secondary education in England are both marketised and competitive compared with other European systems. Since 1997, the Labour Government has broadly sustained this position. However, recent policy documents recognise that 14–19 education and training will require greater institutional collaboration to support learner choice and progression. We suggest that changing policy and practice has resulted in ‘weakly collaborative’ organisational arrangements, reinforced by policy steering mechanisms which privilege institutional autonomy over partnership. The article raises questions about the stability and sustainability of this approach in the light of financial, demographic, system performance and practical organisational pressures. We conclude by suggesting that the organisation of 14–19 education and training in England requires a step change towards what we term ‘strongly collaborative 14–19 local learning systems’. 1 We see these building on areas of good practice reinforced by wider political reform.