A report by the IPPR says that UTCs and alternative provision studio schools are struggling to succeed because of difficulties recruiting pupils at age 14 and poor academic results.
The number of 14 to 19 education institutions has been growing since 2010, mainly because of the expansion of the UTC and studio school models. This includes 48 UTCs that opened by 2016 and 35 studio schools.
However, the IPPR research finds that seven UTCs and 14 studio schools have closed or announced that they are to close since the first were opened in 2011 and 2010, respectively. It also predicts that more will close in the coming years because of a shortage of pupils.
Furthermore, the report points to poor academic results, with one in three students in UTCs and one in four in studio schools getting five A* to C grades at GCSE including English and maths, compared to a national average of more than one in two.
Two-thirds of UTCs and studio schools also fall within the bottom 10 per cent of schools nationally for the new Progress 8 measure of pupil performance.
Ultimately, the IPPR says that UTCs and studio schools “experience structural barriers to recruiting pupils at age 14 which are extremely difficult to overcome, and which makes them vulnerable to fall into a cycle of decline”.
As such, the report recommends that the next government abandons transition at 14 and repurposes the UTCs programme to deliver “high-quality, specialist technical provision to students aged 16 to 19”.
It states: “UTCs should become high-quality providers of technical education for students aged 16 to 19. All new UTCs should open according to this revised remit. Existing UTCs should also largely convert to become 16 to 19 providers, with the exception of those with a record of high performance.”
It adds: “UTCs should be used, in part, to deliver new T level qualifications, and provide a high-quality pathway into university, work or an Institute of Technology.”
Craig Thorley, a senior research fellow at IPPR, said: “Since 2010, government has championed UTCs and studio schools as institutions able to deliver technical education to young people from age 14. However, these schools are not, on the whole, working for pupils, and face too many barriers to being successful. Recruitment difficulties and poor results have led to a growing number of closures, with more likely to follow.
“The next Parliament will see a greater commitment to technical and vocational education, in order to form part of a modern industrial strategy post-Brexit. In order to save the UTCs programme, these schools should be converted to post-16 providers able to deliver high-quality technical education in line with the needs of young people and the economy.”
You can read the report, entitled Tech Transitions, at www.ippr.org/publications/tech-transitions