Analysis: Policy - 14-19 Reform - Education for all suffers a setback

The Government's 14-19 Education and Skills white paper has encountered widespread condemnation across the youth and learning sectors, which regard it as a missed opportunity to increase young people's participation in learning.

Firstly, there is concern that the Government's limited adoption of reforms proposed by Mike Tomlinson, the former chief inspector of schools, will only reinforce inequality between academic and vocational options. And many in the youth sector may feel that the document does little to address the division between formal and informal learning.

Only one paragraph in the 93-page document discusses non-classroom-based activities. It reads: "We will make greater use of extracurricular activities, through extended schools and in other ways. And we will ensure that we support schools and others to integrate the wider activities undertaken by young people back into the curriculum, so that young people's education receives the full benefit of the motivational effects."