Previous Events Organised by CVER

CVER Conference at LSE, 11-12 September 2017

The Centre for Vocational Education Research (CVER) at the London School of Economics (LSE) will hold its second annual conference on Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 September 2017.

The conference will take place at the London School of Economics
Venue Information: Room 1.04, 1st Floor, 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PH

DOWNLOAD PROGRAMME | DOWNLOAD ABSTRACTS

For more information on CVER, see http://cver.lse.ac.uk/

External/Non-LSE visitors are required to register for this event by emailing cver@lse.ac.uk

CVER Conference at LSE, 5-6 September 2016

The Centre for Vocational Education Research (CVER) at the London School of Economics (LSE) held a conference on the economics of vocational education and training on 5-6 September 2016. Keynote speakers include Professor Eric Maurin (Paris School of Economics), Professor Sarah Turner (University of Virginia), and Professor Stefan Wolter (University of Berne).

The conference took place at London School of Economics
Venue Information: Room 1.04, 1st Floor, 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PH

Download Conference Programme (PDF)

Map and directions to LSE
Local hotel information

For more information on CVER, see http://cver.lse.ac.uk/

Report Launch - Building Skills of All

Review of England

In January 2016 OECD launched a report on adult skills in England, Building Skills of All, Review of England. The event was organised jointly by the Centre for Vocational Education Research (CVER) and OECD.

In England there are around nine million people with low literacy or numeracy skills or both. These nine million people might, for example, struggle to estimate how much petrol is left in the petrol tank from a sight of the gauge, or not be able to fully understand instructions on a bottle of aspirin. While basic skills of older people in England compare reasonably well with skills of their counterparts in other countries, younger people are lagging badly behind. This report was commissioned to offer an independent assessment of what could be behind these issues and to recommend some potential policy solutions.

The event gave attendees the opportunity to hear about how England compares to other countries in terms of basic skills, main challenges in the area of basic skills faced by England and policy solutions advanced by the OECD to address these challenges. The scope of the report includes 16-19 schooling, higher education and adult skills sectors.

The presentations of the main findings from the OECD were followed by the opportunity to discuss the findings and policy implications in more detail.

Related Blog Post: Why do we bother with qualifications?

Download the OECD Report (PDF)

Ministerial Seminar - Professional and Technical Education Routes

9 July 2015, London School of Economics

The Minister of State for Skills, Nick Boles MP, hosted a Ministerial Seminar on Professional and Technical Education Routes, jointly organised by the Centre for Vocational Education Research and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on 9 July.

Experts were asked to share their vision of what an education system that can deliver high quality professional and technical skills at intermediate and higher levels should look like. Andreas Schleicher, OECD Head of Education and Skills, introduced the meeting with an overview of the state of the English intermediate skills and education compared to other OECD countries (View his presentation).

A fuller report of the meeting is available online, as well as the participants' submissions. The outcome of these discussions will feed into the work of the Centre for Vocational Education Research.

Launch of the Centre for Vocational Education Research

24 March 2015, London School of Economics

Speakers:

• Nick Boles MP, Minister of State for Skills & Equalities
• Frank Bowley, Deputy Director for Skills Policy & Analysis, BIS
• Professor The Baroness Wolf of Dulwich CBE, King's College London
• John Van Reenen, Director, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE
• Sandra McNally, Director, Centre for Vocational Education Research, LSE, and University of Surrey

The Centre for Vocational Education Research (CVER) is a newly established research institution, funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The Centre brings together four partners, all with significant and acknowledged expertise in vocational education: the Centre for Economic Performance at the LSE (Professor Sandra McNally will be CVER's Director); the University of Sheffield (Dr Steven McIntosh); the Institute for Employment Studies (Dr Stefan Speckesser); and London Economics (Dr Gavan Conlon).

More about the launch and the centre.