The Missing Middle in Education

The white paper, Delivering the Missing Middle, a collaborative publication from City of Bristol College, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Code Institute and Gateway Qualifications, examines the implications of the UK Government’s Skills for Jobs white paper, launched in January 2021, and reveals how City of Bristol College will prepare people for a career in software development — and do so in less than a year.

The “missing middle” in the title of the white paper refers to the tendency in further education for learners to move from level 3 straight to degree-level education or move into the workforce which means that skills-focused technical education at levels 4 and 5 has been underrepresented. This is a problem for two apparently contradictory reasons. According to the white paper it is wasteful because it over-educates a huge part of the workforce and because many graduates are under-qualified, lacking the skills employers need.

Lee Lindsay, Education Consultant at Code Institute, said: “Recent shifts in policy at government level have brought qualifications at levels 4 and 5 into the spotlight. Like us, the government feels that skills at these levels can play a significant role in the bounce-back from Covid”.

Employers are crying out for people with digital skills, and software development skills in particular. To address the problem of the missing middle, level 4 and 5 technical qualifications should really be pushed, the white paper argues.

Further Education colleges are best placed to deliver these skills. However, they often lack the resources to develop and maintain the content. So, partnering with a qualified third-party provider offers colleges ready-made solution to give learners the skills they need to kickstart a tech career.

City of Bristol College is now offering a level 5 qualification that will prepare people for a career in software development — and do so in less than a year. They are partnering with Code Institute and Gateway Qualifications to make this possible.

Andy Forbes, Principal and Chief Executive of City of Bristol College, said: “For me, it’s quite a ludicrous situation, given the importance of coding and digital to the modern economy, that we don’t have an education system that produces people with the right skills”.

The white paper argues that this course, the Level 5 Gateway Qualifications Diploma in Web Application Development, with all learning content provided by Code Institute, is an important piece of the “missing middle” and a perfect fit for the type of higher technical qualification the government envisages in its Skills for Jobs white paper.

Code Institute, who developed the qualification with Gateway Qualifications offer Further Education Colleges a unique springboard of supports to enable them to deliver the qualification immediately and to ensure that 90% of graduates are in employment within six months of qualifying.

The support package solves the key challenges of over-stretched resources that many in the Further Education sector are familiar with. Leveraging the LMS, learner analytics, round-the-clock tutor support and an intensive career services pilar all provided by Code Institute enables FE colleges to deliver quickly through a blended format, increase cohort size and show excellent learner outcomes.

Embedded assessment and a diagnostic tool to assess applicants suitability are immensely satisfying capabilities that remove some sizeable obstacles and increase a college’s speed of delivery.

From the learner perspective they receive world-class tuition and a virtual guarantee of opening the door to a career in the lucrative tech sector in just one year. The fact that the course qualifies for Adult Learner Loan and can be completed in a single academic year it makes it a compelling option for those looking to reskill and change career.

Digitisation continues to accelerate, technical skills are imperative in many roles, workforce requirements are transforming radically — it’s time to meet the challenge with a real solution. It’s time to find the Missing Middle.