Effective Curriculum Practice at Below Level 2 for 16 to 17 Year Olds

In order to understand current, effective provision and delivery for students not yet ready for Level 2 courses in post-16 institutions the Department for Education commissioned two research projects, with aims to inform policy developments around the forthcoming transition year.

This report provides an analysis of the course planning, content and curriculum that most effectively support the progression of students participating in below Level 2 programmes at the age of 16. The study used a qualitative case study approach which provided rich, contextualised data from the selected institutions. While the focus of the research was curriculum content, institutions were keen to emphasise a number of other factors as important, particularly centring on pastoral support. This emphasis is reflected to some extent in the report, particularly where there is overlap between pastoral and curriculum issues, but many of the topics relating specifically to pastoral care are detailed more fully in Allan et al (2016) which was commissioned by the Department to explore such issues.