English and maths GCSE resits in general further education colleges: Can employer-sponsored curricula improve student engagement and motivation?

Writing about curriculum development in 1975, Lawrence Stenhouse (Stenhouse, 1975) noted that the task of educational institutions is to make ‘available to the young a selection of society’s intellectual, emotional and technical capital’. Educators must introduce students to a series of ‘public traditions’, including knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours. Nearly 50 years later, Stenhouse’s words feel particularly apt for anyone approaching curriculum design in further education (FE), where we have a responsibility to prepare students for employment and for adult life.    Within FE colleges, we develop ‘study programmes’, which combine qualifications with additional elements, such as work experience and enrichment activities. One area in which colleges face a particular challenge is in the delivery of GCSE English and maths resits, which have been a requirement since 2013. Teachers are often faced with the challenge of motivating disaffected studen