Education policy is an important part of ICE’s work. From early years, ICE seeks to both represent members’ views and influence policy.
This is the case where important spatial and mathematical abilities are developed, through secondary school where crucial decisions about subject options are taken, to sixth form and college studies and university.
An important vehicle for this nationally is through the Education for Engineering (E4E) group which aims to provide a united engineering voice for education policy to government.
Hosted by the Royal Academy of Engineering, E4E has representation from all the engineering institutions, STEMNET, the Engineering Council, the ETB and the Sector Skills Councils. There are also close links with Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (ACME) and Science Community Representing Education (SCORE).
For Higher Education, ICE is one of the member institutions and provides the secretariat, for the Joint Board of Moderators through which university courses are accredited.
ICE has recently responded to consultations and studies including:
- The Rose Review of the Primary Curriculum
- New specifications for AS and A level Mathematics
- Revisions to Edexcel’s BTEC National and Higher National qualifications
- Unleashing Aspirations – the Milburn Report on Fair Access to the Professions
- London University’s Institute of Education research into applications to higher education from 14-19 diploma students
- Apprenticeship Frameworks
- The Qualifications Credit Framework (QCF)
Representation
At a national level, ICE works with, and is represented on, diverse bodies including:
- ConstructionSkills (the Sector Skills Council for Construction and the Built Environment)
- Construction Industry Council’s Higher Education Strategy committee and its Qualifications Committee
- Examination Boards and NVQ awarding bodies such as Edexcel
- Quality and Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)
- Engineering Council
- Engineering and Technology Board (ETB) Careers Advisory Panel
- University Transport Partnership
- Association of Civil Engineering Departments
- University Professors’ Council
- Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics Network (STEMNET)
- Department for Children, School and Families (DCSF)
- Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS)
- Civil Engineering Employers’ Training Group (CEETG)
Regionally, there are also strong links with many of the above. There are also
- Regional Development Agencies
- Education Business Partnerships
- University Industrial Advisory Committees
- Welsh Assembly
- Northern Ireland Assembly
- Scottish Parliament
Policy and position statements
ICE develops policy and position statements to clarify issues, inform members, provide a basis for ICE communications and briefings and to feed into other sector bodies and government. For general education matters and pre-19 work, these are generated by the Education and Careers Panel and signed off by the Policy Panel. Higher Education accreditation policy and procedures are available from the JBM website.
Downloads
Below you will find ICE policy and position statements which are available to download.
For additional information and downloads on education policy and practice in engineering please see the Engineering for Education (E4E) policy section of the website.