Speaking at the Annual Action on Access Conference, Education and Skills Secretary Alan Johnson revealed the names of the 'Champions' who will promote the Diplomas and wider reforms with their sectors.

The new Champions are:
> Sir Alan Jones, Chairman of Toyota - Diploma Champion for Employers.
Sir Alan will work with employers who believe in the value and benefits that Diplomas will bring to both employers and the individual and help communicate the positive experiences and value for early users to a wide variety of employers.

> Sir Mike Tomlinson former Chief Inspector of Schools and currently chair of the Learning Trust in Hackney - Diploma Champion for Schools and Colleges.

Sir Mike is ideally placed to take forward this role given his work over many years to support schools and colleges in raising standards and his recent experience of the 14-19 agenda. He will be involved in raising general understanding of the nature and scale of the reform programme with schools and colleges, focusing particularly on the new Diplomas. He will help schools and colleges to deliver the new Diplomas in an exciting and innovative way, involving employers and Higher Education along the way.

> Professor Michael Arthur, Vice Chancellor, University of Leeds and Professor Deian Hopkin, Vice Chancellor, London South Bank University - Diploma Champions for Higher Education.

Professor Arthur and Professor Hopkin will jointly raise awareness and improve understanding of the reforms at both strategic and operational levels by senior managers, admissions tutors and academics across the higher education sector.

The Diploma Champions will help to raise awareness, support the implementation and increase take up of these new qualifications. The first five Diplomas, including engineering, will be ready for teaching in September 2008. By 2013, all young people will have access to all 14 Diplomas meeting a wide range of aspirations: providing exciting challenge, different learning in fresh settings. They will also ensure a vital grounding in essential Maths and English, which is also being addressed through current curriculum changes at GCSE.

Alan Johnson said:
"The 14 -19 Diplomas will appeal to young people and encourage more to continue in education to get they skills they need. They represent one of the most thrilling educational developments anywhere in the world and we're investing money and time in ensuring that we get them right. The Diplomas have the potential to pull down the wall between vocational and academic qualifications; replacing it with a bridge between theoretical and practical learning which has been so successful elsewhere in Europe and which works for young people, higher education institutions and business.

"But no single college or school will be capable of delivering them alone. They must work in partnership with businesses, schools, and colleges. I am delighted and confident that our four Diploma Champions will take this challenging agenda forward and work with their peers to guarantee the success of this ground breaking qualification."

Sir Alan said:
"The 14-19 Diplomas provide the opportunity for Employers to have a clear partnership route to ensure a stimulating curriculum that truly matches their needs. Equally students have the opportunity to study a range of subjects which they can have the confidence in knowing they will be equipped to match the requirements of employers." Sir Mike Tomlinson said:

"Successful delivery of the specialised Diplomas is vital not only for their capacity to meet the future skills needs of the country but also because they will offer all students applied learning routes with clear progression to higher education and employment. I look forward in helping to make the Diplomas a resounding success."

Professor Arthur said:
"We need to give our youngsters every possible chance of fulfilling their potential and I am delighted to welcome this imaginative development. The Diploma will sit alongside A levels and the baccalaureate, providing us with an entire suite of entry qualifications for higher education."
Professor Hopkin said:

"The 14-19 reforms are a major step toward helping young people to develop the skills which will help them as individuals but also helping the country as a whole to face increasing global competition in the years to come. In order to succeed, however, the new curriculum crucially needs the partnership of universities and I am delighted to have been asked to take on this role. The scale of the reforms is huge and will, I believe, have a great impact on higher education generally."

Action on Access, based at Edge Hill University, is the national co-ordination team for widening participation in higher education, funded by HEFCE and Northern Ireland's Department for Employment and Learning. The team work with institutions and partnerships, including Aimhigher, providing advice, information and support to their widening participation activities, strategies and plans. Action for Access hold an annual conference. The title of this year's event is, 'Embedding Widening Participation: Embracing Diversity'.

Sir Alan is Senior Executive advisor to Toyota Motor Europe and Chairman Emeritus of Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Limited. In April 2006 he took responsibility for the Chairmanship of SEMTA (Science, Engineering, Manufacturing, Technologies Alliance) Alan is focused on encouraging UK industry and its total supply base to improve their worldwide competitiveness from a platform of shop floor excellence technical development, based on progressive education and training with a strong science engineering focus.

Sir Mike Tomlinson is a secondary education specialist for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). After holding a number of teaching posts he was appointed an HMI in 1978. He joined OFSTED in 1992 and was Director of Inspection (1995-2000) and HM Chief Inspector (2000-2002). He led the Inquiry into A-level standards in 2002 and is currently Chair of the QCA 14-19 Committee and of the Learning Trust in Hackney. He was the chair of the 14-19 Working Group on 14-19 Reform, which reported in 2004.

Deian Hopkin has been Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of London South Bank University since 2001. He is Chairman of UniversitiesUK Skills Task Force and member of Skills for Health Sector Skills Council, where he chairs the new Diploma in Society, Health and Development. He is joint chair of the DfES Project Board for HE Engagement, Vice Chairman of London Higher and co-chair of the Higher-Further Education Partnership. He is also a member of CMU, representing post-1992 universities and is Chairman of UNIAID, the Student Charity.

Michael Arthur was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds in September 2004 after a distinguished career in medical research, scholarship and education. He is a director of Leeds Chamber of Commerce, of the White Rose University Consortium, of Yorkshire Universities (deputy chair) and the Worldwide Universities Network. He also chairs the Higher Education Funding Council for England's Steering Group for the National Student Survey and is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities scientific advisory board and Universities UK's research policy committee.

Related links to this article:
Department of Education & Skills [1]

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Finalists in the e-Government National Awards 2006
The Local Authority National Survey is now underway, asking all UK councillors and senior staff at the 467 UK Local Authorities their views and plans for 2007-8. The results identify Local Authority plans for investment in shared services to deliver the vision in the Local Government White Paper. Tickets are still available for the 17th Jan e-Government National Conference [2] where the results will be announced.

89 finalists in 11 categories in the e-Government National Awards 2006 [3] have been announced. The Awards recognise and praise the best strategies, achievements, teams and individuals in UK e-Government. Judging takes place shortly and finalists will be announced the first week of November. The Awards will be presented at a prestigious dinner at the Savoy in London on 17th January 2007. For details of booking seats at the dinner and conference please see this link [4].

The Awards are supported by the Cabinet Office e-Government Unit [5], the Office of Government Commerce [6], the Society of Information Technology Management (Socitm) [7], and SOLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers) [8]. Platinum sponsor is KPMG [9], and also a sponsor are SunGard [10] and O2 [11].