WorldSkills UK national finals 2023

Welcome to this special souvenir supplement bringing you the full results and insights from the 2023 WorldSkills UK national finals in Greater Manchester.

The finals showcase the pinnacle of technical skills among UK students and apprentices, but there’s a lot more to skills competitions than winning medals.

Find out why Greater Manchester was the perfect host city region for this year’s finals, how learning from abroad is raising technical training standards at home, and get the very latest on how WorldSkills UK’s Centre of Excellence programme is transforming teacher CPD.

AoC 16-18 recruitment survey ‘reveals major concerns among college leaders’

Half of colleges have seen a drop in enrolment figures, with the blame partly placed on the loss of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).

A survey by the Association of Colleges (AoC) of 182 colleges shows 49 per cent are reporting falling numbers of 16-19-year-olds, compared to last year.

It also shows a national drop of 0.1 per cent, the first time in 15 to 20 years the figure has fallen, with 46 colleges reporting a dip between five to 15 per cent.

Colleges believe unaffordable transport, combined with the abolition of the EMA and increased competition for student numbers among school and college sixth forms, have been the main causes for a decline.

The survey is further evidence supporting the findings from two surveys – conducted by Lsect – and published in FE Week. The first showed that 105 colleges forecast an initial total shortfall of 20,319 students for this academic year.

Key AoC survey findings:

  • Half of the 182 colleges that responded are seeing a drop in 16-19 students, with 46 colleges reporting a significant dip of between five per cent to 15 per cent
  • Of those reporting a decline, colleges say the end of EMAs for students in the first year of the course, competition from other providers, lack of affordable transport and cuts in funding per student were the main factors
  • A decline in Level 1 courses (pre-GSCE and basic skills) was reported by 41 per cent of respondents
  • 51 per cent of colleges said that their student numbers have increased or remained stable
  • 60 per cent of colleges reported a drop in transport spending by their local authority
  • Over half of all colleges are ‘topping up’ Government bursary funding with their own contributions and the same proportion are spending more on subsidising transport this year than last
  • 79 per cent of colleges agreeing that free meals in colleges for 16-18 year olds (currently not available, unlike in schools) would encourage participation.

Fiona McMillan, president of the AoC and principal of Bridgwater College in Somerset, said that at her own college EMA provided students with about £1,000 per year. Now, there is only £152 per year available for students.

She said: “We are all aware that funding is tight. But these young people are our future and we must consider our investment in them.

“We would all regret a situation where young people miss out and then become the so-called lost generation.”

Ms McMillan said the new 16-19 bursary, which replaced the EMA, is “better than nothing” but in terms of what it provides, “there is a big gap”. To cope, her college – like many others – has subsidised the cost.

She is also concerned colleges will miss out on vital funding, adding: “We are paid by our student numbers. So it’s an important issue for us.”

Martin Doel, chief executive of the AoC, said some of the changes could be due to demographics – with a drop of 40,000 in the 16-18 age group. He added: “It is a complex picture. The decline in college enrolment by students on Level 1 courses may be partially explained by improvements in school teaching.

“What is clear is a significant number of member colleges are concerned that financial constraints are preventing students from pursuing preferred courses at their institution of choice and there is a risk of vulnerable groups becoming disengaged from education.”

Andy Forbes, principal at Hertford Regional College, said they are “about five per cent down” on 16-18 enrolment from last year.

He said: “We’re now projecting a figure of just under 2,600 against our target of 2,719.

“We have experienced a particular decline in Level 2 enrolments and at the furthest reaches of our catchment area, which stretches quite a long way.”

Mr Forbes believes there are two factors to blame, adding: “The withdrawal of EMA and the cost of transport from the two ends of our catchment.

“We were not helped by late arrival of concrete information on what funding we had to compensate for loss of EMA and how we could use that funding, which made it difficult to put financial support in place for students and publicise them effectively.”

He also said colleges need to work harder to get the message across about the “exceptional quality of provision” they offer, in the face of “growing competition from schools” expanding sixth forms by offering vocational courses.

He added: “The decline of independent careers advice isn’t helping young people make good choices at 16 and we in FE are going to have to be a lot more active in ensuring school pupils and parents are made positively aware of the alternatives to staying on at school.”

However, the Department for Education spokesman (DfE) said there are “record numbers of 16 and 17-year-olds” in education or training.

He said: “There has been a massive increase in apprenticeships for anyone over 16 to learn a specific trade – 360,000 places in all available in more than 200 careers.

“And we are strengthening vocational education so young people will have high-quality courses open to them which are valued by employers.”

The spokesman also said: “We are targeting financial support at students who need it most to get through their studies – through the new £180m a year bursary fund, with further transitional support available for those students who were already drawing the EMA.”

Gordon Marsden, Shadow FE and Skills Minister, said the “alarming figures” show the impact of the government’s policy to scrap EMA. He said: “The government has left FE colleges facing a double whammy at a time of real economic uncertainty.

“Not only are college finances jeopardised by falling enrolment numbers, but they face the strain of having to try and address the post EMA funding gap, putting extra administrative burdens on them at a time where they claim to be setting them free.

“The government needs to get a grip urgently with a strategy that will help, rather than hinder, FE colleges in addressing young people’s employment and skills needs.”

AoC said they will repeat the enrolment survey in September 2012.

Click here to download the study and here to download the AoC press release.

Sunak to scrap SME co-investment for young apprentices

The government is set to scrap small and medium-sized employer (SME) co-investment payments for apprentices under the age of 22.

It also plans to increase the amount of funding that can be transferred from apprenticeship levy-payers to other businesses from 25 per cent to 50 per cent.

The reforms will come into force from the start of April, prime minister Rishi Sunak is expected to announced this morning.

In a speech to a conference for small businesses, Sunak will say the move will equate to an additional £60 million of new government funding for apprenticeships – presumably the estimated amount it will cost to fully fund SME apprenticeships up to the age of 21.

Sunak will claim that the changes will lead to an extra 20,000 apprenticeships.

The announcements come in response to dwindling apprenticeship numbers in SMEs – last year saw apprenticeship starts in levy-paying businesses grow by 2 per cent while starts for non-levy payers fell 13 per cent.

Starts among young apprentices have also fallen dramatically since the launch of the levy.

The prime minister will say: “Whether it’s breaking down barriers and red tape for small businesses, helping businesses hire more young people into apprenticeships and skilled jobs or empowering women to start up their own businesses – this government is sticking to the plan and leaving no stone unturned to make the UK the best place to do business. 

“Taken together, these measures will unlock a tidal wave of opportunity and make a real difference to businesses and entrepreneurs across the country.”

‘This will help SMEs hire more apprentices’

Since the apprenticeship levy was introduced in 2017, only large employers with a payroll in excess of £3 million pay into the levy at a rate of 0.5 per cent of salary costs.

The contributions go towards funding all parts of the apprenticeship system, including funding 95 per cent of training of apprentices in non-levy paying businesses.

SMEs then make a co-investment payment of 5 per cent. 

The government said today that it will “fully fund apprenticeships in small businesses from April 1 by paying the full cost of training for anyone up to the age of 21 – reducing costs and burdens for businesses and delivering more opportunities for young people to kick start their careers”.

FE Week reported last month that less than 3 per cent of apprenticeship-levy paying businesses have transferred funds to pay for apprenticeships in smaller employers, sparking calls for the 25 per cent transfer cap to be scrapped.

Announcing the move to a 50 per cent transfer limit today, the government said: “Under the new measures, large employers who pay the apprenticeship levy will be able to transfer up to 50 per cent of their funds to support other businesses, including smaller firms, to take on apprentices. 

“This will help SMEs hire more apprentices by reducing costs and enabling more employers to get the skilled workers they need while unlocking more opportunities for young people in a huge range of sectors, industries, and professions.”

The transfer increase is expected to come into effect from April 6.

Simon Ashworth, director of policy at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said the end of co-investment for young people was “particularly” welcomed as the “cost and bureaucracy burden to training providers usually outweighed the cash this actually brought in”.

AELP has however called for the end to co-investment for all-age apprenticeships and vowed to “continue to lobby the government to ensure training providers are not unfairly penalised when an employer stops paying their contribution which voids access to the final 20 per cent completion payment”.

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said the targeted funding for all apprenticeships under the age of 21 will make a “modest difference” to the “dramatic decline in the number of young people undertaking apprenticeships”, but warned the change is “not enough”.

“We urge the government to properly review the levy rules and incentives to ensure the apprenticeship programme works for young people, key sectors and for employers,” he added.

Apprenticeship budget to go ‘over’ £2.7bn in 24-25

The government previously said that the Department for Education’s ring-fenced budget for apprenticeships in England will rise to £2.7 billion in 2024-25.

Today’s announcement said this budget will increase to “over £2.7 billion from next year”. An exact figure for DfE’s new ring-fenced budget has not yet been published.

FE Week reported last month that of the department’s £2.585 billion ring-fenced apprenticeship budget in 2023-24, £2.525 billion, or 98 per cent, is expected to be spent. It means the DfE will hand back £60 million to Treasury, which could be being used to fund today’s funding announcement increase.

However, the disparity in what is distributed by the Treasury for public spending on apprenticeships compared to how much the levy is generating continues to grow.

Latest Treasury figures show £3.170 billion was received from employers who pay the apprenticeship levy between April 2023 and January 2024, with two months’ worth of receipts to come before the end of the financial year. 

recent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast predicted that total apprenticeship levy intake to HMRC will reach £3.9 billion in 2023-24.

When DfE’s ring-fenced budget spend on apprenticeships in England is combined with the £500 million-odd that is handed to the devolved nations from the levy, it leaves around £875 million that was generated by the levy, but held onto by the Treasury in 2023-24.

Who cares? Funding boost won’t spark renaissance in care apprenticeships

Last year’s £1,000 uplift to adult care apprenticeship funding is not enough to entice training providers back to the market, as the number of new apprentices plummets, an FE Week investigation has found.

Nearly 200 training providers have ceased delivery of the level 2 adult care worker and level 3 lead adult care worker apprenticeships since 2019. Annual starts on the programmes have nosedived. In 2022/23, there were 10,500 fewer new care apprentices than in 2018/19.

FE Week identified 108 training providers, colleges and councils that delivered care apprenticeships in 2020/21 that didn’t in 2022/23. Of those, 23 independent training providers have closed and just six have re-started care apprenticeships this academic year.

In recent years, major care training providers Qube Learning and Quest Vocational Training also closed their doors.

Increasing demand for social care, high vacancies, and staff turnover – as well as low pay and poor terms and conditions – are all putting huge pressure on social care recruitment and retention.

In its annual state of care report, the Care Quality Commission said over half of adult social care providers had staff recruitment challenges which was reducing capacity in the face of rising demand.

With running costs increasing with high levels of inflation, fees for compulsory qualifications and assessments, alongside large drop-out rates, training providers are now reluctant to re-enter the care sector on what have been loss-making funding rates for some.

‘Exceptional’ funding increase

Hope was on the horizon when both care apprenticeships were selected for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s exceptional funding review in 2022. But funding was only increased from £3,000 to £4,000 which many providers felt still fell short of what was needed.

Simon Ashworth, director of policy of the Association of Employment Providers (AELP), said although AELP was “pleased to help drive” the 33 per cent funding increase, it “has only had a limited impact”.

“It [the exceptional funding review] took far too long, the starting rates were set way too low, and the cost base of providers has increased significantly so it still isn’t enough to cover costs for most providers, unless operating at scale,” Ashworth explained.

For GTS-Global Ltd, the hard-fought increase to care apprenticeship funding last year “wouldn’t impact significantly” its decision to re-enter the care training sector because of the high number of drop-outs.

Sean Rafferty, operations director at GTS-Global, told FE Week: “We believe our achievement rates would still be affected since learners prioritise obtaining the mandatory qualification.”

Other reasons for learner withdrawals included job transitions and mental health concerns, Rafferty added.

“Although the funding band increase is I’m sure very welcome to providers who deliver these apprenticeships, it wouldn’t make us reconsider delivering them as they don’t tie into our strategic plans,” said Luke Parsons, finance and strategy manager at GLP Training.

A further funding band increase could be on the cards.

Both the level 2 adult care worker and level 3 lead adult care worker apprenticeship standards are currently in the early stages of being revised with the occupational standards, assessment plans and funding bands under review.

AELP has called for all apprenticeships, including the care standards, to be funded at a minimum funding threshold of £5,000. Ashworth said this would “ensure viability of quality delivery and stop the ongoing loss of training capacity in this sector.”

Of the 108 providers that have dropped care apprenticeships since 2021, 38 were further education colleges.

Provider mix

Private training providers have upped their market share of care apprenticeships, rising from 84 per cent in 2018/19 to 92 per cent in 2022/23.

Meanwhile, the number of care apprenticeships delivered by further education colleges has halved. In 2018/19, 14 per cent of starts were with colleges, now it is just seven per cent.

College leaders told FE Week the focus on the T Level in health and healthcare partly explains their drop in involvement in apprenticeships.

One of the country’s largest college groups, NCG, withdrew its health and social care apprenticeship offer after reviewing “employer demand, retention rates and sustainable funding”.

NCG and Telford College both said they are instead focusing on growing their health T Levels. Telford College said it was reintroducing the level 2 health care support worker this September.

Risky drop-outs

Only four in ten care apprentices actually complete and achieve their apprenticeship, making the provision high risk for training providers and their achievement rates.

The latest available figures show an achievement rate of 40.1 per cent on the level 2 adult care worker standard and 40.9 per cent on the level 3 lead adult care worker standard in 2021/22.

Achievements on these standards fall far short of the national average, which was 51.4 per cent, and way below the government’s 67 per cent target.

Achievement rates for 2022/23 are due to be published on Thursday.

DfE could step in if T Level fee hikes hit college budgets

The skills minister has said Department for Education officials will consider intervening if controversial T Level fee hikes hit college budgets.

College bosses reacted angrily to plans – uncovered by FE Week in January – that would see them pay higher fees to awarding organisations if student numbers on the flagship qualifications were lower than expected.

The so-called “adaptive pricing” mechanism will be written into generation two T Level awarding body contracts, which are currently out to tender and come into force in 2025.

The move is part of attempts from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to make T Levels more “commercially attractive” for prospective awarding organisations.

Major T Level awarding body NCFE wrote off over £2.5 million in its 2022/23 accounts due to lower-than-expected enrolments on its T Level courses.

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, accused the government of “undermining confidence in T Levels” following reports of the new adaptive pricing model in a letter to skills minister Robert Halfon.

Hughes wrote: “I am alarmed at the proposal we have seen in the tender documents and the potential impact on the T Level programme and on individual colleges.”

Adaptive pricing “transfers the risk away from government and awarding organisations onto the individual college pioneering the qualification”, Hughes added.

Students will be taking generation two T Levels in early years, construction and digital from September 2025, while the health and science T Levels won’t be ready for teaching until September 2026.

In his response to Hughes, seen by FE Week, Halfon said adaptive pricing was “part of continuing efforts to explore innovative mechanisms to ensure … a thriving marketplace for T Levels, which will result in greater competition and therefore ensure value for money for providers and for government”.

Halfon said Department for Education officials were “mindful” of the risk adaptive pricing poses to college budgets and would consider “whether any further action is needed to mitigate its impact” should it be triggered.

His reply stated that any intervention from the government would depend on the DfE’s T Level budget following the next spending review, which isn’t due until after the general election.

Halfon said: “I recognise that you and your members are concerned that if numbers do not materialise this could add funding pressure to college budgets – department officials are also mindful of this risk.

“Should we become concerned that adaptive pricing will be triggered, we will consider whether any further action is needed to mitigate its impact in the context of the overall funding settlement for T Levels.”

DfE puts 40 staff on Advanced British Standard ‘vanity project’

The Department for Education has 40 civil servants working to develop prime minister Rishi Sunak’s Advanced British Standard “vanity project” even though it is unlikely to see the light of day.

Pepe Di’Iasio, incoming general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said it was “beyond frustrating that – at a time when recruitment, retention, funding, SEND and many other issues are under enormous pressure – there is a platoon of civil servants” having to work on the qualification.

Developing a “British baccalaureate” was a key pledge in Sunak’s leadership bid in 2022. The prime minister announced last year that his government would replace A-levels and T Levels with the qualification, which will see pupils study English and maths to 18 alongside “majors” and “minors” in other subjects.

However, the reforms are expected to take at least a decade to implement and, with the Conservatives mired in the polls and Labour focused on early maths education rather than post-16, the policy is unlikely to come to fruition.

Despite this, the government last year published an 80-page consultation on its plans and set aside £600 million for implementation.

In response to a freedom of information request, the DfE told FE Week that 40 civil servants were “currently working mainly on the development of the ABS”.

The government said it did not hold data on the amount spent on its development but, if 40 civil servants on the average salary for the department worked full-time on the policy for a year, the cost would be £2.6 million.

However, those working on policy development are likely to be more senior, and the figure of 40 staff provided by the DfE does not include staff from other teams who have contributed, so the true cost is likely to be higher.

A DfE spokesperson said the department did not “recognise these figures and these calculations are purely speculative”, adding that they were “taking the long-term decisions to continue to improve our education system for generations to come”.

Di’Iasio said: “It’s a qualification that will not be offered for another 10 years, if it happens at all, and seems more like the prime minister’s vanity project than a workable policy. 

“To say this is the wrong priority is an understatement, and smacks of rearranging the deckchairs while the Titanic heads for an iceberg.”

The DfE said that, alongside the “core directorate”, there are a “number of teams across the wider department who are contributing to the development of ABS alongside other priorities”. 

These include members from legal, commercial and finance units, “as well as wider schools- and skills-focused policy teams”.

The department also insisted that staff “have not been re-assigned from other projects to undertake this work, as the department operates a flexible approach to staffing in order to ensure that it can meet priorities. 

“This means that staff responsibilities can shift depending on needs. As part of this we also operate flexible resource teams, particularly to manage surge policy and analytical projects. As such, a list of projects from which staff have been re-assigned is not held.”

Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, told journalists at the ASCL conference on Saturday that “reform in the 16 to 19 space is not my priority”. Labour will instead focus on early maths skills.

“Further reform around the Advanced British Standard has just thrown into further chaos the rollout of T Levels, which is already under pressure, and it’s causing even more confusion for college leaders at a time where they’re facing lots of lots of challenges.”

West of England’s LEP funding withheld amid political infighting

Infighting between councils and the mayor of the West of England has led to an uncertain future for a body that gives local businesses a say on the region’s skills strategies.

The government has told the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) that it will withhold £240,000 in funding for the region’s local enterprise partnership (LEP) in 2024-25 because the authority has failed to formulate a plan to absorb its functions.

According to a report before a WECA committee this week, the constituent authorities have “differences of opinion” with regional mayor Dan Norris on what the future LEP should look like.

It adds: “As a result, no integration plan has yet been submitted and it is anticipated that government will withhold the £240,000 funding until progress is made.”

In August last year, the government told LEP chairs, councils and combined mayor authorities that financial support for LEPs would end in April, save for “some revenue funding” for them to be integrated in 2024-25.

However, WECA is the only mayoral combined authority in England that has not already absorbed its LEP’s functions into a new board or committee dedicated to business and skills.

The report comes a week after the government issued a best value notice, warning that a “poor state of professional relationships” between WECA and its constituent councils means there is a lack of “clear, shared narrative” for the region.

Peterborough and Cambridgeshire Combined Authority has also been issued with a best value notice due to “significant questions on the culture, behaviour and integrity” of its leadership, but the notice did not specify whether the issues have impacted the delivery of adult education in the region.

Run by Labour mayor Norris since 2021, WECA is responsible for adult education, transport and housing strategy across three councils: Bristol City, Bath and North East Somerset, and South Gloucestershire.

In a letter published last week, the government said WECA’s problems – first raised by auditors in 2022 – are yet to be resolved and ordered the appointment of an independent improvement panel.

‘More pressing is how business is going to be represented’

Launched across the country in the early 2010s, LEPs were bodies that brought local business, political and academic leaders together to shape skills priorities and local economic growth.

But the further steps towards regional devolution in the government’s levelling up white paper published two years ago said LEPs should be absorbed into mayoral authorities.

Although there is no indication that political disagreements have impacted on how effectively WECA’s £16 million adult education budget is being spent, the disagreement over the LEP’s future suggests that regional coordination on skills could be hindered by the political row.

In exchange for government funding in 2024-25, England’s eight other combined mayoral authorities and the Greater London Authority have all already set up new “business boards” that absorbed their local LEPs’ functions last year.

WECA is now likely to use the LEP’s reserves to cover the running costs of operating the partnership, which amount to more than £1 million a year.

The West of England LEP has a role in managing £1.2 million on careers hubs and creative industry “scale ups” that includes training for businesses.

Members of West of England’s LEP, which include representatives from Airbus’s Bristol plant, the Bristol Port Company and regional council leaders were concerned by the potential loss of the partnership, which has run for more than a decade.

Minutes of a LEP board meeting last year say that without setting up a new board at WECA “the constructive challenge and support to ideas would be lost”.

Speaking to FE Week, chair of WECA’s overview and scrutiny committee chair, which reviews the work of the combined authority, Ed Plowden said: “£240,000 is not a huge amount, more pressing is how the business community is going to be represented.”

He said a key “contentious issue” is whether neighbouring North Somerset – which is not a member of WECA – is allowed to remain a member of the board that would replace the LEP.

A spokesperson for North Somerset told FE Week its leader Mike Bell has written to the government to complain that WECA’s mayor has only offered his council “affiliate membership” of the board, despite its significant role in the regional economy.

The spokesperson added: “North Somerset will bring key partners to the business board with both the Bristol Port Company and Bristol Airport as well as key neighbouring developments such as Hinkley Point C and the newly announced £4 billion gigafactory.”

Tensions appear to remain high between the mayor and local council leaders, with Norris accusing Lib Dem councillors on Bath and North Somerset Council of being “party political” rather than collaborating on regional strategy at a scrutiny meeting this week.

Formed in 2017, WECA has had control of its £16 million annual adult education budget since 2019. In 2025-26, it is also expected to oversee about £14 million in spending on skills bootcamps and other training programmes.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, WECA, and its constituent councils were approached comment.

‘Adult education is [viewed as] the least interesting area’

Green Party councillor Christine Townsend, who chairs a Bristol City Council scrutiny committee, said the disagreement between Norris and WECA’s constituent councils is down to “ego”.

She added: “It’s as simple as that. The [WECA] mayor doesn’t like the other [Bristol] mayor even though they’re both red. One wouldn’t give the other one an underground [train system] even though it was a fantasy nonsense, it’s pathetic.

“That’s between mayors in the same political party, they’ve been told to ‘play nice’ together.”

Councillor Townsend began investigating WECA’s adult education service two years ago after becoming concerned about whether young people with learning difficulties were falling through the gaps.

She told FE Week: “WECA is responsible for three areas, transport, housing and adult education and skills – but adult education is [viewed as] the least interesting, the least sexy. It’s the smallest team.”

Procurement paused on college antisemitism training

The search for a firm to conduct “tackling antisemitism” training in colleges has been mysteriously paused by the Department for Education.

The DfE has indefinitely extended the bidding deadline for its “tackling antisemitism in education” contract, which now has an “arbitrary” closing date of March 7, 2030 “simply to ensure the opportunity remains open”, according to new tender documents.

Successful bidders were supposed to have been told the outcome of their application by March, with the contract going live in April. 

Instead, all bidders have been told to wait for updated procurement timelines via the department’s portal, Jaggaer.

The 2023 autumn statement dedicated £7 million over three years to tackling antisemitism in schools, colleges and universities.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said at the time: “I am deeply concerned about the rise of antisemitism in our country, so I am announcing up to £7 million over the next three years for organisations such as the Holocaust Educational Trust to tackle antisemitism in schools and universities.”

According to new tender documents, seen by FE Week, the funding has been split into two lots: £3.75 million dedicated to universities, and £1.72 million to schools and colleges.

DfE is earmarking the remaining funds to go towards an “innovation programme”. Details of the are expected at some point this spring.

Lot two – a programme for schools and colleges – is looking for one or more providers to create resources that will improve the understanding of antisemitism amongst staff and students and help staff identify and tackle incidents of antisemitism.

What is the programme?

The programme will deliver five initiatives across three strands: “bespoke” training, student-facing opportunities, and resource development.

DfE wants a “dynamic” staff training package which aims to help to build the confidence of college staff in discussing and tackling antisemitism on campus.

Staff will be trained in such things as the history of antisemitism and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

Bidders will also need to develop a national train-the-trainer scheme so a “champion network” of specialists to train others and “act as experts in tackling antisemitism” in colleges.

Students will receive face-to-face workshops with experts and webinars to “improve understanding of antisemitism, and tackle dis- and misinformation”.

An annual scholarship programme for 151 students aged 15 to 18, one per local authority area, will also be created. Students applying for the scholarship will need to produce an essay or research project about antisemitism. If successful, students will access talks from experts and an international trip to build their understanding of the history and legacy of antisemitism.

The successful providers will have to tailor the education to different student ages and learning environments as well as “the distinct challenges they are facing (for example, types of antisemitic incidents), and to support take-up”.

Market engagement

Interested parties were invited to a market engagement event in January and the competitive tender was officially launched in February.

At the supplier engagement event, providers were informed that they will have to work closely with DfE and the college sector to address its “distinct needs”.

DfE was also grilled on why the funding had an uneven split. “Considering the relative number of schools and colleges v the number of universities, why has the allocation of funding been split in the way it has?” one attendee asked.

DfE answered: “There were a number of factors we took into account that informed the funding allocation as well as population, including: instances of antisemitism; resulting problems from antisemitic behaviours; and what interventions could be delivered in each section.”

According to the tender documents, DfE doubled down at the virtual event on the use of the IHRA definition of antisemitism after questions were raised over the “problematic and contentious” definition.

The non-legally binding definition is as follows: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 455

Lisa Davies

National Sales Director, Woodspeen Training

Start date: February 2024

Previous Job: Sales Director, Woodspeen Training

Interesting fact: Lisa changed career in her mid-30s from an IT role to business development in a college without any knowledge of FE or apprenticeships. Sixteen years on, Lisa says she is still learning the acronyms!


Alison Davies

Deputy Principal, Colchester Institute

Start date: March 2024

Previous Job: Director of Learner Experience and Progression, Chelmsford College

Interesting fact: Alison’s love of water led her to take up scuba-diving. She’s had some great adventures underwater, including sitting on an abandoned toilet at the bottom of the Red Sea.

Grady accepts bumper UCU pay hike to pay libel fees

University and College Union boss Jo Grady has accepted a near-£18,000 salary hike to help her pay damages in a libel case.

The rise in 2022/23 equates to 16 per cent, which breaks the general secretary’s 2019 manifesto pledge to never take a salary boost above the national offer in FE.

UCU denied this was a pay increase because Grady accepted – for the first time – the full pay she was entitled to, instead of donating a planned portion to the union’s fighting fund as she would normally. The donations are not detailed in the union’s accounts.

But the revelation is also problematic for Grady as just last week she lambasted cabinet minister Michelle Donelan for using money from her employer – the taxpayer – to pay damages after losing a libel claim, and called for her resignation.

A UCU branch at Grady’s former employer, the University of Sheffield, this week passed a motion to call for an investigation into the finances of the general secretary, including Grady’s “considerable” salary increase.

A UCU spokesperson said: “This line of questioning is frankly embarrassing. Whilst thousands of college lecturers are paid far less than teachers doing the same job, the media are sadly doing the bosses bidding by bizarrely attempting to spin a union official donating tens of thousands of pounds to her members as a negative.

“If this level of scrutiny was applied to the actions of government and bosses then it would greatly assist in building a fairer sector for everyone that works in it.”

In a statement to members issued last week, just days after Grady was narrowly re-elected as UCU general secretary, it was revealed that she was paid a £127,690 basic salary in 2022/23.

This is 16.3 per cent more than the £109,762 salary paid in 2021/22, as stated in the union’s accounts.

UCU claimed this technically wasn’t the huge pay bump it appears to be as Grady donates a portion of her salary each year, which is not shown in their accounts, to a fund which supports members involved in disputes, including strike pay.

Her donations are not published, but Grady claims to have given tens of thousands to the fighting fund since she was first elected in 2019.

Instead of donating what she planned to in 2022/23, she accepted the larger than usual salary to pay damages and legal costs, understood to be around £22,000, to trade union activist and author Paul Embery following a Twitter row in which she accused him of “bullying women” and being “pathetic” to settle a libel claim.

The near-£18,000 increase in Grady’s salary from 2021/22 also continues a trend of the general secretary breaking a manifesto pledge from her 2019 campaign not to accept pay rises higher than the most recent pay recommendation for colleges.

Her manifesto said: “If elected, I will ensure that any increase in my salary is no higher than the most recent national pay offer in further education — the sector where our union has made least progress in protecting or improving our members’ wages.”

The Association of Colleges pay recommendation for FE staff was one per cent between 2019/20 and 2021/22 before being upped to 2.5 per cent in 2022/23. Grady’s salary rose 2.5 per cent in 2020/21 to £104,841 and 4.7 per cent the year after (see table), and appears to rocket by 16.3 per cent in 2022/23.

UCU declined to comment on Grady’s salary in 2023/24.

Defending her pay, Grady said: “After years of tireless campaigning by UCU, English further education workers have now received their biggest recommended pay uplift in over a decade.

“Meanwhile, during my tenure tens of thousands of pounds of my full entitled pay package has been donated to UCU’s fighting fund. I have also refused to take any of the pay spine salary increases I am entitled to.”

The general secretary’s salary scales are agreed by UCU’s national executive committee. The additional London weighting (currently £4,278) is negotiated with the union’s recognised staff unions.

UCU bosses have recently been accused by staff union Unite of “prioritising the pay of senior management” and are currently embroiled in a pay dispute with staff. 

“Clearly our employer’s priority during the cost-of-living crisis is to bolster senior manager pay at the expense of lower-paid staff,” Unite said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, in January.

Grady has hit out at large college principal salaries during her tenure as UCU general secretary.

She told college bosses last year to “reign in their own salaries” to support the staff who keep colleges running but receive below-inflation pay rises.

Chamber and training provider suddenly shuts down

A Merseyside chamber of commerce, which is also a training provider and employer representative body, has suddenly gone bust, leaving more than 200 apprentices in limbo, and a local skills improvement plan up in the air.

St Helen’s Chamber, which is also an independent training provider, called in administrators this afternoon amid a “perfect storm” of government funding cuts, losses from its skills business, and a “nationwide fall in office values”.

The chamber was named the designated employer representative body for the Liverpool City Region in 2022, charged with developing the city region’s statutory local skills improvement plan (LSIP).

Around 260 apprentices and 30 study programme students have been told to await further information about their next steps, while most of the chamber’s 70 staff have been made redundant.

Ofsted rated the chamber ‘good’ in its January 2023 full inspection. It had 740 members, according to its latest accounts, including local colleges and training organisations.

Its apprenticeship offer included level 3 business administrator apprenticeships, level 3 early years practitioner, and level 2 customer service practitioner standards.

At the time of its last Ofsted inspection, it also had 67 adult learners on bookkeeping, construction and hairdressing courses.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority said it was “working with administrators and other partners to support learners to access to access alternative provision.”

“We will also offer whatever support we can to those employees impacted,” a spokesperson said.

Thirty-eight employer representative bodies (ERBs) were chosen by the government to develop local skills improvement plans, most of them chambers of commerce. Funding worth £20.9 million over three years was made available, £550,000 each, to ERBs to develop, implement and review LSIPs.

St Helens posted a £200,000 loss for 2022-23 on a turnover of £5.7 million. It received £157,000 in government grants this year. 

It has been led by chief executive Tracy Mawson since 2020. Mawson was previously deputy chief executive and director of business services at the chamber, clocking up over 12 years at the organisation.

Administrators from Grant Thornton said “a perfect storm of reductions in government funding, difficulties in generating a surplus from its training arm, and the hit to its balance sheet from the nationwide fall in office values” led to the chamber’s immediate closure. 

There are four remaining chambers of commerce operating in the Liverpool City Region area. However, as a designated employer representative body has never gone bust before, it’s not known how the ERB status gets transferred to another organisations.