The new academic year is a busy time in colleges, with the focus on enrolments and inductions. This year, however, a wave of announcements also deserve college leaders’ attention: the prime minister’s reshuffle, the defence skills policy, and the publication of the new Ofsted framework for inspection. Expect even more announcements in the coming months.
The extensive reshuffle, triggered by Angela Rayner’s resignation, sees Bridget Phillipson survive as education secretary and Jacqui Smith as skills Minister. The twist though is that responsibility for skills has moved to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), with Pat McFadden as the new secretary of state.
Reshuffles are disruptive, so Smith’s survival provides welcome continuity. With her strong grasp of the agenda, we expect the split of responsibilities to play out smoothly. But there is a lot to decide. It seems certain that the adult skills fund and the reformed apprenticeship levy will move to DWP, with regulation and oversight of FE colleges and 16-19 funding programmes remaining with DfE. This transfer will lead to a stronger focus on the youth guarantee and support for unemployed adults. So far so clear.
Current uncertainties
The future is less clear for the sponsorship of Skills England, leadership on technical excellence colleges and local skills Improvement plans, and operational details. We can only speculate at this stage.
The skills portfolio has moved several times in the past three decades. Colleges have each time adapted, showing their colours as vital anchor institutions supporting employers, their communities and the local economy. This move will inevitably lead to a strong focus on work skills but we need to fight hard to ensure that doesn’t overshadow the wider roles of adult education and lifelong learning – for a fairer, healthier, more tolerant and inclusive society.
The adult budget outside higher education was decimated from 2010, leading to millions of learning opportunities lost and reduced impact on people’s lives. If the focus now narrows, we will see even more neglect of the broader benefits of learning, such as health, well-being, inclusion, community and empowerment. All these are core to the government’s overall ambitions for opportunity, better health and economic growth.
The Ministry of Defence’s investment in skills is a welcome development. It brings new money into our sector, with colleges playing a central role. It is also recognition that other government departments need to invest to equip people with skills for growth industries rather than simply expecting the labour market to do that for them.
Ofsted changes
The third big development this week was the publication of the new Ofsted inspection framework. The last few months has seen great resistance from schools, and deep concern among unions and leaders. We in the college sector have been less critical, but have set out our concerns about the need for inspectors to have great experience and understanding of FE and skills. This ensures more consistent judgements across regions, and better, quicker complaints procedures.
It looks like positive changes have been made in response to our feedback, but some have not. This reflects a diversity of Ofsted stakeholders Ofsted, and belief in the efficacy of its approach. That is usual in a consultation. Ultimately, however, the first inspections will determine whether the new approach works. Now we have a very short window to digest the new arrangements before inspections start on November 10. It is not the best time for college leaders to prepare for that, coinciding with the busiest time of the year while enrolment and inductions are underway.
We anticipate more important publications this autumn, including two white papers on post-16 education and skills and the SEND system, and the final report of the curriculum and assessment review. It will be a busy time for us all as we read them and make sense of the implications.
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