Delayed FE Commissioner intervention reports for two colleges and one council have been published by the government today.
Here’s FE Week’s summary of the findings.
NewVIc’s ‘air of conflict’
“Resentment, distrust, and an air of conflict” has engulfed Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) for the past four years, according to the FE Commissioner.
The London institution was put into intervention after becoming the only sixth form college to be judged ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted in April.
It is currently planning to merge with neighbour Newham College on November 1.
Today’s FE Commissioner report, dated June 2024, said previous NewVIc leaders failed to “effectively plan, oversee, and invest” in the college’s provision, leading to a “significant decline” in performance and recruitment.
Student “experience and success” have been “adversely impacted by industrial disputes, poor management, stretched administration, and a breakdown in systems and process”.
Leaders were accused of presiding over an “extended period characterised by mutual distrust between staff, managers, and governors” and “deteriorating” staff morale.
Governors were slammed for failing to hold senior leaders to account for the poor performance and for relying “too heavily” on the “ineffective” responses senior leaders provided.
Criticism was specifically aimed at governance for being “remote and disconnected from the life of the college”. For example, attendance at governance meetings “drifted to rely too heavily on hybrid modes of attendance, challenging the effectiveness of the meetings and reducing the benefits experienced by meeting in person”.
For years, the college’s financial strategy was to generate large cash reserves to fund the college’s estates strategy, which included major refurbishments and a new build.
As a result, the planned earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and staff-to-income ratios were “significantly better than sector benchmarks and the college’s financial health has been outstanding”.
However, this has led to a lack of investment in essential estates maintenance, student resources, such as IT and equipment, and staff training and development.
The FE Commissioner said it is also understood that the estates strategy was not underpinned by the curriculum strategy and, therefore, there was “no clear rationale for the planned refurbishments and new buildings”.
There were also recent “errors” in examination administration that resulted in an unnamed major awarding organisation “suspending any further registrations on their awards”.
This “significant issue” needs “immediate resolution if it is not to adversely affect next year’s cohort”, according to the report.
Principal Mandeep Gill and chair Martin Rosner stepped down from the college earlier this year.
The FE Commissioner said a high level of management turnover has left the leadership structure “too dependent on temporary interim posts and it is therefore inherently vulnerable”.
The report said an “immediate review of the management structure to secure key skills in the run-up to merger and beyond will be critical to maintaining operational stability”.
Newham College deputy chief executive Jamie Purser was appointed acting principal of NewVIc in June after the FE Commissioner’s visit. Purser will eventually be the chief executive of the merged college.
Purser said: “Over the past six months we have been working closely with the Department of Education and the FE Commissioner’s team to address the recommendations and good progress has been made as we move towards merging with Newham College on November 1, 2024.”
Cumbrian college almost ran out of money in June
FE Week previously reported that a small Cumbrian college was being propped up by a £1.5 million emergency government loan to alleviate short-term cashflow pressures this year.
The FE Commissioner’s report, also dated June 2024 but only published today, revealed that Lakes College leaders had reported in February that it would run out of cash in June.
The college, which has three years to pay the Department for Education loan back, will have its “future financial sustainability” tested through a structure and prospect appraisal that will consider continuing as a standalone institution or whether a merger with another college would be best.
Today’s FE Commissioner report said the college has been financially “strong” historically, with no borrowing and healthy cash.
But within the last two financial years, the college has implemented a strategy to grow both the number of students aged 16- to 18 and its apprenticeship provision.
Whilst the growth in student numbers is “positive”, the college’s costs have exceeded its income.
The FE Commissioner said the college’s planning and forecasting procedures “did not adequately identify the increased resources required and the effect of these on working capital”.
A new chair took up post on August 1, 2024. The report said this “provides an opportunity to review and refresh governance systems and processes”.
Lakes College, a founding member of the National College of Nuclear, was judged as ‘good’ overall by Ofsted in March this year. At the time of inspection, there were 900 learners on vocational programmes, 300 adults, 1,000 apprentices and 64 students with high needs.
The FE Commissioner said the college has smaller cohorts than most larger colleges of both students aged 16- to 18 and adults. But it has a “disproportionally large” apprenticeship provision for a college of its size. The reliance on apprenticeship income brings with it “higher levels of both financial and quality risks when compared, for example, to 16- to 18 provision”, the report said.
The college’s focus on increasing apprenticeships has included several specialist engineering apprenticeship standards.
For multiple standards, the preferred operating model is that the apprentices are on campus almost full-time in their first year. This has led to “pressure on staffing costs, which was underpinned by a growth in headcount combined with the cost of specialist staff and the demands of the delivery model”.
Income was “further reduced by post-Covid drop out from certain apprenticeship standards of around £250,000”.
Staff costs to income ratio increased to over 73 per cent for 2022/23 and 2023/24 compared to 69 per cent in 2020/21.
And while the college has “steadily grown” T Levels, it has fallen short of hitting recruitment targets for this provision.
Adult part-time recruitment also declined between 2021/22 and 2022/23.
The FE Commissioner said the college has recently identified and implemented savings of £1 million across pay (£753,000) and non-pay (£319,000). The savings included a restructuring of middle management to “simplify areas of responsibility and encourage ownership, accountability and transparency”.
Lakes College principal Chris Nattress said: “We welcome the work we are undertaking with the FE Commissioner’s team, referred to in the letter published today.
“We’re very pleased to see the beneficial impact this collaborative work is already having on our activities and the learner experience here at Lakes, and look forward to further positive developments as we implement the recommendations in full.”
DfE cut ties with ‘inadequate’ local authority
A Yorkshire local authority’s adult education service was booted off the apprenticeships register and had its national DfE adult education contract terminated following its ‘inadequate’ Ofsted inspection.
Redcar and Cleveland Council’s adult learning service now only delivers provision funded by the Tees Valley Combined Authority after the DfE cut ties in July, FE Commissioner Shelagh Legrave’s assessment report reveals.
The assessment of the service took place in April, four months after the ‘inadequate’ inspection, and its summary findings were only published today.
Ofsted’s ‘inadequate’ judgement “came as a surprise to all parties” involved in the adult learning service, Legrave’s report said.
Nonetheless, leaders “acted quickly” and, at the time of the visit six months ago, “student outcomes show signs of significant improvement”.
Ofsted criticised tutors’ lack of personalised planning for students and said leaders didn’t have ways of monitoring or being held to account for student outcomes.
Legrave was critical of the service’s approach to self-assessment, slamming its 2023/24 self-assessment report (SAR) as “overly detailed and repetitive” without focusing on improving quality, the skills of tutors or using SMART targets.
Within a month of the April visit, the commissioner instructed service managers to provide “appropriate” training for its tutors and, by June, implement an evidence-based teaching, learning and assessment framework to better manage teaching quality.
The council is the only local authority adult education provider currently graded ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted.
However, the commissioner stated students on accredited adult education courses have seen improved progression outcomes in English and maths.
Service leaders have been told by the skills minister Jacqui Smith to improve the governance oversight of adult learning provision by creating a dedicated advisory group by the end of the year and improve its management information systems to better understand learner performance and destinations.
Lynn Pallister, cabinet member for growth and enterprise at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said: “As a council, we are reassured that the FE Commissioner recognises the efforts we are making to improving our services so that all learners have a good experience and go on to achieve positive outcomes.
“Because the action has been swift, student outcomes have shown a significant improvement already, and we were pleased to hear that the students feel well supported by their tutors and are enjoying their learning experience.
“There is still work to do, and we are absolutely committed to following the guidance set out by the FE Commissioner so that all learners go on to achieve high-quality education long into the future.”
The FE Commissioner’s team is due to conduct a follow-up stock-take on the service this month.
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