Sussex college merger plans unveiled

Plans for a merger between two Sussex colleges that aims to boost apprenticeships and higher level skills in the region have been unveiled.

The link-up between City College Brighton and Hove and Northbrook College is one of the recommendations to have emerged from the Sussex area review of post-16 education and training.

The two colleges are set to join forces in March 2017 under the name the Metropolitan College, according to the merger document.

Consultation on the proposals opened today, and will run until November 17.

The merged college will “place apprenticeships and work-based learning at the heart of what we do” and “develop a range of vocational specialisms, at level 3 and above, which link to local economic priorities”, the consultation document said.

Nick Juba, chief executive of City College Brighton and Hove, and Sue Dare, principal of Northbrook College, said: “The Metropolitan College will offer clear routes right up the educational ladder providing opportunities for every young person or adults across the city region to gain the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.”

Northbrook and City College’s chairs of governors, Ian Lowrie and Julie Kerney, said the newly merged college would be the “engine room of the local economy”.

City College, which was rated good overall at its most recent Ofsted inspection in June 2011 has around 8,200 learners of whom 700 are apprentices, according to the consultation document.

And Northbrook, which was also rated good at its most recent Ofsted inspection in October 2013, has more than 10,200 learners, of whom around 1,800 are apprentices.

The proposed name for the new institution, which was chosen “to reflect the combination of people, ideas, culture and place that the new organisation will serve”, is also being consulted on.

A spokesperson for Northbrook College told FE Week that the colleges may continue to use their existing names “where this is important to local communities”.

The spokesperson said that the merger would not affect the colleges’ curriculum offer for 16- to 18-year-olds, “but there will be a single offer to employers for apprenticeships”.

The Sussex area review was part of the first wave of post-16 education and training area reviews, and had its first steering group meeting on November 5.

FE Week understands that the review completed in May, but the final report into the review – including its recommendations – has not yet been published.

The planned merger between City College Brighton and Hove and Northbrook College comes after FE Week reported that Brighton and Hove council completed its own area review of post-16 education and training, including school sixth forms, earlier this month.

The main recommendations from that review, which covered City College Brighton and Hove but not Northbrook College, were that small school sixth forms should either merge or close.

The 157 group has rebranded. Is that it, then?

After much consultation and speculation, the 157 Group announced their new name on Twitter this morning, leaving Mick Fletcher somewhat underwhelmed 

Is that it, then? Is that all there is? The long awaited relaunch of the 157 group has finally arrived and the new name is… COLLAB.

I thought at first it might be an acronym – ‘ Colleges Out Looking after Learners And Business’; and then less charitably, an anagram: ‘Bollac…’. But no; it’s an abbreviation.

It’s an odd abbreviation; indeed it feels slightly strangulated but, for anyone who might have missed the connection, the group Chief Executive has helpfully explained that “Collab is collaboration”. Apparently it says so in the Urban Dictionary, which describes itself as “a cornucopia of streetwise lingo”. Should go down well with the Wiggers and Palins of this world then (look them up if you’re not cool enough to know).

Collab means collab in the sense that Brexit means Brexit, I suppose. And like Brexit, there is a strategy that we are not told too much about; apart from the fact that it will involve a lot of collaboration – new opportunities, new deals. That’s not a bad thing in itself, but it’s hardly original or unique. Is there any college that doesn’t engage with employers and its local community these days?

Collab means collab in the sense that Brexit means Brexit

It marks a big change however, from the original purpose of the 157 Group, which was to enable large and successful colleges to speak out on behalf of the sector. Sir Andrew Foster, in his landmark report, pointed out that compared with higher education or schools, FE colleges were virtually invisible. Despite excellent work by the 157 Group, AoC and other sector bodies, the problem remains just as relevant today, 10 years after he wrote it.

The writing was on the wall for this wider role of the 157 Group as soon as its new Chief Executive, Ian Pretty, announced that in his view ‘there was little to be gained’ from trying to affect policy decisions. It’s an eccentric point of view; it’s clearly not shared by the business community, who according to some estimates spend around £2 billion per year doing exactly that, with the finance sector alone spending almost £100 million lobbying government.

It’s clearly not a view shared by the various higher education mission groups or closer to home, the AELP, which is currently pushing very effectively to influence the implementation of the apprenticeship reforms. It is to be hoped that the decision of the 157 group to withdraw from this particular field of battle does not weaken the overall negotiating strength of the sector.

There may of course be some advantage in simplifying the range of organisations seeking to represent the sector. The Gazelle Group appears to have stopped pronking (use the OED definition for this one) and the weary survivors have set off on a long migration towards more fertile territory. The Chartered Institution for FE seems to provide a new home for those who just want to join an exclusive club without being burdened with the 157 Group’s founding aim of fighting for the sector and the IfL, sadly, has joined the long list of institutional mayflies that enjoy a few brief moments of summer sunshine. The way should be clear for AoC to represent colleges, without the risk of divide and rule.

I wish the Collab colleges well in these difficult times. I know many of their leaders and am confident they can adapt and thrive, despite the constant policy churn. I suspect the sector will lose, however, if their collective endeavours are more focussed on getting a good deal on their gas bills rather than a good deal for learners in the next education bill.

Mick Fletcher is a founding member of the Policy Consortium and a director of RCU Ltd

All private training providers told current adult education contract will terminate next July

Private training providers have been told their current adult education contracts will end next July – rather than be automatically renewed as before.

The news came in a letter from the Skills Funding Agency to all training providers, dated October 12, and seen by FE Week.

It stated that changes to contracting regulations, which came into force in February, meant that the SFA could no longer automatically renew contracts when they ended and instead “must procure future training provision”.

The letter continued: “Please therefore accept this letter as formal notice that your current contract will terminate on 31 July 2017.

“We will shortly be launching an open and competitive procurement exercise for AEB [adult education budget] funded provision.”

Further information about the procurement exercise would be provided “over the coming weeks”, it said.

Colleges – which contract with the SFA through a grant funding agreement – are not affected by the changes, the letter said.

The news has prompted Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Mark Dawe to call for all providers – including colleges – to have to compete to deliver adult education budget provision.

He said: “If it is true that all providers, including those that already have a grant, are able to tender for this part of AEB, then we believe that all AEB funding (contract and grant) should be put out to tender.  

“Without this, it would seem the process is incredibly biased against large independent providers.”

As previously reported by FE Week, the requirement to procure the AEB provided by private training providers is the result of changes to European Union law.

The changes were first revealed in an SFA document, Adult Education Budget: Changing context and arrangements for 2016 to 2017, published on January 28.

That document said: “In advance of 2017/18, changes to EU procurement regulations will require us to procure the adult budget provided to ITPs.

“This means that the AEB will be subject to competition as part of a procurement process.”

The new contracts would be for 2017/18 “with an option to extend contracts for a further two years, which we will review on an annual basis,” according to the letter seen by FE Week.

Procurement would be open to all providers on the register of training organisations “that have passed capacity and capability for the delivery of education and training services, and selected relevant interests”.

The change will not affect apprenticeship provision, which will be procured separately through the new register of apprenticeship training providers.

Cornwall college puts out a casting call for canine models

Whether your dog is an aspiring Kate Moss or Naomi Campbell, you’re in luck – as a college in Cornwall has put out a casting call for canine models.

Duchy College Rosewarne is currently on the lookout for dogs of all shapes and sizes, so that students on their increasingly popular dog grooming courses can practice their pampering skills.

The college offers qualifications such as the Dog Grooming College Certificate Level 2, the City and Guilds Level 3 Certificate in Introductory Dog Grooming, and the Level 3 certificate for Professional Dog Stylists.

The college requires a variety of breeds and coat types to come forward, from long-haired to short haired, and everything in between.

Successful models will receive the full spa treatment, as students put their bathing, drying, brushing, styling and clipping techniques to use under the supervision of qualified professionals.

Curriculum lead for animal science, Carol Knight, said: “We all deserve a bit of pampering, even our four-legged friends. So if your dog is having a bad hair day this is a great opportunity for canine-owners in the Camborne and local surrounding area to treat their pooches to a wash and groom.”

 

Picture: One lucky pooch gets pampered at the college’s dog grooming facilities

Let’s make end-point assessment part of the solution, not the problem

While end-point assessments currently raise more questions than they answer, if well implemented, they could help build confidence in the apprenticeship system, says Terry Fennell

Last month the DfE approved the 135th apprenticeship standard for mainstream delivery and by the end of 2016, over 3,000 apprentices will have started on one of these new programmes.

Those 3,000 apprentices – and many more to follow – will be undertaking a standard that may or may not have a qualification mandated, yet all will have to complete an end-point assessment (EPA) designed to ‘test’ the apprentice’s knowledge, skills and behaviours against the original requirements of the job role.

As it stands, less than half of the 138 standards are currently able to declare which Apprenticeship Assessment Organisation (AAO) will provide the EPAs for their apprenticeship. This must surely be a concern for policy makers and the slowly emerging Institute for Apprenticeships (IFA) that will assume statutory responsibility for the quality and approval of stan dards from April 2017. For the moment, prospective AAOs must be approved by the Skills Funding Agency to appear on the Register of Apprenticeship Assessment Organisations (ROAAO) and only then can they offer EPA services on a specific standard.

One of key dilemmas facing aspiring AAOs is the classic return-on-investment issue

One of key dilemmas facing aspiring AAOs is the classic return-on-investment issue, as they cost the development requirements and try to calculate the potential income. Another issue surrounds the unregulated external quality assurance arrangements that may be imposed on AAOs. For example, the current requirements for trailblazers are to introduce a ‘quality assurance’ administration on an AAO; this could be a ‘governing board’ of employers or a professional body-led approach that (while it could work in certain instances) is likely to result in territorial and/or commercial tensions. Another option is to request that Ofqual oversee quality arrangements, but that would mean redefining the EPA as a qualification and is only open to regulated awarding organisations. The final option available to trailblazers is to request the yet-to-be-implemented IFA take on the quality-assuring role, but it is still unclear how that might function.

With so many questions surrounding the EPA in apprenticeships, it is easy to understand why many in the sector are raising doubts in relation to costs and the practical challenges they will bring. However, I believe that a well-implemented EPA will go a long way to ‘underpinning’ confidence in the apprenticeship system, what has for too long raised suspicion amongst government and employers. Rightly or wrongly, the 2012 Richard Review of Apprenticeships did influence politicians towards the notion of finishing ‘exams’ as a trusted method of assessment and reaching a grade.

If standards do bring parity with the assumed ‘gold standard’ education and HE counterparts, politicians will no longer be able to ‘doubt’ the challenge of completing the programme by qualification only. Furthermore, apprentices will have to prove over and above their qualification (if applicable) that they have mastered a trade, craft or occupational job requirement and this will have been adjudicated by an independent source.

Let’s not be too judgemental too early on EPAs

I must declare an interest for my own organisation, which has not only supported employers on the Level 2 Butchery Standard from development to approval, but has also successfully applied to the SFA to offer the EPAs for butchers. As with all Awarding Organisations (AO), our core business expertise is in assessment, qualification and people development and we function within a regulated market overseen by Ofqual. This means that when developing the EPAs, we have to ensure they are delivered with the usual ‘controlled’ practices that require consistency, reliability and the underpinning validity.

My call to the sector is this: let’s not be too judgemental too early on EPAs. Yes, they will cost more than qualifications but if awarding organisations and (potentially) other EPA bodies are to put rigour and validity into their end tests, then the associated costs for development and implementation will inevitably be higher than those of registering someone on an existing qualification.

In terms of the EPAs causing disruption to the workplace, by having to spend time off the job to sit an exam or take part in a practical assessment, then we should make no apology to this requirement. In fact, employers should actually welcome the prospect that a member of their workforce is looking to prove beyond doubt their competence.

 

Terry Fennell is operations director at specialist awarding organisation FDQ

 

Record number of females sign up for Hartpury College’s land-based courses

The future of farming is (slightly more) female, according to figures released from Hartpury College, which shows a record increase in the amount of female students signing up for land-based courses.

This September, 18 per cent of the college’s new agriculture intake were female, compared to just nine per cent at the same time last year – meaning there are now a total of 60 women studying agriculture at the college.

Hartpury College, located near Gloucester and Cheltenham, covers more than 360 hectares of land, and is currently top of the Department for Education league tables for its diploma courses, with 100 per cent of its agriculture students going on to secure employment.

Sixteen-year-old Tilly Heron who has just started the Level 3 Extended Diploma in Agriculture at Hartpury, said: “I’ve chosen farming because I love animals and I love the outdoor life. I could never do a job sitting behind a desk.

“Farming has traditionally been very male-orientated but I think there’s an exciting future for girls in the industry.”

 

Picture: The newest recruits at Hartpury’s home farm

How colleges can keep up with apprenticeship reforms

If colleges wish to continue to deliver apprenticeships, they will need to adapt quickly, writes Teresa Frith

We are sitting in the middle of a maelstrom of reform in apprenticeships. But what should be at the forefront of our minds is that whatever apprenticeships we provide, they must be high quality. We will be doing a disservice to all apprentices and employers if we chase the government’s target of three million new apprenticeships by 2020 without keeping in mind that this must work for them first and foremost. Despite concerns about a lack of clarity in implementing the reforms, one thing is clear: we all still believe apprenticeships are a significant part of the solution for improving skills in the UK.

Colleges have always been apprenticeship providers, but this delivery has been part of a wide range of education and training opportunities for the local community. Their apprenticeship provision tends to be reflective of what might be called the ‘harder markets’: small businesses that are unlikely to add profit to the college and need significant support; students who are harder to place; sectors where apprenticeship training is expensive to deliver.

Obviously there are exceptions, but well over half of English college provision is delivered to businesses who take only one or two apprentices; on top of this, over 50 per cent of all apprenticeship provision in some key STEM-based areas is delivered by colleges. Colleges have spent a lot of time and energy ensuring that they can be the ‘second (or more) chance saloon’ for the people they serve and that they are accessible to all employers, picking up activity that does not appeal to other types of provider.

Colleges by now recognise that the current reforms focus on the needs of employers, and that the approach that is being encouraged is a commercial one. If a college wishes to continue to deliver apprenticeships, they
will need to adapt quickly to this new approach. To continue to train apprentices who are at a disadvantage, they will need to charge what it actually costs to deliver, or find some money from elsewhere; disadvantage uplifts, and other fair-yet-complicated aspects of the existing funding methodologies, are going.

If a college needs to support a micro business through the whole process of creating an apprenticeship, filling the vacancy then running the programme, they will need to charge the employer what it costs to do this, or find money from elsewhere. So from a practical, financial perspective, colleges need to adapt and find a sustainable delivery strategy.

The approach that is being encouraged is a commercial one

It is hard to see how such a strategy will allow them to continue to work with employers that need a significant time investment prior to and during delivery, however, as well as people who are further away from the job market. This is why one of AoC’s recommendations in its autumn statement submission is for apprenticeship funding to retain a factor to support those from low-income families. It is hard to believe that all this is the genuine intent of the reforms, but it currently remains the reality of the implementation plans.

So in which markets might colleges be seeking to deliver more apprenticeships? Just like ‘employers’, ‘colleges’ are not a homogenous group; they will respond and adapt in myriad ways.

It seems sensible for colleges to play to their strengths and likely that we will see elements of specialisms being introduced. In line with employer demand, we can expect that a significant amount of work might shift from the ‘entry into work’ apprenticeship market to the ‘progression in work’ apprenticeship market.

But all this is speculation; we will have to wait and see what happens after the introduction of the new apprenticeship funding system on May 1, 2017. In the meantime, AoC will continue to work with the government to ensure that apprenticeships do not become a ‘cash cow’ for profiteers, but continue to provide a genuine learning experience for students and achieve real productivity gains for employers and the UK.

There will be forums on making the apprenticeship agenda work for your college at the AoC Conference (15-17 November)

Barnsley College’s Fireman Sam cart scoops ‘Most Creative Cart’ title in soapbox derby

Barnsley College is celebrating after taking home the title of ‘Most Creative Cart’ in a soapbox derby.

The event saw teams build and race their own soap box cars in front of 3,500 spectators, in order to raise money for Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, which organised the event.

The college’s entry was Fireman Sam-themed, and was one of 37 carts that battled it out to the finish line at the event held at Clifton Park in Rotherham.

 

The team in action
The team in action on the Fireman Sam cart

The hospice cares for children and young adults with life-shortening and life-threatening conditions, and currently supports 250 families in their own homes, as well as at the hospice itself, which is based in Sheffield.

Steve Wilmer, tutorial learning mentor in the business, warehousing and logistics department at Barnsley College, said: “We had tremendous support from the local business community, including Travis Perkins who donated materials and resources to help build the cart and South Yorkshire Fire Service who loaned uniforms for the team to wear at the race.

“It was great to be involved with this fun event and winning this award is a fantastic end to a really enjoyable day.”

 

Featured picture: The Barnsley College Fireman Sam racing team

Student Luena Martinez hopes to inspire others through X Factor appearance

Seventeen-year-old Luena Martinez hopes to inspire other musically-inclined students to follow their dreams after an “incredible experience” on ITV talent show, the X Factor.

She appeared on the televised round of the TV show after getting through room auditions and boot camp, and sang a cover of Snow Patrol’s ‘Run’. Despite her talent, she was replaced at the last minute during the show’s ‘Six Chair Challenge’ in favour of fellow performer, Olivia Garcia.

Luena is a student at SoundSkool, a London-based non-profit organisation that runs full-time, year-long music courses for 16-18 year olds.

She is among the first students to study for a Level 2 Artist Development and Business course, as part of a new partnership launched with the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL) this year.

Speaking of her time on the show, Luena said: “It was hard to take getting so close, but an incredible experience, and it was amazing to perform in front of 5,000 people. I couldn’t have asked for a better reaction.

“Hopefully, I’ve shown others you can be on X Factor, or do anything you want if you just put your mind to it, work hard and practice. I wanted to be a singer and I’ve stuck with that. Don’t put yourself down. You can do it!”

 

Picture: Luena on the popular primetime ITV show