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FEATURE: Quirky college chaplain preaches to the choir on Songs of Praise

Inundated with television offers and featured in numerous newspaper articles, being the centre of a media storm is all in a day’s work for Bath College’s resident chaplain, Rob Popejoy. Samantha King reports.

Rob Popejoy could perhaps be described as unconventional in appearance. His job as a college chaplain may conjure prejudice as to how he should appear, but his head-to-toe religious tattoos, passion for motorbikes and hipster-esque beard shatter those preconceptions.

After a Bath student’s college article about him went viral, Rob became something of a celebrity. Dubbed “The Holy Hipster” and “Coolest-ever Clergyman” in the national headlines, he was soon approached about making media appearances – perhaps most bizarrely, ITVs Love Island – which he declined.

Rob said: “I get maybe two or three phone calls a year from TV producers. Some things I’m keen on and other bits, like Love Island, I’m not so keen on.

“What was odd with the Love Island request was that the guy contacted me through Facebook, and at the time, my profile picture was me with my wife and child, so I did wonder what he was thinking.”

I get maybe two or three phone calls a year from TV producers

However, Rob’s most recent appearance on long-running religious show Songs of Praise is something he hopes will make the most impact; not only challenging perceptions of what a chaplain should look like, but also how those who undertake a chaplaincy can get out of their church and involved in their communities.

He said: “I hope that viewers are challenged by what it is to be religious, and by what it is to be spiritual and to have a faith. Also, that you don’t always have to fit in to this kind of stereotype that everyone feels is out there.”

Appearing on the show for four minutes, Rob is depicted talking about his tattoos – his favourite being a huge portrait of Jesus across his chest – as well as his hobbies and job, which is split between the college and the church, due to being “match-funded”.

Rob explains: “I’m half paid by the church and half paid by the college. So it’s quite nice, it means it works out for both groups of people really.”

rob-popejoy-social2 — Rob’s recent appearance on BBC show Songs of Praise

Rob’s role at Bath College is mainly working within the student participation team. Covering everything from religion to body image, he describes his role as “essentially anything that is additional to the curricular stuff.”

Speaking of his position, he said: “When people hear ‘chaplain’ they think of vicar straightaway – or Charlie Chaplain. But the job gives you permission and the opportunity to talk about religion.

“Sometimes it isn’t what people want to hear about, but it does affect a lot of our world so it’s how I can meld the two together and help students understand just how much religion impacts the world they live in.”

When people hear ‘chaplain’ they think of vicar straightaway – or Charlie Chaplain

His unconventional appearance for a chaplain has also clearly fired the imagination of college photography students, who have used him as a model for their photoshoots (as reported on by FE Week in October 2014).

In terms of his own religion, Rob grew up in a church-going family, and was baptised at the age of ten.

Despite his faith, Rob still had time for teenage rebellion, saying, “When I was 15, my mum said to me, you don’t have to come to church anymore if you don’t want to. Naturally, as a teenager, I took that. I had a couple of years out, but when I was 18 I decided to come back to it.”

Apprenticeship standards without assessment organisations should not be approved for delivery

Dr Pember is absolutely right to be mad with the government for exposing apprentices to so much needless anxiety over unknown end point assessment organisations.

And it is frankly absurd that a funding body is maintaining the list of approved awarding organisations, when we have a perfectly good watchdog that could and should do the job in Ofqual.

Surely we owe it to all students, not just those following an academic route, to properly regulate their tests?

The Skills Funding Agency is already swamped with preparing for the levy, area reviews, devolution, dishing out loans funding and financial assurance.

And let’s not forget this is an issue for existing students, not about what may or may not be ready for levy launch next year.

Until apprenticeship standards have appropriate assessment organisations in place they should not be approved for delivery.

That much, to me, is obvious.

Movers & Shakers: Edition 186

Your weekly guide to who’s new, and who’s leaving.

Berkeley Green University Technical College has appointed Rhian Priest as its group principal.

The college is due to open in September 2017, and will provide specialist training facilities for the science, technology, engineering and manufacturing industries.

Ms Priest, who began her career in education as a maths teacher 25 years ago, will take on the role alongside her current position as principal of Bristol Technology and Engineering Academy (BTEA).

She joined BTEA in 2013 as founding principal, and under her leadership the UTC has seen some of the highest GCSE pass rates in the West of England region, three years after opening; with 40 per cent of their sixth form students gaining apprenticeships with organisations such as Rolls Royce, Airbus and Dyson.

Speaking of her new appointment, Ms Priest said: “Berkeley Green UTC shows huge promise and will offer new and exciting opportunities for young people across the region.
“I’m looking forward to being a part of the journey leading towards its opening in September 2017 and beyond.”

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Clair Mowbray has been appointed as CEO of the new National College for High Speed Rail, which is due to open in September 2017.

The college, which comprises of sites in Birmingham and Doncaster, is one of five new national, employer-led colleges being created by the government.

Before taking on the role as chief executive, Ms Mowbray was business director at the college, seeing it through the stages of initial development.

Her new role as chief executive will involve establishing the curriculum at the college and develop a staffing model that brings together industry experts with a permanent core of staff.

She will also oversee establishing the college’s brand, taking it from its beginnings as a Department for Education policy all the way through to delivery.

Speaking of her plans for the new role, Ms Mowbray said: “My first strategy is to ensure that we are attracting a diverse audience into the college, and starting to redefine common perceptions of what engineering and the rail sector is all about”.

She states that it will be her stakeholder management skills that will be most useful in her new position, saying: “If employers aren’t central to this college then we will have failed in our mission to be industry focussed.

“It is a rare and unique opportunity to create something that starts to really focus on employer and sectoral needs.”

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Ben Manning has been appointed as vice principal for curriculum and quality at City College Plymouth.

The college in south west England currently has an Ofsted rating of ‘Good’, and holds particular significance for Mr Manning, who not only studied at the college himself, but also met his wife while working there.

He first joined the college in 2005 as a lecturer in public services, working his way up to director of quality and improvement in 2011. The role included monitoring and improving the college’s performance and directly managing curriculum areas; all skills that will be relevant in his new position.

Mr Manning is most looking forward to continuing to “support young people who will form the basis of the future workforce” in his new role.

He said: “It is crucial to me that our work continues to inform and engage young people and employers, developing young people’s skills and employability with opportunities that are relevant, fresh and exciting.”

If you want to let us know of any new faces at the top of your college, training provider or awarding organisation, please let us know by emailing news@feweek.co.uk

Transparency questions raised over cash for consultants

Consultants working with colleges on FE and skills area reviews have been paid £3.5m in ‘transition grants’, FE Week can reveal.

But the Department for Education has refused to reveal which companies the money is going to, raising serious questions about transparency.

Previous requests by FE Week for information on the number of grants that had been paid out so far, and the total amount of money involved, were dismissed by the Department for Education.

However, FE Week has been leaked minutes from the government’s area review advisory group meeting last month, which said: “As at the end of August, 43 transition grant applications with a total value of just under £3m has already been approved.”

After being informed of this, the DfE admitted that 50 grants totalling £3.5m had been approved up to this week.

But it would still not say where the money had gone, what specifically it had been spent on, or how big the total pot of cash available for the payouts was.

A director from a leading audit firm, who did not wish to be named, said the lack of transparency was “unacceptable”.

They also called into question whether the grants, which are available to colleges to pay for outside experts to help them implement area review recommendations, could potentially create a conflict of interest for the FE commissioner Sir David Collins’ advisers.

Since the transition grants opened for application in April, a number of companies have been promoting their consultancy services as being eligible for funding through the grants.

These include AoC Create, which advertised for new ‘change consultants’ at almost the same time as the grants were launched.

A director from a leading audit firm, who did not wish to be named, said the lack of transparency was “unacceptable”

The adverts, which specifically refer to the transition grants, were seeking new consultants to “provide advice and guidance on the implementation of restructuring and transformation recommendations”.

Skills required of the consultants include commercial, project management, financial and estates planning – all of which are eligible for funding through the transition grant.

FE Week asked AoC Create if any of its consultants, whether existing or new, were also employed by the DfE as an FE Commissioner adviser, but a spokesperson refused to say.

The transition grants are administered by the transactions unit, run jointly by the Skills Funding Agency and Education Funding Agency.

As publicised on .gov.uk, this is led by Matthew Atkinson, who is on secondment from finance and audit firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

The firm provides financial services to 26 colleges, according to 2014/15 accounts published by the SFA.

PwC was also involved in drafting the as-yet unpublished due diligence framework for colleges post-area review.

This work was promoted in a blog post on its PwC in the West website, dated September 14, which has subsequently been removed.

A spokesperson told FE Week that it was “not engaged to provide services funded by this source of funds [transition grants]”.

He also denied that there was any conflict of interest in PwC promoting its involvement with the due diligence framework, and claimed that the blog had only been taken down due to a switch to a new regional website on September 23.

The DfE took responsibility for area reviews and transition grants, following the decision to transfer the skills training remit to the department over the summer.

FE Week understands its mandarins are now taking a close look at any potential conflicts of interest.

A DfE spokesperson told FE Week that there were clear rules in place to prevent this, and that FE advisers had to declare any interest that could influence their judgement.

He added: “Advisers regularly declare conflicts where they arise and withdraw from FE commissioner work where there could otherwise be a perception of conflict.

“No evidence has been presented to us that these rules have been breached.”

Council u-turn on outsourcing adult education

Councillors have U-turned on their decision to outsource local authority adult learning services – citing the current area reviews of post-16 education and training as a key reason for the decision.

In June funding cuts prompted Croydon Council to agree to find a private provider to run its community and adult learning service from 2017, with a view to getting out of the contract completely in the future.

But cabinet members voted on Monday to reverse this decision and keep running the services until at least September 2018 – after it emerged that tendering them out would actually cost the local authority £500,000, instead of leading to savings.

A spokesperson for the council told FE Week that the decision would “enable us to take into consideration the outcomes of the FE area review and adult education reviews, when making our decision on any new delivery model.”

Cuts to its adult skills funding allocation were cited as one of the original key drivers behind the discredited decision to outsource adult learning, through a report presented to the cabinet meeting on June 20.

The service, which had 4,413 learners in 2015/16 and was rated good overall at its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2010, was allocated £2,445,321 for adult skills in 2015/16, according to SFA figures – a drop of almost £600,000 from 2014/15.

The report said it was not “possible or desirable” to get out of its contract with the SFA “due to the ongoing area reviews”.

It was not “possible or desirable” to get out of its contract with the SFA “due to the ongoing area reviews”

Instead it proposed “that the council moves to commission the provision, through an open competitive process from September 2017, with a view to potentially transferring the provision at a later date when funding and structures are known.”

The intention was to sub-contract the provision for one year “where-after the position will need to be assessed in light of funding and the outcome of the reviews”.

But a financial review report presented on Monday night recommended overturning the decision made in June, on the basis of new evidence.

These included a projected £500,000 loss to the council which the report said was due to losing the service’s “contribution to council overheads which would create a short-term budget gap”, as well as confirmation that its SFA funding would not be cut in 2016/17.

It also highlighted uncertainty around the outcomes of the current area reviews and the impact on colleges in the local area, as well as the possibilities of working with other local authority providers raised through a separate London-wide review of adult learning providers.

The council spokesperson said: “We recognise the important role adult learning services play in Croydon which is why, in spite of a £600k reduction in government funding we have committed to directly deliver the service until at least September 2018.”

Croydon Council is involved with the south London area review, part of the third wave of area reviews, which had its first steering group meeting on April 22.
According to plans put forward to the London-wide steering group in February, the review was due to have completed by September.

But, as previously reported by FE Week, minutes from a number of colleges involved in the London reviews indicate that the review is now not expected to complete until November.

Marsden survives Labour party reshuffle

The “indefatigable” shadow minister for higher education, FE and skills has kept his post, following a Labour party reshuffle.

Gordon Marsden has held onto the role since September 2015, when he moved over from the transport department, and was praised by Jeremy Corbyn during an exclusive interview with FE Week back in February.

The Labour leader praised his “indefatigable skills at following things through”.

As his title suggests, Mr Marsden (pictured right) will continue to hold responsibility for shadowing both Robert Halfon, the apprenticeships and skills minister, and Jo Johnson, minister of state for universities, science, research and innovation.

It represents a vote of confidence as not everyone in Labour’s top team came out of the October 7 reshuffle so well – with chief whip, Dame Rosie Winterton, for example, being sacked from her post.

Mr Corbyn was moved to praise his shadow skills minister for his doggedness, during the FE Week interview, for his efforts to hold David Cameron to account over his promise to create an apprenticeship fund from Libor fines.

David Cameron pledged last April that if he won the election, his government would fund 50,000 apprenticeships and traineeships for unemployed 22 to 24-year-olds using a £200m pot from fines paid by bankers in the wake of the Libor scandal.

However, no further details about the proposed fund were revealed, leading Mr Marsden to repeatedly push for an explanation.

His continued presence in the shadow cabinet has been met with a warm and congratulatory response.

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner tweeted that she was “extremely pleased” with the new shadow education team, while Kirstie Donnelly, managing director of City and Guilds, said she was “pleased to hear” that Mr Marsden had kept his role, adding that the FE sector “desperately requires stability”.

Other Twitter followers have described him as a “strong voice” with a “passion for social mobility”, who is “extremely passionate about skills and apprenticeships” and “understands the issues”.

Mr Marsden recently demonstrated his commitment to the FE sector through supporting FE Week’s #SaveOurApprenticeships campaign.

On September 14, he hosted the launch of the campaign against devastating cuts to apprenticeship funding in committee room nine of the Houses of Parliament.

At the event, he warned listeners that the cuts – which could see funding for 16 to 18-year-olds in some of the most deprived areas of the country slashed by up to 50 per cent – are “an elephant trap in his [Mr Halfon’s] in-tray”.

“If this goes wrong, not only will ministers have egg on their faces, but faith in the whole new system they want us to take part in will be undermined,” he said.

Mr Marsden also attended a special rally in support of the campaign at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on September 27.

Earlier in the month he wrote to Mr Halfon to express his concerns about the funding cuts, saying that the government’s proposals “offer a damaging lack of support for young apprentices and further weaken proposed attempts to widen participation”.

Majority of sixth-form colleges look to academise

Around 70 per cent of sixth-form colleges have registered an interest in converting to an academy with four already launching formal consultations, FE Week has learned.

The figure was provided by the Sixth-Form Colleges’ Association, which said around 65 of the country’s 93 SFCs were exploring converting to an academy as “plan A or B” following recommendations in their area reviews.

Priestley College (pictured), in Warrington, is the latest to announce formal proposals for academy conversion, following bids by Hereford sixth form college, Rochdale sixth form college, and New College Pontefract.

James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the SFCA, said the plans will move sixth form colleges “from the margins to the mainstream”.

“It is a way of positioning sixth-form colleges to drive up standards in schools, to bring their business expertise,” he added.

The move follows former chancellor George Osborne’s announcement last year that becoming an academy would allow a sixth-form college to avoid paying VAT.

Guidance published by the Department for Education in February said that academisation would only be available to SFCs as part of the area review process.

SFCs have the option to convert either as a standalone academy, or as a multi-academy trust – either by joining an existing MAT or setting up a new one.

Priestley college hopes to launch The Challenge academy trust from next April, and currently has two secondaries and one primary signed up. It is also in talks with a further three secondaries and two primaries.

Principal Matthew Grant told FE Week: “Money is tight and we don’t think it is going to get any easier, therefore we want to work together with other schools to make efficiencies, share resources and expertise.”

Colleges currently pay an average of £317,000 per year in VAT; conversion would save Priestley college about £250,000 a year.

But Mr Grant said the move was “mainly about improving education across Warrington”.

Rochdale sixth form college is proposing to set up Altus Education Partnership from next February.

The multi-academy trust would provide “high quality educational support, improvement and governance to schools within the area local to Rochdale,” according to a public consultation published on the college’s website.

New College Pontefract is set to become part of the New Collaborative Learning Trust, which will include New College Doncaster and New College Bradford when they open in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Pauline Hagen, principal of New College Pontefract, said ensuring that all three institutions shared the same “legal rights and benefits” was a “tremendously important part of our plans for raising the quality of post-16 education across the region”.

Meanwhile, Hereford sixth form college is planning on becoming a single academy trust.

A consultation on its website said there would be “no change” in the character or ethos of the college and it would keep its name.

“As a single academy trust we would establish formal links with local 11 to 16 schools to develop shared approaches to quality assurance, shared staffing, professional development and resources,” the consultation said.

“The ability to reclaim VAT payments will provide additional funding of between £200,000 to £300,000 annually, which will be used to improve provision for students.”

The first conversion could be as soon as January, with applications for both Hereford and New College Pontefract being reviewed by the Department for Education and their relevant regional schools commissioner.

First two national colleges open their doors to students

The first two of five planned new government-backed national colleges have opened their doors to students, after £80 million was allocated by the government for their development.

Apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon was guest of honour at Tuesday’s official opening ceremony for the National College for Digital Skills, in Tottenham Hale.

A spokesperson said it had taken on 58 students aged 16 to 19, and the aim is “to equip them with the skillsets, mindsets and networks to thrive in tomorrow’s workplace”.

The institution, also known as Ada, has so far received £18.2 million from the London Local Enterprise Partnership’s Further Education Capital Fund and £13.4 million off the Government.

The National College for the Creative and Cultural Industries, based in Purfleet, Essex, which was allocated £5.5m from the public purse, opened to students last month.

It currently only has 16 students and no website, but a spokesperson said this would be up and running by the full brand launch in March.

Principal Jane Button told FE Week: “Students [studying for a level four diploma in technical and production] will learn from industry professionals in real working environments.

The aim is “to equip them with the skillsets, mindsets and networks to thrive in tomorrow’s workplace”

“The work placement element of the course gives a direct line of sight to employment. Our network of industry employers gives opportunities such as the Southbank Centre.”

A college spokesperson added in response to being questioned about the website that “a microsite [not full website] will be launched in the coming weeks”.

Mr Halfon said after the National College for Digital Skills launch: “The young people I met will be the digital innovators of tomorrow. They’ll benefit from top quality training and leading industry work experience. It was excellent to see the remarkable work that the college is doing.”

FE Week reported in December that business proposals for seven different employer-led National Colleges had been considered — but only five were given the go-ahead by the government following due diligence checks.

The breakdown of how much was cash was going to each of the five new national colleges was confirmed five months later.

It was revealed that the National College for High Speed Rail, which is set to open next September and will be located in Birmingham and Doncaster, would receive around £40m for the construction of new buildings and equipment.

The Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, visited the building site for the Birmingham campus two weeks ago, to witness the completion of the building’s main flat roof.

He said: “The UK is highly regarded for its engineering capabilities but we need to do more to attract new talent to the sector as well as improving the skills of the current workforce.

“The National College for High Speed Rail is a vital part of these plans as it will provide the cutting-edge skills we need to deliver HS2 and other world-beating infrastructure.”

It was also confirmed in May that the National College for Nuclear, in Somerset and Cumbria, was to get £15m off the government for buildings and equipment, together with a further £3m from the South West LEP and £4.5m from Bridgwater College. This is set to open next academic year.

The Blackpool and The Fylde College-affiliated National College for Onshore Oil and Gas, set to receive £6m, was also expected to open in 2016/17. But plans are understood to have stalled since Theresa May became prime minister, while they wait to see what level of support her government gives to fracking in the coming months.

Lack of assessment organisations ‘disrespectful’ to apprentices

A former top skills civil servant has turned on “diabolical” government planners, after exclusive FE Week analysis showed there are no approved awarding organisations for over 40 per cent of learner starts on new apprenticeship standards.

Number crunching of government data published this month showed this applies to 1,790 (42 per cent) out of the total number or starts (4,240) so far on the employer-developed programmes.

The revelation provoked scathing criticism from Dr Sue Pember, who stood down as the civil service head of further education and skills investment in February 2013, with the government also admitting there’s a problem.

It’s a serious issue because apprentices on the standards, which will gradually replace old frameworks, will have to pass end-point assessments for the first time.

They must be carried out by organisations that have been cleared for the task by the government, on the Skills Funding Agencies register of apprentice assessment organisations.

But as well as the startling figure for learners, our analysis also highlighted 33 standards with at least one start but no-one assigned to run their crucial tests.

Dr Pember said: “It is diabolical to let an apprentice start a programme, without explaining not only what the end test will contain, but where it will be, what shape it will take and who will be the organisation to oversee and manage the process.”

The Department for Education admitted on Thursday (October 13) that it is struggling to recruit enough of these assessment organisations.

“We know there is more work to be done to ensure we have the range and breadth of high quality assessment organisations we need,” the spokesman said.

“That is why we are working with the Skills Funding Agency to raise awareness of the register and encourage more assessment organisations to sign up.”

He added the level of demand for a standard was “one of the factors that will be taken into account when it comes up for review”.

“On top of this, we now require all groups of employers bidding to develop a standard to commit themselves to using it,” the spokesperson added.

The government has so far fully-approved 147 standards.

However, the October Statistical First Release reveals only 56 standards attracted one or more apprenticeship start by July, despite over 100 being available at the time. And of the 56 standards, a massive 59 per cent (the 33 highlighted above) still has no approved assessment organisation.

The government’s struggle to get to grips with the problem is being further exasperated because some of the assessment organisations are only allowed to operate in limited parts of the country.

Training 2000 Ltd and Leicester College are, for example, limited to the North West and West Midlands respectively.

FE Week has also got confirmation that at least two approved assessment organisations for the most popular standard, the level two property maintenance operative – which had attracted 650 learner starts by July – are not yet ready to deliver assessments (see boxout).

Dr Pember, who is currently director of policy for adult learning provider membership body Holex, joined the then-Department for Education and Skills in 2000 as director of adult basic skills strategy, before rapidly rising through the civil service ranks to the role of head of further education and skills investment by 2007.

She worked under ten FE and skills ministers and eight secretaries of state before leaving the civil service six years later.

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) annual conference in June saw her previously speaking out on the issue of assessment.

She told delegates at the time: “I think it’s really morally wrong to start an apprentice on a programme when you don’t know how they are going to be tested at the end.

“You wouldn’t start somebody on the equivalent of an A-level without knowing the assessment at the end.”

Here’s what Dr Sue said in full:

do think it is diabolical to let an apprentice start a programme without explaining not only what the end test will contain, but where it will be, what shape it will take and who will be the organisation to oversee and manage the process.

The learning process around skills acquisition is made up of four parts -instruction/teaching, learning, practice and feedback and assessment.

When you start splitting this up it is not easy to ensure quality, trainers are not able to ensure the trainee is covering the right material and it becomes very ineffective for the apprentice.

Also, there will be a prestige and credibility element to the end assessment organisation that shouldn’t be ignored.

No-one will want to spend two/three years following a programme only to end up being assessed by a back street assessment provider who has no credibility with the sector and was only chosen because they were cheap.

The client (the apprentice) needs to know who is assessing before they join that apprenticeship programme.
And then I am worried about the equality issues, for example:

1. Someone with dyslexia may not want to do a programme if it relies just on written tests, if he or she knew that before they started they would make a judgement on whether the programme was right for them;

2. A single mum may not want to do a programme if it means going away and leaving her children for two days to go to an offsite centre. Again, if she knew this before she started, then she would probably look for another type of an apprenticeship.

I just don’t think apprentices are being given the respect they deserve. They will be giving up two/three years of their lives, will be expected to work hard, and for many the salary will be low. They need to know the facts before they start.

If this was HE there would be uproar – “Come to our prestigious university, we don’t know how we going to do the end assessment, but it won’t be with us and probably it will be with someone you have not heard from of, and by the way you won’t be getting qualification from us, but a certificate that’s going to come from some government quango, that might not be in existence by the time you have finished your programme!!”