The inspection regime is being tightened up by Ofsted to keep track on rocketing numbers of college mergers.

Ofsted uploaded its revised skills inspection handbook, to apply from September, on gov.uk this morning.

The only reference to mergers in the old handbook stressed that newly joined-together colleges would “normally be inspected as a new provider within three years”.

The new document clarifies that that newly merged colleges will “normally” receive a “full inspection” within the same time period.

This, it adds, will apply to any kind of merger between colleges and the new institution will not be graded until it has had its full inspection.

The changes come in response to a huge escalation in the number of mergers being encouraged through the nationwide programme of post-16 education area reviews launched last September – with nine partnerships involving 20 colleges finalised yesterday alone.

The updated handbook stresses that “a newly merged college will not carry forward any inspection grades from predecessor colleges”.

But it is a different story for sixth form colleges converting to become 16 to 19 academies, which it says will be inspected in accordance with their most recent overall effectiveness grade as a sixth form college.

The updated handbook also goes into detail about monitering and support arrangements.

“Any newly merged college or other provider deemed as a new provider may receive a monitoring visit or support and challenge visit to assess risk,” the handbook said. “Risk concerns arising from this or other sources could give rise to an earlier full inspection.”

Ofsted also stressed that it “may carry out such [support and challenge] visits where a provider has a new type of provision, such as new fulltime college provision for 14- to 16-year-olds”.

Mergers confirmed yesterday included those between Hackney Community College and Tower Hamlets College, City and Islington College and Westminster Kingsway College, and Shrewsbury College and Shrewsbury Sixth Form College.

Bexley College and Greenwich Community College formally merged with Bromley College, while South Worcestershire College also confirmed yesterday it was now part of the Warwickshire College Group, South Leicestershire College and North Warwickshire and Hinckley College completed their merger, and Barrow Sixth Form College linked up with Furness College.

A merger between New College Nottingham and Central College Nottingham was also due to complete yesterday, but neither was able to confirm this ahead of publication.

These came on top of three other mergers since the turn of the year.

Rotherham College of Technology and North Nottinghamshire College formed the RNN Group on February 1, Prior Pursglove College and Stockton Sixth Form College joined forces to become Prior Pursglove and Stockton Sixth Form College on April 1, and Bridgwater College and Somerset College merged on June 15.

Friends and colleagues of former Leeds City College and Stockport College principal Peter Roberts CBE came together for the unveiling of a plaque in his memory.

The ceremony took place at the college’s Printworks Campus on Saturday (July 30) to remember the widely-respected FE figure, who passed away on New Year’s Eve aged 60.

The father-of-two was the first principal of Leeds City College and retired from there at the end of September last year after six years in the post.

Mr Roberts was previously in charge at Stockport College for seven years, before joining Leeds in 2009, and was chair of the 157 Group from 2012 to 2014.

Among the guests at the plaque unveiling were current principal of Leeds City College, Colin Booth OBE, former governor Neil McLean CBE, chair of governors, Dr Shaid Mahmood, and former executive assistant to Peter Roberts, Sara Porter.

Dr Mahmood made a poignant speech, during which he said: “What struck me most about Peter was his humility and compassion.

“His passion for learning and making a real positive difference to the lives of others became a powerful driving force for him.

“Peter’s hard work, dedication, foresight and vision have been valued and cherished by all of us and I’m really honoured to unveil this plaque in his memory.”

The plaque will now be on display in the main boardroom at the Printworks Campus.

Mr Roberts collected a CBE for services to FE in October last year.

He told FE Week in a profile interview published in January 2013 how his career in education started in the late 1970s, teaching PE and economics at West Derby comprehensive in Liverpool.

He left the school in 1983 to become a lecturer in leisure and recreation at Stannington College, in Sheffield, and eventually went on to be elected chair of 157 Group in December 2012.

Sector figures paid warm tribute to Mr Roberts, stressing his passion for FE, success as a leader, kindness, and sense of humour, in January.

Among them was Sarah Robinson OBE, chair of the 157 Group, who said: “Peter chaired the 157 Group from 2012 to 2014 and was never afraid to challenge, provoke thought and influence change.

“He worked tirelessly for the good of FE with genuine concern for students.”

After the turmoil of recent months 2016’s silly season has finally rolled around, heralded by the Skills Funding Agency’s (SFA) choice to brand one of its newest teams ‘PRAt’.

FE Week was today made aware of the unfortunate label, which has so far not been made public. 

An SFA spokesperson told FE Week: “The establishment of the Funding Agencies Shared Services Team (FAS²T) on April 1, 2016 saw the SFA Provider Financial Management and Assurance team merge with the Education Funding Agency (EFA) Risk Analysis Division to form a single entity, Provider Risk and Assurance.

“The team provides financial assurance to the EFA and SFA accounting officer and an assurance statement to support the chief executive’s governance statement.

“The team monitors the financial health of learning institutions, and manages the financial relationship with these bodies.”

The establishment of the team highlights the agencies’ recent efforts to work more closely, ahead of a likely merger following the announcement that the Department for Education had taken responsibility for the SFA from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.

Peter Lauener, who was made joint boss of the both the EFA and SFA in October 2014, spoke to FE Week editor Nick Linford exclusively in February, about the possibility of more shared work.

He said: “At some point we may come back to question of whether there should be a merged agency, but that is actually a matter for the two parent departments.

“I’m quite happy to operate in the way they ask me to. If it comes to joining up the agencies completely, then that will be absolutely fine.”

N.B. FE Week can confirm that this article is neither a late or early April fools’ – despite the PRAt perhaps wishing it was!

A four-way college link-up is one of three new major merger plans to have been unveiled— as eight partnerships involving 18 colleges were finalised today.

The multiple merger, resulting from the Cheshire and Warrington area review, involves Mid Cheshire College, West Cheshire College, South Cheshire College and Warrington Collegiate.

All the colleges involved confirmed today that they plan to join forces and FE Commissioner Sir David Collins, who chaired the area review, said: “The [resulting] merged college can, through its collective strengths, ensure consistency of quality as well as sustainability and resilience against the challenges faced by all colleges.”

This comes after former Mid-Cheshire College principal Richard Hollywood stepped down in early June as the institution’s Ofsted rating tumbled from outstanding to inadequate – days after the departure of both the principal and vice principal of West Cheshire College.

Amersham and Wycombe College has also announced plans to join forces with nearby Aylesbury College. Both were part of the Thames Valley area review.

Amersham and Wycombe saw its Ofsted rating drop to inadequate in July, with grave concerns raised over its leaderships and governance.

Edward Weiss, who was appointed chair at the college after previous chair Jenese Joseph stepped down in June, said: “We all recognise the advantages of having one FE college in Buckinghamshire and we will be working towards it very positively.”

Karen Mitchell, principal of Aylesbury College, said the merger would “create a larger, more capable and resilient organisation”.

South Staffordshire College and Walsall College also confirmed they are in talks about a possible merger, despite being involved with separate area reviews — Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, and the Black Country.

Meanwhile, Hackney Community College and Tower Hamlets College have today joined forces, although both will keep their own names.

Former Tower Hamlets principal Gerry McDonald is now group principal and chief executive, with Lois Fowler principal at Hackney and Alison Arnaud in charge at Tower Hamlets.

City and Islington College and Westminster Kingsway College also formally merged today, with the interim name WKCIC Group.

Former Westminster Kingsway principal Andy Wilson is now chief executive of the WKCIC, with Kim Caplin principal at Westminster Kingsway, and Anna Douglas as principal at City and Islington.

Bexley College and Greenwich Community College have formally merged with Bromley College to create London South East Colleges, and will be led by Sam Parrett OBE.

South Worcestershire College also confirmed it is now part of the Warwickshire College Group – but as two individual colleges, Evesham College and Malvern Hills College.

South Leicestershire College and North Warwickshire and Hinckley College have also completed their merger today, having been in federation since 2013.

Shrewsbury College joined forces with Shrewsbury SFC, with Lyn Surgeon taking up the role of interim principal and chief executive of the newly-merged college.

And Barrow SFC has linked up with Furness College, with Andrew Wren at the helm.

Meanwhile a merger planned for today between Bournville College and South and City College has been delayed.

The two colleges will instead form a federation, with South and City principal Mike  Hopkins in charge of both, until the merger completes – which is expected to be in early 2017, a spokesperson for Bournville College said.

A merger between New College Nottingham and Central College Nottingham was also due to complete today, as previously reported by FE Week, but a spokesperson for Central College Nottingham told FE Week it had been delayed.

The responsibilities of newly appointed minister Robert Halfon have yet to be officially announced, raising concerns from the sector that this could mean yet more delays to policy guidance. 

Over a week since Mr Halfon’s appointment, the Department for Education (DfE) website still lists him only as “Minister of State”, and does not clarify whether he will definitely take up a skills brief in his new cabinet post. 

Responding to this lack of clarification, a spokesperson for the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said: “Training providers need to get on with the job of explaining the levy reforms to their employers, so if the lack of confirmation of the ministerial responsibilities is holding the announcements up, we hope the matter is resolved as quickly as possible.”

On July 19 the minister himself tweeted about his new role, saying that he had been given responsibility for “Apprentices and Skills”:

Delighted to have been given brief of Minister of State for Apprentices & Skills by SoS @JustineGreening at @educationgovuk

— Robert Halfon (@halfon4harlowMP) July 19, 2016

But in response to an FE Week enquiry into the remit of Mr Halfon’s role, a DfE spokesperson said that the new ministerial portfolios had not yet been announced and the department was unable to confirm when this would be done.

She refused to comment on the minister’s celebratory tweet or to confirm whether it was accurate.

The DfE has also told FE Week that Mr Halfon will not be doing any interviews until September.

Recent developments may make the induction period a difficult time for Mr Halfon, with updates to information about the apprenticeship levy already late, and the Confederation of British Industry calling for the levy to be delayed.

However, the minister does have experience in the area, and was the first MP to have an apprentice working with them in parliament.

On July 25, he hired his fourth apprentice through Harlow College, in his constituency. 

Thrilled to have hired my 4th apprentice, Owen! Massive thanks to Superior Roofing & @HarlowCollege 4 their support pic.twitter.com/FrjZViQH7c

— Robert Halfon (@halfon4harlowMP) July 25, 2016

On his website Mr Halfon writes that his former apprentices have each “gone on to great success”, either continuing their education at university or moving into a job in the House of Lords.

 

Updated guidance on the apprenticeship levy which was due out in June may now be postponed until September, FE Week understands.

FE Week submitted an enquiry to the Department for Education (DfE) about a potential change to the release date – which would be the second delay so far – but the DfE refused to confirm or deny the prospect.

Instead a government spokesperson said: “As businesses adapt and seize opportunities in the coming years, having a workforce with the skills to succeed will be more important than ever.

“That is why we’re committed to creating three million high quality apprenticeships by 2020 and why we have just published a dedicated skills plan to ensure our workforce is world leading.

“We are introducing the apprenticeship levy so that businesses have the talent they need to grow and thrive. We will continue to work closely with businesses of all sizes to design the levy around their needs and the need of their employees.”

Former skills minister Nick Boles had previously promised that the additional information would be available “well before the summer break”, when speaking at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers annual conference on June 27.  

He told delegates at the conference that there would be just a “little delay” to the update, following the British public’s decision to leave the European Union, but that they should “work on the assumption” that the introduction of the apprenticeship levy itself would still happened “as planned,” in April 2017. 

He said: “We had planned to be published further detailed information about the pricing of specific apprenticeship standards in the next few days.

“I’m sure you will understand that is now going to be a little delayed, but only a little we still expect to get that information out well before the summer break.”

Postponing the release of the additional details until September will mean a second missed deadline, while employers and providers are eager to move forward with their preparations for the levy’s introduction next year.

Meanwhile it has been ‘all change’ at the Department for Education (DfE), with the appointment of the both the new education secretary Justine Greening, and Robert Halfon, whose official title has yet to be confirmed.

On June 14, it was also announced that the DfE would take over responsibility for FE, skills and higher education, from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS).

A spokesperson for Number 10 told FE Week at the time: “The DfE has taken on responsibility for higher and further education policy as well as apprenticeship and wider skills policy from BIS.”

In a press statement, Number 10 also said that “bringing these responsibilities together will mean that the government can take a comprehensive, end-to-end view of skills and education, supporting people from early years through to postgraduate study and work”.

The statement from Number 10 confirmed that staff from BIS who are working on higher and further education policy, apprenticeships and skills will transfer to the DfE.

In light of these new developments, it is likely that the new administration is taking its time over how to proceed with the reforms.

But despite this hold up, FE Week understands that there are still no plans to delay the implementation of the levy itself from April next year.

On July 19, the Confederation of British Industry unveiled the results of a survey with nearly 500 companies showing widespread concern about the rushed design of the levy.

When subsequently asked by FE Week asked if it wanted Mr Halfon to delay beyond the planned April next year launch date, a spokesperson for the CBI said “yes”.

That went a step further than Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the confederation, was prepared to go in her interview with editor Nick Linford two months ago — when she would only say that “delay is certainly an option”.

 

Apprenticeships have secured a place on the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) early autumn programme of work this year.

They feature among ten topics for the committee’s inquiries in September and October, which have been published on the parliament.uk website.

Other areas for inquiry include child protection and the financial sustainability of local government.

The decision comes at a pivotal time for the FE and skills sector, as it grapples with delays to further information on the introduction of the apprenticeship levy and the new minister for apprenticeships and skills, Robert Halfon, bedding into his role.

FE Week requested the specific reasons behind the committee’s choice to look into apprenticeships at this time, but a spokesperson said it was not possible to provide further details at this stage.

However, this will not be the PAC’s first investigation into the government’s apprenticeship programme.

In January last year the PAC published a report into 16- to 18-year-old participation in education and training, which addressed the topic of apprenticeships.

At the time, then chair of the committee Margaret Hodge said: “We welcome the increase in longer apprenticeships available to young people.

“However, it is disappointing that the total number of new apprentices aged 16 to 18 fell last year.

“It is important to ensure that smaller businesses can be helped to offer quality apprenticeships too.”

The PAC had also published a report on adult apprenticeships back in May 2012.

Commenting on this report at the time, Ms Hodge said: “The apprenticeship programme has been a success.

“The department has done very well in raising the number of adult apprenticeships, which more than quadrupled in the four years to 2010/11.

“The  proportion of adult apprentices who successfully completed their apprenticeship also rose, to more than three-quarters in 2010/11 compared with just a third six years before.”

However, she added that more could be done to maximise the programme’s impact.

Ms Hodge raised concerns about the number of short training programmes classified as apprenticeships – which she said could “devalue” apprenticeships.

Following this, the government confirmed that adult apprenticeships would last a minimum of six months and normally at least 12 months.

Ms Hodge also queried the amount and quality of training some apprentices were receiving, and recommended more attention be given to ensuring apprenticeships were cost effective.

Just prior to this, in February 2012, the National Audit Office (NAO) published a report on adult apprenticeships.

Amyas Morse, then head of the NAO, commented at the time: “The apprenticeships programme has been providing a good return for public spending.

“Nevertheless, the department should set its sights higher in order to get better value from the £0.5 billion and rising now spent on adult apprenticeships each year.

“It needs to target resources more effectively; confirm the training provided is in addition to what would have been provided without public support; and make sure that the funding system is informed by robust information on the cost of delivery.”

The NAO is currently revisiting the topic, in a study looking at the management of the apprenticeship programme by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), and whether it has facilitated the delivery of high quality skills training that meets the needs of employers and the economy.

The results of this research have yet to be published.

The parliamentary Sub-Committee on Education, Skills and the Economy is also carrying out an inquiry into apprenticeships at present.

The inquiry was launched in February to explore areas such as how to achieve the government’s target of three million apprentices by 2020, and how the apprenticeship levy will be implemented.

In June the committee took oral evidence from a range of speakers including Lady Alison Wolf; Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers; and a range of employers.

A spokesperson for the committee told FE Week that the inquiry is continuing as planned, despite the recent cabinet reshuffle and decision to pass responsibility for FE and higher education from BIS to the Department for Education.

He added that there will be more evidence sessions in the autumn and the final report is likely to be released in December.

 

The first three members of the Chartered Institution for Further Education have been unveiled.

Hawk Training, Blackpool and The Fylde College, and Bridgwater College will each pay £8,000 to join the membership body for “high-performing” FE colleges and training providers.

The institution was granted chartered status in October last year and has been open to members which are rated outstanding or good by Ofsted and in receipt of public funding from the Skills Funding Agency since November.

Approval from the Queen via the Privy Council was announced in June.

It costs £5,000 a year to be a member, and colleges and training providers joining for the first time also have to pay a £3,000 non-refundable fee to join the institution, which is propped up by almost £1m in government funding.

Membership will supposedly allow providers to come together and “promote, recognise and celebrate their professionalism and success”.

Another planned benefit will be using the institution’s logo, but not the one designed by FE learner Lisa Cassidy in 2013, which was dropped earlier this year.

Lord Lingfield, who leads the organisation along with Burton and South Derbyshire College Dawn Ward and sociologist Chris Jenks, hailed the announcement of the inaugural members as the “next step along the path of creating the further education sector’s first chartered body”.

He said all three organisations had passed a “rigorous process” which had “confirmed their position as leading performers in the sector”.

“I look forward to working with them to begin driving forward professionalism in FE,” he added.

Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, congratulated two of his members – Blackpool and The Fylde College and Hawk Training – on their appointment, but said it was important to recognise there were “many other providers” who were outstanding in terms of their Ofsted grades or their FE choices ratings.

“Achieving chartered status is voluntary but it represents another opportunity to demonstrate a commitment to excellence as part of the sector’s key role in driving improved productivity throughout the economy,” he said.

Mike Robbins, principal of Bridgwater College, said it had long been his college’s vision to be “a world-class education and training organisation”, and said membership of the institution “recognises and celebrates our professionalism and success”.

Crawford Knott, managing director of Hawk Training, said he saw becoming the first independent learning provider founder member of the institution as “an integral part of maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and quality in further education”.

Bev Robinson, Blackpool and The Fylde College’s principal, said the privilege of being invited to be a founding member distinguished the college “as a leading provider of high quality further and higher technical and professional education and training”.

“We look forward to working proactively with the institution to promote its mission of advocating high quality provision across the sector,” she said.