A London-based public relations training firm has received top grades in its first full Ofsted inspection.
In a glowing report by the watchdog published this morning, Public Relations Communications Association (PRCA) was awarded an ‘outstanding’ in all areas for its strong employer engagement and “exceptional” leadership.
The training arm of the PR professional membership body has been contracted to deliver level four public relations and communications assistant apprenticeships since September 2022.
At the time of its January 8 to 10 inspection, it had 31 adult apprentices enrolled, working at marketing companies and PR consultancies and agencies across England.
The “exceptional” leaders at the ITP provide “outstanding” education, training and support to apprentices, inspectors said.
According to the report, leaders have “enhanced” how they monitor apprenticeship provision since its monitoring visit in September 2023 and collaborate with board members and staff for a “secure oversight and implementation”.
The independent training provider has created three “useful” phases for apprentices to learn the fundamentals of public relations; from learning the PR tools and working with clients before learning how to pitch stories. Finally, they manage their own campaigns and understand crisis and regulation management.
“As a result, apprentices gradually build an in-depth knowledge of the PR industry and conduct activities professionally,” the report said.
This gradual learning comes from a “well-structured” training plan, developed by training coaches and employers with extensive experience and knowledge.
The report said coaches and employers work “extremely well” to thoroughly prepare apprentices for taking on new responsibilities at work.
Ofsted also praised the approach where apprentices shadow colleagues before holding client meetings by themselves so that they can feel confident.
Inspectors noted the “highly effective” techniques to teach the curriculum, which includes discussions, case studies and high-quality presentations.
One example asks apprentices to conduct mock phone calls to journalists which prepares them for doing this at work.
Apprentices are also given immediate developmental feedback in sessions and are guided through the content and structure of their assignments.
Ofsted inspectors commended apprentices for their “positive” attitudes to training and their “exceptional” personal development, confidence and resilience.
PRCA CEO Sarah Waddington said: “This outstanding rating is testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, our trainers, and our apprentices. I’m grateful to them all.
“Our apprenticeship programme is designed to provide industry-leading training that equips professionals with the skills and confidence to excel in PR, public affairs and communications. It provides an accessible pathway to the sector and aids social mobility, supporting one of the PRCA’s strategic goals of being inclusive by default.
“We are immensely proud of this achievement and remain committed to delivering excellence in apprenticeship education.”
Wigan & Leigh college principal Anna Dawe demonstrates how collaboration is power if regions are to fully harness the opportunities offered by devolution
Much of Anna Dawe’s further education career has been “coloured” by the idea that colleges compete against each other in a “highly competitive market”.
Years ago, she recalls colleges paying for adverts on the back of buses and around towns that boasted their achievement rate topped those of rivals.
But not these days.
She has just come off a call “chewing the cud” with eight fellow Greater Manchester principals. Dawe, chair of the group, describes their relationship as “supportive” and credits devolution for their “distinctly increased levels of collaboration”.
That wasn’t the case when she joined Wigan & Leigh College a decade ago. At the time, Greater Manchester was going through an area-review process, with the combined authority at loggerheads with colleges over merger proposals.
Arthur Wasse’s picture depicting Wigan’s female miners – the college, initially built for miners’ education, owns the painting
Wigan & Leigh was once a mining college. Dawe proudly shows me a painting displayed in the reception of the college’s main building of local pit brow lasses.
The college’s motto, “So out of darkness comes light”, reflects the image, and also Dawe’s own career path, during which she has helped lead successive colleges out of their darkest times.
Life in HE
She has done so with a willingness to buck national trends to meet community needs – doubling 16-to-18 apprenticeships provision at a time when others were pulling back, and currently fully embracing T Levels.
Dawe’s collaborative ethos extends to schools and HE partners too. Her college runs a 14-to-16 programme to get elective home educated teenagers re-familiarised with mainstream education, and she sits on the University of Manchester’s governing board.
I didn’t appreciate the skills required of a governor
Seeing things from the “other side of the fence” as a board member is hugely revealing, she says.
“Until I’d walked in the shoes of a governor, I didn’t have a full appreciation of the skills required. And you don’t know HE as well as you think until you’re there. It wakes you up that you’ve still so much learning to bring back to your own leadership.”
Wigan & Leigh’s history timeline that covers an entire wall with artefacts
Dawe chose to carve her career as a young law lecturer in FE rather than HE.
After studying law at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, half an hour up the road from her hometown of Blackpool, she took a law master’s at Sheffield University “to put off making the decision about becoming a solicitor”.
Aged 22, she started teaching law at her university and GCSE law at Sheffield College. She preferred the FE classes.
“I’d come out of those classes with a real buzz,” she recalls. “You could see those learners grow in confidence and stature over the year.”
After beginning a PHD but growing “tired of academic work”, she opted to teach full-time at Calderdale College in Halifax, West Yorks.
Dawe was living in Merseyside with her two young children when she accepted a head of department role at Tameside College. Aged 32, in 2003, she became an assistant principal. She moved to Riverside College five years later to be closer to home.
Riverside had formed from a merger of Halton College and Widnes and Runcorn Sixth Form College two years earlier, so it had never been inspected. Seven months after she arrived, Ofsted rated it grade four.
“It was devastating to see the impact it had on colleagues,” Dawe says.
Anna Dawe speaking at an event
Darkest days
But the verdict was a catalyst for change. Mike Sheehan was brought in from grade one-Runshaw College in Leyland, Lancs, and what Dawe learned from him shaped her as a leader.
These were her “darkest days” and Dawe put “everything I could” into Riverside. But curiously, after the college had progressed on its turnaround journey (it was rated grade two in 2010, and again in 2015), she admits “boredom” set in.
“You spend years wanting a peaceful life, wanting the college to get where it should, and then you go, ‘is that it?’,” she says.
Relishing the prospect of a “new roller-coaster ride”, Dawe followed Sheehan to Wigan & Leigh College which had “fallen on hard times” in terms of finances and quality.
Ofsted inspectors arrived during her first week and bumped it from grade two to three. Dawe was “quite pleased” with the judgement which “could have been worse”.
She credits Sheehan for the “heavy lifting” needed for significant change. But after he decided to move on, it was not an obvious choice for her to step into his shoes.
Dawe “loved that closeness to the students” she gained from being involved in curriculum development as an assistant and then vice principal, and worried she would become bored as principal.
But she did not relish the prospect of a stranger stepping in and potentially derailing their improvement plans.
So the decision was made, and after working a stint as interim leader she applied for the post and “never looked back”.
Wigan & Leigh was given a grade two in 2016 which was a “good springboard for staff to know we were on the right trajectory”. More importantly for Dawe, the improvement was recognised by the local community.
The college had been “losing learners it should have had”, but as it “found its place again and began to do what it should be doing, they came back to their local college”.
Wigan & Leigh has since doubled its student numbers (to 4,100) and turnover from £25 million to £50 million.
Wigan & Leigh College on a sunny day in January
Apprenticeship growth
The college appeals to Dawe because it is “general FE in its richest sense”, providing 16 to 18, adult education, apprenticeships and higher education. She says she was determined to ensure that despite its financial challenges, the college should “sustain that breadth of work”.
That meant continuing to provide apprenticeships when they were judged ‘requires improvement’ while the rest of the college was graded ‘good’.
While common sense was telling her to close the apprenticeships division, which “would have been easier to maintain a healthy Ofsted grade”, she also knew “this borough thrives on apprenticeships”.
Dawe tells me apprenticeships were “almost seen as a side part of the college and not central” to it, but says: “It doesn’t matter whether 16 to 18 is the bulk of your funding. Every single learner is as important as the others.”
Wigan & Leigh initially shrank its 2,000 strong apprenticeships offer to focus on quality, then rebuilt it to 2,500 apprentices, increasing income from the schemes from £4.6 million in 2016 to £8.7 million this year. Its age 16 to 18 cohort has grown 47 per cent since 2021 during a period of decline nationally.
Wigan also bucks the trend for NEET (not in education, employment or training) numbers; the NEET ratio was 7 per cent in November for Wigan, compared to 10 per cent regionally and around 13 per cent nationally.
Dawe believes NEET trajectories would have been worse had BTECs not been given a defunding reprieve.
A loss of Wigan & Leigh’s BTEC in health and social care would have “halved the numbers overnight” of prospective health and social care workers “at a time when the NHS workforce plan requires them”, she says.
Anna Dawe with one of her patient mannequins
T Level trouble
Dawe ushers me into a health T Level workshop, where a row of mannequin ‘patients’ lie in hospital beds with seemingly anguished expressions. She grimaces, “convinced” that “one day, one of them will get up and walk to my office, like something from Doctor Who”.
The principal is a fan of T Levels, which have been “highly successful” at Wigan & Leigh; over 200 students are taking them. But she believes they are over-assessed compared to A-levels, “in some cases, asking for far too much”.
If a young person fails one A-level, they typically still “walk out” with two others, whereas with T Levels, “if you fail any part over two years, you fail the whole qualification”, she says.
In 2023-24 only 0.2 per cent of T Level entrants got the highest grade (distinction*). If that percentage of young people got A*s in A-levels, Dawe believes “there’d be a national outcry”.
She “fed this back” through government channels but was told “there has to be rigour” in T Levels. She retorts that as an educationalist, she is “all for rigour”, but “there’s a point at which you have to be pragmatic”.
Dawe sees T Levels as “the technical level three pathway” but over-assessment is “making it harder for young people who sometimes don’t have maths and English, and that was their pathway”.
She adds: “It’s taken the pathway from the very kids that level three technical education was meant for, and reshaped it into another pathway for someone who can do A-levels.”
Dawe would like to see “tweaks and changes” made to the qualification rather than a full-scale overhaul, and despairs that when a new curriculum is introduced in FE, it is not properly impact assessed.
“We tend to kind of just throw the baby out with the bathwater and bring something new in – it’s very difficult to keep a curriculum updated when the [structure] is permanently changing,” she says.
Anna Dawe in her office
Collaboration applauded
Dawe tells me the combined authority has worked with the college to secure T Level work placements from employers, which is an onerous task due to their duration.
For the first time in her FE career she is hearing a politician (mayor Andy Burnham) “stand up” and say that “technical education is as important [as academic]”.
And Dawe is proud that Wigan & Leigh got a mention in the recent devolution white paper, for its work with the combined authority and Kraft Heinz in applying “flexed AEB funding” to “address a productivity-limiting skills gap”.
The white paper says Greater Manchester identified AEB eligibility for 17,000 more residents enrolling on over 28,000 learning aims that “wouldn’t have been accessible under national eligibility”. Dawe credits devolution for enabling Wigan & Leigh to do “much more bespoke employer work”.
But it hasn’t all been plain sailing with the combined authority. Initially, discussions “presented quite a lot of challenges” because the college was used to seeing the AEB as its own – a case of “I’ll use it how I want, thank you”.
Devolution means the college can be “more creative” with AEB funding. Dawe and her fellow Greater Manchester principals “sit and talk” about how they are spending it, which never happened previously.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham
Burnham’s single pot
But there are plenty more changes in the pipeline.
Dawe says Wigan & Leigh will “absolutely” benefit from Burnham’s Greater Manchester Baccalaureate, or MBacc, offering school pupils a suite of technical subjects to better prepare them for FE and the workforce.
And Burnham will soon get his hands on a single consolidated budget, giving him the power to channel AEB funding into potentially vote-winning transport projects if he chooses.
Although Dawe does not see this as a threat, she does “worry” that much of the dialogue from Greater Manchester around skills is centred around 16 to 18 initiatives rather than adult education, which “just can’t take any more cuts”.
“It’s a great shame, because the value in FE is all its component parts,” she adds. “We focus on what seems to be the flavour of the day, and that’s never changed.”
FE is often viewed as the less glamorous sibling of Higher Education (HE). But recent shifts in the education landscape suggest FE may be gaining traction as an attractive sector for leaders seeking purpose, clarity, and impact.
Higher Education is navigating one of its toughest periods. Its leaders face immense pressure as institutions grapple with funding challenges and workforce instability. That is combined with the sector’s growing international focus. While rewarding for some, this trend leaves others yearning for a more localised or UK impact. As a result, we’ve seen an increasing number of professionals reevaluating their career paths.
Stability and Security
The recent reclassification of colleges into the public sector has diluted some of the financial volatility that previously plagued FE, although it is still victim to funding changes. While not immune to economic pressures, institutions now benefit from a little more stability and reduced commercial risk. This shift is particularly appealing to leaders in HE who may be weary of constant restructuring and redundancies.
Proximity to HE and the Skills Agenda
The boundaries between HE and FE have never been closer. Regulatory bodies and inspectorates such as the Office for Students and Ofsted are increasingly overlapping in their oversight, particularly as universities expand into apprenticeship provision. This convergence has highlighted the strategic importance of skills development, a core purpose of FE. Boards within colleges are also recognising the value of HE representation, creating opportunities for HE leaders to influence at the board level, as well as considering those with an HE background for senior roles. Greater recognition from HE about the importance of FE representation on their boards would be welcomed.
High Performance and Career Growth
FE institutions are achieving their best-ever Ofsted ratings, reflecting a period of high performance across the sector. Mergers and the growth of college groups have further expanded career pathways and new roles.
These are colleges worth £100 million rather than the low tens. These larger, more complex organisations demand strategic leadership, particularly in areas like corporate services. HR can be transactional in some colleges but needs to be strategic and ensure meaningful workforce planning. For leaders, this represents a chance to shape influential institutions with a regional focus and a strong community purpose.
Larger colleges and groups can also of course offer larger salaries, so attract individuals who wouldn’t have considered FE before.
FE leaders can see the immediate impact of their work
Making a Local Impact
For many leaders, the appeal lies in a localised mission. Unlike universities, which often prioritise global rankings, international students, and international research, colleges focus on transforming their communities, playing the oft-used term ‘anchor institution’ role. FE leaders can see the immediate impact of their work, whether through improving educational outcomes, enhancing society, forging partnerships with local businesses, or addressing skills shortages. This sense of purpose resonates with professionals seeking roles where they can make a tangible difference.
Addressing Barriers: Pay and Recruitment
There are still challenges around pay, with senior roles often offering lower salaries compared to HE that make it difficult to attract permanent candidates.
However, colleges are willing to invest in interim leaders, engaging them on a day-rate basis. This can be financially more beneficial to the interim candidate while reducing add-on costs such as pension contributions to the FE college, allowing them to bridge gaps in expertise. This approach not only attracts high-calibre professionals but also highlights the flexibility and openness of FE institutions to alternative workforce models.
Political and Sectoral Shifts
The political landscape is also influencing perceptions of FE. This Labour government has signalled intent to address the UK’s skills shortage. This drive could bring renewed focus and investment to the sector. Initiatives such as Skills England underscore a commitment to tackling challenges, further enhancing FE’s reputation as a vital component of the education ecosystem. Whether Skills England proves a success or not, only time will tell – but the intent is there.
For those seeking purpose-driven careers, FE provides the chance to lead institutions that are not only high-performing but also deeply rooted in their communities. FE is becoming a more attractive place for leaders ready to make a difference.
The government’s recent decision to reject the education committee’s recommendation for more financial education qualifications, in favour of functional skills, feels like a missed opportunity. Ultimately, young people keen to shape their futures stand to lose most.
Functional skills and GCSE maths are important, but don’t fully prepare young people for the complex financial decisions they will face. A recent report from Santander found that just 13 per cent of young people aged 18 to 21 found that the financial information they learned at school was applicable to their own finances.
From my perspective as a principal with a 17-year background in banking and finance, I believe we must equip young people with financial literacy as a core life skill.
We need a more systemic approach because the current system falls short. While functional skills and GCSE maths may teach compound interest or ratio and proportion, they rarely address the real-world decisions involved in weighing-up different loan options or choosing appropriate financial products.
At South Devon College, we fill some of these gaps within our personal development curriculum, working with the Money and Pensions Service to run workshops on saving, pensions, and avoiding dangerous lenders.
Financial literacy should not be an optional extra
This is progress, but FE colleges could do far more with properly funded support.
Financial literacy should be embedded into curriculum, not treated as an optional extra. That way, every young person receives consistent, high-quality education in an area that will affect their adult life.
After all, at some point, everyone will borrow money – whether it’s for a mortgage, car loan or credit card, and they need to understand pensions, insurance, and savings. If these topics aren’t covered in school or college, how can we expect young people to make informed choices or understand how to manage debt?
They need practical financial education, not just theory. It’s like teaching someone all about a car engine and then expecting them to be able to drive.
Without applied understanding, many learn through trial and error and, in the absence of reliable information, increasingly turn to questionable online sources for advice.
Research last year by Intuit Credit Karma suggests that so-called “finfluencers” on TikTok are now the main source of financial information for nearly 36 per cent of Gen Z.
The risks extend beyond poor budgeting: loan sharks, online fraudsters, and other ‘dodgy’ practices exploit financial ignorance, trapping young people in cycles of debt.
In an almost cashless society, digital literacy merges with financial literacy, both are needed to protect money and personal data.
Too many young people are starting their careers unprepared for important financial choices.
I understand the argument that adding financial literacy would overburden teachers. However, I don’t believe we need a standalone qualification. Instead, it can be integrated into maths, citizenship, or personal development, ideally all.
For that to happen effectively, targeted investment is essential. Lecturers need proper training and resources so they can confidently embed financial concepts into the classroom.
FE colleges can deliver the specialised, practical training required for real-life situations, but resources are already stretched. Without long-term funding, it’s hard to maintain such comprehensive programmes.
A national campaign
Many external stakeholders have a vested interest in boosting financial literacy. A well-funded campaign would help learners spot fraud, plan for retirement, and deal with everyday money matters.
Banks, financial advisers, and well-known experts like, Martin Lewis (MoneySavingExpert) could nationally collaborate with schools and colleges, providing practical tools for learners.
This campaign could cover core topics like budgeting, credit scores, debt, and the pitfalls of easy credit.
But it must consider vulnerable students too: young people without access to a basic banking service face higher risk of exploitation, so they need guidance on credit scores, consumer rights, and safe financial products.
With strong financial and digital awareness, young people can protect themselves from fraud, debt, and predatory practices. By embedding practical financial education into the curriculum, we can ensure they are ready to make informed choices.
Financial literacy is as crucial as literacy, numeracy, and digital skills, and all four overlap significantly. Together, they equip individuals for modern life.
Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) are used to assess the potential (usually negative) impact of policies, practices, or decisions on protected groups, as set out in the 2010 Equalities Act. The purpose of EIAs is to identify, understand, and put actions in place to reduce, any negative impacts or inequalities that could impact specific groups.
Some institutions have questioned the need for EIA’s and stopped conducting them altogether. However, I believe they remain a crucial tool in ensuring that FE institutions uphold their commitment to fairness, diversity, and inclusivity.
EIA’s should be an opportunity to upgrade a neutral impact into a positive one. While protected groups should always be considered, individual colleges have the gift to include other groups; the care experienced, economically deprived, young carers, and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller students. It may be that you want to include students from particular postcodes.
EIA’s should inform decision making and never be completed retrospectively. Good EIA’s will help you promote inclusivity by actively working to ensure that policies and practices promote equality, diversity, and inclusion.
In FE we serve a diverse range of students. EIAs help ensure that all students, regardless of their characteristics, have equal access to opportunities, support, and resources. An inclusive environment supports better student outcomes, engagement, improved wellbeing and retention across diverse student groups.
For example, EIAs may highlight the need for additional learning support for students with disabilities or ensure that teaching materials reflect a diverse range of perspectives.
EIA benefits
FE institutions can identify how resources (such as support services, teaching materials, and facilities) are allocated and ensure that all students have equitable access.
Colleges that demonstrate commitment to equality and diversity are seen as more socially responsible and ethically sound. This can enhance their reputation and build trust with students, staff, and the wider community.
FE institutions can create more welcoming environments that foster a sense of belonging for all students.
So how do we ensure EIA’s are meaningful and not another tick box exercise?
Early on, involve students, staff, and community representatives in the assessment process, especially those from underrepresented or marginalized groups. Use their insights to understand the real-world impacts of policies and practices, rather than just assuming what might be relevant.
Senior managers faced with completing an EIA may simply be ill-equipped to know how certain groups will be impacted by the policy they are proposing. Rather than expecting them to know everything about everyone, offer them support and guidance. You hopefully already have established staff resource groups, student groups and EDI professionals within your organisation that can form a panel to be a “critical friend” and help them look at their proposal from different perspectives.
Offer resources and guidelines to ensure assessments are carried out with genuine consideration of diverse needs.:
Collect and analyse relevant data on the student population, including information on race, gender, disability, socioeconomic status. Use this to identify any gaps in provision.
So, you have completed your EIA and the policy has been approved.
Now, you should ensure that the findings of the EIA lead to concrete actions. Address identified issues in practice, and allocate resources to make necessary changes.
EIAs should be viewed as an ongoing process, not a one-time event. Regularly update them in light of new information, changing student demographics, or emerging challenges.
And continuously evaluate the effectiveness of policies and practices to ensure they remain equitable.
Create culture of continuous improvement:
Foster a culture where EDI are seen as core values rather than compliance obligations.
Encourage feedback loops from students and staff, and actively work on improving the institution’s approach to equality and diversity based on ongoing assessments.
Share the results of EIAs with the wider community. Transparency helps build trust and ensures that the process is taken seriously. Be clear about how you will try to mitigate any negative impacts. The fact that you have recognised them will be appreciated.
Publicly commit to addressing any identified gaps or challenges, and communicate what actions are being taken to improve the situation.
By incorporating these strategies, FE institutions can move beyond compliance and instead ensure EIA’s are a powerful tool for real, positive change.
Alternative qualifications? Four maths papers? Prescribed texts in English? The curriculum and assessment review could change the course of the GCSE resit policy.
The call for evidence left no doubt that college English and maths are in the crosshairs. Of the 44 thesis-worthy questions put to the public, 30 touched on resits due to overlaps between GCSE, 16-19 and affected subgroups. Failure to check that the questions were mutually exclusive led to significant repetition in the responses I’ve seen, ensuring nobody in DfE can possibly have time to read them.
In a frenzy, education organisations either published their full submissions or signposted existing recommendations. Don’t worry if you missed them. I’ve read them all (send help.)
Content in both GCSEs is universally declared “excessive”. Most proposals then suggest even more filler while being coy about what to cut, although I enjoyed the awarding body OCR’s honesty nominating “the more demanding content” for the chop in maths. In English, Pearson decried “excessive content” but joined others in wanting more; a return of spoken-language and broader non-literary texts.
OCR and the English Association want TV taught in English. TV? Neither the cultural capital and benefit to literacy of a novel, nor the relevance and relatability of TikTok; purely nostalgia for the days of wheeling in a TV trolley and having a quiet lesson.
The EA also claims that “the opportunities for reading contemporary and socially diverse texts have shrunk significantly,” but with no set texts in Language since 2015, blaming the GCSE is deflection. AQA soberly reports that despite a more diverse offer in their literature GCSE for schools, only 7 per cent of students were taught texts by women. I suspect the same pattern in resit English Language choices. There’s an unresolved tension between the EA’s desire for “more autonomy for teachers” and their case for a prescribed curriculum.
Almost everyone agreed on trimming the number of maths exam papers. After all, OCR’s Paper one is a highly accurate predictor of final grade. “It should be possible to change from the current three papers to two,” say MEI, before unveiling a four-paper GCSE, with different combinations of the four equating to different tiers. Poor exams officers.
Hedging bets, MEI alternately proposes “two distinct maths GCSEs”; one limited to grades one to four and the other taken by “half the cohort” (the richer half, we assume), graded five to nine. This overcomplicated proxy for tiering would create a ‘forgotten half’, unable to even aspire to a ‘strong pass’.
Then, because the scattergun was apparently still loaded, MEI suggests a third GCSE for resitters. In fact, everyone from the Royal Society to NCFE calls for off-brand resit qualifications.
English exams come under fire from all sides
The lone socially-just proposal for maths from White Rose Education suggests a “dual GCSE” of Applied and Theory as a parallel to English Language and Literature, with both taken by all students at 16. Then the single-tier, single-paper applied becomes, like Language, the resit route. The model protects parity with the non-disadvantaged students who are more likely to achieve it at 16 (avoiding a two-tier system), but allows for a slimmer curriculum, more deliverable post-16. It also facilitates those inspiring leaps across multiple grades that we see in English.
English exams come under fire from all sides. Assessed writing needs to involve “planning, drafting, and editing” (AQA), “drafting, crafting, editing” (Pearson), and “work drafted and redrafted” (EA). Aside from it being perfectly possible to demonstrate editing and drafting in exam conditions, we more urgently need to equip young people with the ability to accurately structure a sentence, or to adopt an appropriate tone, confidently and independently. I’m not sure the imagined dawdling cycle of “drafting across many iterations” (OCR) actually exists in professional writing outside of universities and the civil service. This, like wheeling in the TV, is a pull-back to booking a computer room for six weeks instead of teaching, and middle-class-favouring coursework.
Ironically, we need to look to White Rose’s model for the simplest solution for English resits. Let’s stop pretending the distinction between fiction and non-fiction justifies two papers in Language and move to a single paper. Pearson rightly calls out “undue repetition”. If English and maths post-16 required just one exam each, it would ease the delivery and exam demands on colleges.
Economically-disadvantaged students are blamelessly 19 months behind at 16, but gain ground by 19. They deserve a shot at the same exam. If the review doesn’t deliver that, it has failed.
Sir Ian Bauckham has been confirmed as the permanent chief regulator of exams watchdog Ofqual, the education secretary has announced.
Parliament’s education select committee agreed in December that Bauckham, who has served a interim chief regulator at Ofqual since last January and was the government’s preferred candidate to lead it permanently, should be given the top job.
On Friday, the education secretary announced Bauckham had been formally appointed to the five-year role, after the privy council has confirmed his appointment.
This followed a recruitment process “conducted in line with the requirements set by the commissioner for public appointments”, said the DfE.
The education select committee said in December it hoped Bauckham would serve the full five years in the top role and help “restore much-needed stability” to Ofqual, following a churn of chief regulators in recent years.
Bauckham said he was “honoured” to take on the permanent role, after “dedicating [his] career to improving education and opportunities for young people”.
Bauckham ‘exceptionally suited’ to role
“Qualifications are the currency of education,” he said in a statement on Friday.
“Ofqual, as guardian of standards, will protect their value and integrity to ensure they remain trusted by students, teachers, universities and employers alike.
“Only through rigorous assessment and stable qualifications can we measure education performance and highlight areas where we can improve opportunities for all students.”
Knighted in January 2023 for his services to education, Bauckham has been a member of the Ofqual board since 2018.
He served as chair from January 2021 until January last year, when he became the interim chief regulator.
Previously, he was CEO of the Tenax Schools Academy Trust, a position he stepped down from last January to assume his role at Ofqual.
Bauckham has also been chair of Oak National Academy, an arm’s length body of the DfE, since 2020.
As chief regulator, Bauckham will be responsible for ensuring Ofqual meets its statutory objectives and duties, including upholding standards and “fostering confidence” in qualifications and assessments.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said “with his vast expertise in education, Sir Ian is exceptionally suited to lead Ofqual in maintaining a system that provides all young people with high-quality, rigorous qualifications and training, equipping them with the skills needed to succeed”.
There are tentative signs this is the year that higher technical education (HTE) is finally turning the corner and beginning its long-overdue growth. Recent conversations have strengthened my hope that this is the case. Employers, educators, and policymakers are increasingly recognising the vital role of HTE in filling the ‘missing middle’—the gap in skilled workers qualified at Levels 4 and 5.
Challenging the status quo
For decades, the national psyche has been fixated on a linear progression: A-levels to degree. This narrow focus has left HTE students in a no-man’s land, their contributions undervalued and their pathways underdeveloped. Employers often echo this systemic bias.
One large employer tried to reassure me that higher technical graduates could apply for their degree apprenticeship programme using accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) to bridge the gap. While flexible on paper, this approach overlooks the barriers it creates, especially for underrepresented groups like women. A Hewlett Packard study some years ago indicated that while men would apply for a role while meeting just 60 per cent of the criteria, women tended to wait until they met 100 per cent.
So why should we assume that potential candidates would jump on a recruitment offer based on attracting sixth form leavers for a degree apprenticeship? Many would not see this as a suitable top up route for them unless mid-point entry was specifically mentioned by the employer as an option.
Such attitudes need rethinking. If we are serious about addressing the skills shortages in key sectors and getting our population into meaningful employment, employers must move beyond token efforts and create dedicated spaces for HTE graduates to thrive.
A changing narrative
Encouragingly, the tide is beginning to turn. The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) now has initiatives promoting technician-level qualifications in response to industry needs. Similarly, an employer I spoke with recently opened our conversation by outlining plans to overhaul recruitment strategies and onboard more people with vocational and technical backgrounds.
There is also a shift among students. Rising concerns over university debt and uncertainty about degree outcomes are prompting more young people to explore alternative routes. For example, taking an HNC in computing while living at home and working part-time offers a low-risk, high-rewards pathway. If students decide after a year that their passion lies elsewhere—say in engineering—they can bank their HNC and pivot, with computing skills bolstering their future career.
IoT role
The country’s 21 institutes of technology are at the forefront of delivering HTE to bridge the gap between industry needs and education. Backed by £290 million of government investment, our mission is to empower students with cutting-edge facilities and skills in higher technical skills to drive economic growth.
Here in Greater Manchester, we’re striving to lead by example. Under the leadership of our mayor Andy Burnham, the city is positioning itself as a hub for technical education. The Greater Manchester Institute of Technology (GMIoT) is at the forefront of this movement. Our lead partner, the University of Salford, has made a bold investment, launching a new suite of higher technical qualifications. A new state of the art building being built on campus will act as a hub for the GMIoT partnership and a place of learning for those GMIoT students studying at the university. Applications are steadily growing. Decisive action is crucial for shifting perceptions and demonstrating the value of HTE.
Building Momentum
FE colleges and private training providers across the region are also stepping up, expanding their level three offers with BTECs, T Levels and trade qualifications. What sets GMIoT apart is our strong employer partnerships. Nothing reassures parents and students more than seeing employers standing shoulder to shoulder with educators at open evenings, endorsing these pathways as viable and valuable. Transforming perceptions of technical education is a long journey, but progress is underway. Institutes of technology are a vital part of the education ecosystem, bridging the gap between traditional academic routes and industry needs. With consistent messaging, bold investments, and strong partnerships, we can ensure that HTE becomes a mainstream choice—not just an alternative.
The British public love apprenticeships. But nationally, the number and proportion of young apprentices are declining. Far too few apprentices– only about 20 per cent – are in ‘skill shortage’ occupations. And far too many are older adults sponsored by their existing employers who want to use up their levy.
Many of these problems are the result of the unique and dysfunctional design of our levy system. Unlike in other countries, ours is paid by just a few firms and organisations. It also provides the entire apprenticeship budget, since the Treasury does not top it up in any way. Levy-payers are strongly incentivised to use ‘their’ levy up and have become increasingly successful in doing so – hence the huge rise in apprenticeships for older, often quite senior employees.
The levy badly needs reform. But in my recent paper for the Social Market Foundation, I argue that the problem with our system isn’t just the levy. It is also the centralisation of spending and administration in Whitehall.
This is particularly bad for small employers. They are rarely involved in standard-setting, do not understand how the system works, often struggle to find a training provider and have no stable and local port of call from which to get advice. All this on top of a system which leaves less and less apprenticeship money unspent by levy-payers and available for SMEs – who are the backbone of the economy and the source of future growth.
It’s time for us to follow the example of every ‘top’ apprenticeship country and make local authorities and organisations central to delivery. In Switzerland, the cantons (member states) play the major role: in Germany it’s the chambers of commerce, which have a statutory position. Here, it should be the mayoral combined authorities (MCAs) which are already receiving devolved adult education budgets (AEBs).
Ben Rowland, the chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, argued in these pages that my suggestion was a terrible idea that would take us back ten years. He doubted that I had even ‘bothered to actually ask employers what they want’. On this point: not guilty. I talk very frequently to employers of every type. I’ve experienced, first hand, what it’s like to be a small employer taking on their first apprentice. And in my time as a government adviser, I was lobbied on apprenticeship by a good many employers. That has taught me that different employers want different things!
My proposals concentrate on making apprenticeships work better for small businesses and young people, as the current system manifestly doesn’t. But there is a broader point as well. Apprenticeship isn’t just about an individual company sorting out its immediate training needs. If it were, there would be no reason for governments around the world to support it as they do. A country has a strong interest in making sure that future skill needs are met, and in helping localities to encourage local growth and new industries, including via apprenticeship support. A good apprenticeship system has public benefits: it is not just about today’s employers.
Encouraging apprenticeships in key local sectors is almost impossible unless there are local powers and budgets. But this country has become uniquely centralised. Governments talk devolution, but getting any genuine increase in local autonomy is painful and slow. Witness the current bill abolishing the Institute of Apprenticeship and Technical Education as an independent entity, and delivering all of IfATE’s powers back into the hands of the Secretary of State.
The inevitable query is whether MCAs are up to the task. They will be new to it, without the many decades of stability that underlie the best European systems. But the critical question isn’t whether they will do everything perfectly. It is whether they will do better than the current system. They are certainly showing every sign of doing so with the AEB. MCA teams know their areas, and their providers. They will be far less subject to the constant changing of ministers, each with their special preoccupations – and the impossibly short timelines for delivery that come with them. It’s time to devolve.
