Colleges are heading to “crisis point” in mental health after more than 85 per cent reported an increase in the need for student psychological and emotional well-being help, the president of the AoC has warned.

To combat the growing problem, Ian Ashman (pictured), president of the AoC, announced a ‘year of mental health’ in colleges at the organisation’s annual conference in Birmingham today.

Addressing delegates Mr Ashman warned colleges are heading to a “crisis point” in mental health.

“It is no longer an issue about which we can play lip service,” he said. “The government has a moral, legal and economic obligation to make sure there is proper mental health support provided to everyone across the country.”

The AoC conducted its latest mental health survey in June last year where 85 per cent of colleges reported an increase in the mental health needs of students.

Latest government figures found by the AoC show 77 per cent of NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups have frozen or cut their child and adolescent mental health services or CAMHS budgets.

The association added that while many colleges across the country “work well” with their local service providers, too many are also are ignored.

“National mental health guidance too often mentions schools but doesn’t consider the needs of colleges.”

During the ‘year of mental health’, the AoC is encouraging colleges to “drive a step change in the level of support that mental health agencies provide to students, both young people and adults” as well as focusing on sharing good practice across colleges.

This support is “vital” according to Mr Ashman, who said some students have told him they are “alive today because of the mental health support they received in college and the therapeutic value of their course”.

During his term as AoC president, Mr Ashman said he will be calling on the government to partner with NHS England and Health Education England to promote good practice in engagement with colleges by local commissioners and service providers.

He will also call on mental health service providers in every area to link with their local college, accept more students referred for support and to place health funded staff in every college.

Mr Ashman also wants every college to review their practice against the best in colleges and to engage with local mental health services.

He added: “Colleges work for their communities. Let us stand together to smash the stigma of mental health. People with mental health issues are not alone and are being supported by colleges.”

The Social Mobility Commission has called for school sixth form provision to be extended and given a role in supporting FE colleges to deliver the new Skills Plan.

It has this morning published a fourth annual report – “The State of the Nation” – which warns Britain has a “deep social mobility problem which is getting worse for an entire generation of young people”.

The commission – chaired by former Labour cabinet minister Alan Milburn (pictured) – said the problem stems from “fundamental barriers including an unfair education system”.

The report found young people from low income homes with similar GCSEs to their “better-off classmates” are one third more likely to drop out of education at 16 and 30 per cent less likely to study A-levels that could get them into a top university.

To tackle the issue, the commission called on the government to extend school sixth form provision and schools given a role in supporting FE colleges to deliver the skills plan.

The recommendation is likely to be controversial in the FE sector after the Association of Colleges recently won a landmark judicial review overturning the Department for Education’s decision to fund a new small sixth form at Abbs Cross Academy and Arts College, in Hornchurch, Essex.

The case came about after the government set out new rules in April restricting the ability of academies to open sixth forms following criticism that previous policies have led to small sixth forms opening in areas without demand, consequently damaging existing post-16 institutions by taking their pupils or becoming financially unviable.

Schools must now be rated good by Ofsted and prove they will have more than 200 pupils in a new sixth form and offer a broad curriculum, with at least 15 A-levels across a range of subjects.

But Tim Coulson, regional schools commissioner for the East of England and North East London, failed to follow the government’s own rules after approving the request of the Abbs Cross Academy and Arts College, rated inadequate by Ofsted, from the Loxford School Trust, which took over the school in February.

The government’s Skills Plan, which was unveiled in July and will involve replacing 20,000 post-16 vocational qualifications with 15 new “high-quality routes”, was hot topic yesterday at the AoC’s annual conference in Birmingham.

Key government skills advisor Lord Sainsbury urged ministers to take a more realistic view of the cost of high quality technical education and increase funding, as it implements recommendations on a slimmed down system.

Sir David Carter, national schools commissioner, also spoke at the conference who said a more general approach to supporting all types of education was needed, with schools and colleges co-operating more.

Today’s “The State of the Nation” report also recommends the government scrap low quality apprenticeships, and said the number of 16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training should be zero by 2022.

The commission also said a single UCAS-style portal should be developed over the next four years so that young people can “make better choices about their post-school futures”.

This year’s “blizzard of changes” will not stop the Association of Colleges pushing for progress over the coming months, new chief executive David Hughes has told a packed audience in his key note speech at this year’s annual conference.

Mr Hughes acknowledged that the FE sector had faced the challenges of Brexit and the appointment of new ministers – but the new chief executive, who took up his role in September, remains “optimistic”.

He reassured conference delegates that “colleges really are vital to our economy and out society”, adding “it’s time to be confident about our place in the education system and ambitious for the three million people we serve”.

He also highlighted that there will be a review of the AoC during the conference.

“We must be more transparent and engaging … much more ambitious and confident in what we are asking for”, he said.

Mr Hughes said he believed the new education secretary Justine Greening and skills minister Robert Halfon share “a passion for this sector”, and told the audience that now is the time for colleges to “be in the spotlight”.

“I think we’re in a position to be listened to probably for the first time in years,” he added.

However, he made it clear that he thinks the state of funding for FE is still unacceptable, describing the current system as “grossly unfair”.

“We need to keep putting the case for more funding for our sector,” he said.

He also spoke about problems in English and maths teaching and the impact this has on the FE sector, with colleges “taking the brunt of a system that doesn’t work until 16 and doesn’t work after that”.

Mr Hughes said the AoC will “open up a consultation in the next week or so” and is asking college leaders for “your experiences of English and maths”.

“You want to be working with us to be setting the agenda,” he said to the audience.

The introductory session of the AoC 2016 conference at the ICC in Birmingham also featured speeches from Carole Stott, chair of AoC, and Reggie Yates, AoC gold award winner, broadcaster and former FE student.

Ms Stott welcomed the full hall to the conference and spoke of the importance of FE.

“We are a primary route to success for millions of people,” she said.

Mr Yates spoke enthusiastically with host Steph McGovern about his own experience of FE, and the positive impact that his time at City and Islington College had on his 26-year career in broadcasting.

He also commented on plans to do more mentoring in the New Year saying that working with AoC on this project would be “fantastic”.

He advised college leaders to “invest in the individual not in the whole”, adding “no two people have the same dream”.

Furness College has been unveiled as the latest member of the Chartered Institution for Further Education.

The news was announced by Lord Lingfield, chair of the institute, today and means Furness College will pay £8,000 to become the fourth member of the body for “high-performing” FE colleges and training providers.

It comes after Hawk Training, Blackpool and The Fylde College, and Bridgwater College were announced as the first three members of the institute in July.

Mark Nicholson, deputy principal at Furness College, said it was a “significant achievement” for the college.

“We join the three other organisations who have so far succeeded in achieving this status. This mark of quality is awarded only to high performing organisations and demonstrates how we are helping lead the way in how the further education sector will be shaped to meet the demands of the future.”

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

Membership costs £5,000 a year 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”.

Lord Lingfield said Furness College has “passed a rigorous process which has confirmed their position as a leading performer in the sector”.

He added: “I look forward to working with them and our growing membership to begin driving forward professionalism in further education.

“This is the next step along the path to recognising and celebrating what the sector does well, and achieving for it a status both nationally and internationally equivalent to that enjoyed by our higher education colleagues.”

Nick Linford, editor of FE Week, is out-and-about during AoC Conference 2016 bringing you all the news, gossip and fun. Stay tuned for live updates (see blog below).

FE Week is proud to be the premier media partner and the premier news source for the FE and skills sector.

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A dispute between the leaders of FE’s two biggest associations has taken another twist, with one accusing the other of putting “institutional self-interest before learners’ interest”.

Last week, Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, traded verbal blows with David Hughes, boss of the AoC, over the quality of apprenticeships delivered by private training providers.

Mr Hughes had claimed that independent providers offer apprentices “not very much” training, mostly assessing them “on the job”.

Mr Dawe then challenged the AoC chief to “produce the evidence” to back up his “disappointing and plain wrong” allegation.

Now, the AELP boss has taken another swipe at Mr Hughes by accusing the AoC of putting “institutional self-interest before learners’ interest”.

His comment came in the AELP’s latest weekly email sent out to members on Friday morning (November 11) after FE Week had reported on the original war of words.

Mr Dawe firstly addressed last week’s “strange and incorrect” report by left-wing think tank IPPR, which called on the government to phase out level two apprenticeships for 16- to 18-year-olds, and replace them with a pre-apprenticeship programme only offered by colleges, which was welcomed by the AoC.

One of the IPPR report authors who made the recommendation was Charlynne Pullen, who at the time of drafting was on secondment to IPPR. Controversially, Ms Pullen is now head of workforce data at the Education and Training Foundation, which is jointly owned by both the AELP and the AoC.

The AELP chief then wrote to his members: “Initially I was absolutely stunned that the AoC supported this proposal; however it would appear that their approach is to put institutional self-interest before the learners’ interest in this case.”

He added: “Anyone who believes an ounce of what has been recommended in the IPPR report should put down their latte, leave their London based office, and come out and witness the challenge of motivating young people who have been spat out of the school system with no more than entry level skills.”

In response to Mr Dawe’s latest comments, Mr Hughes firmly defended the AoC.

He told FE Week: “We have been calling for the introduction of a pre-apprenticeship offer for some time because many young people need support before they are ready to enter work.

“Colleges find that many young people need to improve their English and maths before employers will consider them.

“All FE colleges provide apprenticeships and are adapting to the new levy and other funding rules which come in next year. IPPR’s suggestion that a pre-apprenticeship offer only be open to colleges and not-for-profit training providers came a bit out of the blue.

“It is an interesting idea but not something we will be pushing for.”

The ongoing dispute is likely to be a lively debate at AoC conference which kicks off tomorrow and runs from November 15 to 17 at the ICC in Birmingham.