Darlington College has recovered to an Ofsted ‘good’ rating a little over a year after it was branded ‘inadequate’.

The education watchdog deemed the provider to be ‘good’ across the board and ‘outstanding’ in its delivery of adult learning programmes, in a report released on June 23.

It was previously hit with a grade four across-the-board rating last March, which was all the more devastating because it had tumbled from ‘outstanding’ in 2009.

In the latest report, governors, leaders and managers at the college were praised for making “significant progress in tackling the serious weaknesses identified at the previous inspection”, which were all said to be “now good or improved”.

The curriculum was deemed “well-planned”, “coherent” and meeting “the priorities of the local enterprise partnerships, the needs of employers and the local community”.

Adult learning, the college’s strongest area, was said to often make “transformative changes” in the learners’ lives, and technical and employability skills across the student body were said to be developed well.

Provision for learners with high needs was deemed “excellent”.

The college, which was inspected in May, is a medium-sized general FE college that also provides basic skills for army personnel based locally.

It is set to merge with nearby Stockton Riverside College following the Tees Valley area review, which came to an end in May.

The latest Oftsed report added that to progress to an ‘outstanding’ grade, Darlington needed to ensure that more apprentices “achieve their qualification in the planned time in subcontracted provision”.

Attendance in maths was also highlighted as an area for improvement.

Ofsted recommended that tutors “plan learning to meet all learners’ needs” in these subjects, and also suggested they help apprentices to “extend their English and mathematics skills beyond that of the minimum requirements for their apprenticeship framework”.

The report also raised the issue of the government’s anti-terrorist Prevent strategy, saying that a minority of apprenticeship assessors “do not reinforce or explore modern British values or the ‘Prevent’ duty sufficiently with apprentices”.

Darlington College principal Kate Roe said: “The report is testament to the hard work of every single member of staff who have all pulled together to adapt to change, make improvements and raise standards.

“There have been enormous strides in the quality of teaching, and hard work and determination among staff to achieve the massive progress we have made.”

• AoC blames programme design after analysis shows they’re responsible for barely a quarter of starts
• AELP claims independent training providers best placed to make a success of under-fire scheme

Barely a quarter of traineeship starts over the past three years were with colleges, analysis by FE Week has revealed.

This startlingly low figure, which was obtained through a freedom of information request, prompted the Association of Colleges to blame the design of the traineeship programme.

Statistics from the Skills Funding Agency also identify six colleges rated ‘outstanding’ which have not had a single traineeship start between them in that time.

FE Week lodged an FoI request with the SFA to find out the number of number of traineeship starts at providers in 2013/14, 2014/15, and the first half of 2015/16.

The response showed that just 26 per cent of all starts were with FE colleges — compared to 68 per cent with independent training providers.

The true figure for colleges may be even lower than that, as the agency’s data did not account for subcontracting.

But Teresa Frith (pictured), senior skills policy manager for the Association of Colleges, said: “Traineeships are designed for a very specific young person in terms of age and level of ‘work readiness’ and this is why 70 per cent of colleges have reported to us [via the AoC survey 2014] that it is difficult to convince employers to take on a trainee.

“AoC is calling for the development of a more comprehensive and flexible programme, concentrating on the needs of 16- to 24-year-olds to prepare them for an apprenticeship and to gain the skills that businesses need.”

The boss of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers Mark Dawe praised FE Week’s “useful” findings.

He said: “We have always said that eligible providers with strong employer links built through apprenticeships and other work-based programmes were the ones most likely to be in a position to deliver traineeships.”

Traineeships were introduced in 2013 as part of the government’s drive to help low-skilled young adults onto apprenticeships, but take-up has remained low, with just 19,570 starts in 2014/15.

When traineeships were introduced, only providers rated ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ by Ofsted could deliver them, but the government announced in December that it was opening them up to all providers.

FE Week asked all six of the ‘outstanding’ colleges recording no starts in the past three years to explain why they were not delivering traineeships.

Two of these – Mid-Cheshire College, which was actually rated ‘outstanding’ until its rating tumbled to ‘inadequate’ in March, and New College Durham – declined to comment.

Evelyn Little, director of employer responsiveness at Swindon College, said the college offered traineeships but had not been able to recruit anyone to the programme because “we can’t get the youngsters to go into the workplace and not have any form of payment”.

Peter Thompson, vice-principal of finance and resources at Isle of Wight College, disputed the SFA’s figures.

He told FE Week that his college had delivered a small pilot traineeship programme in 2014/15, with six starts, and would be running a further programme starting later this month.

A spokesperson for Highbury College said that it planned to start running traineeships next January, but did not offer any explanation for why they had not offered any in the past.

Aaron Butson, director of business growth and innovation at South Downs College, acknowledged that traineeships had been a “low priority” for the college in the past, but said the college had plans to start a traineeship programme in September.

These revelations follow another FoI lodged by the AELP, reported by FE Week on June 10, which indicated that 76 per cent (378,170 of 499,900) of all apprenticeship starts in 2014/15 were delivered by ITPs

An FoI request by FE Week ahead of last year’s Association of Colleges conference in November also uncovered startlingly low levels of apprenticeship delivery at many colleges.

Colleges, on average, were shown to have 27 per cent of their 2015/16 Adult Skills Budget (ASB) allocated to apprenticeships, compared with 60 per cent at other providers.

Casual staff who have been working at an FE provider for at least two years should be made permanent, the University and College Union is demanding.

This was one of the staffing union’s key negotiating points at its first meeting this month with the Association of Colleges, after it submitted its 2016/17 national pay claim.

A report commissioned by the UCU demonstrated that 30 colleges in the UK are employing more than 50 per cent of their staff on “precarious” part-time or hourly contracts.

In an exclusive comment piece for FE Week, UCU’s general secretary Sally Hunt said: “As part of our pay claim, we’re asking FE employers to move hourly-paid and casual staff who have been working at the institution for two years or more onto permanent contracts, which reflect the hours they normally work.”

She said UCU also wants ministers to investigate the terms staff are given by colleges, and to “improve the way that institutions’ use of casual contracts is reported in national data”.

Karen Sanders, AoC’s director of employment services and policy, claimed that colleges had “always needed a flexible workforce, and may employ people on different types of contracts to respond to the needs of students and the wider college business”.

However, she conceded: “We are discussing these proposals as part of the pay negotiations for 2016/17, and cannot comment further.”

A BIS spokesperson said FE colleges were independent organisations “free to set their own terms and conditions for staff, which includes types of contract”.

She added: “They may choose to do so in conjunction with the recommendations of the National Joint Forum, which is convened by AoC and the relevant trade unions to make recommendations for terms and conditions and pay levels.”

The union’s report, published in April, said that jobs in FE are to be considered “precarious” under two conditions, where contracts are “short duration or cover only part of the year”, or when teaching staff are employed on permanent contracts “but continue to be paid by the hour”.

It said: “These staff are often no less precarious because they are only paid for the work they do and many of them have variable-hour or zero-hours contracts.”

The UCU’s call comes after FE Week reported on June 17 that Lincoln College went back on its “threat” not to pay part-time agency staff — after we made senior college leaders aware of the dispute.

Twelve self-employed agency workers from FE Resources, a “sub-company” of Lincoln College, received an initial email on June 7 telling them they wouldn’t be paid until additional work had been completed.

The email complained that student assessments had not been “completed, marked and tracked to schedule”, and warned the college would not authorise their May timesheets until they were up to date.

George Reid, a public services lecturer who received the email and has worked with the college for eight years as an agency worker, alerted FE Week to the upset it had caused him and others.

And a college spokesperson said on Monday (June 13) that senior managers had not been aware of the “unauthorised” email, adding the payment would be processed “without delay”.

Sector leaders have called for clarity on whether the government will still press ahead with apprenticeship levy plans following the British public’s decision to leave the European Union.

The referendum result was confirmed this morning, provoking the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron.

It will throw into doubt the viablilty of plans for the levy due to be launched next April.

This is particularly resonant because Skills Minister Nick Boles warned recently that Brexit could kill-off the plans.

He entered the Brexit debate during an event on June 13 in Westminster, organised by Policy Exchange, warning: “As skills minister I am responsible for the introduction next April of a new apprenticeship levy on large employers.

“But do you think the chancellor will feel it is prudent to introduce a new payroll tax in the middle of a recession, when business confidence has been shattered by a decision to leave the single market and unemployment is rising?”

Confirmation that Britain will indeed be leaving the European Union prompted calls for swift decisions on how it will affect the sector.

When asked if he now feared for the levy, Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, told FE Week: “We need clarity on what we’re meant to be doing.

“I can understand they’ll pause for a moment and think, but if we don’t know what’s going to happen it’s going to by default not happen in April. So really this week we need some clarity.”

Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “Specific areas of concern relate to the money pledged for training via the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Skills Minister Nick Boles’ comments that the apprenticeship levy may need to be postponed.”

He added: “The government must make it clear as soon as possible how it will continue to fund education and training for the good of everyone.”

Current Learning and Work Institute boss David Hughes, who will start as chief executive of the Association of Colleges at the start of 2016/17, added: “Prior to the vote there was already some unease about the lack of details about apprenticeship reforms.

“Now we need decisive action from BIS to provide certainty about the reforms. More delays will lead to more caution by colleges, providers and employers.”

It is believed that there will now be a two-year negotiating period over the terms of Britain’s departure from the European Union.

This has raised questions, reported on by FE Week in February and still unresolved, over what would happen to ESF contracts— with the current round running from 2014 to 2020 worth about €3bn (£2.3bn) across England.

The ESF is cash that the UK receives, as a member state of the EU, to increase job opportunities and help people to improve their skill levels, particularly those who find it difficult to get work.

It is partly administered through the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and its allocations in 2014/15 showed that 107 different providers received a combined total of £305,267,633 in ESF cash.

There will also be wider concern about education and skills funding, with the future of Chancellor George Osborne also thrown into doubt.

He published a draft budget before the referendum reflecting on what would happen with public finances in the event of Brexit, which indicated education funding could be drastically cut by £1.15bn.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “It is too early to tell what will happen with ESF. For the time being it will be business as usual.”

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills was unable to comment ahead of publication on how leaving the European Union would affect the levy and wider education and skills funding.

The government plans to slash the amount smaller firms will have to pay towards the cost of apprenticeships training after the levy launch.

Employers of all sizes currently have to pay a third of training costs with the Skills Funding Agency agrees to covering the rest, under the pilot for new apprenticeships.

That means a £1 employer cash contribution returns £2 funding – up to a cap – for the relevant standard.

But FE Week has learned the government is looking at a making a much bigger contribution after April 2017 for employers not using their apprenticeship levy pot — either because their wage bill is too small to pay into it, or because it has run out.

For every £1 invested by such employers, we understand that the SFA will paying up to £9, according to plans set to be announced later this month.

This would mean providers are to be paid as much as 90 per cent from SFA coffers — although employers not paying the levy would still have to contribute around 10 per cent in cash first.

The news was welcomed by Mark Dawe, chief executive of Association of Employment and Learning Providers.

He said: “This sound like good news, as we believe smaller employers should pay as little as possible.

“We have been lobbying ministers about the need for a high-level of coinvestment by the government in respect of non-levy paying employers.

“These small- and medium-sized enterprises are needed to provide apprenticeship opportunities to young people in the big cities and smaller towns, or rural areas where the levy-paying employers are not always present.”

But he also cautioned: “For many small organisations, any contribution will be prohibitive and we hope the government will consider how it might support these smaller employers.”

The apprenticeship levy, first announced by the government last July, is due to be introduced in April 2017, and will be set at 0.5 per cent of an employer’s payroll.

Only businesses with a payroll of more than £3m – about two per cent of employers – will actually pay the levy.

But there has been widespread concern that non-levy-payers would be put off apprenticeships altogether, if they still had pay large sums towards training.

John Hyde, executive chairman of independent training provider HIT Training Ltd, who was given a CBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list, said: “If the 10 per cent contribution is confirmed, this is excellent news for smaller companies who already contribute substantially to the apprentices’ wages, lost opportunity costs, trading costs and more.

“The growth in the economy is through small- and medium-sized enterprises and the growth in apprenticeship numbers will follow.”

Teresa Frith, senior skills policy manager at the Association of Colleges, said the plan “could encourage employers, previously put off apprenticeships by the cost, to take on a young person and provide them with the skills to begin a career”.

“Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and the government must ensure they, and their staff, can also benefit from the funding created by the levy,” she added.

A BIS spokesperson would only say: “We set out earlier this year that more information would be available in June 2016. There is nothing further to add at this time.”

Ofsted’s chief inspector is set to call on the government to insist that every major multi-academy trust (MAT) includes a university technical college (UTC).

Sir Michael Wilshaw will speak out on the issue during his speech, starting at 1:30pm today, at the Festival of Education.

He will say: “The government should insist that every major multi-academy trust should have a UTC.

“Every multi-academy trust should be inspected to ensure that the UTC does not become a dumping ground for the difficult or disaffected and that it delivers high quality pre-apprenticeship programmes to the age of 19.”

Sir Michael Wilshaw previously told MPs on the education select committee in March that school and UTC clusters provided a “really great opportunity” to ensure high quality vocational education.

He said at the time: “If I was running one of those I’d have primary schools, I’d have secondary schools and I’d have a couple of UTCs [university technical colleges] as well.”

But this latest call for the 14-to-19 vocational institutions to be part of the furniture in all MATs will be seen as further indication of his support for UTCs becoming integral to the delivery nationwide of skills training.

Nick Boles, the Skills Minister, also said in March that “UTCs are stronger inside MATs”, during a speech to the House of Commons.

The chief inspector’s speech at the festival in Wellington College, Berkshire, will also reflect on school leavers’ general lack of vocational skills.

Sir Michael will ask: “What about those youngsters who would benefit from a technical education?

“What about those employers who, year after year, say that school leavers are not equipped with the technical skills that they are crying out for?”

He will refer to the latest figures as “shocking”, saying: “In the UK as a whole there are now 210,000 vacancies as a consequence of skills shortages across the economy – an increase of 43 per cent from 2013.

“I have taught in disadvantaged communities for most of my professional life. And I can tell you that there will always be some children who will respond better to a technical curriculum than others.”

Sir Michael’s support for UTCs comes after FE Week reported in May that UTC Lancashire would be the fourth of its kind to close, since they launched in 2010.

Central Bedfordshire UTC announced in March that it would close in August — after admitting it had not been able to attract “sufficient pupils”.

Hackney UTC closed in July 2014, also following problems attracting learners, and Black Country UTC shut last summer after a “disappointing” Ofsted inspection and, again, low student numbers.

FE Week also reported that, shortly before Central Bedfordshire UTC announced that it would close, Mr Boles informed UTC chairs and principals of a “new centrally funded package of educational and financial support”, which will be accessible to UTCs in their early years.

It will be available to those that have not yet been judged ‘good’ or better by Ofsted, but not to those that are subject to intervention.

But in February, FE Week revealed ongoing problems for UTCs, finding that 40 per cent of those that opened between 2010 and 2013 saw student numbers fall for the current academic year.

Exclusive research through Freedom of Information requests found that six of the 15 UTCs opened between 2010 and 2013 saw their learner numbers decrease for 2015/16.

The Association of Colleges is looking forward to “a new era for Ofsted” — after Education Secretary Nicky Morgan confirmed the government’s approval of Ofqual chair Amanda Spielman as the next chief inspector.

Ms Morgan made the announcement on Friday (June 10), and ministers will now wait on agreement from the Commons education select committee for final approval.

The Department for Education (DfE) also told FE Week that it had started recruiting for three new Ofsted board members and “the advert for the roles listed FE experience as one of the desirable criteria”.

Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges welcomed the news, and said: “We offer our congratulations to Amanda Spielman.
“This will be a new era for Ofsted and we look forward to working with her in the future and helping her to gain an understanding of colleges and a sector that she has not worked closely with in the past.

“We are also interested in how the Ofsted board, that supports the new chief inspector, might be refreshed in order to ensure that it has more substantive further education expertise than is currently the case.”

Mr Doel has been scathing of the current chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw, who told MPs in March that he believed 16- to 19-year-olds should be taught in schools rather than colleges, and that the FE sector was “in a mess”.

Sir Michael’s comments, made during an appearance before the Commons Education Select Committee, provoked widespread anger across the FE sector.

The education secretary said: “From helping to set up one of the country’s top academy chains, to acting as a council member for the Institute of Education, to overseeing our ambitious qualification reform programme, Amanda has extensive experience
at the frontline of the education system.

I know she is the right person to deliver.”

Current Learning and Work Institute boss David Hughes, who will start as chief executive of the Association of Colleges at the
start of 2016/17, also welcomed Ms Spielman’s appointment.

He said: “Ofsted needs someone who can lead a large organisation and be independent on policy issues – which I think Amanda has shown well as chair of Ofqual.”

Mark Dawe, the chief exec of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, added: “I found it easy to have very constructive discussions with Amanda when she chaired Ofqual, so I look forward to working with her in her new role.

“There is a good and honest dialogue between Ofsted and AELP on how the delivery of work-based learning is inspected, and we hope that this will continue under Amanda’s leadership.”

The Commons education select committee will now hold a “pre-appointment hearing” with Ms Spielman, on June 29 June.

Its chair Neil Carmichael MP said: “The chief inspector has an important duty in raising standards in education and skills.

We want to make sure that the government’s preferred candidate has the necessary independence, skills and experience to be effective.”