Previous Job: Senior Funding Manager, Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education
Interesting fact: Shahban is passionate about charity work and improving social mobility. He is a trustee at Young Citizens and founder of the Jerusalem Community Fridge.
Mark Emerson
Vice Principal (Curriculum Innovation and Business Transformation), Colchester Institute
Start date: February 2025
Previous Job: Assistant Principal (Information and Digital Transformation), Chelmsford College
Interesting fact: Mark has played, and been sent off, at Wembley in the FA Cup (Unfortunately it was Wembley FC in the first qualifying round!).
The work of Ofsted is important. It gives learners confidence they are receiving high-quality education, reassures employers their workforce is being trained well, and highlights for providers what is working and what needs to improve.
This week we launched a consultation on a new way of inspecting and reporting on all types of education provider, including FE providers.
Last year during Ofsted’s largest ever consultation, the Big Listen, we heard from thousands of parents, school and college leaders, providers, teachers and trainers, nursery staff and of course, learners, including apprentices. In response, we made changes to how we inspect to reduce the burden of inspection on providers.
There were positives that emerged. You told us the nominee on FE and skills inspections has brought significant improvements to the process and feel of inspection, so we are extending that to schools and early years settings too.
This new consultation aims to take the reforms enacted after the Big Listen even further. After spending months talking to government, sector organisations and representatives, learners, employers and providers, I’m confident this new way balances the interests of learners and apprentices, and education and training professionals.
Inspection will continue to be built upon dialogue
You told us you want a more nuanced view of a provider’s strengths and areas of improvement. So, instead of an overall effectiveness grade we’re proposing a five-point grading scale, allowing inspectors to celebrate successes and pinpoint necessary action to avoid standards declining. Our new report cards will display each grade accompanied by a narrative to describe what we saw on inspection.
You will also see how we have proposed some new evaluation areas. All providers will be judged on leadership, inclusion and safeguarding. Then each type of provision offered – such as education programmes for young people, apprenticeships, high needs and adult learning programmes – will receive judgements for curriculum, developing teaching and training, achievement, and participation and development. Finally, colleges and other specialist designated institutions will be evaluated on how they are contributing to meeting the skills need.
By separating out these different areas of provision, rather than aggregating them under a few headline grades, we can reduce the inspection pressure on providers. Removing the overall effectiveness grade – and the spotlight it shone on the provider as a whole – allows inspectors to tell a more detailed story about what it’s like to be learner or apprentice in that provision.
Our chief inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, has said several times that if providers get it right for the most disadvantaged learners, they will get it right for all of them. So one area we want inspection to focus on is inclusion. This means looking at how well providers are supporting their most vulnerable learners and those with SEND. We already know that FE providers are generally very inclusive, so we hope this new focus will allow you to showcase that great work.
During the Big Listen, FE providers were also very clear they wanted inspection to recognise the varied contexts they operate in. They wanted a tailored inspection approach that differentiated between large FE colleges and small apprenticeship providers. We are confident our proposals allow for such differentiation – while still maintaining a common framework that enables comparisons between providers.
There was concern that school sixth forms and 16-19 provision in FE and skills settings will be treated differently. This is absolutely not our intention. We’ve crafted the schools and FE and skills toolkits to ensure parity wherever possible.
Obviously, there will be overlap between how we evaluate school sixth forms and sixth form colleges. Where appropriate, we will use the same standards to inspect both. But there are differences, for example where 16-19 provision is only one part of a provider’s offer (typically a school sixth form) versus whether it accounts for the work of the entire institution. Separate toolkits allow us to account for such differences.
The toolkits set out the standards inspectors will be looking at and how grades are determined. The FE and skills toolkit will not only act as an obvious focal point for inspectors and leaders during an inspection, it can also be used as a useful tool by leaders between inspections, to track their own improvement journey.
Inspection will continue to be built upon professional dialogue. Inspectors always seek out what is typical so they can reach a consensus with leaders about where things are working well, what is on track but remains a work in progress, and what still needs attention.
In the Big Listen you told us we need to also consider notice periods and the composition of inspection teams. Please be assured that we are looking into these and will engage with relevant membership bodies and providers over the coming months.
I would really encourage you to read our proposals and give us your honest thoughts. Over the coming weeks we will be testing them across a broad range of providers to understand how they work in practice. We will listen to everyone’s view and consider all feedback we receive before finalising the reforms for the autumn term.
None of England’s Catholic sixth form colleges have applied to become academies – despite a church campaign that forced a legal change two years ago.
Nearly all secular sixth form colleges have been able to academise and enjoy the luxury of not paying VAT since the then-chancellor George Osborne changed tax rules in 2015.
But for a group of 13 Catholic-run sixth form colleges, it took another eight years before the law was amended to allow them to academise while maintaining protections in areas of curriculum, acts of worship and governance.
Since 2023, however, Catholic sixth form college principals have faced calls from bishops to join mega multi-academy trusts based on diocese boundaries and designed for schools.
The Catholic college leaders – responsible for educating about 30,000 students across England – appear unwilling to give up their independence by joining the church-run MATs.
Catholic Education Service director Paul Barber, who personally called for the Department for Education to close the “legal anomaly” that excluded Catholic colleges, admitted: “Due to the block on Catholic sixth form colleges becoming academies, diocesan strategies were developed without their inclusion.”
One option now being proposed is for Catholic sixth forms to form their own MAT which would be better suited to the “specialised” 16-to-19 education they offer.
‘A more flexible approach’
The Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA), which represents the Catholic sixth form colleges, is calling on some dioceses – regional branches of the church responsible for education – to “adopt a more flexible approach” to colleges and recognise the unique “scale and complexity”.
Although Catholic sixth forms and their leaders have a high level of autonomy via the standalone governance structure of a college, diocesan bishops have ultimate control through the appointment of governors. Diocesan trustees also usually own the college building and grounds.
Those with knowledge of the Catholic education system told FE Week the 2023 rule change was too recent to expect any colleges to have launched conversion plans.
Labour’s withdrawal of a £25,000 academy conversion grant, and proposed tightening of rules on academy accountability, also suggests the party is less open to academy conversion than the previous government.
Dioceses’ mega MAT plan
Most Catholic dioceses in England are pursuing trust growth plans that aim to move their remaining local authority-maintained schools into bishop-backed trusts.
But these mega-merger plans, launched in 2022 following the publication of a Conservative government white paper, were designed without Catholic sixth form colleges in mind.
A SFCA spokesperson said college leaders had “little appetite” for these rapidly progressing plans which dioceses had found “difficult to amend”.
They added: “We’d like to see some dioceses adopt a more flexible approach to conversion that reflects the scale and complexity of sixth form colleges and the unique role they play in the local education landscape.”
But the Catholic Education Service, which advises and represents diocesan education services, told FE Week its MAT merger plans were already “being reviewed” to ensure sixth form colleges are “part of the wider family of Catholic schools rather than standalone institutions”.
Barber said: “As with all schools and colleges seeking to become academies, the Catholic sector is developing its strategies to respond to the recent changes to the support packages that were previously available.”
Protect unique status
Catholic sixth form colleges have similar levels of autonomy to standalone sixth form and FE colleges.
The 13 colleges appear to be thriving academically and financially, despite facing the same challenges navigating complex funding rules and shrinking budgets that have pushed many colleges into joining large groups or converting to academy status.
He added: “Academies are probably the right option for most institutions – but not at any cost.
“It’s about protecting our culture, organisation and staff, and making sure what we do is the right thing for our students.
“The main thing for me is all parties are open to dialogue and open to academisation, but because of the additional structural requirements of working across government, individual dioceses and canon law, and the Catholic Education Service, it’s just going to take more time to work through those challenges.”
MAT for sixth forms
Twist said some leaders had floated the idea of a national or regional Catholic sixth form college MAT that would build on strong existing relationships.
He told FE Week: “We work in close partnership with each other through the Association of Catholic Sixth Form Colleges, we understand each other and are all committed to the distinctive nature of Catholic Sixth Form colleges.”
“We all do the same thing, we understand each other.”
Most Catholic sixth forms are situated in London and the north west of England.
But FE Week understands that a specialist sixth form MAT crossing several dioceses would be difficult to deliver as bishops have a high degree of independence in how they choose to run their diocese, including education.
A cross-diocese MAT would present complications around who appoints trustees and holds responsibility for buildings.
English and maths functional skills rules will be relaxed for adult apprentices, FE Week understands.
The government is expected to soften controversial exit requirements following years of lobbying from the sector.
Under current rules, apprentices must achieve level 1 English and maths functional skills qualifications if they are on a level 2 apprenticeship and did not pass the subjects at GCSE. Similarly, if a learner is on a level 3 or higher apprenticeship, they must achieve functional skills at level 2 to complete their training.
Following the shake-up – expected imminently – it is understood the rules will become optional for apprentices aged 19 and older. Adults without an English or maths GCSE pass can still opt to take the tests but will be able to do so without needing to pass as an exit requirement.
The rules are unlikely to change for 16 to 18 year olds.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We recognise that employers want more flexibility on apprenticeships, and we are looking into what improvements can be made to break down barriers to opportunity and help more skilled workers drive growth.”
Full details are expected to be published shortly.
Reformed functional skills qualifications were launched in 2019 with revised content and assessment requirements. The aim was to give the qualifications greater credibility with employers.
Functional skills pass rates currently sit at around 75 per cent, down from 84 per cent before the pandemic and before the reformed qualifications were introduced.
No other qualification, such as A-levels and T Levels, have English and maths as an exit requirement. However, 16 to 18-year-old students without a pass in the subjects must work towards them as a condition of their place being funded.
Only around half of apprentices successfully complete their apprenticeship each year and functional skills qualifications exit requirements are constantly flagged among the biggest barriers for apprentice dropouts.
In December, research by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers found three-quarters of apprenticeship vacancy adverts blocked applicants who had not already achieved a grade 4 pass in GCSE English and maths.
Former Labour shadow skills minister Toby Perkins committed to reviewing functional skills exit requirements while in opposition in March 2023.
Labour’s current DfE ministerial team has hinted it would reform functional skills since last year’s election victory.
Four in five further education leaders and teachers fear Ofsted’s new report cards will heap more pressure on the sector, a snap FE Week readers’ poll has suggested.
The inspectorate unveiled proposals this week to replace current inspection reports with a new system it deems will “provide a more nuanced view of a provider’s strengths and areas for improvement” from 2025-26.
While FE colleges and providers will no longer be subjected to overall headline grades, they will be judged on a colour-coded five-point grading scale from “exemplary” to “causing concern” across up to 20 areas – compared to a maximum of 10 under the current system.
Inspectors will place a bigger focus on staff wellbeing, workload, inclusion and achievement rate data.
Chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said: “We hope this more balanced, fairer approach will reduce the pressure on professionals working in education, as well as giving them a much clearer understanding of what we will be considering on inspection.”
But early critics have warned the increase in graded areas for FE providers will inevitably create a “greater risk of error” which is likely to lead to more complaints.
An FE Week survey of 250 sector leaders and teachers found 80 per cent think the reforms will actually increase pressure placed upon them by Ofsted, while just 15 per cent feel there will be a positive change.
One anonymous comment said: “All it achieves is one-word judgments in many more categories. The plan does not reduce pressure on anyone and the public will still find it difficult (if not more so) to understand. Feels like we are going backwards with all this.”
Ofsted’s reforms follow a “Big Listen” exercise that was prompted by a coroner’s ruling in 2023 that an inspection of Caversham Primary School in Reading “contributed” to the suicide of its headteacher, Ruth Perry.
Darren Hankey, principal of Hartlepool College, said: “I’m not sure what happened in the Big Listen, but it seems as though no listening took place and we’ve now potentially got a system which is more complex, less reliable and less valid than the one it replaced.
“The new system will do exactly what Ofsted says it doesn’t want to happen – add to leaders’ and staff workloads. At a time when we have staff recruitment and retention issues; this is just not on.”
Ofsted proposes to judge FE providers on seven headline areas: leadership, inclusion, safeguarding, curriculum, developing teaching and training, achievement, and participation and development.
The latter four areas will also receive one of the judgments for each of the following types of provision offered: education programmes for young people, provision for learners with high needs, apprenticeships and adult learning programmes.
Colleges will also continue to be judged on whether their contribution to meeting skills needs is ‘limited’, ‘reasonable’, or ‘strong’.
So for an FE college offering courses to young people, adults, apprentices and learners with high needs, this would see the number of grades they receive double from 10 to 20.
As well as headline grades for each area, Ofsted will publish short descriptions summarising their findings.
Half of the respondents to FE Week’s survey disputed Ofsted’s view that this approach would provide more nuanced information and put learners first.
Forty-five per cent said the proposals were “bad” for FE and skills, while 39 per cent said the reforms won’t make a difference.
One anonymous inspection nominee in an independent training provider said the plans were “a good idea in principle but too complicated with far too many categories”.
Gemma Baker, a senior policy lead for the Association of Colleges who is also an Ofsted inspector, said: “We do have concerns that the proposals will double the number of judgments made in a single inspection. This inevitably creates a greater risk of error which will make the post-inspection and complaints processes even more important.
“We are also concerned that the school and FE categories have diverged more in a way that could obscure proper judgments about 16-to-19 education quality.”
Hankey said the “biggest elephant in the room” regarding Ofsted was its “lack of reliability and validity”.
He added a “simpler approach” would be to report on what a college “does well, what a college needs to improve and, if serious concerns are found, stick around to help the college get better”.
Ofqual has stood by its decision to fine an apprenticeship assessment organisation that challenged a £50,000 penalty – and lumped additional legal costs of almost £16,000 on top.
Qualifications for Industry (QFI) owner Richard McClelland had vowed not to pay the charge and shut down the firm after claiming the regulator forced him out of the apprenticeships market.
He disputed the fine when it was issued in October but Ofqual’s internal enforcement panel upheld the decision this week.
QFI, a specialist construction end-point assessment organisation, became dormant in March after surrendering Ofqual recognition following a six-month probe into its capacity and delivery.
Ofqual claimed QFI breached a special condition imposed in 2021 which ruled no more than 200 learners could be registered to take its qualifications at any one time, and a maximum of 200 learners could take assessments in any 12-month period.
QFI did not dispute volumes were breached but alleged the regulator misled staff into believing the special condition had been lifted.
The company also argued the 200 cap only applied to the qualifications and apprenticeships it first gained recognition for, not the many other courses it was recognised for following later expansion requests.
Ofqual reviewed further representations in December but ruled QFI’s “non-compliance” was “deliberate” – the company allegedly chose not to cap the number of registered learners “due to the impact compliance would have on its profitability”.
The enforcement panel said there was “no proper basis for QFI to presume a decision to approve the expansion request meant the special condition had been lifted or varied, in the absence of any notification from Ofqual”.
It added the panel “remains of the view that QFI either wilfully and knowingly breached the special condition, or was grossly negligent if it in fact assumed at any stage the special condition no longer applied”.
McClelland had accused Ofqual of using QFI as a “sacrificial lamb” after the notice to fine revealed the enforcement panel had considered reducing the £50,000 fine in light of QFI’s decision to surrender recognition. But the regulator decided this was not “appropriate” as its “fining power” would be “less of a deterrent if awarding organisations believed they could operate in a non-compliant manner and surrender recognition to avoid a monetary penalty”.
This week’s judgment revealed Ofqual has also charged QFI legal costs of £15,846, taking its total bill to £65,846.
McClelland told FE Week: “For reasons unknown to me, Ofqual forced QFI out of business, then after the fact attempted to justify doing so. QFI has refuted all allegations made by Ofqual.
“Now after Ofqual has concluded its internal process we will take advice on the independent legal options available to us.”
Adult education budgets are set to be slashed by the government, FE Week understands, sparking a fierce backlash from FE leaders.
Mayors have been told to expect cuts of around 2 per cent to their adult skills fund and free courses for jobs allocations for the 2025-26 academic year.
FE Week understands the same reduction will also apply to non-devolved allocations as the Department for Education scrambles to find savings for the Treasury.
Sue Pember, policy director at Holex, said cutting funding after more than a decade of debilitating budget freezes “flies in the face of the change we were promised at the general election”.
She added: “This decision is anti-growth, and anti-opportunity.”
Prime minister Keir Starmer warned last month that the Treasury would be “ruthless” with public spending decisions ahead of this summer’s spending review to meet its fiscal rules by not increasing borrowing or raising taxes.
FE Week estimates the cut to adult education budgets will save the department around £30 million.
Unlike schools, further and adult education budgets are not protected within the Department for Education, making them vulnerable to Treasury demands for cutbacks.
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, adult education funding rates have remained frozen for a decade, with learner numbers halving over that time. Year-on-year erosion of the value of per-student funding has made lower-level courses particularly unaffordable to deliver.
Mayoral combined authorities were told yesterday they would see reductions in their adult skills fund and free courses for jobs budgets of between 2 per cent and 3 per cent for 2025-26.
Over half, £828 million, of the DfE’s overall £1.4 billion adult skills fund is now devolved to mayors. This funding is topped up with funding for other programmes, including free courses for jobs and skills bootcamps.
Department of missed opportunities
Sources across multiple combined authorities confirmed they were re-forecasting reduced adult skills budgets for the coming academic year.
Pember, whose organisation represents local authority-run adult education organisations, accused Labour of “ignoring the visible and dire consequences of cuts to adult education”.
She said: “The requirement for retraining has never been so important. Home Office ministers were only saying at the weekend that retraining would lower migration. We know DWP is looking to DfE to support nine million economically inactive people into work.
“Adult learning is core to growth, core to challenging the dangerous rise in populism, core to keeping all of us active and engaged in the economy.
“The secretary of state calls her department the “department for opportunity”, but the evidence points to a ‘department for missed opportunities’ on her watch.”
A DfE spokesperson said: “Skills will power our mission-driven government, which is why we are rewiring the system through Skills England and our overhauled Growth and Skills Levy, as well as funding Mayoral Combined Authorities to deliver schemes such as Skills Bootcamps.
“This government inherited an incredibly challenging fiscal context, including a £22bn black hole in the public finances, which is why we’ve had to take tough decisions to fix the foundations.
“We will work closely with mayors on our skills agenda to unlock opportunity, drive growth and deliver on our Plan for Change.”
Sending the wrong message
Adult education providers have battled rising costs with flat central government funding for years while reporting significant demand for courses in basic skills and English for Speakers of Others Languages (ESOL).
The WEA, one of England’s largest adult education providers, said more adult education cuts will “make it harder for people to thrive in life and work”.
It added: “The adult skills fund is key to supporting people into work as well as delivering crucial health and wellbeing outcomes. Cuts now will lead to greater spending need on benefits and the NHS.”
Last year’s autumn statement provided £300 million for further education, but the cash has been ringfenced for 16-to-19 education providers such as FE colleges.
David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “That [£300 million] decision looks less positive now that adult funding is being cut, because it sends the wrong message, just at the time employers in key sectors of the economy like construction are calling for growth in adult education, not cutbacks.
“It also poses a risk for the delivery of the youth guarantee and the commitment to increase the employment rate to 80 per cent. Both of those ambitions need colleges to have the capacity to deliver training to help people into work.
“The decision to reduce adult skills funding across combined authorities for 2025-26 takes funding away from an already deeply diminished budget.”
Recent FE Week investigations have revealed that the DfE struggles to spend its non-devolved adult education budget. Meanwhile, mayors now return underspends on the free courses for jobs scheme.
Association of Employment and Learning Providers deputy CEO Simon Ashworth said reducing adult education funding “shows a lack of appreciation of the importance and impact of adult education when setting funding priorities and will reduce opportunities for those who need support the most”.
Referrals to the government’s anti-terrorism scheme for young people will be “routinely” escalated so more vulnerable youngsters get support.
A rapid learning review of the Prevent programme comes after teenager Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three girls in Southport last summer, had been referred to the programme three times.
FE Week revealed last year that Prevent referrals in FE were at a record high – but fewer cases were getting escalated through the scheme.
Among the14 recommendations for improvements, reviewers said the programme should consider “routinely referring” reports involving children and those with “complex needs” to “channel panels”.
These multi-agency panels involve the local authority, counter-terrorism police, social services, and education and mental health professionals.
They assess the most serious referrals and set up support to help young people “move away from harmful activities and ideas”.
Prevent closed all Rudakubana referrals before they reached a channel panel.
In a statement to parliament on Wednesday, Dan Jarvis, the security minister, said the teenager’s case was closed “prematurely”, and that he should have been managed through a channel panel.
Rudakubana was jailed last month for a minimum of 52 years after pleading guilty to three charges of murder.
Jarvis said the government had accepted the review’s findings, and “rapid action” had been taken to implement its recommendations.
Rudakubana was referred to Prevent three times between December 2019 and April 2021, when he was 13 and 14. All the referrals were made by staff at his schools.
The first referral reported a teacher’s concerns about Rudakubana’s behaviour in school, internet searches on mass shootings, and his previous exclusion for carrying a knife.
During an art lesson, the teacher reported Rudakubana had questioned why he was able to draw images of guns but not search them on the internet. He then asked: “Can we have a picture of a severed head then?”
On the same day, he was overheard talking to a pupil about watching videos of people hurting themselves. He also made a graphic comment about a drill bit breaking and killing someone.
Just a few days later, he returned to his previous school and attacked another pupil with a hockey stick. He was arrested.
Prevent officers asked Rudakubana about his search history, and the boy admitted to looking up shootings. Officials decided that he was not a terrorist risk and, while “extremely vulnerable”, support from other agencies was already in place.
The case was closed on Prevent systems on January 31. A second referral was made a day later.
The designated safeguarding lead at Rudakubana’s school reported concerns from the boy’s previous school, where a pupil had flagged his social media posts about Libya and its then ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
The case was closed two weeks later.
A third referral was made by a teacher in April. During an ICT lesson, Rudakubana had been searching the internet for “London bomb” and, according to the report, seemed to have a “passionate interest” in the Israel/Palestine conflict, MI5 and the IRA.
Again, officials decided that Rudakubana was not a terrorist threat. “[Rudakubana] is generally interested in history and current affairs,” they reported. “There are no extreme views, [and he] shows a developing level of critical thinking regarding different viewpoints.”
The case was closed.
Three years later, Rudakubana killed Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, at a Southport dance class.
England’s largest adult education institution has been released from government intervention over its finances after nearly three years.
London’s City Literary Institute’s (CityLit) finances took a tumble following the pandemic because of its atypically high levels of self-funded students. A 27 per cent drop in income by 2020/21 triggered an ‘inadequate’ financial health assessment and financial notice to improve, placing the college in intervention in March 2022.
Sustained improvements in the college’s finances since then have now resulted in the notice to improve being lifted.
The FE Commissioner last visited the college in November and was satisfied it was moving in the right direction, though it was not “fully out of the woods yet”, according to CityLit principal and chief executive Mark Malcomson.
Malcomson said the college had recovered faster than planned, and praised his staff for “making sure we deliver an outstanding experience to our students at the same time as keeping costs under control”.
City Lit’s recovery plan was found to be based on “sound analysis” when it was first reviewed by the FE Commissioner in 2022. The college had no long-term debt, but successive pandemic lockdowns saw its fee income crash. Staffing was cut by between 10 and 15 per cent at the time.
Despite the financial challenges, the college was judged ‘outstanding’, up from ‘good’, in an Ofsted inspection in July 2023.
Malcomson added: “It’s been a slog, and we’re still on a journey. But we’re delighted. We’re really pleased with the support we’ve had from the FE Commissioner and her team. Shelagh [Legrave] was involved right from the beginning. There was nothing accusatory; we were treated as ‘you’ve had unprecedented circumstances, and we’re here to help get you through’”.
This is the first college to come out of intervention in 2025, Legrave’s final year in post as FE Commissioner.
