More than ten colleges could be excluded from accessing apprenticeship funding because of their grade four Ofsted rating, FE Week can exclusively reveal.

As part of a consultation on the new apprenticeship provider register, expected to be released tomorrow, FE Week understands the government will consider excluding ‘inadequate’ providers.

There are 13 colleges currently rated grade four with a combined apprenticeship allocation close to £25m, of which seven also have an apprenticeship specific grade four (see below).

FE Week’s research focused on general further education colleges rather other types of provider, as former skills minister Nick Boles challenged colleges at the Association of Colleges (AoC) conference in November 2015 to go from delivering a third of all apprenticeships to two-thirds, and advised them not to let training providers “steal your lunch” when it comes to securing the government’s apprenticeship funding.

FE Week approached the five grade four rated college that currently receive the highest apprenticeship funding allocations – Telford College of Arts and Technology, City of Bristol College, West Cheshire College, Tresham College of Further and Higher Education and West Kent and Ashford College.

Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, group deputy principal & group deputy chief executive, said: “West Kent and Ashford College is part of the Hadlow Group, which runs Hadlow College – an Ofsted ‘outstanding’ provider. The West Kent and Ashford College entity was created in 2014 from the dissolving of the former K College, which was graded inadequate – so it’s crucial to state that the grade four is not our grade – we inherited it.‎

“We were granted a 3-year repositioning and development programme by the government, to protect the long-term delivery of further and higher education in Kent. Following this clear mandate, we are singularly focused on driving up standards across the board, as evidenced by our recent and projected success rates.”

He added that the college’s position is “clear” on the government’s plans to potentially cut levy funding for grade four providers: “We feel that only education providers who demonstrate the highest quality – a grade 1 or 2 – should qualify for funding access.

“To put this in another context: you wouldn’t reward someone for poor performance in the workplace, so why should it apply in this case? However, this isn’t for us to decide – it’s ultimately a matter for Ofsted.”

Telford College, City of Bristol College, West Cheshire College, and Tresham College made no comment.

In addition, two colleges among those that are currently rated grade four and are also in the top ten for apprenticeship funding allocations have be granted a grade two rating for their apprenticeship provision.

West Cheshire College and Mid-Cheshire College of Further Education both received a ‘good’ from Ofsted for their apprenticeship provision but are graded as ‘inadequate’ for overall effectiveness – meaning that despite delivering apprenticeships successfully they could still be cut out of gaining levy funding. 

For Mid-Cheshire, 19+ apprenticeships make up 35 per cent of its Adult Skills Budget, while for West Cheshire, the equivalent figure is 29 per cent.

This means that losing the ability to deliver apprenticeships would result in a significant loss of business for these colleges – even though their apprenticeship provision is currently rated ‘good’.

A spokesperson for Mid Cheshire College said: “The team here are focused on our PIAP at this stage, working with the SFA and Ofsted to demonstrate clearly how we are addressing the results of our Ofsted inspection.   

“With our planned merger now underway and Ofsted inspectors due to return, we are confident that should this impact on us it will be short term only.” 

She added: “We were recognised by Ofsted as delivering a grade two apprenticeship programme and it is important to us that we ensure our existing apprentices are fully supported to continue on their learning journey, their needs must come first.”

Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said: “We won’t oppose it because the priority should be that the register is populated by good quality providers. 

“If good subcontractors are adversely affected by this requirement, then they should be given the opportunity of delivering direct contracts.”

He added: “We wouldn’t want to see them removed from the market, nor would we want to lose any of their employer customers.”

An option for some grade four colleges looking to avoid being eliminated from apprenticeship delivery may be to merge with another provider that has a higher grading.

For example Greenwich Community College, which was rated ‘inadequate’ in February this year, merged at the start of this month with Bromley College and Bexley College which are both rated ‘good’.

Analysis of the latest Ofsted statistical release for all FE and skills provider types shows that 18 inspections since the introduction of the new common inspection framework on September 1, 2015 have received a grade four, while 10 (also 12 per cent) have been rated ‘inadequate’ specifically for their apprenticeship provision (see below).

This is double the percentage of grade fours given for the provision of ‘adult learning’, which were just six per cent.

A principal will keep his job despite his college dropping two Ofsted grades to inadequate.

The education watchdog’s verdict on Tresham College of Further and Higher Education means it is the 12th general FE college to have been handed the lowest possible rating since last September.  

The latest report, published today but based on an inspection from June 7 to 10, also rated Tresham grade four in five out of seven headline fields – leadership and management, teaching and learning, outcomes, study programmes and apprenticeships.

Only one field – adult learning programmes – was awarded a good, while personal development, behaviour and welfare was graded as requires improvement.

But a spokesperson for the college told FE Week that, despite the damning report, Tresham principal Stuart Wesselby will remain in post.

FE Week understands that the report took longer to be published than the usual six weeks for a grade four, as the college tried and failed to challenge the verdict.

The report on Tresham, which had an Education Funding Agency allocation of £13.3m and a Skillls Funding Agency allocation of £5.7m in 2015/16, found that the “principles of study programmes are not being met” with “too few students” able to undertake a “meaningful and relevant work placement”.

Learners on study programmes, who make up the majority of the college’s 4,700 students, “make inadequate progress towards their learning outcomes” with the proportion “who achieve the grades expected of them” also inadequate.

Attendance at GCSE English and maths lessons was also “too low”, the report said, with students’ development in these areas “poor”.

Consequently, achievement rates on study programmes were “too low and have declined steadily over the past three years”, the report said.

Apprenticeship achievement rates, particularly for 19- to 23-year-olds, were also “too low”.

In addition, the report said: “A significant proportion of current apprentices are making slow progress, largely because assessments and reviews of their work are too infrequent.”

Poor target setting, insufficient written feedback, and a lack of coordination between workplace learning and college-based training were also blamed for apprentices’ lack of progress.

The small number of A-level students at the college also “performed very poorly”, the report said.

In contrast, “highly motivated” students on the college’s adult programmes “develop useful skills to prepare them for work and further study” as a result of “highly effective” teaching and well-planned lessons, the report said.

A Tresham College spokesperson told FE Week that Mr Wesselby was “extremely disappointed” by the Ofsted verdict, particularly on outcomes, which was based on results from 2014/15.

The college had already put in place a number of improvements which were predicted to lead to better outcomes in 2015/16, but these had not been taken into account by Ofsted, the spokesperson said.

She added: “Mr Wesselby has the full backing of the college’s governing body to remain as principal of Tresham.”

The spokesperson also confirmed that the college is scrapping its A-level provision from September due to falling student numbers.

Tresham College is expected to be involved in the South East Midlands area review, part of wave five of the reviews, which is due to start in November.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said “We are considering Tresham College’s recent Ofsted inspection in line with our intervention processes. 

“Under this approach, any college rated inadequate will be assessed by the FE commissioner.”

The chief executive of a charity and independent learning provider focused on helping people with disabilities has declared the timing of his organisation’s latest Ofsted inspection “not right nor in the interests of learners”.

Roy O’Shaughnessy, head of The Shaw Trust, said the inspection had come at an “inappropriate” stage and he was “disappointed” with the ‘inadequate’ grade.

The Shaw Trust is a registered charity that supports people who are disabled or financially and socially disadvantaged to gain skills, prepare for work, find jobs and live more independently.

After receiving a grade two from the education watchdog in March 2012, the Trust’s rating plunged to a four following an inspection in June – the results of which were published today.

Mr O’Shaughnessy commented: “At the time the inspection took place our skills provision was moving to a new joint venture and as such we do not believe that the inspection was appropriate.

“Ofsted was made aware of these key changes but still decided to proceed with the inspection.”

In May The Shaw Trust announced ‘STAR Skills Limited’, in partnership with Ixion Holdings which is rated ‘good’ by Ofsted. The new venture was launched at the start of August.

Mr O’Shaughnessy said: “We did inform the Skills Funding Agency and the Education Funding Agency about the new joint venture.

“However, the Ofsted inspection did not take into account this move. We have corresponded with Ofsted to explain this.”

He added: “We believe it would have been more appropriate to conduct a monitoring report into the provision, in preparation for a full inspection of STAR Skills.

“It is our firm view that an inspection at this point in time was not right nor in the interests of learners.”

The effectiveness of leadership and management; quality of teaching, learning and assessment; outcomes for learners; and provision for apprenticeships at the Trust were all branded as ‘inadequate’, while personal development, behaviour and welfare was graded as ‘requires improvement’.

The report slammed the Trust for “extremely low” achievement rates — in 2014/15 not a single apprentice achieved their qualification and fewer than one in eight were successful at the time of inspection.

Achievement was especially low in English, maths, and information and communication technology (ICT) functional skills.  

Action plans for improvement were said to lack detail and clear timescales, leading to slow progress from learners with a minority of apprentices failing to develop the required skills.

More than four in 10 apprentices were found to be studying beyond their expected completion dates and Ofsted noted that assessors were not identifying and intervening with learners who were falling behind, or providing effective feedback on how to improve.

Meanwhile, other learners were undertaking programmes that were not challenging enough for their capabilities.

Mr O’Shaughnessy said that, prior to receiving the grade four, The Shaw Trust had already handed back its apprenticeship and study programme contracts.

“It is important to take Ofsted’s inspection findings seriously, but we are clear that the creation of STAR Skills is a demonstration of our aspiration to be best-in-class,” he added.

Positive feedback for the provider included good-quality support and guidance in making career choices, with most learners who completed their apprenticeship or study programme progressing to permanent employment, further education or employment with training. 

The inspection also found that learners behaved with respect for others, as a result of staff modelling positive values and actively promoting awareness of equality and diversity.

Careers advice in schools has been added to the skills minister brief, as part of the machinery of government changes.

The Department for Education this morning finally confirmed ministerial responsibilities after taking ownership of the further and higher education budgets last month.

The announcement, as part of a ministerial shake up at the DfE, comes almost four weeks after Justine Greening was appointed education secretary – and three weeks after Mr Halfon tweeted that he had been given the apprenticeships and skills brief.

Mr Halfon will lead on careers education and guidance in schools, apprenticeships and the apprenticeship levy, funding for post-16 provision, FE and sixth form colleges and “local patterns of provision”, including area reviews and city deals.

And spokesperson for the DfE this afternoon also confirmed that responsibility for adult careers advice and the National Careers Service will also fall to Mr Halfon – meaning that he is now the sole minister responsible for careers advice. 

Previously the careers duty had been split between former skills minister Nick Boles, who led on adults careers advice and guidance, and Sam Gyimah, former junior minister for childcare and education, who was responsible for careers advice for schools.

The announcement of Mr Halfon’s new duties comes a month after a report by the commons sub-committee on education, skills and the economy called for a more coordinated approach to careers provision across government.

Its careers advice inquiry report, published July 5, said: “It [government] should put a single minister and a single department in charge of co-ordinating careers provision for all ages, and set out how it plans to rationalise the number of government-funded organisations delivering careers programmes.”

Mr Boles told the commons sub-committee that having responsibility split in this way “made more sense” because most of his work “does not take place in schools”.

The same report also recommended that the government consult on handing over control of the National Careers Service to the new Careers and Enterprise Company.

The company was launched last summer to get private firms more involved with guiding school and college students – but the inquiry found concern about the overlap between its role and that of the Skills Funding Agency-run NCS.

Confirmation of Mr Halfon’s responsibilities comes as the DfE revealed that the long-awaited apprenticeship levy update would be distributed via press release on Friday.

The overdue update had been expected in June, and is one of a number of key FE reports and guidance to have been reportedly delayed due to the recent government upheavals.

Long-awaited information on the apprenticeship levy is finally due to be released this Friday, after a series of delays.

The details, which were originally expected in June, will now be distributed via press release at the end of the week on August 12, the Department for Education has confirmed to FE Week.

FE Week revealed on Tuesday July 19 that the DfE, together with the newly appointed minister for apprenticeships and skills Robert Halfon, would soon unveil the delayed document, including details of how apprenticeships will be funded post-levy.

The government was initially expected to provide these additional details in June, but former skills minister Nick Boles warned there would be a “little delay” to the publication when addressing delegates at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ annual conference on June 27.

In April, the government revealed that the additional guidance would cover a range of key areas including provisional funding bands, which will set the maximum amount of funding that is available for each apprenticeship, and the provisional level of government support available towards the cost of apprenticeship training if you aren’t a levy paying employer.

Other expected details were the provisional level of the extra payment you can get for hiring 16 to 18-year-old apprentices, and the provisional amount that will be paid to deliver English and maths training for apprentices who need it.

The specifics of how to deliver apprenticeship training and the eligibility rules that set who you are able to spend apprenticeship funding on and where were also anticipated.

The apprenticeship levy, first announced by the government in July 2015, is set at 0.5 per cent of an employer’s paybill.

All employers will receive a £15,000 allowance to offset against the levy, which means that only businesses with a paybill of more than £3m (about two per cent of employers) will actually pay the levy.

The money raised by the apprenticeship levy will be ring-fenced, so it can only be spent on training apprentices.

All levy-paying companies will receive a 10 per cent top up on their monthly levy contributions, according to a government announcement in the March budget.

They may say at Tesco that “every little helps” — but Bromley College faced criticism that it had overstepped the mark by touting for students in a supermarket on a rival’s patch.

The college initially tweeted at lunchtime today that it was at Lewisham Tesco, and invited anyone interested to “come along and find out about the courses we can offer”.

This prompted FE Week editor Nick Linford to raise the question of whether colleges ought to be competing on each other’s patches — after FE Commissioner Sir David Collins criticised the practice before Christmas as a waste of limited funding.

It sent Bromley into defensive mode, with it then tweeting: “We are here as almost a third of our students live locally and it’s important students know their options.”

Lewisham Southwark College principal Carole Kitching also chipped in, after it was suggested that Bromley shouldn’t mind its rival placing “pop up banners on your [Bromley’s] lawn”.

She quipped: “Hope they’ve got the grass cut ready for us….every little helps!!”

Ms Kitching declined to comment any further.

But Sam Parrett, principal of London South East Colleges, which now incorporates Bromley College, told FE Week: “Marketing in London by London colleges has, and always will, cross boundaries due to good transport links. There is no such thing as a patch.

“We are all keen to encourage as many people as possible to improve their career opportunities by gaining a qualification and developing their skills.”

She added: “Around 2,000 Lewisham residents have chosen to study at Bromley College during the past year, due to the wide range and high quality of our courses.

“However, it is important to highlight that the borough of Bromley also exports many students to neighbouring colleges.”

It comes after FE Commissioner Sir David Collins complained last October that marketing pitting college against neighbouring college was an important factor preventing the sector from being “sustainable”.

He said in a letter to all chairs and principals of FE institutions: “Significant resources are used on competitive marketing – one college against another – rather than on marketing the real opportunities that colleges as a whole can offer to learners and employers.”

The Department for Education declined to comment on the Twitter exchange, or the wider issue of whether colleges should be spending money on this kind of competitive marketing.

Tesco also declined to comment.

 

Here’s the initial tweet:

At Lewisham Tesco today, come along and find out about the courses we can offer! https://t.co/fKQpu2LlmT pic.twitter.com/SdMEzsrYmc

— Bromley College (@BromleyCollege) August 4, 2016

Here’s how the exchange then developed:

Hi Nick we are here as almost a third of our students live locally and it’s important students know their options! 😊 https://t.co/wzbR6IeuTX

— Bromley College (@BromleyCollege) August 4, 2016

 

@NickLinford hope they’ve got the grass cut ready for us….every little helps!!

— Carole Kitching (@cjk100) August 4, 2016

 

 

Performing arts students who took to the streets to save their courses are celebrating after college leaders decided against cutting them.

FE Week reported on the protest by a large group of Burton and South Derbyshire College learners — many of whom were expecting to continue in the second year of performing arts courses after the summer holidays — in early July.

The college has now confirmed it has decided to spare this subject from the axe, following a consultation, although a number of other courses will still be dropped from 2016/17.

A spokesperson said: “We can confirm our proposals will move forward with the exclusion of our performing arts provision — as our employees within this department, have brought forward credible plans to mitigate any proposed cost reduction through income diversification.

“Learners wishing to undertake or continue on a performing arts programme from 2016/17 will now be able to do so.”

The news was welcomed by level three BTEC extended diploma in performing arts student Euan Broughton, who helped organise the protest.

He told FE Week: “I am absolutely thrilled. Not only for us, but for the prospective year one students that have been granted access onto the course. It feels like a personal victory to every single one of us.

“The fact that we put in a lot of effort and so many past students supported us, shows what the course means to everybody.

“The difference for all of us now is we know where our future lies and that’s at Burton and South Derbyshire College.”

Another student off the same course, Baylee Haywood, said the protest “showed the college our determination and passion”.

The fellow 17-year-old added: “I don’t think we would currently have the chance to go back to college this year if it wasn’t for the performing arts staff.

“It wasn’t just the protest that helped, the department was working hard behind the scenes making business plans and proposals.”

Courses that it is understood will still be dropped include E3 motor vehicle, animal care, brickwork (excluding apprenticeships), and painting and decorating.

The college previously blamed falling student numbers and resulting Education Funding Agency funding cuts for the cutbacks.

Burton and South Derbyshire, which Ofsted rated grade three-overall in April, down from ‘good’ in 2012, was allocated £9.98m by the agency for 2015/16.

A college spokesperson has now told FE Week: “The programmes removed from the curriculum offer have no existing learners affected by the decision, but will no longer be open for learners to enrol on in the future.

“The college’s information, advice and guidance team are available to support those who were interested in the affected courses to choose alternative provision at this college or provide options to study similar courses elsewhere.”

Photo caption: Students protesting in early July (photos taken by Burton Mail)

Hold-ups to key FE announcements and reports caused by recent government upheavals are undermining planning for next academic year, sector leaders have warned.

Concern is mounting that post-Brexit ministerial changes and the decision to transfer responsibility for skills and apprenticeships to the Department for Education (DfE) has caused the machinery of government to grind to a virtual halt this summer.

FE Week has learned that the latest casualties of this include updated area review guidance and final reports from the already overdue first wave – all of which were meant to have been published in July but are now not expected for weeks.

This comes on top of further delays to publication of updated guidance on the apprenticeship levy, which was originally due in June, and confirmation of what responsibilities will be shouldered by new skills minister Robert Halfon.

Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, warned of resulting “uncertainty for colleges”.

He added: “We will continue to press the government to provide details of these changes because they are vital for colleges to be able to put in place informed business strategies for next year.”

Stephen Wright, chief executive of the Federation of Awarding Bodies, said: “At a time when the sector is facing an unprecedented level of change, key decisions are being delayed.

“The knock on effect is awarding organisations are finding it difficult to plan the development of qualifications and provide clear information to providers and learners.”

Paul Warner, policy director at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, called for the levy guidance to be published “quickly, so that providers can discuss them with employers”.

But he added that for some areas of apprenticeship reform, including the new provider register, “a pause would be helpful”.

The June referendum vote caused widespread FE-related government changes.

New Prime Minister Theresa May installed Justine Greening as education secretary and responsibility for skills and apprenticeships was transferred from the former Department for Business, innovation and Skills to DfE.

Nick Boles also quit as skills minister and Harlow MP Robert Halfon announced via Twitter on July 17 that he had “been given brief of minister of state for apprentices & skills”.

But the DfE website still lists him only as “Minister of State”, and does not clarify whether he will definitely take up a skills brief.

A spokesperson for the department refused to comment on the minister’s celebratory tweet or to confirm whether it was accurate, when questioned by FE Week.

The ongoing delay to publication of updated levy guidance is a source of grave concern to many in the sector, with the launch of the levy still set for April next year.

A number of key pieces of area review guidance had also been expected before the summer recess.

Bobbie McClelland — who was at the time deputy director, reforming FE provision, at BIS — told delegates at FE Week’s area review summit on July 7 that information for colleges on the implementation phase of the reviews would be published before the summer break.

But this guidance – along with a due diligence framework and information for local authorities and local enterprise partnerships – has not yet been published.

Nor have the area review final reports, originally due in July, which are expected to include all the outcomes from the reviews completed so far.

FE Commissioner Sir David Collins has now told us that they have been delayed until late August or early September. 

A spokesperson for the DfE said: “The area reviews are progressing as planned and we expect to publish the first group of reports after the summer break.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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