A college strategic funding manager has hit out at the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) for refusing to publish a list of which qualifications have lost full funding through a widely-criticised consultation.

The review, which ran from February 10 to 29, requested views on plans to end full-funding ‘core’ entitlement for up to 524 full level two and three qualifications offered by 56 awarding organisations for 19 to 23-year-olds.

FE Week last month reported fierce criticism of the consultation’s timing from NCFE and the Federation of Awarding Bodies, because five of the 14 working days it was open fell over half-term.

The SFA subsequently revealed that only 33 of the 524 qualifications remained eligible for entitlement funding as a result of this, because they “evidenced demand, local need and entry to highly specialised job role/occupation, or the qualification serves as a prerequisite to a specialised job/occupation”.

But it refused to provide a list of the remaining 491 potentially losing entitlement to full funding status despite repeated requests from FE Week, which provoked a bemused response from Morley College’s strategic funding and examinations manager, Stephen Hewitt.

He said: “It is ridiculous that the SFA won’t publish a list of the over 400 qualifications that they have decided should be stripped of full funding status.

“We need this information to plan for 2016/17 and, by not telling providers, Peter Lauener and his agency are making this much more difficult.”

An SFA spokesperson said only 33 qualifications were added to the entitlements list because “428 qualifications did not receive any submissions from a provider or an awarding organisation indicating they wanted them to be added to the list”.

She added: “Of the 63 qualifications where we did receive a submission, but which have not been added to the updated list, there are small number we are further reviewing as they were below the minimum size threshold.”

When asked which of the 524 had lost full funding or were still under review, an SFA spokesperson said: “We don’t hold an updated non-core list, this list was only used for consultation.”

But the agency has never published a user friendly list of the qualifications under review — although FE Week managed to create a list after unlocking the spreadsheet.

The data that we compiled this list from has since been taken down from gov.uk.

FE Week previously published contents of a leaked letter, sent in February by NCFE chief executive David Grailey to SFA boss Peter Lauener, which was highly critical of the consultation process.

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, NCFE policy leader, also told FE Week in early March: “We don’t think this short timescale was sufficient for a consultation of this nature.”

When asked this week for his views on the consultation result, he said: “I’m still disappointed with the rushed nature, and that we provide so much information for it to just seemingly disappear.

“I think the low number of qualifications added to the non-core list also reflects the fact that Awarding bodies didn’t have sufficient time to make their case.”

Click here to download interim editor Nick Linford’s editorial on this story.

Concerns have been raised over delays with government approval of apprentice assessment organisations (AAOs) for Trailblazer apprenticeship standards after just 13 were cleared.

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) first began taking on submissions to their new Register of Apprenticeship Assessment Organisations (RoAAO) in March last year. But FE Week has found that despite 88 apprenticeship standards being open to new starts — just 23 (26 per cent) have 13 AAOs assigned to them.

And 16 out of those 23 only have one AAO to choose from, raising issues around lack of choice for employers.

The director of assessment policy, research and compliance at City & Guilds, Patrick Craven, told FE Week the RoAAO tendering process had been “longer than we might have anticipated”.

“There are likely to be many more assessment organisations that are still in the pipeline waiting for their applications to be processed by the SFA,” he added.

“It’s also the case that many of the early standards approved are very specialised with small numbers of apprentices expected.

“This means that only an assessment organisation that specialises in that particular occupation is likely to register.

“We expect there will be a lot more registrations from assessment organisations when more high volume apprenticeship standards are approved.”

And not all the 13 approved AAOs are even open for business. BT was approved in September last year for the digital industries standard, but confirmed this week it had no immediate plans to carry out assessments.

Responding to these issues, an SFA spokesperson said: “Any organisation that considers itself suitable to conduct end-point assessment can choose to apply on the register of apprentice assessment organisations.

“The register is open for applications on a continuous basis. We update the register each month so that it contains all organisations who have been successful in their application.”

FE Week reported in August last year that frustration was growing among Trailblazer designers because many standards were still awaiting government approval for delivery almost a year after they were published.

The managing director of awarding organisation NOCN, Graham Hasting-Evans, told FE Week that progress with apprenticeship standards had been so slow “they might never be finished”.

“We are gravely concerned about how bureaucratic this is all becoming and how slow the rate of progress on apprenticeships is,” he said. “To quote the minister it is ‘ball-achingly’ slow.”

Mr Hasting-Evans also noted that it was “extremely difficult” to become an AAO.

He said: “We understand at present that there are a number of apprentices working on apprenticeship standards where there is no AAO and therefore, at present, no chance of actually completing and passing the standard.”

The outgoing chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, Stewart Segal added that he expected more organisations to offer assessment services in time.

He also warned that providers “should be aware of the cost of assessment before they take on any new starts”.

Pearson, OCR and Ofqual each declined to comment.

Government figures showed a 6 per cent fall in employer numbers posting apprenticeship vacancies in the same week it admitted to delaying the launch of a service it hopes will improve the situation.

Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) data published on Tuesday (April 5) showed that 23,800 employers posted vacancies from last August to March this year.

That was just over 6 per cent down on 25,360 posted over the same period in 2014/15.

The SFA then admitted a day later, in its weekly update, it had delayed the launch of the new ‘recruit an apprentice/trainee’ service until “early summer”.

The online bulletin did not however mention the inclusion of a planned feature to allow employers to post their own vacancies, as promised in the government’s ‘English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision’ document released in December.

That report said at the time employers would “be able to post their own vacancies on the system, working with education and training providers where they want to” by February.

When asked by FE Week what was happening with this, an SFA spokesperson said: “The first phase of the launch will enable providers to post their own vacancies. The second phase will allow employers to post their own vacancies.”

The fall in employers posting vacancies comes after the 2020 Vision document wrote: “We know that in other countries, the proportion of employers engaged with apprenticeships is much higher.

“For instance, around 25 per cent of employers in Austria employ apprentices, 24 per cent in Germany, and 30 per cent in Australia. This is compared to only 15 per cent of establishments who have or offer apprenticeships in England.”

The same SFA and BIS data published this week showed a 20 per cent increase in the number of vacancies posted — from 87,340 for August to March last academic year, to 105,170 up to March 2015/16.

The number of applications also went up by three per cent over the same eight months, from 1,024,830 in 2014/15 to 1,060,220 of 2015/16.

Mike Cherry, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) national chairman, said: “While this report can be read in a number of ways, it’s good to see more people seeking to be apprentices.

“Although the number of employers using the official apprenticeships vacancies website is down, we can’t assume this means fewer are seeking apprentices — they may just be choosing to advertise opportunities in other ways.”

He added: “While aspects of the government’s reform plans, such as the apprenticeship levy, will not be applied to the smallest firms, it is important these businesses can continue to interact with the system.”

An SFA spokesperson did not answer directly when asked by FE Week if it was concerned about the fall in employers posting apprenticeship vacancies. But she said the delayed ‘recruit an apprentice/trainee’ service would “include quick and easy to use tools, including a self-serve facility for colleges and other training organisations which will allow providers and employers to work closely together and advertise their vacancies more quickly”.

> Exclusive analysis finds potential for 15 mergers in 2016
> Union warns of time needed for meaningful consultation

Bury College is in talks over a potential merger with a nearby university, becoming one of up to 15 mergers involving 32 institutions across the country.

Bury is expected to launch a consultation into plans to merge with the University of Bolton in the next few days.

It comes as a spokesperson for Bolton College confirmed that it is also in discussions with the higher education body.

Both colleges are part of the Greater Manchester area review, in wave one of the area reviews, which launched last September.

Bury College’s principal, Charlie Deane said the college had “taken advantage of the area review process to further develop and strengthen” the college’s existing “excellent working relationship” with the university.

The proposed merger “provides a considered and innovative opportunity to offer a more comprehensive, flexible and responsive curriculum,” Mr Deane continued, “with the potential to improve access and increase choice for a broader range of learners at all levels”.

“More details will begin to take shape as our discussions, proposals and consultations with stakeholders evolve,” he said.

Bolton College is in early stage discussions with the university “regarding an educational solution that works for Bolton”, a spokesperson for the college said.

A spokesperson for the University of Bolton said it welcomed the current proposals by Bury College, and the commitment by Bolton College.

The Bury College proposal is the latest of 15 possible mergers, involving 28 FE colleges, three sixth form colleges and one university, all of which are proposed for August 1.

This compares to just nine mergers in the ten years from 2001 and 2010, under the previous funding agency, the Learning and Skills Council, according to figures published by the department for Business Innovation and Skills.

Consultations are currently open on mergers between South Worcestershire College and

Warwickshire College Group; City and Islington College and Westminster Kingsway College; Bexley College and Bromley College; Bournville College and South and City College.

Further mergers are planned for New College Nottingham and Central College Nottingham; Barrow Sixth Form College and Furness College; and South Leicestershire College and North Warwickshire and Hinckley College.

Decisions have not yet been published following consultation earlier this year on mergers between Shrewsbury College and New College Telford, and Lowestoft College, Great Yarmouth College and Lowestoft Sixth Form College.

Hackney Community College and Tower Hamlets College confirmed in March that they will be merging.

Carlisle College is in discussions about merging with Newcastle College Group (NCG), while Lewisham Southwark College has been in talks with a view to ‘closer working’ with NCG.

Last month Northbrook College and neighbouring City College Brighton and Hove announced their intention to merge later in the year.

On seeing the FE Week analysis (pictured), Sally Hunt, General Secretary of University and College Union said: ‘It is not a surprise that so many colleges are rushing to merge given the massive budget cuts they have endured in recent years.

But any proposed changes should be subject to thorough and meaningful consultation with unions, students and the wider community.”

“Colleges are central to improving the life chances of their local communities, and UCU will work hard both to protect our members’ jobs and defend local educational opportunities where mergers put them at risk.”

Given the scale of proposed mergers, a spokesperson for the Association of Colleges said: “Whether colleges are already in the area review process or waiting for their wave to start, they are increasingly aware of how they can prepare for potential recommendations, how they can shape their own futures, and how they can engage with potential partners.

“Throughout this period, colleges will remain focused on what students want and need in order to go on to further or higher level study or join the workforce.”

A House of Lords report into social mobility has called for the national curriculum to stop at age 14 rather than 16.

The document by the Lords Social Mobility Committee, called ‘Overlooked and Left Behind: improving the transition from school to work for the majority of young people’, concluded that a new 14–19 transition stage would “enable a tailor-made route to work to be developed”.

It recommended this route should combine a “core element” with “either academic or vocational elements”.

The report, which ends a nine-month enquiry, said: “A 14-19 transition stage would move away from age 16 being the cut-off point at which many young people embark on the wrong path.

“It could reduce drop-out rates at age 16 and age 17 from both vocational and academic routes.”

The suggestion conjures the image of studio schools and University Technical Colleges (UTCs), which are designed to specifically target 14 to 19-year-olds.

In his speech at the Conservative Party Conference in October 2013, David Cameron supported UTCs, saying: “Let’s have one of those colleges in every single major town.”

But they have struggled since then, with a number closing due to problems with recruitment, while several studio schools have faced the same fate.

FE Week spoke to Lady Corston, chair of the committee, but when challenged on studio schools and UTCs she said the report did not endorse any particular type of provider.

“The 14-19 transition stage should be delivered by all local partners — and that includes schools, colleges, employers, UTCs and local authorities,” she said.

She added that the government should facilitate greater collaboration between different institution types.

“There are some effective programmes that work across local areas, but we lack a coherent national strategy.”

Lady Corston said the FE environment was currently “a bewildering landscape” that 18-year-olds could not be expected to navigate alone.

The report made eight recommendations, including a “gold standard in independent careers advice and guidance, which moves responsibility away from schools and colleges” and a Cabinet-level minister taking full responsibility for the transition from school to work.

The report also warned that the drive-through area reviews for groups of colleges to share facilities and specialisations could cause problems in rural areas “where distances between colleges are more substantial and travelling is more difficult and costly”.

It added more support was needed for young people who do not go to university or do an apprenticeship, making sure they were still successful.

Responding to the criticisms in the report, a spokesperson for the Department for Education said: “Latest figures show the number of young people not in education or training is at the lowest on record.

“We have introduced a more rigorous curriculum so every child learns the basic skills they need such as English and maths.

She added: “We will invest £70m in our careers strategy over the course of this parliament to transform the quality of careers education.”

Picture caption: Lady Corston, chair of the Lords Social Mobility Committee, speaking to FE Week reporter Alix Robertson

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE The third annual FE Week and Policy Consortium FE and Skills Survey 2016.

Devolution and localism are the Government’s latest big ideas for education and skills — backed up with a rhetoric that speaks of power going to localities, institutions and professionals. The Policy Consortium wants to test the FE sector’s views about these ideas.

Ministers insist that the outcomes of Area Reviews, a greater role for Local Enterprise Partnerships and measures to cut red tape will enable the sector to focus on meeting local employer and community needs, expanding learning opportunities for all and, especially, promoting the development of apprenticeships as a route into skilled employment.

Will this come about? Or will greater local freedom be undermined by national obsessions such as the arbitrary target of 3 million apprenticeship starts, a misplaced enthusiasm for GCSEs in English and maths and a loans programme that has stalled?

The third annual FE and Skills survey by the Policy Consortium, published in association with FE Week, is launched today. The previous surveys gave unique insight into what practitioners are thinking, and this survey promises to do the same. Policy-makers would be well-advised to take note of the findings.

In the first survey, ‘Taking the pulse of education — the Great FE and Skills Survey of 2014’, concerns over funding took precedence over everything else. Now that we can see clearly how deeply the resources for FE have been cut, we can see how prescient that survey proved to be. We expected the second survey, ‘Checking the Pulse -— Going from bad to worse’, also to focus on funding. Although it was still a major concern, deeper fears were voiced about systemic failure — perceived threats to the viability of institutions, to adult learning as a whole or to the nature of FE as we have known it. Significantly these concerns were highlighted in the survey before the NAO made the financial fragility of colleges headline news and triggered the wave of area reviews now preoccupying the sector.

Taking a further check of the pulse should enable people to judge whether the concentration and specialisation expected to result from area reviews will make matters better or worse. The survey should give an insight into whether those at the sharp end think that the apprenticeship levy will energise business involvement or overwhelm employers with a new bureaucracy. It should also give an indication as to whether the decision of George Osborne, the Chancellor, not to proceed with even deeper cuts, following a 35% reduction in adult skills budgets has allayed fears.

As well as system collapse, the list of concerns in the second annual survey was topped by funding, change, workload and bureaucracy. Worries about English and maths teaching and the ‘broad direction of travel’ for FE followed close behind, as almost a thousand teachers, leaders, managers, support staff, advisers and other professionals took part in the survey in order to offer their thoughts and express their feelings on FE and skills with the general election then just days away.

The third survey will gather and analyse your views on a range of current relevant topics concerning FE, and of concern — from Government policy to teaching resources, curriculum change to staff morale, partnerships to inspection. You have chances to express your opinions on issues we have not considered. There are also two open-ended questions that ask for your views on the single most important issue affecting further education and skills and where there is room for optimism. Make sure you use this opportunity to get your views heard.

The results, analysis and reactions will be published in early May in FE Week. There will be a more detailed report on the research and what it indicates from the Policy Consortium shortly afterwards.

Mick Fletcher and Ian Nash are members of the Policy Consortium

I Watch Competition 

All survey respondents will be entered in to a prize draw to win the follow item: Apple Watch Sport 42mm Space Grey Aluminium Case with Black Woven Nylon, plus a 12-month subscription to FE Week. The winner will be contacted within five days of the survey completing. The survey closes on April 22, 2016 at noon