Saudis ‘ready to offer decade-long FE tuition deals’ to UK colleges

Saudi Arabia will offer contracts of 10 years and longer for UK-based colleges that run courses in the country, it has been claimed.

Many participants in the kingdom’s controversial “colleges of excellence” (CoE) scheme launched in 2013 subsequently quit due to low demand, strict payment terms and delays, and difficulties of working under five-year agreements.

But Burton and South Derbyshire College (BSDC) chair Rajinder Mann told FE Week it discovered during a Department of Business and International Trade-led mission that there would be a tender launched this academic year for “much longer-term contacts of between 10 to 15 years”.

She said: “These new longer-term contracts will give colleges looking to get involved with technical colleges within the kingdom increased financial security when compared to previous contracts that were rolled over a number of times. 

“We believe working in the kingdom offers real benefits to UK colleges and hope many more engage in this new tendering round.”

BSDC maintained a reduced operation in Saudi Arabia after its partnership was terminated in 2023 in the hope of securing a more favourable agreement.

Lincoln College is the only provider to currently hold a Saudi contract, while several others, including Activate Learning, quit the CoE scheme which had paid out a total of around £1 billion.

Saudi cost pressures

BSDC, which suffered financially due to its loss of Saudi income, operated a female-only college in Jeddah – the International Technical Female College at Jeddah – in partnership with other colleges under a company named Highbury Burton Saudi Arabia Limited (HBSA) until it became the sole shareholder in 2020.

Launched in 2013 on an initial five-year contract that was later extended until 2023 and worth £59 million, the Jeddah college provided vocational courses in areas including business management, IT and graphic design.

Minutes from May 2024 show the BSDC board agreed to shoulder “additional costs” by continuing operations in the country despite no longer holding a contract.

BSDC’s financial health rating dropped to ‘requires improvement’ for the first time in at least five years in 2023-24, recording a deficit and negative EBITDA, partly due to the loss of income from the Saudi project.

Financial statements revealed the board “recognised the risk” in exiting the country as this would make securing future contracts “impossible due to the high level of investment and the lengthy duration it would take to set up a company again”.

Ongoing costs to BSDC associated with the reduced Saudi operation include auditor fees, storage facilities for furniture and IT equipment, bookkeeping services, two members of staff and renewal of annual licences that must be retained under Saudi law. The college said it was using profits previously gained from the Saudi venture to cover the expenditure.

Mann said: “The year-end position reflects decisions to run a deficit budget for one year that considered pressures such as staff pay as well as the ongoing operation in Saudi.”

She added BSDC suffered extra “one-off and unforeseen” tax costs of £356,000 when the former Highbury College, Portsmouth, reneged on an agreement to contribute to a tax bill when it quit HBSA in 2020.

Highbury College, which left after financial trouble triggered government intervention, subsequently merged and is now part of City of Portsmouth College, which did not respond to a request for comment on the Saudi tax allegation.

‘Exceptional’ success

Mann said HBSA’s track record in Saudi was “exceptional” with achievement rates topping 90 per cent, the “highest” employment rates within the CoE programme at 71 per cent, and consistently achieved “good with outstanding features” grades from the kingdom’s quality assurance regulator.

She added: “We feel that our strong track record of high outcomes and excellent teaching and learning in the kingdom, partnered with our extensive in-country experience, effectively positions both BSDC and HBSA with the best possible chance of success in securing further contracts whilst also fulfilling our government’s ambitions of exporting high-quality education across the globe.”

Lincoln College landed an initial £250 million five-year agreement to operate in Saudi in 2014. It extended its presence in the country but on a reduced contract to run two colleges in the kingdom until 2029.

It told FE Week: “Lincoln College has successfully educated thousands of male and female Saudi students over the past decade.

“We work closely with the UK government to meet public sector requirements and expect this to continue as new opportunities come to the market.

“Our financial health for 2023-24 is rated as ‘good’ and will currently be ‘good’ for 2024-25, reflecting the success of our educational and commercial activities.”

A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “We support skills development as one of several education goals under the UK-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council and we continue to work with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia government and the UK sector to identify opportunities for education partnerships.”

Saudi’s CoE organisers did not respond to requests for comment.

Report cards ‘rushed and botched’, Ofsted whistleblowers claim

Ofsted’s new inspection report cards have been “cobbled together at ridiculous speed” with no underpinning research and concerns by experienced officials ignored, whistleblowers have claimed.

In a letter due to be sent to unions, and seen by FE Week sister title Schools Week, staff claim they have been forced to speak out publicly over the “rushed and botched framework”.

They say a consultation on the plans, due to launch next week, is a “sham” as there will be no time to introduce a model that would differ from Ofsted’s proposal.

They also question claims that report cards will be “evolution not revolution”, adding proposals amount to a “wholly different” framework.

The letter was sent by an Ofsted employee, who did not want to be named, but said they were one of six staff speaking out. They have two decades of inspection and school leadership between them.

Their concerns also “represent the feelings and anxieties of a large number” of colleagues, they added.

Sources said that similar concerns have been aired by other Ofsted staff about the pace and input into the new framework.

Staff ‘deeply concerned’

Leaked details of Ofsted’s report cards last year stated schools would be judged over multiple categories, on a scale of one to five. Report cards will also be introduced for FE and skills providers, but it’s not yet known how similar they will be in design to schools. 

The letter alleges some staff are “deeply concerned” about changes.

It says: “Senior Ofsted leaders will not permit any questioning or real reflection on the workability of this rushed and botched framework.”

The whistleblowers described plans as a “chaotic mess”. While the current framework was “solidly grounded in the latest and best educational research, the new framework is amateurish and has been cobbled together at ridiculous speed with virtually no underpinning research”.

The letter also alleged the planned consultation is “just a public relations exercise, not a real consultation.

“It is a sham. By the time the public consultation reports, and pilot inspections have happened, the summer term will be ending and there is simply no time to change anything if inspectors are supposed to be trained and start using the framework in the autumn term.”

They also claimed the new framework is “wholly different” to the current education inspection framework (EIF), introduced in 2019, “in purpose and content”.

And they warned the new framework is supposed to launch in the new academic year, which was “less than a year from conception to implementation”.

“In contrast, the EIF took over two and a half years to research, consult, develop, pilot and refine before it was launched.”

It’s not clear how widespread these feelings are amongst Ofsted staff. But other insiders pointed to a number of senior staff leaving the inspectorate.

Matt Newman, from FDA civil servants’ union which represents His Majesty’s Inspectors, said a poll of members in December found they wanted to be consulted more on changes.

However, he said that is something which has since happened.

An Ofsted spokesperson said: “Ofsted is changing – for the better. We will shortly be launching a full 12-week consultation on changes to inspection and reporting, which will raise standards for children and provide more detailed information for parents.

“We are extremely grateful to colleagues here and in the wider education sector who have contributed to the development of these proposals, and we want to hear back from parents and professionals when they see the detail.”

‘No faith in senior leadership’

In the letter, the whistleblowers claimed they “have no faith in senior leadership” to listen to concerns.

They have sounded the alarm to unions because they “care deeply about Ofsted and about the children and professionals it serves, and our concern is causing us to act”.

They described themselves as senior HMIs, HMI specialist advisors and an office-based civil service member. Schools Week was unable to verify their roles.

The new Labour government scrapped single-phrase headline judgments for schools with immediate effect in September. The move will follow for FE and skills providers this coming September.

Ofsted has since led on the design of new report cards that will replace the existing inspection reports in the new academic year.

The changes are being made in response to a coroner’s ruling in late 2023 that an inspection contributed to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.

Concerns echo those of union bosses, who last year said they feared Ofsted was “running away” with the design of report cards.

In a briefing for members this week, Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Pepe Di’Iasio said the “proposals that we anticipate from Ofsted – barring a last-minute change of heart – seem deeply flawed”.

He was “more than concerned about what [the announcement] might say and how it might not necessarily make what was a previously flawed system less flawed going forward”.

Additional reporting by Lydia Chantler-Hicks.

Demand for industry training board merger rejected

A call to merge two building industry training boards under proposals to tackle a workforce shortage has been turned down by ministers.

In his delayed Industry Training Board review, published on Thursday, expert Mark Farmer said the Department for Education’s funding of both the Construction Industry Training Board and Engineering Construction Industry Training Board could not be justified.

But in its response the DfE only accepted half of the review’s 63 recommendations, rejecting three outright and only partially accepting 25 others.

This was despite Farmer saying “cherry picking” from his recommendations “could render change ineffective”.

His main recommendation – to merge the CITB and ECITB – was dismissed.

A DfE spokesperson said:“Whilst we have no plans to legislate to merge the two industry training boards, over the next 12 months we will be working with them and other government departments to implement and make progress on many of the report’s recommendations.”

The Federation for Master Builders estimates at least 240,000 extra construction workers are needed over the next four years to meet demand.

The DfE appointed Farmer in 2023 to review the role and effectiveness of the CITB and ECITB. These bodies impose their own levies on construction and engineering employers to fund training.

His review found the two boards’ interventions had “insufficient” impact to “demonstrate reasonable additionality and, on the face of it, justify their existence”.

Farmer said: “This is reflected in the growing risks of future workforce attrition, future skills misalignment and a looming potential inability to meet future industry demand. This suggests a fundamental reset is required across both ITBs to change both direction and effectiveness.”

He proposed to merge the CITB and ECITB into a single rebranded body, responsible for workforce development of new and existing workers in the construction and engineering construction sectors.

The DfE said there were “significant benefits to greater alignment and collaboration” across the two boards as well as Skills England, but that a full merger would require “further scoping”.

It said: “How this alignment should be taken forward in the long term requires further scoping. Options to be considered range from voluntary collaboration to full legal merger of the ITBs.  A starting point must be enhanced collaboration on specific areas such as infrastructure across Great Britain, increasing trainers, clean energy jobs and skills passporting.”

The review lays out 63 recommendations across 17 areas, which propose the merged ITB to “maximise industry recovery of apprenticeship levy” and act as the lead coordinator to maximise the use of skills bootcamps, local skills improvement plans and other DfE-funded programmes.

Other recommendations include a refocused levy-grant system and the two ITBs retaining ring-fenced levy funds in the short term whilst options for levy consolidation are explored.

The report says: “It is recognised therefore that there is an ‘all or nothing’ subtext to this review’s recommendations, representing a last throw of the dice to prove a new ITB model can be much more effective.”

Farmer said: “Whatever happens, we should aspire to a high quality, standards-led workforce that is capable of delivering more and better.”

Andrew Hockey, CEO of the ECITB, said his board has already started developing plans to implement the recommendations.

“We welcome closer collaboration with the CITB, particularly in the area of infrastructure skills where there is the most commonality between the ITBs’ respective footprints,” he said.

Tim Balcon, CEO of CITB, said: “We must move at pace to work together to tackle the joint needs of industry without the delay and disruption that legislative or structural changes would surely bring, and that would inevitably be detrimental to industry success.

“We need to be laser-focused on addressing industry needs by providing standardised levels of competence, alternative routes into industry, and making it easier and cheaper to access high-quality training.

“Importantly, the report recognises the significant skills challenges facing the construction and engineering industries and the vital role that the ITBs play in helping address these. Further, it asserts that the best way of doing so is to retain the ITB model and industry-specific levies.”

Fiona Aldridge, chief executive of the Skills Federation, said: “ITBs have a crucial role to play in helping identify critical skills needs, engaging employers in meeting these needs, and in connecting them into the wider skills system.

“Whilst engagement with individual employers is important, there is an important role too for ITBs and other sector skills bodies in ensuring we have a comprehensive view of skills needs, including for small and medium-sized companies, and a coordinated and coherent approach to addressing them.”

Apprenticeships: Level 2 starts lowest in four years

Apprenticeship starts marginally grew in the first quarter of this academic year – but there were nearly 1,000 fewer young people aged under 19 on employer books, new data shows.

There were 132,560 new apprentices in August, September and October of 2024, up 1.3 per cent on the same period last year.

Higher-level apprenticeships have held up the growth while lower-level apprenticeships have fallen, following previous trends. 

While the overall headline figures suggest employers haven’t drastically slowed down their apprenticeship recruitment, the data is for the period preceding the autumn budget, which contained wage and tax rises on employers that come into effect this April. 

Some employers have warned the incoming measures will wreck their apprenticeship recruitment plans. Future stats releases will reveal the extent of this predicted impact.

Here are the headlines from today’s figures:

More ups but more downs

This is the first full quarter of apprenticeship statistics since July’s general election, and since prime minister Keir Starmer announced level 7 apprenticeships would face the axe in order to “rebalance” the system towards young people. 

2024 saw the highest first-quarter apprenticeship starts in four years overall, but the lowest number of level 2 starts, which have fallen consecutively. Level 3 starts also fell slightly. 

Higher level apprenticeships, those at levels 4 to 7, rose by 8 per cent compared to the previous year, whereas level 2 apprenticeships fell by 5 per cent.

Under 19s were the only age group to see a decline in apprenticeship starts in quarter one compared to the previous year. 

There were 41,810 under 19s that started an apprenticeship in August, September and October in 2024, down from 42,740 over that period in 2023. While 2 per cent down on the same period in 2023, under 19 starts were not quite as low as they were in 2021 or 2022.

As a share of the overall number of starts in the first quarter, under-19s made up 31.5 per cent in 2024/25, down from 32.7 per cent in 2023/24.

Alongside scrapping level 7 apprenticeships to free up some funding, Labour has announced plans to introduce so-called foundation apprenticeships in an effort to reverse this trend of falling numbers of young people. However, Labour is yet to reveal what these new forms of apprenticeships will look like. 

Level 7

Labour is establishing Skills England, a new agency within the Department for Education, to replace the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. 

Ministers are yet to announce who will run Skills England, but they will be responsible for determining much of Labour’s apprenticeship policy, such as scrapping level 7 apprenticeships and funding from the growth and skills levy.

Nearly 11,000 people started a level 7 apprenticeship in quarter one of this academic year, broadly similar to the same period last year.

Around two in five of those were apprentice accountants (4262), followed by senior leader apprentices (2554) and then solicitors (1031).

Redundancies

November 2024 saw the lowest number of monthly apprentice redundancies in nearly five years. 

Employers have been able to record redundancies since July 2020. Monthly figures show they peaked in August 2020, the first month of data, with 890. The average since then is 340.

Between August and November this academic year, 870 apprentices have been recorded as being made redundant, down from 1,350 over the same period in 2023/24. Of those, one-third were under 19.

This year, September saw the highest number with 330, but just 100 were recorded for November. 

Provider analysis

Analysis of the largest apprenticeship training providers shows that while Lifetime Training recorded the highest number of starts this quarter, their numbers are around 20 per cent down on the previous year.

BPP Professional saw their starts grow by 40 per cent compared to the same period last year. Multiverse, Corndel and Paragon and the British Army also recorded growth in quarter one starts.

Proportions of starts by provider type didn’t change very much. Independent training providers recorded 57 per cent of starts, down slightly from 58.2 per cent the year before. FE colleges started 24.5 per cent of starts, the same as last year.

The slight fall in ITPs’ share was made up by providers in the ‘other public’ category which includes universities and local authorities. 

DfE to curb HE franchise fraud with mandatory OfS registration

Providers delivering franchised higher education courses face tough new rules in a bid to curb student loan fraud and “rogue operators”.

The Department for Education has unveiled plans to “crack down on rogue operators” by bringing providers delivering franchised HE into the scope of the Office for Students (OfS).

Under the proposed changes, delivery partners that teach 300 or more franchised students will be required to register with the OfS for their courses to remain eligible for student finance. DfE said the move will tackle misuse of public funding and improve regulatory oversight of franchised HE, which has seen rapid expansion in recent years. 

The move could require “hundreds” of new registrations to the HE regulator, which one provider representative body said would need “substantial extra resource and a dramatic reprioritisation of efforts”.

It follows an investigation by the National Audit Office which found a lack of oversight over franchised HE cost the taxpayer £2 million in fraud in 2022/23.

The number of students studying at franchised providers more than doubled between 2018/19 and 2022/23, increasing from 50,430 to 135,850. 

DfE said over half of 341 franchised institutions are currently not registered with the OfS. “In some cases, students are offered poor-quality courses that fail to justify their cost, showing a clear need for reform,” the department said.

Fraud and quality

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said her proposed reforms to HE regulation would “ensure students can trust the quality of their courses, no matter where or how they choose to study”.

“We are committed to cracking down on rogue operators who misuse public money and damage the reputation of our world-class universities,” she added.

A recent NAO report found £2.2 million of the £4.1 million in detected student finance fraud in 2022/23 related to franchised provision. Yet, only 6.5 per cent of student loan funded students are on franchised courses.

Additionally, OfS data suggests student outcomes at some franchised providers are significantly lower than those at directly regulated providers.

Franchised providers will be subject to greater student attendance and financial monitoring, as well as scrutiny of recruitment practices – all things DfE has flagged as concerns in the franchised sector.

Alex Proudfoot, chief executive of Independent Higher Education (IHE), said he supports “the principle of universal regulation that is proportionate, flexible and efficient”.

“Sadly these are not words that anyone who has undergone the registration process in the past seven years would use to describe it.”

Mandatory registration

Unregistered providers would only be required to register with the OfS if they have over 300 franchised students, excluding apprentices. Those with fewer than 300 will remain accountable to the franchising university or college. Students funded through student finance, self-funded students and international students all contribute towards the 300 threshold.

OfS registration would require providers to evidence they had met quality and governance requirements, were financially secure and were held to account for student outcomes.

DfE estimates that the 300 threshold would capture around 83 per cent of students currently at unregistered franchise providers.

The consultation sets out some exemptions to the new registration rules. Further education colleges, sixth form colleges and designated institutions will be exempt from the registration requirement as they are already subject to ESFA and managing public money regulations.

Simon Ashworth, deputy CEO at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, thinks independent training providers should also be exempt. 

“This creates an uneven playing field for ITPs who are already approved by DfE and directly inspected by Ofsted. This is already more than enough to evidence robustness – and we believe should also entitle providers to an exemption.

“If the DfE wants to properly review franchising arrangements, we would urge them to lift the lid on some of the disproportionate fees and charges imposed on franchisees.”

The OfS register is currently closed to new applications. The regulator shut its register and paused applications for new degree awarding powers in December while it prioritises university financial health. That freeze is expected to come to end this August at the latest.

Regulate for growth

Alex Proudfoot

Proudfoot questions whether the OfS will have the resource to register what could be hundreds of new providers following a backlog off the back of the current freeze. This would come on top of “many years of unacceptable performance, opaque decision making and the absence of reliable service standards”.

He said: “In 2024, the OfS registered just 7 providers, despite rising demand and a backlog of applications, so it is obvious that any requirement to register what could be hundreds of additional providers within a two-year period must be accompanied by substantial extra resource and a dramatic reprioritisation of effort towards this core statutory function.

“More than that, to get this job done will require a cultural step change within the regulator itself and a leadership who genuinely understands the importance of growth, innovation and investment in the higher education sector.

“It’s time for the OfS to meet the challenge set so clearly by the prime minister and chancellor of the exchequer this week and start regulating for growth, not just for risk.”

Depending on the outcome of the consultation, the new registration rules could be introduced in April next year. Decisions about course eligibility for student loans would then be made in September 2027 for implementation in the 2028/29 academic year.

Cost and complexity turn providers off degree apprenticeships

Since their inception in 2015, degree apprenticeships have rapidly gained prominence. They offer a debt-free pathway to achieving a degree, blending academic learning with practical, on-the-job training.

Promoted as a means to address skills shortages, boost productivity and advance social mobility, degree apprenticeships have experienced significant growth, with over 170 standards now available in a range of sectors, across 101 providers.

However, research from the Edge Foundation, based on nearly 100 interviews with key stakeholders and conducted in collaboration with the universities of Bath, Oxford, and Huddersfield, reveals there are persistent threats to their long-term sustainability and capacity to foster diversity.

Regulatory and financial roadblocks

Education and training providers play a pivotal role in the development and delivery of degree apprenticeships. However, complex auditing, overlapping regulatory requirements and crucial employer liaison activities are highly resource intensive.

This means that compared to mainstream undergraduate provision they are more expensive to run and more administratively challenging. As one provider put it: “Why the heck are we doing this for £21,000 when it would be £28,000 and a lot cheaper to deliver because you don’t have skills coaches, and we don’t need to worry about Ofsted?”

Uncertainty around employer demand, coupled with changes in the policy landscape – with details of the growth and skills levy still up in the air – count against degree apprenticeships.

Employers also report barriers to engagement, particularly related to the apprenticeship levy.

Large organisations frequently cite underuse of levy funds due to bureaucratic complexities and restrictions on expenditure.

SMEs typically rely on levy transfers from large employers, facilitated by providers, to participate in degree apprenticeships.

The system is heavily reliant on informal networks and personal relationships, rather than fostering systemic collaboration.

Advancing social mobility and diversity

The potential of degree apprenticeships to enhance social mobility and diversify the workforce remains both celebrated and contested. Apprentices frequently cite the appeal of earning a wage while avoiding student debt, particularly those with caring responsibilities or those deterred by mainstream academic pathways.

And, encouragingly, some employers are using degree apprenticeships to attract women into traditionally male-dominated fields, such as engineering and IT.

But despite these advantages, our research paints a patchy picture of careers advice about degree apprenticeships that risks entrenching advantages for pupils in independent and higher attaining state schools.

As one employer explained: “If their schools really promote it, if their parents are supportive of it and they have access to social media, they have that digital network that allows them to see opportunities.”

Degree apprenticeships appear to be primarily targeted internally towards existing employees rather than school leavers, although there are signs of this changing.

The prime minister’s intervention on the growth and skills levy, asking employers to “rebalance their funding for apprenticeships [and] invest in younger workers”, signals policy levers may be pulled in this direction.

Nonetheless, the impact of degree apprenticeships as tools of social mobility is constrained by variable recruitment practices and inconsistent employer engagement with diversity goals.

The government should consider modelling the impact of differentiating levy funding available for degree apprenticeships by age and/or staff status, to encourage employers to diversify the workforce.

Enhancing collaboration and delivery

Modes of delivery also vary widely, and while flexibility allows for tailored approaches, it poses challenges for ensuring consistent quality and support.

The integration of academic education with workplace learning is particularly critical as this is the backbone of work-based learning.

Collaboration between providers, employers and apprentices is central to the success of all apprenticeships. Yet, our research highlights that effective coordination mechanisms and sufficient resourcing, such as regular reviews and dedicated liaison teams, are not uniformly implemented.

Miscommunication and a lack of understanding of apprenticeship requirements by employers and providers often impede progress. Successful examples demonstrate the value of close employer-provider collaboration and robust mentoring frameworks.

However, the availability and quality of mentorship remain uneven, with limited training provided for mentors. Providers and employers should work together to share best practice around mentoring and student support.

Degree apprenticeships are transforming what higher education can be, but their sustained growth and long-term future hinges on addressing regulatory, financial and collaborative challenges.

By streamlining processes, fostering inclusivity and strengthening partnerships, stakeholders can ensure degree apprenticeships continue to serve as a robust, equitable pathway into higher education and employment.

MPs to investigate ‘new way of doing FE’

Government policies on further education funding, curriculum and staffing are under the spotlight in a new wide-ranging inquiry launched by parliament’s education committee today.

MPs have opened a call for evidence with 21 areas of interest including “funding issues” in apprenticeships, GCSE resits, the FE workforce, barriers for SEND learners, attainment gaps and mental health support for students. 

Education committee chair Helen Hayes said: “In this inquiry, we will listen to both the education sector and figures from industry and public services to investigate how DfE could design a new way of doing FE that helps young people into the careers they desire, serves vital sectors that struggle to recruit, and catalyses growth across the country.”

Individual policies, like capital investment, T Levels and the role of Skills England, will be scrutinised. The inquiry’s terms of reference also asks for much broader evidence around how to improve student outcomes, how to “resolve the skills shortage,” and improving collaboration with employers and local authorities.

Anyone can submit written evidence by the March 7 deadline. It is expected sector figures will be invited to answer questions from committee members in oral evidence hearings later this year. 

Long way off parity

The inquiry comes amid industrial unrest due to growing pay gap between teachers in schools and colleges.

Rising numbers of young people not in education, employment and training are also on the committee’s radar as new figures next month are expected to show the number of 16-24 year-olds who are NEET has surpassed a million.

The committee scored an early win this year when education ministers seemingly heeded their advice not to proceed with plans to remove funding from level 3 qualifications that rival T Levels in the short term.

Hayes added: “In recent years I have seen a political consensus develop that technical education deserves parity of esteem with A levels and routes into university. But on the ground we are a long way off from this being a reality, and the further education sector has instead experienced real terms funding cuts and continued uncertainty about the qualifications they can offer. 

“We will also look at how FE settings can support students with mental health and SEND to deliver better outcomes, particularly for the young people who are the most at risk of falling out of education, training and employment.” 

Early years qualification rules relaxed amid recruitment crisis

Strict rules around qualification levels of early years staff are to be relaxed from September to give the sector “respite” from a long-running recruitment crisis, the government has announced.

In a consultation response published today, the Department for Education (DfE) confirmed details of a new “experience-based” route for early years staff.

This route will waive a staff-to-child ratio rule stipulating that at least one staff member must hold an approved level 3 qualification in each early years age group.

The government hopes the plans – set in motion by the Conservatives early last year – will help early years providers “address the challenges they are facing recruiting and retaining the right educators”.

Experts say the move will help address urgent staff shortages but have warned that the crisis is caused by “huge disparities” in pay and working conditions.

Staffing shortages in the sector are likely to limit the number of new early years places available, despite the government increasing “free early education” hours to 30 hours per week for all under-fives from September this year.

Experienced based route

About 1,200 people and organisations responded to the consultation – which ran from April to June last year – with the majority agreeing that early years providers should be able to award experienced-based staff themselves.

Under the new rules, managers at Ofsted ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ providers will be allowed to count staff who have a level 2 early years qualification or a “relevant” level 3 qualification as being at level 3, for the purposes of staff-to-child ratios.

The staff member must have at least one year of experience in early years and meet at least 50 percent of the criteria for level 3.

Before making a final decision, the manager – who must have worked in early years for at least two years – will be required to supervise the staff member for about 30 days.

The government said it is “clear” that the experience-based route will eventually be “phased out” and replaced with a “long term assessment-based route” for experienced-based level 3 staff to “gain a full and relevant qualification”.

However, it is unclear when this is likely to be rolled out.

‘Welcome respite’

Sector bodies hope that the rule change will encourage more diverse staff to enter early years.

However, Neil Leitch, chief executive officer of the Early Years Alliance, said while the new route will likely offer “some welcome respite” from the staffing crisis, it should be part of a “wider recruitment and retention strategy”.

He added: “Ultimately, if the government not only wants to attract new educators into the sector but also ensure they stay in the long term, it needs to ensure that those working in the sector get the respect – and crucially, the pay – they so clearly deserve.”

Highly qualified teachers needed

Shortly after confirming the plans, the government also announced a new early years teacher degree apprenticeship standard.

Education minister Stephen Morgan said the three-year course would be a “vital step” to delivering an early years system that ensures children start school “ready to learn”.

Professor Eunice Lumsden, head of childhood youth and families at the University of Northampton, said research shows that children benefit from a “high quality, graduate-led” early childhood education.

She added: “However, there is no doubt we have a sector in crisis; I know how many are struggling to recruit, and this new route offers opportunities for experienced practitioners whose qualifications do not meet the full and relevant criteria. 

“There are no easy solutions to the current situation, but it is important that one of the unintended consequences of this direction of travel is that expectations for qualifications are lowered.”

College retains ‘outstanding’ for third time

A Lancashire college group has been awarded its third consecutive ‘outstanding’ grade from Ofsted.

Nelson and Colne College group received top marks in almost all areas in a glowing report by the watchdog published today.

The college group was inspected between December 10-13 and had enrolled 2,301 16-18-year-olds, 3,421 adult learners, 512 apprentices and 122 high needs students at the time.

It last was graded ‘outstanding’ in 2022 and first received a grade one 20 years ago in 2005.

Ofsted inspectors said the college group fosters an “exceptionally inclusive” culture and a strong sense of community where learners and apprentices feel like they are “part of a big family” and feel they grow academically and socially.

Inspectors lauded the college group’s “highly ambitious” curriculum, a timely judgment given that the group’s principal and CEO, Lisa O’Loughlin, is on the government’s curriculum and assessment review panel.

The report praised the college group, which offers A-levels, T Levels and a range of other vocational courses to young people, for providing “highly effective tailored support” to learners to ensure they finish their qualifications.

O’Loughlin said it was an “absolute privilege” to show Ofsted how “phenomenal” the college’s staff and students are.

“I am so proud of this achievement and that the inspectors witnessed what I see every day, that we are an amazing college group which is 100 per cent focused on delivering the best possible outcomes for our learners,” she said.

“For the inspection team to note how we are powered by English and maths and that our learners achieve their goals and grades, while also feeling part of a big family which supports them, is testament to us being an outstanding organisation.”

The watchdog rated the college group ‘good’ for its apprenticeship provision as most apprentices acquire “substantial” new knowledge, skills and behaviours to take into the workplace.

For example, the report said that apprentices respect gender identity and business administrator apprentices “accurately, confidently and respectfully” use he/him, she/her, and they/them preferred pronouns when working with clients, customers and colleagues.

However, it did find that teachers do not effectively monitor apprentices’ progress “in a few instances”. While leaders are aware of their progress, inspectors found that too many apprentices have fallen behind on their learning.

“Achievement in a few apprenticeships is too low. Leaders and managers have put in place actions to improve the quality of training that these apprentices receive. It is too soon to see the impact of these actions,” Ofsted inspectors explained.

Meanwhile, those on T Levels benefit from “well-planned” work experience placements, some of which attend placements across Europe. 

The report praised the curriculum for building on learners’ knowledge over time. For example, young people on the digital production, design and development T level learn about emerging technologies and business environments in their first year, helping them apply more complex knowledge and skills in year two, such as when they write project proposals.  

Ofsted applauded the college group’s teachers for using assessments “exceptionally well” to monitor progress and adapt teaching accordingly.

“For example, on the level 3 access to higher education health pathway, teachers use online quizzes to test learners’ understanding of enzymes, specifically the bonds in enzyme structures,” the report said. “Teachers and learners receive immediate feedback from the quizzes and these assessments help teachers to identify specific areas where learners have gaps in their learning.”

For adult learners, inspectors said this cohort was “highly successful” in achieving their individual goals and qualifications.

The college offers part-time adult courses at Lancashire Adult Learning consisting of higher education courses, ESOL and English and maths.

The watchdog also commended the college’s work with learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as careers advisers working “skilfully” with care leavers in their early weeks at college to ensure that they are on the right course.

Elsewhere, high needs learners receive a “supportive and ambitious” curriculum, which leads them to quickly develop skills.

“Consequently, almost two-thirds of learners with high needs undertake voluntary work while they seek employment,” the report said. “Over one-third move into paid employment.”

Ofsted deemed the college group to be making a “strong” contribution to meeting future skills needs by developing a five-year curriculum plan.

It found that college leaders have “highly effective” links with employers to support important industries in the pan-Lancashire area, such as digital skills and cyber security, health and social care, engineering and manufacturing sectors, and consequently introducing T Levels in all these areas.

In one example, inspectors found a range of adult learning programmes that meet local needs across the county to “re-engage” adults into education, and to reduce social isolation and deprivation, and improve mental health.

Meanwhile, Ofsted said the college managed their subcontracting provision to three providers well by conducting “frequent and rigorous quality assurance activities” such as observing live masterclasses and checking learner outcomes.

It also praised the college group’s governance. Board members meet with learners, apprentices, and curriculum managers in low-performance areas and are aware of the apprenticeship interventions in place.

Pictured (left to right): Kyle Lord – Level 2 Digital learner, Oryna Mokhnal – ESOL learner, Principal and CEO Lisa O’Loughlin, Caius McGuinness – L3 Sport & Exercise Science learner