The news that the majority of employers will only pay 10 per cent of apprenticeship training costs from April 2017 has been welcomed by many in the sector – but concerns still remain.

FE Week was first to publish details of the funding arrangements for small- and medium-sized enterprises – previously reported in June, having been leaked to FE Week – after they were confirmed by the Department for Education in this morning’s hotly anticipated apprenticeship levy update.

Under the new proposals, the 98 per cent of employers with wage bills of less than £3m, and who therefore will not be paying the apprenticeship levy when it is introduced next April, will have 90 per cent of any apprenticeship training paid for by the government.

Mike Cherry, Federation of Small Businesses national chairman, said that today’s announcement “sends a clear signal that ministers are listening to our members’ concerns”.

He said a quarter of FSB members were considering employing apprentices in the future “but only if they feel apprenticeships are affordable”.

He added: “Getting apprenticeship reform right, including changes to existing funding arrangements, is key to apprenticeship growth among small businesses.”

But John Hyde, HIT Training chairman, warned that the new arrangements would be a “huge disincentive” for both levy and non-levy paying employers over the next 10 months.

Any employer taking on an apprentice under the new standards now would pay a one third employer contribution, but by waiting until next May that would drop to a 10 per cent contribution for SMEs, or through levy payments for larger employers.

The new arrangements should be introduced now, he said, “otherwise employers will delay their starts until May next year, which will not only affect the government’s 3 million starts target, but financially destabilize the provider network over the next ten months if they cannot recruit sufficient apprentices to survive”.

And the Association of Employment and Learning Providers said that, while “mass disengagement” of SMEs may be avoided, it still had concerns about how the apprenticeship reforms would affect them.

The “insistence of insistence of a cash contribution from these employers could in our view still have a very negative impact”, a spokesperson said, and urged ministers to keep the issue under review and to phase it out “if our fears about the impact are realised”.

Martin Doel, Association of Colleges chief executive said the system “does not appear to be any simpler than before, but we understand that a balance must be struck between simplicity and leaving the system open to exploitation”.

Carolyn Fairbairn, Confederation of British Industry director general, said that today’s announcement “shows some progress, including support for smaller firms, but fundamental problems remain”.

But she reiterated the CBI’s call, first made in July, to delay the implementation of the levy, which she said “in its current form risks turning the clock back on recent progress through poor design and rushed timescales”.

“Without a radical rethink it could damage not raise training quality,” she added.

This call was echoed by shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden who said “there appears to be no concession” to the calls to delay implementation.

He said: “There is no point working to an artificial deadline if it cannot be delivered.”

Mr Marsden said that, while he welcomed the news that SMEs would only have to pay a 10 per cent contribution, he warned that “it is not simply about money, it’s also about capacity and bureaucracy” which he said had been a “major disincentive” for apprentices to be taken on by small employers.

Stephen Evans, Learning and Work Institute deputy chief executive, said that today’s announcement would give employers and providers clarity to help them to plan.

He added: “I welcome today’s announcement that government will fully meet the apprenticeship training costs for young care leavers and young people with EHC Plans, alongside a further commitment to support additional costs.”

Sue Pember, HOLEX policy director, said she was pleased with funding arrangements for small employers, and the support for young people and those with a care plan.

But she added: “The proposals are silent on those who are older and who may have a disability and need extra support to access an apprenticeship. We would like to see that addressed.”

And Laurence Gates, the Education and Training Foundation director leading on apprenticeships, said that clarity on the funding issues would be welcomed by the sector.

The apprenticeship levy is a “project timeline in trouble” the Confederation of British Industry has said, as the industry body reiterates its call for the levy to be delayed.

In an exclusive article for FE Week, Neil Carberry, the CBI’s director for employment and skills, said the only way to create a system that delivers “three million opportunities – not just three million starts” was by delaying its introduction.

Mr Carberry said: “Enough people within government know what a project timeline in trouble looks like – and the levy system is one of those.

“On the digital service, cross-border issues with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and many more concerns.

“In truth, it is highly unlikely that the structures and rules necessary to make the system work on day one can be delivered effectively on the current timelines,” he said.

His remarks come after the Department for Education published its hotly-anticipated apprenticeship levy update, first reported by FE Week this morning, which included details of the funding arrangements for small employers, as well as a consultation for the new register of apprenticeship training providers.

While this new information was “something to welcome” Mr Carberry said “you don’t have to go far into the document to realise businesses will still be concerned at the direction of travel”.

A levy system that helps fill skills gaps and improve outcomes for learners should put “quality and system design first, not fiscal and political targets”, he said.

He added: “Our view is that levy design is coming to these vital economic and social goals too late – the system we have is designed to work for Whitehall – but won’t work in Walsall.”

Mr Carberry said the CBI was concerned over the lack of flexibility in the system.

He said: “We need a system – like so many other levies around the world – that is flexible enough to fund what firms and learners need and make those who don’t train pay the costs of those that do.”

He also voiced fears over the lack of transferability of the new apprenticeship standards in development.

If the courses “have to be high quality and add to people’s employability”, he asked, “why are we seeing qualifications actively purged from trailblazers?”

“Why will the employer-led Institute for Apprenticeships have no voice over the set-up of the system, only its operation?”

The only way to deliver the “right approach that rewards businesses who do the right thing, high-quality business-led standards, and a system that works on launch day” is by delaying its introduction, he concluded.

Mr Carberry’s remarks build on comments made by CBI director general Carolyn Fairbairn in response to today’s update, which she said “shows some progress”.

But she warned it “risks turning the clock back on recent progress through poor design and rushed timescales”.

“Without a radical rethink it could damage not raise training quality,” she added.

Read the full article here.

 

 

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)