A university technical college with low pupil numbers has been ditched by its sponsor for costing too much, while recruitment problems in another has forced it to consider converting into a secondary school.

Bright Futures Educational Trust (BFET) is relinquishing sponsorship of Wigan UTC as it can no longer afford the 14-19 institution.

The UTC has been open three years but currently has just 65 pupils on roll, despite a capacity for 500.

Meanwhile, Bolton UTC – ten miles from Wigan – is consulting community members over a planned change that would allow pupils to enter from age 11 instead of 14.

If agreed, it would be the sixth UTC of 48 to close since the model was launched in 2010.

Dana Ross-Wawrzynki, chief executive of BFET who oversees Wigan UTC, said: “In the present climate in Wigan where other schools do not support the transfer of their pupils to a UTC at the end of key stage 3, it became very obvious that it would be a long and uphill battle to secure a full house of 500 students for a very long time.

“BFET does not have the finances to keep funding the UTC over several years in the hope that its reputation will bring more students.”

It would be a long and uphill battle to secure a full house of 500 students for a very long time

The trust, which runs nine schools, took over the UTC in March last year following a turbulent couple of years in which the UTC was graded as inadequate. It has since been rated good by Ofsted.

The trust asked Vicky Beer, regional schools commissioner for Lancashire and West Yorkshire, if the UTC could convert to an 11 to 19 science, technology, engineering and maths school.

But Ross-Wawrzynki said Beer refused without giving the reasons for her decision – and despite a new secondary school needed to match a demand for places.

Instead, Beer is seeking a new sponsor and negotiations are ongoing.

Ross-Wawrzynki added: “We have not only lost a great school, but have been left with a debt due to the low numbers at the college.

“BFET is working closely with the sponsor to enable a seamless handover.”

Meanwhile UTC Bolton plans to become University Academy Bolton.

It opened in September last year and had 241 pupils on roll in January, although it has capacity for 600.

According to its website, the college sponsors “collected evidence” about the demand for year 7 entry in 2014, but went ahead with starting enrolment from age 14.

Local authority figures for the area indicate an expected shortage of 48 secondary school places in 2017, rising to more than 170 by 2018.

UTC Bolton said that given the emerging shortage of secondary school places it believed the “time was now right” to widen the admission arrangements and proposed a three-form entry year 7 intake from next September. It would retain a focus on specialist science.

If Bolton UTC does become a secondary school, it will join UTC Lancashire, Central Bedfordshire UTC, Hackney UTC and Black Country UTC – which all shut citing low student numbers and consequent lack of financial viability.

The proposals come less than a month after Greenwich council announced it was spending £13 million to convert Royal Greenwich UTC in south London into a secondary school.

The government has launched a new programme to tackle the shortage of end-point assessors in apprenticeships, after FE Week reported that almost 60 per cent of apprenticeship standards cleared so far don’t have an approved assessment organisation.

The new large-scale scheme is funded by the Department for Education and commissioned by the Education and Training Foundation, with the aim of improving capacity to deliver independent end-point assessment in apprenticeships. 

It will be co-managed by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers and the Strategic Development Network and ultimately will work towards building up to a critical mass of end-point assessors. 

The launch follows FE Week analysis of a Skills Funding Agency update on October 12, which revealed that there are only 63 standards with an approved organisation to do the end-point assessment.

That’s out of 147 standards that have been granted final approval by the government and are therefore available for learners to start on.

The revelation provoked Dr Sue Pember, who stood down as the civil service head of further education and skills investment in February 2013, to comment: “It is diabolical to let an apprentice start a programme, without explaining not only what the end test will contain, but where it will be, what shape it will take and who will be the organisation to oversee and manage the process.”

However, from November, the DfE and ETF programme will look to address the problem by offering 15 workshop packages across the country, with the intention of helping organisations to understand the opportunities better and decide on their role in end-point assessment.

This will be followed by further workshops to help organisations become an approved Apprenticeship Assessment Organisation and prepare them to actually deliver the end-point assessment.

The first phase of the programme will include the development of eight industry-focused ‘Professional Dialogue Groups’ to explore the knowledge, skills and resources that are required by end-point assessors.

The findings will then be used in putting together guidance and materials for end-point assessors and will inform a programme of support to be rolled out in 2017.

Alison Morris (pictured right), head of technical and vocational education and training at ETF, said: “The introduction of independent end-point assessment is a substantial change to apprenticeships.

“Organisations and individuals will need to develop their capacity, knowledge, skills and resources to deliver end-point assessment successfully.”

She added: “This programme has been designed to meet that need – supporting individuals to develop to become end-point assessors; and leaders / managers to develop their organisations to deliver end-point assessment.”

But unrest over end-point assessment remains rife in the sector at present, with the issue being raised in both a meeting of the Sub-Committee on Education, Skills and the Economy and at the Federation of Awarding Bodies conference just this week. 

Peter Lauener, chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency, Education Funding Agency and the Institute for Apprenticeships, revealed to the Sub-Committee that the SFA has had to “knock-back” a number of applications to the register of apprenticeship assessment organisations because their plans for end-point assessment were not up to scratch.

Meanwhile Paul Eeles, the new chair of the FAB, called on Ofqual chief Sally Collier to play a stronger role in addressing the shortage of end-point assessment organisations.

Some may be encouraged by the fact that the new programme will be bringing together a wide range of partners in its attempt to tackle the issue, including the Association of Colleges, 157 Group, HOLEX (Dr Pember’s own organisation), the Federation of Industry Sector Skills and Standards, the University Vocational Awards Council, the Federation of Awarding Bodies, the Learning and Work Institute, City & Guilds and Cambridge Assessment.

The consortium will form an expert ‘Reference Group’ to advise on programme activities and content, to make sure the programme is relevant to all potential AAOs and staff.

Mike Cox, programme director at AELP, said: “We’re at a critical juncture in the apprenticeship reforms – an increasing number of apprentices are starting on the new standards, and frameworks are starting to be switched off.

“It is clear that significant end-point assessment capacity is required. The programme will help to drive this forward, ensuring high-quality AAOs are in place to meet demand and help secure the success of future apprenticeships.”

At £200 per person, interested organisations can book onto the first ‘Apprenticeship end-point assessment – deciding on your organisation’s involvement’ workshop packages here.