Theresa May hasn’t been Prime Minister for very long, so we can’t expect her to know the detail of every policy area.
But if you’re going to stand up at Prime Minister’s Questions and talk about cuts to apprenticeships funding, getting the facts right would be a good plan.
So when the Prime Minister says she “simply [doesn’t] recognise” there are many apprenticeships facing cuts of between 30 and 50%, she simply isn’t paying attention.
The Prime Minister […] simply isn’t paying attention
If someone in No 10 had been listening to my colleague Gordon Marsden, or read the letter signed by 55 Labour MPs, which raised the issue of cuts to apprenticeships funding, the Prime Minister would have been able to give a better answer on Wednesday.
The truth is that many apprenticeships are facing huge cuts as a result of this government’s funding reforms. These cuts will disproportionately hit students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and will be particularly bad in areas where we need to develop skills the most.
When the government has no industrial strategy, and when there is a huge need for a radical programme of housebuilding, delivering cuts of up to 50% for apprenticeships in construction is an abject failure.
Writing in these pages, Robert Halfon said that his focus would be to “boost social mobility, economic productivity, and our country’s skills base.”
These are laudable goals, which MPs of all parties share. But we need more than fine words.
The government’s headline pledge to deliver three million apprenticeship starts has turned this into a numbers game. With 96% of apprenticeship starts at Levels 2 and 3, there is a real concern that students are not being offered any progression to opportunities for higher level and degree level apprenticeships.
And with a worrying fall in apprenticeship completions, down from 76.4% in 2010/11 to 68.9% in 2013/14, the number of people who start apprenticeships does not tell the whole story.
Unless students are fully completing their apprenticeships, they will not be getting the skills they need to begin working life and to fully meet all their aspirations.
The Office for National Statistics has shown that the economies of Germany, France, and the USA are each around a third more productive than the UK economy.
We cannot hope to close that widening productivity gap unless we work more closely with businesses especially those working in high-tech sectors.
For too long, apprenticeships have been seen as a second-class, second-best option
We need to incentivise large businesses, and those in high-tech sectors, to train additional apprentices, and place them within both their own supply chain and with other SMEs in the local area. This will help more young people develop the skills they need, and provide support for SMEs to grow and develop. This will support both students and businesses, and help deliver the skills and economic growth that Britain needs.
It is only by working closely with all our partners, in business, and throughout the education sector that we can deliver the skills policy that our country needs.
We want to see a new approach to apprenticeships. For too long, they have been seen as a second-class, second-best option.
We need to change this attitude and work hard to raise public perceptions of their value.
Britain faces a massive skills shortage. We can only fill that gap, if we change our thinking and change our approach on apprenticeships.
As a country, we should be lauding the apprentice electricians, joiners, engineers, plumbers and business administrators of the future. Post Brexit, they will be absolutely essential to how Britain makes its way in the world.
As Shadow Secretary of State for Education, I will be working with my colleagues right across the House to build a coherent, cross-cutting approach to deliver high-quality apprenticeships for our country, which will equip our young people with the skills they need for the 21st century.
Angela Rayner is Shadow Secretary of State for Education, Women and Equalities
An £85,000 fine set to be waged on Pearson will be Ofqual’s second financial penalty against an awarding organisation.
The Ofqual notice explained that in May 2012 Pearson notified Ofqual that it had acquired Education Development International PLC, and “intended to cease registration of all EDI branded qualifications by January 2014 and complete certification for those qualifications by January 2017”.
But the awarding organisation admitted last April that an “incident” had occurred with the transfer of data — including learner results — about active EDI centres to a new online delivery platform, known as Qualification Management Application release 2, or QMA.
Ofqual said that Pearson had confirmed in March and April 2016 that, as a result of the incident, it had issued 1,566 vocational qualification certificates which recorded incorrect results; 41 certificates which incorrectly recorded a learner’s name; and 551 incorrect results.
It also conceded that 10,851 certificates had been issued outside its published timescale; and 1,648 results were “late, other than through the issue of a certificate”.
A Pearson spokesperson told FE Week: “We have agreed to pay a penalty in the sum of £85,000, with regard to failings arising from the migration of data to the QMA which is used to administer a small proportion of Pearson’s qualifications.
“We recognise the adverse impact this has had on our customers and learners and reiterate our apology to them for this incident.
“Our consistent focus has been on rectifying this situation and ensuring that the highest standards of service to our customers and learners are swiftly and consistently achieved. The QMA system is now working as intended.
“Ofqual has recognised our good record of operational effectiveness, our full cooperation in respect of this incident, and the extensive steps we had taken to rectify and mitigate problems and to compensate our customers.”
The qualifications and exams regulator published a notice today of the action it plans to take, which follows a £38,000 fine given to City & Guilds in July.
Ofqual’s own guidance on its fines regime for awarding organisations states: “We can impose a monetary penalty (a fine) on an awarding organisation if it appears, on the evidence available to us, that it has breached a condition of its recognition.
“A fine may be for an amount up to 10 per cent of an awarding organisation’s annual turnover. This limit applies to each fine we decide to impose and is not a cumulative limit for a financial year.
“We will decide what the appropriate amount of the fine should be taking into account all the circumstances of the case.”
Ofqual’s own guidance on its fines regime for awarding organisations states: “We can impose a monetary penalty (a fine) on an awarding organisation if it appears, on the evidence available to us, that it has breached a condition of its recognition.
“A fine may be for an amount up to 10 per cent of an awarding organisation’s annual turnover. This limit applies to each fine we decide to impose and is not a cumulative limit for a financial year.
“We will decide what the appropriate amount of the fine should be taking into account all the circumstances of the case.”
The government announced in August that from next May they will be cutting some 16-18 apprenticeship framework funding rates by over 50% in the most deprived parts of the country.
Well, when I say announced, what I mean is they published a searchable spreadsheet with the new rates, so I had to work out the implications myself.
On Wednesday we launched our first official campaign in parliament, with the simple ambition to encourage the government to rethink this part of their reforms.
For all those that sent in their support, or anyone in any doubt of our ability to mobilise around a worthy cause, the following is an account of how the day unfolded.
Before midday, during an Education Select Committee, the Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening, was quizzed by Catherine McKinnell MP about “very serious concerns” to 16-18 apprenticeships rate cuts. Ms Greening responded, “It’s a consultation. And we need to get on with the apprenticeship levy” and also added “we need to try and make sure we get it right.”
Reference to a consultation was a promising start to the day, as the government had barely acknowledged the cuts. Until this point they had been holding the line that there would be much more apprenticeship funding overall and they were just simplifying the system.
Ok, so the three-week consultation might have officially ended on 5 September, and change to the rates didn’t feature as a consultation question, but at least there was an acknowledgement now that the government was listening on this specific issue.
Less than an hour later, the Prime Minister came to the dispatch box – literally – for her weekly question time. To her surprise, she was asked by Richard Burden MP about the 30 to 50 percent apprenticeship rate cuts and her view on the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) “car crash” criticism.
They agreed with the analysis, concluding “some popular apprenticeship schemes for 16-18 year olds could receive between 30% and 50% less funding for each apprentice”.
As for the IMI, well, their boss was less than impressed, going on record with FE Week to say it was “typical of this administration. They are either deliberately misunderstanding or, like a drunk man in a china shop, they are unaware they’re about to break everything,”
Shortly after PMQs, the official #SaveOurApprenticeships campaign event began in a parliament committee room, as well as online, where it was at one point trending on Twitter as the fourth most used hashtag in the whole of the UK.
Even before my welcome, the event started with the new Skills Minister Robert Halfon encouraging me to get over 100 people into the committee room early and he then shook everyone’s hand personally.
So, Mr Halfon, prove you can be persuaded by measured and evidence-based debate
I had invited the minister to address the room, given he holds the key to undoing the rate cuts, but he was of course not supporting the campaign, which runs against his own policy.
However, on the specific purpose of the campaign, to reverse the rate cuts, he conceded: “We need to look at all of those figures and we are, that is the purpose of the consultation, I expect that there will be some people who are concerned but again, as I say, that is the purpose of the consultation.”
You can read a full transcript of what he said here as well as his related opinion piece in FE Week here.
At the end of his speech he directly addressed Gordon Marsden and David Lammy, who had helped organise the launch event, and said: “I am not annoyed by what Gordon and David are doing, I actually welcome it because it helps us with our thinking. If I were them, I would be doing exactly the same thing.”
So, where does that leave us?
It leaves us with nobody in any doubt, right up to the PM, that this is an issue many MPs are now campaigning about.
The impact on 16-18 funding rates first reported by FE Week has now been verified by a fact-checking charity, so who would dispute that left unresolved, it will damage the government’s credibility around boosting social mobility and justice?
So, Mr Halfon, this is perhaps your first opportunity as apprenticeships minister to prove consultations can be influenced by measured and evidence-based debate.
To date, you’ve said all the right things, now do the right thing and put an end to any apprenticeship funding cuts that hit the youngest and most disadvantaged hardest.
With the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) holding its annual conference earlier in September, we thought this was the perfect time to take a look at all things technology-related for the FE and skills sector. The title of this supplement – Connect, Collaborate, Create – is taken from the theme of the ALT conference. On the next 16 pages we look at some of the many ways that colleges and other providers are working together to create innovative tech solutions to the challenges facing the sector.
On page three, Bella Abrams gives her unique insight on those challenges from her perspective as both a trustee for ALT and head of innovation and technology at Hull College Group. There was much to learn for FE delegates at the ALT conference, held from September 6 to 8 at the University of Warwick. We’ve pulled together a round-up of some of the highlights on pages four and five. No discussion of technology in FE would be complete without mentioning the FELTAG report – so on pages six and seven we speak to a number of people including Maren Deepwell, ALT chief executive, about how the FELTAG agenda has moved on since its publication in 2014.
One of the biggest challenges facing the sector at the moment is undoubtedly the area reviews of post-16 education and training. On pages 14 and 15 we look at the role that technology is playing in the review process, as well as some of the support that’s available to colleges to help them to make the most of technology during and after the review process.
It’s also important to keep tabs on what providers think are the biggest recent developments with tech for FE over the past year – so we dedicated a double page spread to provider responses to our survey on this issue, in the hope that others working in FE will pick up some good tips. These include Daniel Scott from Barnsley College, who won individual learning technologist of the year at the ALT awards this month. The supplement also reports on an exciting new research project, overseen by former Association of Colleges chief executive Martin Doel, that aims to be the first to provide hard evidence of the benefits of blended learning, and tech implications for FE and skills area reviews.
The #SaveOurApprenticeships campaign against devastating cuts in apprenticeship funding was launched at the Houses of Parliament to a packed gathering of sector leaders and senior politicians — including the minister tasked with implementing the plans.
It was standing-room only in Committee Room Nine on Wednesday (September 14), as editor Nick Linford kicked off the event.
In his speech, the new apprenticeships minister Robert Halfon called for apprenticeships to be viewed in the context of a better “new world” – after the switch from frameworks to standards, and next April’s levy launch.
However, he conceded, “we need to look at all of those figures and we are”.
“I’m really pleased to be here on behalf of FE Week, which is an incredibly important publication,” he added. “I went on my honeymoon in August and was literally reading past papers on the mountains in Brazil.
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“The way I think of Nick and his incredible team is that they make the social media life of a new minister intolerable, but complacency impossible.”
Mr Lammy delivered a rousing speech at the launch, saying: “It’s an absolute scandal for the PM to say she doesn’t recognise the figures. It’s her funding agency, they’re her figures.”
FE Week’s exclusive analysis revealed funding for 16- to 18-year-olds in some of the most deprived areas of the country would be slashed by up to 50 per cent.
“They are launching a two-tier system. If you are 16 to 18 in Tottenham, if you live in poorer areas, you will get a very different product indeed from those living in the leafy shires,” said Mr Lammy.
“If this goes wrong, not only will ministers have egg on their faces, but faith in the whole new system they want us to take part in will be undermined,” he said
Education secretary Justine Greening had dodged a question about the way that proposed cuts might affect social mobility during an education select committee hearing that morning — before the issue was raised again in a sub-committee session featuring the CBI’s director for people and skills, Neil Carberry.
The chair of the education committee, Neil Carmichael, and one of its members, Catherine McKinnell both spoke passionately at our launch.
“I asked her [Ms Greening] specifically about this campaign and whether she shares concerns that the particular approach they are taking to funding will impact on her ambition for social mobility,” Ms McKinnell said. “The right funding needs to get to the right people.”
The right funding needs to get to the right people
A variety of sector leaders also spoke out about their concerns, including the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London’s vice-principal for curriculum and learner experience, Kurt Hintz.
“I thought it was important to explain exactly what this means for a provider on the coalface,” he said.
“The impact on us is an average 38-per-cent cut for 16- to 18-year-olds. That represents £700,000. For our health and care 16-to-18s, it is 45 per cent. That is just not doable; we can’t deliver.
“Someone asked me the other day, ‘what is it you do for 16- to 18-year-olds that costs so much money?’ We got them the jobs. They didn’t get them themselves.
“We have a team of eight sales execs whose job it is to go out and seek the apprenticeships with employers, and then get those young people ready for their first job.
“Once we’ve got them that, the subsequent pastoral care is also huge.”
Paul Warner, director of policy and strategy at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, warned: “It is completely self-defeating to cut funding, because that is just preventing disadvantaged young people from getting on.”
Kirstie Donnelly, managing director at City and Guilds UK, added: “We must take stock with apprenticeships, because clearly as it stands the funding for many new frameworks may not work, which would be a tragedy.”
Graham Briggs, the apprenticeship manager at Greene King, said: “We have made a commitment to take on 10,000 apprentices over the next three years.
“The lack of testing on both the new standards and digital voucher system alongside the new funding rates means we are concerned about the impact this will have on our programme.”
Secretary of State for Education Justine Greening quizzed by Catherine McKinnell MP about the 16-18 rate cuts during an Education Select Committee hearing in the Grimond Room
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Prime Minister Theresa May in PMQs challenged about the 16-18 rate cuts by Labour MP Richard Burden on the floor of the House of Commons
12.45
Apprenticeships Minister Robert Halfon addresses the FE Week #SaveOurApprenticeships campaign launch in committee room 9
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Director for People and Skills at the CBI Neil Carberry talks to MPs about the effects on per-apprentice funding at an Education Select Committee hearing on apprenticeships in committee room 16
17.50
Full Fact, an impartial fact checking charity, look into the issue after the question to the PM, and agreed “some popular apprenticeship schemes for 16-18 year olds could receive between 30% and 50% less funding for each apprentice, depending on their circumstances.”
The prime minister is like a “drunk in a china shop”, according to one motor industry chief, because she claims she does not “recognise” potential cuts of up to 50 per cent to apprenticeship funding.
Responding to Theresa May’s comments, which were made during a grilling at Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions, Steve Nash, the chief executive of the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), accused her of being unaware of the damage she was doing to apprenticeships.
Ms May told the Labour MP Richard Burden that “I simply don’t recognise the situation [he had] set out in relation to apprenticeships” after he quoted Mr Nash, who previously described the situation as a “car crash”.
FE Week first revealed contentious cuts of between 30 and 50 per cent in apprenticeship cash for 16- to 18-year-olds in August – a scenario that has sent shockwaves through the further education sector, especially as cuts seem set to fall across some of the most deprived areas of the country.
I simply don’t recognise the situation he’s set out in relation to apprenticeships – Theresa May
In his question to the prime minister, he first asked her to congratulate engineering firm ADI Group for its scheme to boost the interest of 14- to 16-year-olds in engineering, before saying: “Her words of congratulation would mean rather more if they were not accompanied by cuts of between 30 and 50 per cent in apprenticeships funding, a programme which the institution of the motoring industry has described as ‘a car crash’.”
Rattled, Ms May replied: “I, of course, am happy to commend the company that he has referred to, and of course the West Midlands are an important driver in terms of engineering skills in this country, but I simply don’t recognise the situation he’s set out in relation to apprenticeships.
“We’ve seen two million apprenticeships created over the last six years, we’re committed as a government to ensuring more apprenticeships are being created – that’s giving young people opportunities, like the young people I met when I went to Jaguar Land Rover, to learn a skill, to get into a job, to get into the workplace and to get on where their talents will take them.”
According to Mr Nash, her answer was “typical of this administration”.
“They are either deliberately misunderstanding or, like a drunk man in a china shop, they are unaware they’re about to break everything,” he said.
The controversy arose when new funding rates for apprenticeships, which are due to kick in from May 1 next year, were unveiled by the Skills Funding Agency in August.
Analysis by FE Week demonstrated that funding for 16- to 18-year-olds would be slashed by between 30 and 50 per cent, especially in deprived areas.
A large number of the courses currently used by the motor industry, filling around 13,000 apprentice spaces each year, will be subject to significant cuts – a fact which concerns the IMI.
The news has “sparked fears” within the retail motor sector that it will suffer a trainee drought when the cuts are put in place next year, which it says will worsen “an already critical skills shortage across the country”.
“Employers around the country will struggle to get training places for their apprentices under this system,” said Mr Nash at the time. “It begs the question: how this can possibly support the government’s aim to create more apprenticeships?”
The prime minister’s comments followed another grilling, for the education secretary Justine Greening, who was quizzed by MPs about the cuts during an evidence session of the Commons education select committee the same morning.
Asked if she shared the “very serious concerns” about the cuts, particularly in relation to social mobility, she said she would “look really carefully” at the responses to the ongoing consultation.
Star names unveiled for this year’s Association of Colleges annual conference and exhibition include broadcaster Steph McGovern, comedian Ruby Wax (pictured), and apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon.
The annual event will take place from November 15 to 17 at the ICC Birmingham.
FE Week readers will be familiar with conference chair Steph McGovern — not just because she’s a regular on BBC breakfast, but also through her reporting on WorldSkills 2015 from Sao Paulo in Brazil.
Mr Halfon’s first address to delegates, since he was handed the ministerial brief in July, is scheduled for lunchtime on the Thursday (November 17).
Comedian, author and mental health campaigner Ruby Wax OBE will deliver a keynote speech on the previous morning.
This will be the first conference under David Hughes, who took over this month as AoC chief executive from Martin Doel.
Jon Culshaw will also be in attendance at the event. Image credit: Ian West/PA Wire
He revealed, during our exclusive Editor Asks interview last week, plans to share the results of an organisational review to members.
“The last proper review of the AoC was eight or nine years ago and a lot has changed since then.
“The first part is informally asking the members to say what they think. Then to use the annual conference [in November] to formalise it a bit more to come up with some proposals.”
The AoC Charitable Trust Beacon, student of the year, and student photographer of the year award ceremonies will take place on the Wednesday evening (November 16), with impressionist and television star Jon Culshaw entertaining dinner guests.
An AoC spokesperson added: “The Wednesday evening is now a Celebration Fiesta. This is a street party and awards evening combined.
“The Mall will become an AoC-only location where you can choose from a selection of delicious street foods and watch an array of amazing performances by talented college students.”
Reflecting on the wider conference, she added: “The ‘Colleges mean business’ theme threads through the whole programme. We have a range of sessions focusing on success, learning, students, leadership, skills, and opportunities.”
FE Week is the premier media partner for the conference and exhibition, so look out for more reports on what to expect in the coming weeks.
The revelation that there will be contracts proves once and for all that the levy is just another tax, and how employers spend government funding they get in return will have to be carefully regulated.
This is of course entirely understandable, as clear rules supported by a robust audit regime will be required to prevent fraud.
Providers already in receipt of apprenticeship funding understand this, but private sector employers who are naturally wary of signing new government contracts may not be so compliant.
This unwelcome surprise for employers needn’t affect the timetable for next April’s levy launch.
But it will strengthen calls for a delay to the ‘negotiated’ way in which the cash will be spent from 1 May.
Liz Rees knows all about grammar schools — she attended three — but, unlike some prominent politicians, the experience has not made the Unionlearn director a fan of government plans to expand them.
“I just don’t get it,” she says. “They belong to the past, when about five per cent of kids went to university and many left school at 15.
“It seems like misplaced nostalgia, like the campaign some newspaper ran to bring back blue passports!
Selective education obviously did her life prospects no harm, but Rees speaks passionately about the negative impact Prime Minister Theresa May’s new push for more grammars across the country could have on those that don’t make the grade.
“Grammar schools will do nothing for social mobility — and of course, no one is nostalgic for secondary moderns, which are the inevitable consequence of this policy.”
Rees attended three convent grammars between the ages of 11 and 18 because her family moved around a lot. But far from having the destabilising effect one might expect, Rees says that not staying in the same place made her “very independent” and “good at making friends”.
These qualities translated directly into the workplace, by all appearances. Rees’ first job on graduating from university was at Essex County Newspapers, as a telesales worker, where she immediately got stuck in.
At the time, she says, the print union, the National Graphical Association (NGA), didn’t have any organisation within newspapers, just in the print business.
“They were running a bit of a campaign to get union recognition. We were paid so much more poorly than the printers, so I got involved in all of that,” Rees says.
Liz Rees with the first Director of Unionlearn in 1994
“We got an agreement – one of the early agreements in a non-traditional area – and the south-east Anglia branch of the NGA offered me a job.”
Getting an agreement from the employer to engage with them about pay was an exciting turning – point for Rees.
She says; “You feel like you’re on the right side, like you’re doing good work for good people who need a bit of a hand.”
This paved the way for her to become a union official, despite it not being her initial plan. But, she says: “I did love it, I’ve loved it ever since.”
She secured her next job with the Civil Service Union (now PCS) in London, moving from Colchester to Shepherd’s Bush with her then – boyfriend – now husband – at the age of 27.
Working with PCS led her to focus on the issue of privatisation, under the first Margaret Thatcher administration.
“When privatisation came in it was all about cutting people’s pay and their terms and conditions.
“In cleaning in the civil service for example, cleaners had reasonable pay and pensions and good terms and conditions – that was all swept away with privatisation.
“You were reduced to making the kind of deals which involved them ‘not being as bad as they would have been if you hadn’t been there’.”
John Sheldon, general secretary of PCS and her boss at the time, inspired her to stretch herself. Sheldon, she says, was a believer in promoting women – “a real feminist in his way”. They still keep in touch now, taking trips to the Chilterns to spot red kites, which she adores.
Rees took on the leadership of Unionlearn in November last year, after the retirement of former director Tom Wilson.
The post built on her experience from her previous role as head of TUC Education, where she managed course and curriculum development, accreditation, tutor training and building and maintaining partnerships with FE colleges. “I’m a committed educator,” she says, “but I come at it from a trade union perspective.”
She recalls a highlight from her time in the position as “getting the wonderful Courtney Pine, the world-class jazz musician, to play at an event to launch some work we did to help reps tackle racism”.
When privatisation came in it was all about cutting people’s pay
“To have the absolute best in the world play for an invited audience and weave between the tables riffing on text from the workbook which we had projected into the walls was totally unforgettable.
“I just asked him and he said yes! That was a valuable life lesson.”
Rees says that the importance of Unionlearn is its ability to reach people who have had no offer of training. “12 per cent of our learners have no qualifications at all, and 11 per cent have English as a second language,” she explains.
Supporting these individuals into learning is Rees’ priority.
She adds: “The high quality apprenticeships – the BAE systems or Rolls Royce – will go to the best candidates, and they tend to be the ones who have already had some advantages.
“People who haven’t had that will miss out and unions have got a key role in making a difference to them.”
Rees was preparing for a big anniversary when we met – and not just the end of her first successful year leading Unionlearn.
She was readying herself for an early rise on Saturday morning to head down to Brighton, where 80 of her family and friends will be waiting to help her celebrate 40 years together with husband Nigel, whom she married when she was still working for PCS.
She is clearly excited, and as we get talking, colleagues pop in to wish her well for the festivities.
To top it off, behind the desk in her office – which is decorated with photographs of both Nigel and their daughter Athena – is a big bunch of flowers and cards from friends who can’t make it to the party.
Family is clearly important to Rees. Born in Musselburgh in Scotland to teacher parents, she grew very close to her two younger sisters Madeleine and Louise.
My grandmother encouraged them all to get their education
The fact that her family moved around a lot brought them together, she says. “You’re thrown back upon each other quite a lot, and as you’re growing up you do a lot of things together and share a lot of special times.”
She is also proud to tell me the story of her grandparents on her father’s side, who brought up six children on a docker’s wage in Cardiff and managed to send them all to university. “They had their degrees framed, going up the staircase,” she remembers.
“They had a real sense that education is the key to transforming your life.”
“It certainly was the case in that family. My grandfather worked hard to keep everybody clothed and fed, and my grandmother encouraged them all to get their education.”
She adds that this seems like a dream compared to accessing higher education today: “To be able to bring up six kids to go to university on a docker’s wage? I don’t think that could happen, especially with the tuition fees and all the added costs.”
Rees looks back fondly to her own time studying English at Keele University.
“I wanted to go there because it was a four-year course with a foundation year,” she says.
“Those were the days when four years, three years, you did what you really wanted to do and what you loved.”
Rees says she would happily “do all that again”, and envies her daughter Athena, who is currently studying English and History at the University of Sheffield.
Athena, now 20, is another family member who has been an important influence and inspiration to her.
“She totally changed everything,” says Rees. “You’re busier but your priorities sort themselves out quickly. Your child becomes the number – one thing.”
After school, Athena decided to take a year out and travel to China, where she secured herself an internship on an English – language newspaper in Shanghai.
Rees comments: “It was really amazing to see your kid on the other side of the world, doing this stuff. I saw her byline and was just so chuffed.”
Quite a different entry into the world of newspapers from her mother’s, but – with her formidable family history – one that may well lead to great things, one can’t help musing.
That’s easy for me. It’s ‘The Leopard’ by Giuseppe di Lampedusa. I’m a big re-reader and I read this every couple of years. I first read it in my 20s and then I saw the Visconti film and went back and read it again. It’s a wonderful, wonderful book.
What do you do to relax?
The theatre. I’m good at getting cheap tickets. Living in London you can see the best of theatre. That’s got stronger and stronger over the years, I suppose as you get a bit more cash as well you can think, well I’ll pay £50 for a ticket.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I can remember wanting to be a private eye. I saw myself in the coat and the hat a la Humphrey Bogart. I can remember that. I don’t have any other strong memories.
Who do you most admire, living or dead?
Pussy Riot. A feminist punk collective – what’s not to like. They are like lionesses those girls. They are brave and fight the system and I really admire them.
