A new survey has been launched to gather views from employers and technical experts on how maths and English Functional Skills qualifications should be reformed.

It  is part of a “multi-stage” consultation process, first announced on January 14, that will be looking into how the qualifications should be transformed by 2018.

A spokesperson for Pye Tait Consulting, which is running the process with the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), said the new employer survey would not close until “late March”.

It asks more than 25 questions, including on whether those filling in the survey had heard of Functional Skills, or offered them to employees.

It also asks what they thought should be included in “the content” of maths and English Functional Skills “to make them more valuable to you as an employer?”.

Guidance for contributing to the reforms on the Pye Tait Consulting website said that ETF would also be conducting interviews separately until late March with “employers from different sectors and of all sizes”.

A second consultation with providers and other sector experts is also expected to run from mid-May until late June.

It comes after FE Week revealed on December 1 that the ETF had appointed Yorkshire-based Pye Tait Consulting, in partnership with the the Learning and Work Institute (formerly NIACE), to lead the consultation on its behalf, following a public procurement process.

The government had previously asked ETF to carry out a comprehensive review of English and maths Functional Skills, as reported in FE Week in July, that will lead to new qualifications being launched in 2018.

An ETF spokesperson added that it intended to present a report to Ministers by the end of August, with a view to the reformed qualifications being ready to teach by September 2018.

Visit www.etfoundation.co.uk/functionalskillsreform or www.pyetait.com/fsreform to find out more about the consultation.

The winners of the 2015 National Apprenticeship Awards have been announced at a ceremony attended by Skills Minister Nick Boles and the Prime Minister’s apprenticeship adviser Nadhim Zahawi.

The crowning glory of the event in Grosvenor House hotel last night (January 27) was the Apprenticeship Champion of the Year Award, which went to Neil Cain, aged 51, an operations director for grounds maintenance company John O’Conner.

Commenting on the achievement, Mr Cain said: “Ever since I started my apprenticeship in 1980 I’ve really enjoyed working with other people. I still use everything that I’ve learned on the journey.

“In terms of my industry, this award will make a massive difference.

“The horticultural industry has got a real drive at the moment for pushing apprenticeships across to all the boys and girls throughout the UK.”

At the finale of the 12th year of the competition, three apprentices in their early twenties scooped the Intermediate, Advanced and Higher Apprentice of the Year awards.

Kathleen Sandford, a 20-year-old student of Kidderminster College, who is a training administration apprentice for The Community Housing Group, won the award for the Intermediate Apprentice of the Year, and 24-year-old Joshua White, of Highbury College, was named Advanced Apprentice of the Year, for his work as a business analyst with IBM UK.

For Higher Apprenticeships (levels 4-7), this year’s winner was Jade Aspinall, 23, who studied with Alliance Learning, and is now working as a manufacturing engineer for MBDA UK.

Jade finished her four year apprenticeship in September, and said it was “the best decision of [her] life”.

Her parents wanted her to go to college and then university, but in her second year at college she met an apprentice from MBDA who told her all about the work — not only was she learning but also earning her own salary, while Jade was working part-time at Morrison’s supermarket.

This experience, combined with a university open day where she was encouraged to join a course that would help her into a job with companies like MBDA but would leave her with £36,000 of debt, made up Jade’s mind.

“From that point it was a no-brainer — I was doing the apprenticeship,” she said.

She added winning the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) Higher Apprentice of the Year Award was “massive”.

“I wasn’t expecting to win at all … As a woman in engineering I can use this to promote what I’m doing, to give back to young people when I go into schools – it’s not just that I’m an apprentice, I’m an award-winning apprentice.”

Awards were also handed out to employers on the night, and the Nas published the list of Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2015, sponsored by City & Guilds.

Award-winners were Adary Joiners, Greater Manchester-based specialists in property refurbishment, who won Small Employer of the Year; Genix Healthcare, owner and operator of a chain of UK dental clinics, who won Medium Employer of the Year; and manufacturer of construction machinery Leibherr GB, who won Large Employer of the Year.

Buckinghamshire Care, a provider of adult social care services, won Newcomer SME [small and medium-sized enterprise] of the Year and broker Be Wiser Insurance won Newcomer Large Employer of the Year.

BAE Systems gained the prize for Macro Employer of the Year and Steve Fogg, managing director of shared services, said the event was “fantastic”.

“If you look at the teams today, everybody is really proud to be here. I had the pleasure of presenting an award to tonight as well as receiving one and there’s nothing like doing both. It’s great.”

 

Here is the full list of winners:

The EAL Award for Advanced Apprentice of the Year

Joshua White, 24, Highbury College, business analyst, IBM UK

The Nuclear Decommissioning Site Licence Companies Award for the Higher Apprentice of the Year

Jade Aspinall, 23, Alliance Learning, manufacturing engineer, MBDA UK

The McDonald’s Award for the Intermediate Apprentice of the Year

Kathleen Sandford, 20, Kidderminster College, training administration apprentice, The Community Housing Group

The City & Guilds award for the Apprenticeship Champion of the Year Award

Neil Cain, 51, Operations Director, John O’Conner (Grounds Maintenance)

The Unilever Award for Small Employer of the Year

Adary Joiners

The E.ON in partnership with the National Skills Academy for Power Award for Medium Employer of the Year

Genix Healthcare

The BAE Systems Award for Large Employer of the Year

Leibherr GB

The BT Award for Macro Employer of the Year

BAE Systems

The EDF Energy Award for Newcomer SME of the Year

Buckinghamshire Care

The Rolls-Royce Award for Newcomer Large Employer of the Year

Be Wiser Insurance

See Edition 162 of FE Week for more details. 

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Small businesses will get the apprenticeship levy leftovers after large employers have used up their share, Skills Minister Nick Boles confirmed today.

He was speaking in front of MPs at an evidence session for the Education, Skills and Economy Sub-Committee, at which he answered questions on FE-related issues including apprenticeships, careers advice and the Institute for Apprenticeships, as well as the levy.

“While it will be possible for any employer who pays the levy to use their contribution on their own apprenticeship across the economy we don’t expect all employers to use all their money,” he said.

“The levy money that is not used by those employers who have paid it will then effectively be recycled to support the apprenticeships of those employers who don’t pay the levy.”

The government’s English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision document, published in December, had said that where levy-paying employers don’t use all their levy funds, they would be made “more widely available” – but Mr Boles’ comments appear to be the first time that details have been revealed of how that would work.

Speaking about the new Institute for Apprenticeships, Mr Boles said it would have a “very important role” as the “guarantor of quality in the apprenticeship system”.

“It’s going to take over from government the role of approving apprenticeship standards, of approving the assessment regimes that operate with apprenticeships – the end-point assessments – and of guarding the quality of the apprenticeship programme,” he said.

The new institute would have an “arms-length” relationship with government, Mr Boles said, and its board would be made up of “mainly business leaders”.

“We are introducing this new levy, so it’s important that they [businesses] feel they are in control of what they are being required to invest in,” Mr Boles said.

See FE Week edition 162, dated Monday, February 1, for more.

Former government apprenticeships adviser Doug Richard was accused of multiple child sex offences, when his trial opened today at London’s Old Bailey.

The 57-year-old multimillionaire, whose 2012 Richard Review of Apprenticeships triggered ongoing reform proposals, faces three counts of sexual activity with a child, one of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and a charge of paying for sexual services.

Prosecutor Gino Connor told the jury that Richard, of Islington, north London, paid a 13-year-old schoolgirl to be his sex slave after meeting her on a “sugar daddy” website.

The court also heard that he gave the girl and her 15-year-old friend £480 in cash and PayPal deposits, including the train fare to travel from Norwich to the capital to meet him.

He was arrested on January 5 last year at the Lord Milner Hotel in south west London, the court heard.

Richard denied the charges, insisting the sex was “consensual” and that he “reasonably believed” the alleged victim was aged 16 or over, while the money was not for sex but to help with travel expenses.

FE Week reported on January 19 that Richard had been arrested in connection with the alleged attack.

At the time, he said: “I absolutely deny the allegations made about me. It would be inappropriate to comment further given that the police are at a very early stage of their investigation.”

The Richard Review of Apprenticeships, which recommended giving employers control over apprenticeship funding, has continued to impact on the FE sector since its publication in 2012.

As well as apprenticeships, he worked closely with the government as a member of the Small Business Task Force, which advised Chancellor George Osborne and Prime Minister David Cameron.

The trial is expected to go on for four days and the defence case is yet to open.

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Photo and copy credit: Press Association

Cardiff and Vale College (CVC) has become the first new member of the 157 Group since it exclusively revealed its expansion plans to FE Week following a strategic review.

The group’s chief executive Ian Pretty announced today that he was “pleased” to welcome CVC, which received a ‘good’ report from Welsh inspectorate Estyn in March last year, into what is a “growing, vibrant organisation”.

It comes after FE Week exclusively revealed on January 15 that 157 Group was planning to expand following a strategic review.

Chief executive Ian Pretty claimed in an interview that up to 15 colleges had already enquired about signing-up.

Mr Pretty, whose previous roles included senior roles in HMRC, the Cabinet Office and Capgemini, told FE Week at the time: “Our members have agreed that we should look to take on new member colleges.

“We have 26 members at present and there has been discussion over whether we want to have more or less in future. We decided to look at expanding.”

And after confirming CVC as a new member today, he said: “We are pleased to welcome CVCC as the newest member of the 157 Group.

“The group is a growing, vibrant organisation and we are ready to help deliver what government and employers need from the sector.”

Mr Pretty, who took over from executive director Dr Lynne Sedgmore in September, added: “I am delighted that we are getting a dynamic, entrepreneurial college as a new member and I look forward to working with them.”

CVC, which is also a member of Gazelle, was established in August 2011 as a result of the merger of Barry College and Coleg Glan Hafren.

The latest Estyn report said that it was in the top quarter of the largest colleges in Wales, with 10 sites located from Trowbridge in East Cardiff across to Rhoose in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Mike James, CVC principal, said today: “I am delighted that we are to become the latest FE establishment to join the 157 Group and that our commitment to being employer-facing and ensuring our learners are appropriately skilled and ready for work has been recognised by such a hugely influential UK body.

“The 157 Group is a forward thinking organisation whose priorities are closely aligned to ours.

“I have no doubt that working with the 157 Group and other member colleges will support us in shaping future skills needs to ensure the long-term economic capacity of the Welsh and UK economy.

“CVC is excited about the prospect of contributing to the vital work of the 157 Group — working with a wide range of stakeholders in the development of sustainable professional and technical skills, not just in Wales but across the sector; and of bringing examples of good practice back to our colleagues at other colleges in Wales and at Colegau Cymru to help influence and shape policy here in Wales.”

David Cameron’s apprenticeship adviser Nadhim Zahawi visited a London school today to launch a scheme that will put apprentices into primary schools.

Mr Zahawi, the Conservative MP for Stratford-Upon-Avon, was joined by 30 apprentices from different sectors at Mayflower Primary School, in Poplar, where they chatted with pupils about their jobs, bringing learning to life and broadening aspirations.

It was for the launch of the Primary Futures Apprenticeships scheme which is intended to help pupils make a connection between what they learn in the classroom and how it relates to the world of work.

It also aims to introduce children to the idea of an apprenticeship at a young age.

Mr Zahawi said: “It’s so important for primary school children to meet with apprentices and I was delighted to have the opportunity to be involved with this at Mayflower Primary School.

“Many of us develop our idea of a dream job while we’re at primary school, and apprenticeships are a great way of achieving these dreams.

“As the government seeks to hit the target of three million apprenticeship starts by 2020, school pupils should be aware of future options they have from a young age, so they’re familiar with the system and what the possibilities are as they shape their future.”

Developed by school leaders’ union NAHT, Primary Futures uses online matching technology to get people from a range of professions to volunteer and give an hour visiting their local school to talk about their job and “enthuse children about the opportunities open to them”.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of NAHT said: “It’s clear that there’s a real benefit in talking to children at an early age about the jobs they might do when they’re grown up; about how important their primary school learning really is in terms of future opportunities.

“Providing the right kind of inspiration can broaden horizons, which is where Primary Futures is proving to be so successful.

“Children are introduced to people from all sorts of jobs and can see the different paths to success, whether that’s degree, apprenticeship or any other route.

“Detailed guidance may come later but careers inspiration shouldn’t wait until children get to secondary school.  Involving apprentices in Primary Futures is a great extra angle to explore.

“Apprentices may well be closer in age to the children they’re speaking to, and as a result they may be more approachable and easier to identify with. Equally, it’s important to demonstrate that apprenticeships are a credible route for future employment.”

Teachers, employers and individual apprentices can visit www.primaryfutures.org to register.

Main pic: Pupils from Mayflower Primary School at the launch of Primary Futures Apprenticeships today

Colleges could be judged inadequate by the education watchdog if they do not ban pupils from wearing face veils when they believe it is hindering effective teaching.

Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw has announced today he gives his “full support” to college principals who “decided to take a stand against the inappropriate wearing of the veil”.

The announcement follows comments Sir Michael made on BBC Newsnight last week where he supported similar calls from education secretary Nicky Morgan and the Prime Minister.

He said: “I am concerned that some heads and principals who are trying to restrict the wearing of the full veil in certain circumstances are coming under pressure from others to relax their policy.
“I want to assure these leaders that they can rely on my full backing for the stance they are taking.”

Adding: “I have also made clear to my inspectors that where leaders are condoning the wearing of the face veil by staff members or by pupils when this is clearly hindering communication and effective teaching, they should give consideration to judging the school as inadequate.”

He said Ofsted is determined to ensure discrimination has “no place in our classrooms”. “We want our schools, whether faith schools or non-faith schools, to prepare their pupils equally for life in 21st century Britain.

“We need to be confident our children’s education and future prospects are not being harmed in any way.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We fully support Sir Michael’s statement today. We are pleased that heads who choose to implement policies which restrict the wearing of the veil to support effective teaching and learning will receive Ofsted’s backing.

“It is also clearly right that if the wearing of the veil is interfering with education in schools that should trigger action from Ofsted.”

But Leora Cruddas, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, said the union does not think that it is the role of Ofsted inspectors to judge schools on uniform policies and dress codes.

“Inspectors should focus on what schools achieve rather than what people wear,” Ms Cruddas said.

“Schools make decisions on uniform policies and dress codes with the needs of their staff and pupils in mind and take into consideration relevant educational, welfare and equalities issues.”

The Association of Colleges declined to comment.

The London branch of the University and College Union (UCU) has called an emergency demonstration outside Downing Street in response to government policy on English for Speakers of Other Languages (Esol).

The demonstration, entitled Restore funding to Esol: don’t scapegoat migrants, is due to take place on Wednesday (January 27) at 6pm.

It has been arranged jointly with campaign group Stand Up to Racism, and is supported by Action for Esol and Lesbians and Gays support the Migrants.

A Facebook group promoting the demonstration says its aims are to “restore the funding for Esol”, obtain “free English classes for migrants and asylum seekers”, and “popularise the Action for Esol manifesto”.

On the Action for Esol website, the manifesto covers topics such as ‘the right to learn the common language of the UK’, ‘language, community and diversity’, and ‘professionalism’ and ‘pedagogy’ for Esol teaching.

The Facebook group confirms Shakira Martin, vice president for FE at the National Union of Students, and Daneille Tiplady, who has previously led a campaign for student nurse bursaries, as speakers at the event.

Last week (January 18) Prime Minister David Cameron announced that a new £20m fund would be made available to provide English language lessons for Muslim women.

He said that the government needed to be “more clear about the expectations we place on those who come to live here” and the new fund would help Muslim women from areas with “segregation” issues to integrate more smoothly into British society.

A UCU spokesperson said: “The government has slashed funding for Esol, so for the prime minister to come out and start accusing people of refusing to learn English is quite incredible.  It is vital that people are given the opportunity to learn English and that requires sustained funding.

“People want to improve their English to give themselves a better chance of getting work and fully participating in British society, and we should be helping them do that, not threatening deportation.”

It comes after a protest was held outside the Houses of Parliament in October, with around 600 staff and students from across the FE sector gathering to protest against cuts to Esol provision.

The demonstration was focused on the government’s decision in July 2015 to cut funding for a £45m programme of English courses for foreign language speakers, run with Jobcentre Plus.

Main image: Esol protestors make their views heard outside Westminster in October

Further education colleges will avoid being made to hit the new public sector apprenticeship recruitment target, FE Week can reveal.

A government consultation document out today explains how the 2.3 per cent target figure for public sector bodies, previously explained in the government’s English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision report published in December, would apply to those employing 250 or more people in England.

However, while it said some schools would be covered, it did not mention colleges.

FE Week understands this is because the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced in May 2012 that general FE colleges and sixth form colleges (SFCs) in this country had been reclassified from general government to the non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) sector.

Yet latest published college accounts (2013/14) showed 196 colleges and six SFCs had 250 or more staff, totalling 110,787 employees.

Were they included in the target, that would be around 2,500 apprenticeship starts, although many colleges already employ apprentices.

The nine question consultation paper explained that “as a starting point for determining an appropriate target for public sector organisations”, the government had “taken the current proportion of public sector workers in the total workforce in England (16.2 per cent)”.

“We would, therefore, expect the public sector to deliver 16.2 per cent of 3m apprenticeship starts, which is around 486,000 apprenticeship starts,” it said.

“These starts will be delivered by a public sector workforce, currently 4.264m in England.

“Therefore, to deliver 486,000 apprenticeship starts by 2020, the public sector will need to achieve approximately 97,000 apprenticeship starts annually, which is equivalent to 2.3 per cent of the total public sector workforce.”

However, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was unable to comment ahead of publication on what the current annual apprenticeship starts figure was for the bodies involved — which would have provided a more accurate idea of the rate of increase required to hit the target.

The consultation document said the “majority of other NHS bodies have 250 or more headcount (e.g. NHS Blood and Transplant) and would therefore be covered by the duty”.

It comes after the Vision 2020 report said the NHS was “committed” to delivering over 17,000 apprenticeship starts during 2015/16, reaching more than 100,000 in 2020.

When asked how this would work, taking into account the consultation guidance, a Department of Health spokesperson said: “The 100,000 apprenticeships will be cumulative over the course of this parliament.

“We’ve got 15,000 in 2014/15 and we are aiming for 17,000 in 2015/16.

“The BIS Enterprise Bill will bring in the public sector target later this year and we are working with NHS Employers and Health Education England to provide support and guidance to NHS Trusts,” she added.

The consultation document added all but around 30 of the 354 local authorities, all police and Armed Forces, and the vast majority of fire and rescue services would have to hit the target.

Other large bodies including Network Rail, London Underground, the BBC, Sellafield, Post Office, City of London, Bank of England, Financial Ombudsman Service, and the Financial Conduct Authority would also be covered.

Commenting on the consultation, Skills Minister Nick Boles said:“Our apprenticeships revolution has already given 2.4m people the chance to learn the skills they need to get on in life, with businesses leading the way.

“Now it’s time for the public sector to step up and give those same opportunities as we turbo charge our drive to give youngsters the best start to working life.”

The consultation document added the government would “determine whether or not further support is needed for public bodies to ensure they are maximising apprenticeship growth and, where they are failing to meet the target, taking steps to redress this”.

But it did not say what these steps might be, or what sanctions could be imposed on bodies that fail to hit the target.

It comes after FE Week reported on January 22 that the government had missed its orginal December deadline for launching the consultation.

The government was unable to confirm ahead of publication if it definitely planned to exempt FE colleges from the target.