Latest news from FE Week

‘Remarkable’ spike in ‘outstanding’ college grades

Colleges have seen a spike in ‘outstanding’ judgments as Ofsted prepares to close the door on the current inspection framework.

FE Week analysis shows that 10 of the 52 full inspections published for general FE colleges so far this academic year resulted in an overall grade one.

Ofsted had handed the top grade to just two colleges by this point in both 2023-24 and 2022-23, and to one in 2021-22.

Thirty-eight of the full inspections conducted so far this academic year for colleges have ended with a grade two. It means 19 per cent of full inspections in 2024-25 to date have been judged ‘outstanding’, while 92 per cent are ‘good’ or better.

This compares to 5 per cent and 70 per cent respectively for the same period in 2023-24, 5 per cent and 79 per cent in 2022-23, and 3 per cent and 83 per cent in 2021-22.

College leaders said the “remarkable” feat was a testament to the hard work of leaders and staff.

But an ex-inspector suspects inspectors could be being more generous in their grading as they approach the end of overall headline grades.

Ofsted said it would “caution against” comparing inspection outcomes across different years because “varying proportions” of previously outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate providers are inspected each year, as well as “differing numbers of providers inspected due to concerns”.

“This means inspection outcomes will inevitably fluctuate within and across years, so any trends identified are likely to be misleading,” a spokesperson said.

‘Amazing’ results

Ofsted is nearing the end of the education inspection framework launched by then chief inspector Amanda Spielman in 2019.

The watchdog, which ditched overall grades for schools in September 2024 and plans to do the same for FE and skills providers from September 2025, is currently consulting on the introduction of new-style report cards.

If green-lit, a new five-point grading scale will be introduced and applied to up to 20 categories for colleges. There will, however, be no headline rating.

There have been 224 full inspections published across the FE and skills provider base, excluding 16 to 19 schools and academies, between September 1, 2024 and when FE week went to press on May 15.

Of those, 14 per cent were judged ‘outstanding’ and 85 per cent were ‘good’ or better.

This compares to 8 per cent and 79 per cent respectively in 2023-24, 5 per cent and 64 per cent in 2022-23, and 7 per cent and 70 per cent in 2021-22.

FE Week broke the results down by the provider types, such as independent training providers, higher education institutions and adult and community learning providers, and found the most notable driver for the boosted results to be because of general FE colleges.

Gemma Baker, south east area director and senior policy lead for Ofsted at the Association of Colleges, said the increase in the number of ‘outstanding’ colleges “shows the amazing work colleges do and their quality of provision”.

Anne Murdoch, senior adviser in college leadership at the Association of School and College Leaders, told FE Week that the results are “testament to the hard work of college leaders and their staff” and are “all the more remarkable considering the financial pressures that colleges continue to be under”.

She added that while there will be a “degree of natural variation from year to year”, there is “no reason to think inspectors were being particularly generous”.

Inspection ‘nowhere near as rigorous as it used to be’

One ex-inspector, who did not wish to be named, said they “noticed” how inspectors got “more generous” towards the end of an inspection framework cycle during their time at the watchdog.

They also flagged that inspection teams are not always “adequately resourced”, especially for bigger college group inspections, which puts inspectors “on the back foot” and at a disadvantage as college leaders then have the “whip hand” from the start.

Some inspectors also “do not have the gravitas and necessary experience to ‘front up’ against the senior leadership teams of big college groups who are very formidable and expert as a collective”, the ex-inspector told FE Week.

“Ofsted leads have often never attained a higher position pre-Ofsted than head of department, assistant principal or similar. Indeed, very few, if any, senior inspectors have ever led a college or provider.”

They added: “There are lots of inspectors out there, current and ex, who will tell you inspection is nowhere near as rigorous as it used to be and is much more of a ‘fly by’ experience, particularly on big college group or training provider inspections.”

The 10 colleges to be judged ‘outstanding’ this academic year so far are: Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group, City of Sunderland College, West Suffolk College, Bridgwater and Taunton College, Hugh Baird College, West Thames College, Nelson and Colne College, Cornwall College, New City College, The Education Training Collective.

Personal reasons for Burnley College boss’s exit – reports

Burnley College has broken its silence on the sudden departure of its principal, according to reports.

FE Week revealed two weeks ago that Karen Buchanan had left the post just before Ofsted came knocking.

Leaders and governors repeatedly refused to comment on the mysterious exit or say who was leading the publicly funded institution, and staff were said to have been “left in the dark”.

A statement has now been released to the Burnley Express, which said: “Karen Buchanan is currently absent for personal reasons. Kate Wallace will assume the role of interim principal and will provide leadership and guidance in this period.”

Burnley College has continued to stay silent when approached for more details by FE Week.

Buchanan began working at Burnley College in 1986 as a part-time lecturer and became deputy principal in 2011 before taking on the top job in 2018.

The college teaches around 10,000 students and is in a financially healthy position according to its latest 2024 accounts which show a £1.9 million surplus, £21.5 million in reserves and an ‘outstanding’ financial health rating.

Almost 700 people are employed at the college which was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted in 2021, and last year self-assessed as ‘outstanding’ on the watchdog’s scale.

It boasts on its website that it is the “number one” college in England for 16 to 18 achievement rates on the government’s most recently published achievement rates table in March 2024, and claims to have held the position since 2018.

Wallace joined Burnley College in 2022 and was promoted to deputy principal in 2023.

Ofqual raps apprenticeship assessor over rogue pass results

An apprenticeship assessor that replaced fails with pass results by using tests that breached Ofqual guidelines has been reprimanded.

Engineering and construction awarding body Excellence, Achievement & Learning Limited, known as EAL, was censured by the exam regulator for changing a “small number” of students’ end-point assessment results.

The Dorset-based firm had failed the apprentices taking a multiple-choice test, then initially rejected their employer’s appeal on the basis its assessment was “valid and reliable”.

But EAL later issued replacement results “using assessments that had not been completed in the required conditions”, according to Ofqual.

The regulator issued a formal public notice that revealed EAL breached several of Ofqual’s rules, including around strict adherence to rules governing the qualification.

EAL also “failed to identify and mitigate” the adverse effects of replacing compliant results with what it called “incorrect” results.

However, Ofqual said it would take no further action as the pass results were “sufficiently valid” and the learners were “occupationally competent”.

The Ofqual notice said: “EAL has complied with the direction and has determined the replacement results were sufficiently valid and reliable and should not be corrected.

“This reflected the employer’s and provider’s view that the learners were occupationally competent. Ofqual will be taking no further action in relation to the direction.”

Neither the regulator nor EAL would share details of the company’s rationale for changing its results following the appeal.

Ofqual told FE Week it had not identified “sufficient grounds” to force the awarding body to reissue or revoke the qualifications.

It also said that sharing further details of the case – such as the assessment or test centre – could “potentially” identify the students.

An EAL spokesperson said: “EAL welcomes Ofqual’s decision to take no further action regarding its recent notice of direction.

“Steps were taken to review policies and processes to prevent recurrence.

“We are dedicated to upholding high standards of integrity and excellence in all our operations.

“Our focus is on supporting the sectors we serve with qualifications and assessments that are trusted by both industry and learners alike.”

Last year, EAL won a contract to deliver next-generation T Level contracts for building services engineering from 2025 and onsite construction from 2026 in partnership with WJEC Eduqas.

Although EAL is a for-profit company with a £14 million annual turnover, it is owned by Enginuity, a charity that focuses on “closing the skills gaps” in engineering and manufacturing.

Ofqual figures show the awarding body issued 925 certificates for 250 qualifications in the 2023-24 academic year.

The Department for Education’s most up-to-date statistics show the awarding body issued 1,200 end-point assessment results in 2022-23.

According to its annual report, EAL issued 64,000 certificates, including unregulated qualifications, to students in 2023-24 for more than 250 qualifications in construction, engineering, manufacturing and rail.

Pre-tax profit was £3.3 million in the same year, down from £4.2 million the previous year.

The charity’s highest-paid employee earns £250,000-£270,000 per year. Its chief executive officer is Ann Watson.

Tough immigration talk ‘but no plan for ESOL’

ESOL leaders have questioned the government’s “vague” promise to make it easier to attend language classes in its immigration white paper.

In the ‘Restoring control over the immigration system’ white paper this week, the Home Office announced plans to cut net migration numbers by “around 100,000” a year by demanding higher English language levels for people applying to extend their visa or settle permanently.

Home secretary Yvette Cooper claimed the new language requirements sought to ensure migrants could “integrate and contribute”.

But the white paper, published on the same day PM Sir Keir Starmer delivered his “island of strangers” speech, contained no plans or funding to improve English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) provision.

The final paragraph in the section on new language rules states government departments “will make it easier” for people needing “additional help”.

Meanwhile, the adult education sector is braced for 3.7 per cent cuts to the national adult skills fund next year amid sustained demand for ESOL courses from the estimated one million people in England and Wales who cannot speak English well or at all.

Paul Sceeny, co-chair of the National Association for Teaching English and Other Community Languages to Adults (NATECLA), said: “Whilst the white paper is unambiguous about wanting to reduce net immigration and tighten English language conditionality, it includes only one vague statement about ‘[making] it easier for those already in the UK to access classes for English language lessons’.

“ESOL has borne the brunt of the devastating cuts to adult education throughout the UK over the last decade and a half, and the [non-devolved] adult skills fund in England is about to be slashed by a further 6 per cent.

“NATECLA has been calling for an England-wide ESOL strategy/framework for almost a decade, and this mismatch between rhetoric and rules versus reality on the ground just underlines the need for a much more coherent and joined-up approach.”

What are the rule changes?

The rule changes most likely to increase demand for ESOL classes are that all adult dependents should have level A1 English levels, known as ‘beginner’.

Anyone wishing to extend their visa will need to show they have improved to level A2, or ‘elementary’, and the majority of those applying to settle permanently will need to prove they are at level B2, or ‘upper intermediate’.

This can only be proved by taking a test through a limited number of Home Office approved test centres.

Significant strain warnings

Colleges and ESOL experts have warned that adult education courses are being asked to do “more with less” amid high demand for language lessons.

An estimated one million people in England and Wales cannot speak English well or at all according to the 2021 census, but only 170,000 people participated in an ESOL course in the 2023-24 academic year.

About five per cent of those learners – less than 10,000 – enrolled on regulated level 2 ESOL courses, which are roughly equivalent to the Home Office’s B2 requirement for settlement visas.

A spokesperson for London’s Capital City College Group said the decision to raise language requirements was likely to place “significant additional strain on already overstretched ESOL provision”.

They added: “Demand for ESOL courses in the capital is already high, with long waiting lists across many colleges and providers.

“The recent cuts in adult skills funding for both devolved and non-devolved areas will place additional challenges to meet the demand, especially in towns and cities with diverse migrant communities.”

Privately, some in the sector have questioned whether the new rules will increase the risk of fraud through a repeat of issues that led to 36,000 student visas being revoked in the 2010s.

A DfE spokesperson suggested that a further announcement on supporting ESOL capacity will be made “in due course”.

Other ESOL issues

Experts told FE Week the ESOL sector is plagued by several issues that are holding back the economic potential of thousands of second-language speakers in England.

Dr Philida Schellekens, who co-wrote a review of ESOL provision in England for the Bell Foundation last year, said a lack of English holds many migrants and refugees back from using their “considerable education, skills and experience”, such as university-level qualifications, forcing them to be “unemployed or underemployed”.

This is acknowledged in the immigration white paper, which points out that migrants with proficient English skills are 20 per cent more likely to be employed or self-employed.

Other issues raised in Dr Schellekens’ report include a “postcode lottery” of provision across the country, unattractive pay for teachers, and funding rules that incentivise moving learners onto English functional skills courses which are not designed for second-language learners.

The current national ESOL curriculum, published by the then ‘Department for Education and Skills’ in 2001, is also “out of date”, she added.

Sceeny said: “If it is ‘common sense’, as the prime minister says, for people to learn English, then the government really needs to step up to the plate with a clear plan to engage with the sector, expand provision and deal with the rigid eligibility rules that often lock out those who’d benefit most from opportunities to improve their English.”

English and maths coalition launched to fight functional skills reform

A campaign group demanding a U-turn on the scrapping of enforced English and maths resits for adult apprentices has been launched.

The English and Maths Coalition (EMC) claims apprenticeship functional skills exams and the government’s forced GCSE resit policy, introduced in 2014, improved attainment in what are “fundamental skills” for work and life.

And it argues the government should “aim for higher success” among the 16-to-19 age group by setting a target of at least 90 per cent of 19 year olds achieving a level 2 English and maths qualification by 2030 – a 15 percentage point increase from the current rate of 75.8 per cent.

Organisations and experts specialising in English and maths have signed up, including the Learning and Work Institute (L&W), education and employment funding charity Impetus, and English and maths charity Get Further.

L&W chief executive Stephen Evans said apprentices already had “less general education” than those in best-practice countries such as Germany and Norway.

He added: “OECD data shows that 8.5 million adults in England have low literacy and/or numeracy skills, so we should take every opportunity to support people to get these fundamental skills for work and for life.

“That means investing in English and maths, and testing out new ways to support apprentices to succeed – not watering down standards.”

Why were English and maths requirements axed?

Until February, any apprentice who had not achieved a pass in GCSE English or maths had to pass the qualifications at the relevant level through functional skills exams in order to complete their apprenticeship.

Ministers then decided this exit requirement should become optional for apprentices aged 19 and over, believing 10,000 more learners could then complete their apprenticeships each year.

A spokesperson argued the move would help “drive growth and meet government targets” in sectors such as housebuilding, healthcare and social care.

Sector bodies such as the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) had argued against enforced GCSE resits, saying the exams put off learners and employers “in their droves”.

The representative body described the written functional skills tests as a “crude” way of assessing real-world abilities, and “cruel” for learners who already struggled with English and maths at school.

AELP deputy chief executive officer Simon Ashworth said: “Strong English and maths skills are vital for life and work, but the previous functional skills requirement became a huge barrier affecting both learners and employers.

“A well-intentioned policy ended up excluding far too many people from starting and completing apprenticeships.”

The EMC’s website calls on the government to “reinstate the English and maths study and exit requirement for adult apprentices” and adds: “Do not give up on tackling our nation’s very low levels of adult literacy and numeracy.”

Keep up ‘transformative success’

The divisive “condition of funding” policy, introduced in 2014, means colleges must help students who failed to achieve a pass – grade 4 or above – to retake their GCSEs, or else risk losing funding.

The EMC coalition argues this English and maths resit policy has “uniquely” helped close the “gaps” in achievement rates seen in students from disadvantaged backgrounds, different ethnicities and genders.

Department for Education data released last month shows 75.8 per cent of people achieved a level 2 in the subjects by age 19 in 2023-24, the second highest figure on record following a peak of 78.1 per cent in 2022-23.

This compares to 67.8 per cent in 2013-14, the year before the forced resits policy was introduced, and 52 per cent in 2007-08.

The number of young people raising their grade to a level 2 pass in both English and maths, known as ‘progression’, between age 16 and 19 has also increased from 17 to 29 per cent between 2013-14 and 2018-19, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic.

This progression figure fell to 18.7 per cent in 2023-24 but this was “due to changes in assessments during the Covid-19 pandemic… more of this cohort achieved level 2 at age 16 leading to less post-16 progression than in previous years”, the DfE said.

EMC founding member and regular FE Week columnist Andrew Otty, formerly the DfE’s lead for post-16 English and maths, said: “As exams begin, we want to make sure FE English and maths teachers feel recognised and celebrated for all they have achieved in the last decade.

“The recent 16 to 19 data release from DfE shows that once again the disadvantage, SEND, and gender gaps all close slightly in 16-19.

“On top of that, from the introduction of the resit policy up to Covid, when data gets messy, achievement had improved by 67 per cent. Nowhere else in education has had that kind of transformative success.”

Ahead of the final Curriculum and Assessment Review Report, led by Professor Becky Francis, the EMC is also calling for “better funding and support” for English and maths teaching to continue to improve achievement levels for those aged 16 and above.

This could include professional development for FE teachers, tailored support for students, and publishing resit measures at provider level.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report, released in March, said while the education system should continue to aim for grade 4 passes in English and maths for “as many learners as possible”, it also heard “clear evidence” that the policy is failing to deliver its “intended purpose” and a “greater nuance in measures” was required.

The DfE was contacted for comment.

Colleges call for funding preventative mental health strategies

Colleges are pleading for cash to shift from “crisis intervention” to preventative strategies to help students facing mental health breakdowns.

A survey of 70 colleges found 81 per cent reported a slight or significant increase in disclosed mental health issues among learners aged 16 to 18 in the last year, which follows 90 per cent reporting a rise the previous year.

And the Association of Colleges (AoC) added that severe behaviours, such as suicide attempts, remained “alarmingly prevelant”.

Mental health has become the primary cause for student absence in colleges, particularly for learners forced to resit GCSE English and maths, according to research by the membership body.

Today’s report found colleges are relying on emergency services for crisis intervention, with a third recording more than 10 mental health-related A&E referrals in the past year.

And the AoC highlighted the Big Mental Health Report from charity Mind, which calculates that poor mental health costs £300 billion a year in England alone, which is double the NHS annual budget – with children and young people’s mental health services accounting for more than £1 billion of NHS annual spend.

College leaders are now calling for more support to focus on prevention strategies to ease this huge cost.

One effective strategy is social prescribing, according to the report, which is a “largely unfunded” enrichment initiative that involves structured programmes such as volunteering, student representation, and social and physical activities.

“A growing number of colleges are adopting a proactive and intentional stance to the use of enrichment to address mental health and wellbeing, implementing a social prescribing model to relieve pressure on college services by preventing issues developing to a point where crisis intervention is needed,” the report said.

Jen Hope, AoC mental health lead and area director for the Midlands, added: “As this report shows, it is vital that policymakers prioritise investment in preventative mental health strategies if we are to comprehensively and sustainably support student and staff wellbeing.

“There is now clear evidence that early interventions are cost-effective. Every £1 million spent on child and adolescent mental health services returns an estimated £4.25 million in combined benefits to individuals and in savings to the government.”

Kimberley Cash, deputy group principal of Salford City College Group, said investment in mental health services for young people was “urgently needed”.

“Without it, we risk losing too many bright, ambitious young people to these invisible battles,” she added.

The AoC study revealed 68 per cent of colleges had reported more students aged 19 or older with disclosed mental health conditions, while last year 86 per cent said their numbers were rising.

Meanwhile 59 per cent of colleges reported rises in numbers of students they believed had undisclosed mental health difficulties.

The AoC said the volume of demand placed on college mental health services remained “significant”.

‘Heartbreaking to see students battling suicidal thoughts’

The report also highlighted “alarmingly prevalent” rates of suicide attempts – 75 per cent of colleges reported five or more suicide attempts, the same figure as last year.

Cash said: “I have witnessed firsthand the complex mental health struggles that young people can face.

“It’s heartbreaking to see students, full of potential, battling anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts.”

One fifth (22 per cent) of colleges recorded at least one death by suicide by students, compared to 30 per cent experiencing the tragedy when asked last year.

Staff absences

Staff wellbeing was also a concern highlighted in the report after 85 per cent of colleges said poor mental health amongst workers directly contributed to sickness and absence rates.

As a consequence, over half (52 per cent) said it was negatively affecting student experience.

Nearly one fifth (18 per cent) said staff were experiencing secondary trauma from the emotional toll of supporting students with complex mental health needs.

“These numbers underline the ongoing pressures faced by staff and the urgent need for supportive systems to address the factors impacting staff wellbeing,” the report added.

English and maths rules for foundation apprentices revealed

Young people who did not pass GCSE English and maths must continue to study the subjects if they take a new foundation apprenticeship – but they will not be required to sit or pass the tests.

Apprenticeship funding rules for 2025-26, published today, included a section for foundation apprenticeships, which are due to be rolled out this autumn.

The government is yet to publish a list of foundation apprenticeship programmes, but the new rules detail funding eligibility.

Foundation apprentices must be aged 16 to 21 at the start of their training, or 22 to 24 if they either hold an education, health and care (EHC) plan, are in care of their local authority, or have been in prison.

Officials said they will fund a foundation apprentice at the same or lower level than a qualification they already hold, but only “if the foundation apprenticeship will allow the individual to acquire significant new knowledge, skills and behaviours, the provider can show that the content of the training is materially different from any prior qualification or previous apprenticeship and that the minimum duration can still be met once prior learning has been recognised”.

Critically, there will be no functional skills exit requirement for foundation apprentices. But, like the condition of funding rule for 16 to 18 year olds on study programmes, apprentices will be forced to continue to study the subjects.

In levels 2 to 7 apprenticeships, apprentices aged 16 to 18 must pass English and maths functional skills exams if they have not already obtained a level 2 (GCSE) pass. This requirement was made optional for apprentices aged 19 and older in February.

Simon Ashworth, Association of Employment and Learning Providers deputy CEO, said: “Confirmation that 16 to 18 year olds taking on new foundation apprenticeships won’t face a mandatory English and maths exit requirement is another positive signal that the government is listening and looking to test out an alternative approach.

“It means more young people will be able to start an apprenticeship and build confidence in the workplace while receiving the support they need to improve their skills.”

The foundation apprenticeship rules state that where the apprentice holds neither level 1 nor level 2 in English or maths, then the apprentice “must start and continue to study for at least a level 1 English and / or maths”.

Where the apprentices already holds an approved level 1 qualification, then the apprentice must start and continue to study for a level 2 English and / or maths.

The apprentice is not required to take the assessments prior to completing their foundation apprenticeship in both scenarios, but where providers “deem it appropriate”, the tests can be taken.

Plans for foundation apprentices aged 16 to 18 must include a minimum of 55 guided learning hours per subject.

Today’s funding rules also outlined how the £2,000 employer incentives for foundation apprenticeships, first announced during March’s Spring statement, will be paid.

The DfE will pay £667 if the apprentice is still on their foundation apprenticeship 90 days after their start date, followed by another £667 if they are still on programme 242 days into their training.

A “progression payment” of £666 will then be paid if the apprentice, upon completion of their foundation apprenticeship, starts a full apprenticeship within six months of their completion date and they remain with the same employer.

The progression payment will be made 90 days after the apprentice’s start date of their new apprenticeship.

In-demand FE teachers share £34m of retention cash

Nearly 6,000 FE teachers have been paid a chunky government bonus – worth a combined £34.1 million – designed to stop them quitting their jobs.

Introduced by the previous Conservative government, the ‘targeted retention scheme incentive for FE teachers’ offered up to £6,000 tax-free cash for teachers of subjects where there are “critical skills priorities” and high teacher vacancy rates.

Controversially, the scheme excluded teachers working for independent training providers.

Data published today revealed the take-up and payment amounts for the first year of the retention scheme.

There were 7,790 applications in total, although just over one in five were rejected for being ineligible. Applications closed on March 31 but 76 were still awaiting a decision, meaning 5,984 were successful.

There were seven subject areas chosen for the scheme in 2024-25; building and construction, chemistry, computing and digital, early years, engineering and manufacturing, maths and physics.

Most payments, 29 per cent, went to building and construction teachers, followed by maths (23 per cent) then engineering and manufacturing (20 per cent).

But the amount each teacher received differed depending on the proportion of disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds studying at their college, and their weekly teaching hours.

To get the maximum £6,000 payment, an eligible teacher would need to teach for at least 12 hours per week at a college where 50 per cent or more 16 to 19 year olds were disadvantaged.

The vast majority, 91 per cent, of payments went to teachers in further education colleges. Just 5 per cent went to teachers in schools and academies, and 4 per cent went to sixth form colleges.

This week’s figures show the average amount claimed was £5,700, suggesting over just over £34 million was paid out in total.

It’s too early to estimate how many of the 5,984 would have left had it not been for the incentive payments, but a 2023 Institute for Fiscal Studies report found FE teachers were much more likely to quit than other public sector professions.

The figures come as the Association of Colleges and National Joint Forum of trade unions meet to negotiate the 2025-26 pay award recommendations for FE workers, and follows a £50 million injection for staff pay this academic year, which will be paid to colleges next month based on 16-19 student numbers.

Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and Colleges Union (UCU), said the incentive scheme neglects “critical subjects” and the growing pay gap between school and college teachers.

“Many teachers across further education continue to struggle to make ends meet because of such low pay, therefore a meaningful increase is vital,” she added.

“This incentive is not enough to close the pay gap between school and college teachers and will result in educators delivering critical subjects like English, social work and nursing receiving no uplift whatsoever.”

The Department for Education confirmed to FE Week that another round of applications will open this autumn but would not confirm whether eligibility criteria would change.

Jerry White, principal and chief executive of City College Norwich and chair of the Association of Colleges workforce strategy group, said the scheme is “good” for recipients but doesn’t solve systemic FE pay issues.

“Additional funding for the FE workforce is welcome. Clearly thousands of colleagues have been able to claim that money and that’s no doubt been good for them,” he told FE Week.

“Ultimately, these initiatives are helpful but they are a sticking plaster. What would make a bigger difference would be if I could go out with jobs with that extra five grand on the salary for everyone, but we can’t because the funding isn’t good enough.”

Negotiations between sector employers and staff unions have become more complicated following reports the School Teachers’ Pay Review Body has recommended a pay rise of “close to 4 per cent”, higher than the 2.8 per cent previously floated by ministers. A pay recommendation for colleges would need to be higher than the award offered to schools to stop the pay gap growing further.

Colleges and providers will see a 3.78 per cent funding increase to their 16-19 base funding rate for 2025-26, but they are also facing an “unprecedented” demographic boom with DfE-imposed limits on how much growth it will fund.

Grady added: “The government must come back with the funding to properly boost pay across the board to ensure our members are paid the same as schoolteachers, to help end the recruitment crisis and allow colleges to support students to reach their full potential.”

DfE sets minimum off-the-job hours for each apprenticeship standard

The Department for Education has introduced minimum off-the-job training (OTJ) hours for each apprenticeship standard for the first time.

Funding rules for 2025-26, published this afternoon, stated that OTJ hours-by-standard were necessary due to the shortening of the minimum apprenticeship duration from 12 to eight months, as well as “the introduction of new products and feedback from the sector”.

Until now, training providers have had to calculate how much OTJ training each apprentice requires depending on the length of their apprenticeship – but must be a minimum of 20 per cent of their working hours.

A list (click here to download) detailing new minimum hours for all 713 existing apprenticeship standards has now been released. They will apply to new starts from August.

The DfE said: “We are removing the delivery link between OTJ training and time on programme. This means that providers will be free to deliver the OTJT hours over whatever timeframe they choose (subject to meeting the minimum duration requirement). If the duration on programme increases or decreases, there will no longer be an impact on the minimum OTJT requirement.”

The minimum hours range from 1,531 for the level 7 chartered legal executive litigator and advocate apprenticeship, which has a typical duration of five and a half years, to 278 hours for 12-month apprenticeships like the level 2 urban driver.

The DfE said it considered a “range of information when setting the figure including current durations, both the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) typical duration and actual time on programme, and the volume of planned and actual hours being reported in the individualised learner record by providers”.

Rules added that 2025-26 is a “transition year in which we will continue to collect delivery information and work with partners to assess if the volumes are reflective of actual delivery”.

The published minimum hours figure can only be reduced if there is evidence of relevant prior learning from the apprentice’s initial assessment.

The “resulting programme”, with a corresponding price reduction, “must not fall below 187 hours of evidenced delivery or eight months in actual duration”, DfE said.

Funds are at risk of recovery if providers do not comply with the new minimum hours policy.

“These changes will reduce bureaucracy around the OTJT calculation and provide increased flexibility in the delivery of off-the-job training,” DfE said.