Latest news from FE Week

They may say at Tesco that “every little helps” — but Bromley College faced criticism that it had overstepped the mark by touting for students in a supermarket on a rival’s patch.

The college initially tweeted at lunchtime today that it was at Lewisham Tesco, and invited anyone interested to “come along and find out about the courses we can offer”.

This prompted FE Week editor Nick Linford to raise the question of whether colleges ought to be competing on each other’s patches — after FE Commissioner Sir David Collins criticised the practice before Christmas as a waste of limited funding.

It sent Bromley into defensive mode, with it then tweeting: “We are here as almost a third of our students live locally and it’s important students know their options.”

Lewisham Southwark College principal Carole Kitching also chipped in, after it was suggested that Bromley shouldn’t mind its rival placing “pop up banners on your [Bromley’s] lawn”.

She quipped: “Hope they’ve got the grass cut ready for us….every little helps!!”

Ms Kitching declined to comment any further.

But Sam Parrett, principal of London South East Colleges, which now incorporates Bromley College, told FE Week: “Marketing in London by London colleges has, and always will, cross boundaries due to good transport links. There is no such thing as a patch.

“We are all keen to encourage as many people as possible to improve their career opportunities by gaining a qualification and developing their skills.”

She added: “Around 2,000 Lewisham residents have chosen to study at Bromley College during the past year, due to the wide range and high quality of our courses.

“However, it is important to highlight that the borough of Bromley also exports many students to neighbouring colleges.”

It comes after FE Commissioner Sir David Collins complained last October that marketing pitting college against neighbouring college was an important factor preventing the sector from being “sustainable”.

He said in a letter to all chairs and principals of FE institutions: “Significant resources are used on competitive marketing – one college against another – rather than on marketing the real opportunities that colleges as a whole can offer to learners and employers.”

The Department for Education declined to comment on the Twitter exchange, or the wider issue of whether colleges should be spending money on this kind of competitive marketing.

Tesco also declined to comment.

 

Here’s the initial tweet:

At Lewisham Tesco today, come along and find out about the courses we can offer! https://t.co/fKQpu2LlmT pic.twitter.com/SdMEzsrYmc

— Bromley College (@BromleyCollege) August 4, 2016

Here’s how the exchange then developed:

Hi Nick we are here as almost a third of our students live locally and it’s important students know their options! 😊 https://t.co/wzbR6IeuTX

— Bromley College (@BromleyCollege) August 4, 2016

 

@NickLinford hope they’ve got the grass cut ready for us….every little helps!!

— Carole Kitching (@cjk100) August 4, 2016

 

 

Performing arts students who took to the streets to save their courses are celebrating after college leaders decided against cutting them.

FE Week reported on the protest by a large group of Burton and South Derbyshire College learners — many of whom were expecting to continue in the second year of performing arts courses after the summer holidays — in early July.

The college has now confirmed it has decided to spare this subject from the axe, following a consultation, although a number of other courses will still be dropped from 2016/17.

A spokesperson said: “We can confirm our proposals will move forward with the exclusion of our performing arts provision — as our employees within this department, have brought forward credible plans to mitigate any proposed cost reduction through income diversification.

“Learners wishing to undertake or continue on a performing arts programme from 2016/17 will now be able to do so.”

The news was welcomed by level three BTEC extended diploma in performing arts student Euan Broughton, who helped organise the protest.

He told FE Week: “I am absolutely thrilled. Not only for us, but for the prospective year one students that have been granted access onto the course. It feels like a personal victory to every single one of us.

“The fact that we put in a lot of effort and so many past students supported us, shows what the course means to everybody.

“The difference for all of us now is we know where our future lies and that’s at Burton and South Derbyshire College.”

Another student off the same course, Baylee Haywood, said the protest “showed the college our determination and passion”.

The fellow 17-year-old added: “I don’t think we would currently have the chance to go back to college this year if it wasn’t for the performing arts staff.

“It wasn’t just the protest that helped, the department was working hard behind the scenes making business plans and proposals.”

Courses that it is understood will still be dropped include E3 motor vehicle, animal care, brickwork (excluding apprenticeships), and painting and decorating.

The college previously blamed falling student numbers and resulting Education Funding Agency funding cuts for the cutbacks.

Burton and South Derbyshire, which Ofsted rated grade three-overall in April, down from ‘good’ in 2012, was allocated £9.98m by the agency for 2015/16.

A college spokesperson has now told FE Week: “The programmes removed from the curriculum offer have no existing learners affected by the decision, but will no longer be open for learners to enrol on in the future.

“The college’s information, advice and guidance team are available to support those who were interested in the affected courses to choose alternative provision at this college or provide options to study similar courses elsewhere.”

Photo caption: Students protesting in early July (photos taken by Burton Mail)

Hold-ups to key FE announcements and reports caused by recent government upheavals are undermining planning for next academic year, sector leaders have warned.

Concern is mounting that post-Brexit ministerial changes and the decision to transfer responsibility for skills and apprenticeships to the Department for Education (DfE) has caused the machinery of government to grind to a virtual halt this summer.

FE Week has learned that the latest casualties of this include updated area review guidance and final reports from the already overdue first wave – all of which were meant to have been published in July but are now not expected for weeks.

This comes on top of further delays to publication of updated guidance on the apprenticeship levy, which was originally due in June, and confirmation of what responsibilities will be shouldered by new skills minister Robert Halfon.

Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, warned of resulting “uncertainty for colleges”.

He added: “We will continue to press the government to provide details of these changes because they are vital for colleges to be able to put in place informed business strategies for next year.”

Stephen Wright, chief executive of the Federation of Awarding Bodies, said: “At a time when the sector is facing an unprecedented level of change, key decisions are being delayed.

“The knock on effect is awarding organisations are finding it difficult to plan the development of qualifications and provide clear information to providers and learners.”

Paul Warner, policy director at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, called for the levy guidance to be published “quickly, so that providers can discuss them with employers”.

But he added that for some areas of apprenticeship reform, including the new provider register, “a pause would be helpful”.

The June referendum vote caused widespread FE-related government changes.

New Prime Minister Theresa May installed Justine Greening as education secretary and responsibility for skills and apprenticeships was transferred from the former Department for Business, innovation and Skills to DfE.

Nick Boles also quit as skills minister and Harlow MP Robert Halfon announced via Twitter on July 17 that he had “been given brief of minister of state for apprentices & skills”.

But the DfE website still lists him only as “Minister of State”, and does not clarify whether he will definitely take up a skills brief.

A spokesperson for the department refused to comment on the minister’s celebratory tweet or to confirm whether it was accurate, when questioned by FE Week.

The ongoing delay to publication of updated levy guidance is a source of grave concern to many in the sector, with the launch of the levy still set for April next year.

A number of key pieces of area review guidance had also been expected before the summer recess.

Bobbie McClelland — who was at the time deputy director, reforming FE provision, at BIS — told delegates at FE Week’s area review summit on July 7 that information for colleges on the implementation phase of the reviews would be published before the summer break.

But this guidance – along with a due diligence framework and information for local authorities and local enterprise partnerships – has not yet been published.

Nor have the area review final reports, originally due in July, which are expected to include all the outcomes from the reviews completed so far.

FE Commissioner Sir David Collins has now told us that they have been delayed until late August or early September. 

A spokesperson for the DfE said: “The area reviews are progressing as planned and we expect to publish the first group of reports after the summer break.”

The inspection regime is being tightened up by Ofsted to keep track on rocketing numbers of college mergers.

Ofsted uploaded its revised skills inspection handbook, to apply from September, on gov.uk this morning.

The only reference to mergers in the old handbook stressed that newly joined-together colleges would “normally be inspected as a new provider within three years”.

The new document clarifies that that newly merged colleges will “normally” receive a “full inspection” within the same time period.

This, it adds, will apply to any kind of merger between colleges and the new institution will not be graded until it has had its full inspection.

The changes come in response to a huge escalation in the number of mergers being encouraged through the nationwide programme of post-16 education area reviews launched last September – with nine partnerships involving 20 colleges finalised yesterday alone.

The updated handbook stresses that “a newly merged college will not carry forward any inspection grades from predecessor colleges”.

But it is a different story for sixth form colleges converting to become 16 to 19 academies, which it says will be inspected in accordance with their most recent overall effectiveness grade as a sixth form college.

The updated handbook also goes into detail about monitering and support arrangements.

“Any newly merged college or other provider deemed as a new provider may receive a monitoring visit or support and challenge visit to assess risk,” the handbook said. “Risk concerns arising from this or other sources could give rise to an earlier full inspection.”

Ofsted also stressed that it “may carry out such [support and challenge] visits where a provider has a new type of provision, such as new fulltime college provision for 14- to 16-year-olds”.

Mergers confirmed yesterday included those between Hackney Community College and Tower Hamlets College, City and Islington College and Westminster Kingsway College, and Shrewsbury College and Shrewsbury Sixth Form College.

Bexley College and Greenwich Community College formally merged with Bromley College, while South Worcestershire College also confirmed yesterday it was now part of the Warwickshire College Group, South Leicestershire College and North Warwickshire and Hinckley College completed their merger, and Barrow Sixth Form College linked up with Furness College.

A merger between New College Nottingham and Central College Nottingham was also due to complete yesterday, but neither was able to confirm this ahead of publication.

These came on top of three other mergers since the turn of the year.

Rotherham College of Technology and North Nottinghamshire College formed the RNN Group on February 1, Prior Pursglove College and Stockton Sixth Form College joined forces to become Prior Pursglove and Stockton Sixth Form College on April 1, and Bridgwater College and Somerset College merged on June 15.

Friends and colleagues of former Leeds City College and Stockport College principal Peter Roberts CBE came together for the unveiling of a plaque in his memory.

The ceremony took place at the college’s Printworks Campus on Saturday (July 30) to remember the widely-respected FE figure, who passed away on New Year’s Eve aged 60.

The father-of-two was the first principal of Leeds City College and retired from there at the end of September last year after six years in the post.

Mr Roberts was previously in charge at Stockport College for seven years, before joining Leeds in 2009, and was chair of the 157 Group from 2012 to 2014.

Among the guests at the plaque unveiling were current principal of Leeds City College, Colin Booth OBE, former governor Neil McLean CBE, chair of governors, Dr Shaid Mahmood, and former executive assistant to Peter Roberts, Sara Porter.

Dr Mahmood made a poignant speech, during which he said: “What struck me most about Peter was his humility and compassion.

“His passion for learning and making a real positive difference to the lives of others became a powerful driving force for him.

“Peter’s hard work, dedication, foresight and vision have been valued and cherished by all of us and I’m really honoured to unveil this plaque in his memory.”

The plaque will now be on display in the main boardroom at the Printworks Campus.

Mr Roberts collected a CBE for services to FE in October last year.

He told FE Week in a profile interview published in January 2013 how his career in education started in the late 1970s, teaching PE and economics at West Derby comprehensive in Liverpool.

He left the school in 1983 to become a lecturer in leisure and recreation at Stannington College, in Sheffield, and eventually went on to be elected chair of 157 Group in December 2012.

Sector figures paid warm tribute to Mr Roberts, stressing his passion for FE, success as a leader, kindness, and sense of humour, in January.

Among them was Sarah Robinson OBE, chair of the 157 Group, who said: “Peter chaired the 157 Group from 2012 to 2014 and was never afraid to challenge, provoke thought and influence change.

“He worked tirelessly for the good of FE with genuine concern for students.”

After the turmoil of recent months 2016’s silly season has finally rolled around, heralded by the Skills Funding Agency’s (SFA) choice to brand one of its newest teams ‘PRAt’.

FE Week was today made aware of the unfortunate label, which has so far not been made public. 

An SFA spokesperson told FE Week: “The establishment of the Funding Agencies Shared Services Team (FAS²T) on April 1, 2016 saw the SFA Provider Financial Management and Assurance team merge with the Education Funding Agency (EFA) Risk Analysis Division to form a single entity, Provider Risk and Assurance.

“The team provides financial assurance to the EFA and SFA accounting officer and an assurance statement to support the chief executive’s governance statement.

“The team monitors the financial health of learning institutions, and manages the financial relationship with these bodies.”

The establishment of the team highlights the agencies’ recent efforts to work more closely, ahead of a likely merger following the announcement that the Department for Education had taken responsibility for the SFA from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.

Peter Lauener, who was made joint boss of the both the EFA and SFA in October 2014, spoke to FE Week editor Nick Linford exclusively in February, about the possibility of more shared work.

He said: “At some point we may come back to question of whether there should be a merged agency, but that is actually a matter for the two parent departments.

“I’m quite happy to operate in the way they ask me to. If it comes to joining up the agencies completely, then that will be absolutely fine.”

N.B. FE Week can confirm that this article is neither a late or early April fools’ – despite the PRAt perhaps wishing it was!

A four-way college link-up is one of three new major merger plans to have been unveiled— as eight partnerships involving 18 colleges were finalised today.

The multiple merger, resulting from the Cheshire and Warrington area review, involves Mid Cheshire College, West Cheshire College, South Cheshire College and Warrington Collegiate.

All the colleges involved confirmed today that they plan to join forces and FE Commissioner Sir David Collins, who chaired the area review, said: “The [resulting] merged college can, through its collective strengths, ensure consistency of quality as well as sustainability and resilience against the challenges faced by all colleges.”

This comes after former Mid-Cheshire College principal Richard Hollywood stepped down in early June as the institution’s Ofsted rating tumbled from outstanding to inadequate – days after the departure of both the principal and vice principal of West Cheshire College.

Amersham and Wycombe College has also announced plans to join forces with nearby Aylesbury College. Both were part of the Thames Valley area review.

Amersham and Wycombe saw its Ofsted rating drop to inadequate in July, with grave concerns raised over its leaderships and governance.

Edward Weiss, who was appointed chair at the college after previous chair Jenese Joseph stepped down in June, said: “We all recognise the advantages of having one FE college in Buckinghamshire and we will be working towards it very positively.”

Karen Mitchell, principal of Aylesbury College, said the merger would “create a larger, more capable and resilient organisation”.

South Staffordshire College and Walsall College also confirmed they are in talks about a possible merger, despite being involved with separate area reviews — Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, and the Black Country.

Meanwhile, Hackney Community College and Tower Hamlets College have today joined forces, although both will keep their own names.

Former Tower Hamlets principal Gerry McDonald is now group principal and chief executive, with Lois Fowler principal at Hackney and Alison Arnaud in charge at Tower Hamlets.

City and Islington College and Westminster Kingsway College also formally merged today, with the interim name WKCIC Group.

Former Westminster Kingsway principal Andy Wilson is now chief executive of the WKCIC, with Kim Caplin principal at Westminster Kingsway, and Anna Douglas as principal at City and Islington.

Bexley College and Greenwich Community College have formally merged with Bromley College to create London South East Colleges, and will be led by Sam Parrett OBE.

South Worcestershire College also confirmed it is now part of the Warwickshire College Group – but as two individual colleges, Evesham College and Malvern Hills College.

South Leicestershire College and North Warwickshire and Hinckley College have also completed their merger today, having been in federation since 2013.

Shrewsbury College joined forces with Shrewsbury SFC, with Lyn Surgeon taking up the role of interim principal and chief executive of the newly-merged college.

And Barrow SFC has linked up with Furness College, with Andrew Wren at the helm.

Meanwhile a merger planned for today between Bournville College and South and City College has been delayed.

The two colleges will instead form a federation, with South and City principal Mike  Hopkins in charge of both, until the merger completes – which is expected to be in early 2017, a spokesperson for Bournville College said.

A merger between New College Nottingham and Central College Nottingham was also due to complete today, as previously reported by FE Week, but a spokesperson for Central College Nottingham told FE Week it had been delayed.

The responsibilities of newly appointed minister Robert Halfon have yet to be officially announced, raising concerns from the sector that this could mean yet more delays to policy guidance. 

Over a week since Mr Halfon’s appointment, the Department for Education (DfE) website still lists him only as “Minister of State”, and does not clarify whether he will definitely take up a skills brief in his new cabinet post. 

Responding to this lack of clarification, a spokesperson for the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said: “Training providers need to get on with the job of explaining the levy reforms to their employers, so if the lack of confirmation of the ministerial responsibilities is holding the announcements up, we hope the matter is resolved as quickly as possible.”

On July 19 the minister himself tweeted about his new role, saying that he had been given responsibility for “Apprentices and Skills”:

Delighted to have been given brief of Minister of State for Apprentices & Skills by SoS @JustineGreening at @educationgovuk

— Robert Halfon (@halfon4harlowMP) July 19, 2016

But in response to an FE Week enquiry into the remit of Mr Halfon’s role, a DfE spokesperson said that the new ministerial portfolios had not yet been announced and the department was unable to confirm when this would be done.

She refused to comment on the minister’s celebratory tweet or to confirm whether it was accurate.

The DfE has also told FE Week that Mr Halfon will not be doing any interviews until September.

Recent developments may make the induction period a difficult time for Mr Halfon, with updates to information about the apprenticeship levy already late, and the Confederation of British Industry calling for the levy to be delayed.

However, the minister does have experience in the area, and was the first MP to have an apprentice working with them in parliament.

On July 25, he hired his fourth apprentice through Harlow College, in his constituency. 

Thrilled to have hired my 4th apprentice, Owen! Massive thanks to Superior Roofing & @HarlowCollege 4 their support pic.twitter.com/FrjZViQH7c

— Robert Halfon (@halfon4harlowMP) July 25, 2016

On his website Mr Halfon writes that his former apprentices have each “gone on to great success”, either continuing their education at university or moving into a job in the House of Lords.

 

Updated guidance on the apprenticeship levy which was due out in June may now be postponed until September, FE Week understands.

FE Week submitted an enquiry to the Department for Education (DfE) about a potential change to the release date – which would be the second delay so far – but the DfE refused to confirm or deny the prospect.

Instead a government spokesperson said: “As businesses adapt and seize opportunities in the coming years, having a workforce with the skills to succeed will be more important than ever.

“That is why we’re committed to creating three million high quality apprenticeships by 2020 and why we have just published a dedicated skills plan to ensure our workforce is world leading.

“We are introducing the apprenticeship levy so that businesses have the talent they need to grow and thrive. We will continue to work closely with businesses of all sizes to design the levy around their needs and the need of their employees.”

Former skills minister Nick Boles had previously promised that the additional information would be available “well before the summer break”, when speaking at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers annual conference on June 27.  

He told delegates at the conference that there would be just a “little delay” to the update, following the British public’s decision to leave the European Union, but that they should “work on the assumption” that the introduction of the apprenticeship levy itself would still happened “as planned,” in April 2017. 

He said: “We had planned to be published further detailed information about the pricing of specific apprenticeship standards in the next few days.

“I’m sure you will understand that is now going to be a little delayed, but only a little we still expect to get that information out well before the summer break.”

Postponing the release of the additional details until September will mean a second missed deadline, while employers and providers are eager to move forward with their preparations for the levy’s introduction next year.

Meanwhile it has been ‘all change’ at the Department for Education (DfE), with the appointment of the both the new education secretary Justine Greening, and Robert Halfon, whose official title has yet to be confirmed.

On June 14, it was also announced that the DfE would take over responsibility for FE, skills and higher education, from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS).

A spokesperson for Number 10 told FE Week at the time: “The DfE has taken on responsibility for higher and further education policy as well as apprenticeship and wider skills policy from BIS.”

In a press statement, Number 10 also said that “bringing these responsibilities together will mean that the government can take a comprehensive, end-to-end view of skills and education, supporting people from early years through to postgraduate study and work”.

The statement from Number 10 confirmed that staff from BIS who are working on higher and further education policy, apprenticeships and skills will transfer to the DfE.

In light of these new developments, it is likely that the new administration is taking its time over how to proceed with the reforms.

But despite this hold up, FE Week understands that there are still no plans to delay the implementation of the levy itself from April next year.

On July 19, the Confederation of British Industry unveiled the results of a survey with nearly 500 companies showing widespread concern about the rushed design of the levy.

When subsequently asked by FE Week asked if it wanted Mr Halfon to delay beyond the planned April next year launch date, a spokesperson for the CBI said “yes”.

That went a step further than Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the confederation, was prepared to go in her interview with editor Nick Linford two months ago — when she would only say that “delay is certainly an option”.