Two colleges in Somerset have completed a merger — but still appear to be struggling to agree on a new name.

Somerset College and Bridgwater College officially became a single body on Tuesday (June 14).

But a joint statement indicated that co-operation between them could still be improved upon – as no new name had been agreed.

A spokesperson for the colleges did not say why the newly merged institution had no name, or whether it had submitted any options to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) for approval.

The two colleges would continue under their existing names “for the next few months”, the spokesperson confirmed.

A BIS spokesperson would only say that the department had “no update at this stage”.

Mike Robbins, principal-designate of the new institution and the current Bridgwater College principal, said: “This merger is an important step for further and higher education in Somerset.”

Somerset College had already been developing plans to merge with nearby Bridgwater College when the FE Commissioner, Dr David Collins, was called into the college over financial concerns last July.

His only recommendation was that the merger plans should be supported.

Confirmation of the formal merger comes ahead of the Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly area review, which is due to start in November.

Three more college link-ups have also emerged, in Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Kent.

One of these is between Accrington and Rossendale College, and Burnley College – both in Lancashire.

The region is part of the fourth wave of area reviews, with a proposed start date of September.

Accrington and Rossendale College saw its Ofsted rating drop this week from ‘outstanding’ to ‘requires improvement’, following its first inspection since 2009.

Burnley College was rated ‘outstanding’ at its most recent inspection in 2009.

A representative of Accrington and Rossendale confirmed the two colleges were in talks.

“In line with many colleges in Lancashire, Burnley College and Accrington and Rossendale College are discussing the possibility of collaboration,” he said.

“This is aligned with government strategic direction and the national area review process for further education colleges.”

Canterbury College and East Kent College have also announced a partnership that would see the two colleges led by a single principal.

Graham Razey, East Kent’s principal, will take over the reins in Canterbury following the retirement of current principal Alison Clarke at the end of July.

Both colleges are in Kent, which is part of an area review due to start in November.

Beverley Aitken, East Kent’s chair, described her college’s relationship with Canterbury as “productive”.

She added: “We are confident that we will demonstrate that by working more closely together, we can deliver the most effective education for the benefit of our students.”

Colin Carmichael, the chair of Canterbury College, said: “This closer partnership with East Kent is an obvious decision for us to make.”

Meanwhile, it has been reported in local media that Barnsley College has approved a merger proposal with Doncaster College.

Both colleges are part of the ongoing Sheffield area review.

Paul Pascoe, Doncaster College’s chair, said no decision had yet been made by the college.

A spokesperson for Barnsley College said it would not be issuing a statement until after the next area review steering group meeting, due on June 16.

The government should work with the FE sector to create a network of digital skills colleges across the country, a group of MPs has said.

This is one of a number of recommendations made by the Commons science and technology select committee in its Digital Skills Crisis report, published on Monday (June 13), based on the findings of a recent inquiry into what needs to be done to overcome the digital skills gap in the workplace, education and apprenticeships.

The proposed new digital colleges should “replicate the National College for Digital Skills model across the country”, the report said.

The National College for Digital Skills is one of five new employer-led colleges to receive government funding to boost specialist skills for certain industries. It is due to launch in September.

The report also called for digital skills to be made one of the core components of all apprenticeships – not just digital apprenticeships.

The MPs cited evidence from the Tech Partnership — which has developed a number of new Trailblazer standards in digital skills — that the number of starts on digital degree apprenticeships had increased by 21 per cent in 2014/15, to 17,000.

But they said the government should “emphasise the need for more digital skills components in all apprenticeships, not just ‘digital apprenticeships’, to gear them to the needs for jobs across the economy” and “make digital skills the focus of its three million apprenticeship target”.

Nicola Blackwood MP, the chair of the science and technology select committee, urged the government to take “concerted action” to ensure “tomorrow’s workforce” has “the digital skills that employers need”.

She said: “The government deserves credit for action taken so far but it needs to go much further and faster.

“We need action on visas, vocational training and putting digital skills at the heart of modern apprenticeships.”

The new report came on the same day that the House of Lords debated its digital skills select committee report, Make or Break: The UK’s Digital Future, which was published in February last year.

During the debate, a number of peers reiterated a recommendation from the report, that vocational qualifications must to be made more responsive to the needs of business.

Lord Knight of Weymouth, who is also chair of digital inclusion charity the Tinder Foundation, called for “much more agility in the skills system”.

He said: “Increasingly we will need employers to credential skills because we cannot wait for our cumbersome qualification system to keep up.”

And Lady Morgan (pictured), chair of the digital skills committee, said that current vocational qualifications “are not necessarily what business wants, nor are they fully understood by business”.

She urged the government to publish its digital skills strategy, which was due out earlier this year but which has not yet appeared.

Such a strategy should “include full details of soft infrastructure — education and skills — as well as hard infrastructure”, she said.

The boss of the Skills Funding Agency, Peter Lauener, has met with union officials amid concern that staff anger over pay grade changes could lead to strike action.

FE Week understands recent moves to transfer SFA employees — who had previously been paid according to the agency’s own gradings — over to general civil service salary bands have stirred up a huge amount of resentment.

A Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) spokesperson said it had left “many people feeling their role has been downgraded”, and raised concern about what affect this would have on future pay rises.

The union has already started consulting on industrial action, which could include possible strikes, and Mr Lauener met with officials on June 9 in an attempt to rebuild bridges.

A spokesperson for the agency said: “The SFA currently has a unique job grading structure.

“As we are now an executive agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, we are aligning with civil service grades used across government, a process which has been done in consultation with the PCS union and our staff.”

She added: “This process is not a cost-saving operation.

“PCS and staff have been engaged throughout the restructuring process, and as part of the process, Mr Lauener and senior managers have met PCS officials regularly.”

It is understood that many of the unhappy staff at the SFA had been expecting to be transferred onto a senior, grade seven pay-band, through changes introduced since April, but have ended up on a lower level.

The union spokesperson told FE Week after the meeting: “Mr Lauener listened to our concerns and we are now waiting for him to come back to us with a response.

“There is a lot of strong feeling about this among staff and we could be looking at industrial action, including a possible strike.”

The chair and vice-chair of troubled Amersham and Wycombe College have both stepped down – but the college is refusing to say why.

Jenese Joseph (pictured) was appointed chair of the college’s governing body in May 2014, but her name is now no longer listed on the college’s website, and nor is that of the former vice-chair Andrew Walker.

A spokesperson for the college confirmed that the pair had resigned, but was tight-lipped on the reason for their departure.

Ms Joseph confirmed to FE Week that she had resigned from her position, but also declined to give a reason for her decision.

Ms Joseph and Mr Walker’s resignations come while the college remains stuck in administered status, following a visit from the FE Commissioner last September.

The college was issued a financial notice of concern in March 2013, but Dr David Collins’ intervention was prompted after the Skills Funding Agency said it had additional concerns over the college’s financial controls.

Dr Collins’ report highlighted a series of problems including falling student numbers, as well as “pressures on its main funding streams, weak leadership and management and poor financial management”.

He found that “relationships between the interim executive team and the governing body are not strong, and could still be considered to be in a development phase”.

He continued: “For this reason it is felt that the college should not be left to manage its own future, and should be put into administered status.”

Dr Collins also advised that the college’s “longer term prospects” would be best served by merging with another college.

The college received a grade three overall – ‘requires improvement’ – rating in its most recent Ofsted report, published December 2014.

FE Week understands that Ofsted inspectors have recently revisited the college.

Amersham and Wycombe College is involved in the Thames Valley area review, part of wave two of the area review process, which had its first steering group meeting on January 21.

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills is recruiting eight board members for the new Institute for Apprenticeships, with a salary of up to £15,000 available for each position.

The advert has been posted on the cabinet office’s public appointment’ site, with a closing date of July 20. Interviews scheduled for September.

The jobs will be based in London, and successful applicants will be required to commit two days per month to “contribute across a range of the Institute’s strategic and governance issues”.

It calls for applications from “senior figures with expertise in business, employer representatives, academics, and other senior representatives with expertise in particular aspects of apprenticeships and skills”.

The IfA’s responsibilities will include approving standards and assessment plans, and determining the level of government funding available for the standards.

Board members will act as the Institute’s governing body.

FE Week asked the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how the roles at IfA would compare to the work of board members do for the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), which, according to the Treasury, will cease its work from 2016/17 when the Institute is fully functional.

A spokesperson said that, in terms of remuneration for their roles, the UKCES board members are “eligible to claim an allowance of £4,000 plus travel and subsistence costs incurred on UKCES business” – raising questions over the £15,000 salary offered by the Institute.

FE Week also why the advert stresses that “this post is NOT regulated by The Commissioner for Public Appointments”.

The spokesperson said: “We will be following an Office for the Commissioner of Public Appointments compliant process for the board.

“This is the process followed for all public appointments to ensure that they are based on principles of merit, openness and fairness.”

The spokesperson also confirmed that the position of permanent chair for the IfA this would be advertised “in due course”, following the appointment of former Barclays chief executive Anthony Jenkins as the shadow chair on June 9.

She declined to say what the chair would be paid, but confirmed that the post will be regulated by the CPA.

FE Week put these points to Mark A’Bear, an expert who holds an MBE for school governance.

He said: “Today in schools and colleges, governors are completely voluntary and I would say that they already commit probably more than two days per month to their role.

“To pay somebody to undertake a role like this could well attract the wrong type of people and drive the wrong behaviour.”

He added: “It’s the softer aspects of a skillset that determine whether a governing body is successful and effective; if you just pluck people out of industry without the right motivation or any understanding of the education sector they could actually do more harm than good.”

Lewisham Southwark College has seen its Ofsted rating go up a grade from its previous inadequate rating, with inspectors praising the “highly capable” new leadership team for turning around its fortunes.

The education watchdog’s overall verdict of ‘requires improvement’ comes after the college had the dubious honour of being the first FE and skills provider to be rated ‘inadequate’ twice in a row.

Today’s report rates the college as ‘good’ for its provision for learners with high needs, and ‘requires improvement’ in a further seven headline fields.

Principal Carole Kitching – who took over in July last year, four months after the college’s previous inspection – said she was “absolutely delighted” by the verdict.

She continued: “I would like to thank all staff who have worked so hard to help turn the college around.”

“Everyone is determined that we will continue to work hard to make further improvements for our students and our communities.”

Inspectors singled out the “positive impact” of college leaders “on raising the standards of teaching and the expectations teachers have of their learners” as one of the college’s key strengths – but warned that there was still a long way to go.

The 6,500-learner Lewisham Southwark College received its first inadequate rating following a visit by inspectors in November 2013.

Its second inadequate came after an inspection in February last year.

Since then college has had three monitoring visits by Ofsted – the most recent of which, in January, identified reasonable progress in all areas assessed.

Today’s report found that the “highly capable” senior leadership team had “secured the college’s capacity to improve further”.

It continued: “They have improved the quality of provision, outcomes for learners and the college’s financial health, but, as leaders readily understand, and as confirmed by inspectors, they still have much to do to achieve their objective of providing outstanding education and training for learners.”

The “personal support for learners who need help to overcome personal and social barriers to learning” was also found to be one of the college’s key strengths.

“Highly skilled” teachers have “high expectations” of learners with high needs and “place a very strong emphasis on students becoming as independent as they are able”, the report found.

Inspectors found that managers had “responded well” to the challenge of improving standards in teaching, learning and assessment, and that teaching staff were willing to “embrace change” and had “commitment and enthusiasm for improvement”.

As a result, “fewer students endure low-quality teaching, learning and assessment” and the “teaching of English and mathematics has improved”.

But inspectors also found that “too few students and apprentices achieve their qualifications”, and “not enough” learners progress on to higher level courses.

It said: “Outcomes for learners and teaching, learning and assessment are not yet good and key aspects for the improvement of teaching and learning identified at the previous inspection, such as suitable challenge in lessons for all learners, continue to require attention.”

Teaching, learning and assessment – particularly in English and maths – are among the key areas highlighted by inspectors as needing further improvement.

The college’s chair of governors Chris Bilsland OBE said: “Governors are proud of the significant progress the college has made over the last year.

“Further education really does change lives and we want to be sure that the college in Lewisham and Southwark is offering the very best training and teaching to residents.”

Concerns have been raised over apprentice assessment organisations (AAOs) for apprenticeship standards — after it emerged that half of those approved so far are not regulated by Ofqual.

Only three AAOs have been approved by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), which first began accepting submissions to the new register of apprenticeship assessment organisations (RoAAO) in March, in the last three months — taking the total up to just 16.

Stephen Wright (pictured) , the chief executive of the Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB), told FE Week that 50 per cent of AAOs are not regulated by Ofqual — including the likes of the British Institute for Non-Destructive Testing, BT PLC, Energy & Utility Skills Ltd, Leicester College, and Training 2000 Ltd.

He insisted that this is a major concern, saying: “We will be letting the learners down if the apprenticeship is not assessed to the same level of validity, and valued to the same extent as any other high-stakes qualification.”

Mr Wright said he was concerned about the slow progress of the RoAAO tendering process.

Analysis by FE Week of figures released in February revealed that 13 AAOs had been approved, but updated figures released this month have shown that despite 108 apprenticeship standards being open to new starts — just 32 (30 per cent) have 16 AAOs assigned to them.

And 20 out of those 32 only have one AAO to choose from, again raising issues around lack of choice for employers.

Mr Wright said: “We are concerned with the number of AAOs being approved; there are still many standards without an assessment organisation and many others with only one.

“Our concern is that potential assessment organisations are put off by the difficulty of conducting the assessments. For example, a number of the assessment strategies require panels of experts to observe individual learners.”

The government has decided that Ofqual, otherwise known as the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, does not necessarily have to monitor the new apprenticeship standards.

This is a departure from the key role it plays in overseeing traditional qualifications.

Last September, Ofqual’s executive director for vocational qualifications, Jeremy Benson, told FE Week: “We have said we will be happy to regulate the end-point assessments as qualifications [for new standards] if that’s what they want us to do.

“There are other alternatives available and we are obviously going to be interested to see what decisions the government makes over the next few weeks and months in terms of how the quality assurance regime for the new apprenticeships is going to work.”

Despite the slow nature of the approval of standards and AAOs, the government is keen for more people to do them, with growth requests being offered to colleges and training providers for the delivery of any of the new apprenticeship standards.

But of the 16 approved AAOs, not all are even open for business.

BT was approved in September last year for the digital industries standard, but said in April it had no immediate plans to carry out assessments.

An SFA spokesperson said: “We review all applications we receive from the organisations who choose to apply.

“Any organisation that considers itself suitable to conduct end-point assessment can choose to apply.”

 

Main pic:  Stephen-Wright