Brexit could kill-off apprenticeship levy plans, Boles warns

Skills Minister Nick Boles has reportedly warned that Brexit could put an end to the apprenticeship levy.

He spoke out on the issue during a recent event in Westminster, organised by Policy Exchange.

A spokesperson for the think tank told FE Week today that Mr Boles had raised concern about prospects for the levy — during a speech he delivered on the European Union and possible ramifications if the British public votes to leave, through the referendum on June 23.

He was reported, in City AM, as asking: “Do you think the chancellor will feel it is prudent to introduce a new payroll tax in the middle of a recession, when business confidence has been knocked by a decision to leave the single market and unemployment is rising?

“Like all public services, funding for apprenticeships, and other support for young people, depends on the economy being strong and businesses being profitable.”

The levy plans, first announced by the government last July and set for launch in April 2017, are currently being developed by the government.

It is set at 0.5 per cent of an employer’s paybill, and will only be payable by businesses with a paybill of more than £3m will pay – around two per cent of employers.

But Mr Boles reportedly indicated that the programme could still be dropped in the event of a Brexit vote.

It comes after Professor Alison Wolf, who made the case for an employer levy to fund apprenticeship training in a report published days before the government first unveiled plans for the charge, told MPs last week she thought it was “very odd” only large employers would pay the levy.

“If you’re going to have a proper apprenticeship system, and one that’s attractive to young people, you’ve got to get small and medium employers involved,” she said to the Commons sub-committee on education, skills and the economy on June 8.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicted in November that the levy would raise £3bn in 2019/20, but this was subsequently revised down in March to £2.9bn.

The money raised is set to be ring-fenced, so it can only be spent on training apprentices and all levy-paying companies will receive a 10 per cent top up on monthly levy contributions.

 

 

Ofqual chair Amanda Spielman put forward to replace chief inspector at Ofsted

Ofqual chair Amanda Spielman has been approved by the government as the next Ofsted chief inspector.

A Department for Education (DfE) source confirmed that the government had cleared the 55-year-old’s appointment.

Ministers will now wait on agreement from the Commons education select committee for final approval, FE Week understands.

A DfE spokesperson said she was the right sort of person to refocus Ofsted and ensure it makes a difference.

However, the move first reported on in the Times Education Supplement is unlikely to be welcomed in some education circles, as as she has not worked as a teacher before and spent much of her career in corporate finance.

Ms Spielman, who was profiled by our sister paper School’s Week, came up against a number of other high-profile candidates for the post – reportedly including the likes of Russell Hobby, general secretary of heads’ union the NAHT, and Toby Salt, chief executive of the Ormiston Academies Trust.

 

Here’s Ms Spielman’s CV:

 

July 2011 – Present Chair Ofqual

June 2011 – Education Advisor, Ark

2005 – 2012 Research and policy director, Ark

2002 – 2004 Consultant

1996 – 2000 Strategy Director, Nomura International

1995 – 1996 Principal, Mercer Management Consulting (Boston)

1993 – 1995, Director, Bridgewater Business Analysis

1986 – 1992, Manager in Corporate Finance, Kleinwort Benson

1982 – 1986, Accountant, KPMG UK (formerly KMG Thomson McLintock)

FE college principals snubbed in Queen’s birthday honours, but governors recognised

Principals of general FE colleges in England have been snubbed in this year’s Queen’s Birthday honours – as FE governors take the limelight.

The lack of recognition is in marked contrast to last year’s birthday honours which saw the principal of City and Islington College, Frank McLoughlin, receive a knighthood.

But Margaret Serna (pictured above), chair of Lincoln College, received a CBE in this year’s list, while Josie Teasdale, lately chair at Barnsley College, was given an OBE as was Mark White, chair designate of Stockton Riverside College. Keith Brown, College of North East London chair, got an MBE.

The list also includes honours for 11 heads of schools, academies or multi-academy trusts, along with two sixth form college principals.

Frank-McLoughlin
Sir Frank McLoughlin

It is the first time since FE Week was launched in 2011 that no general FE college principals in England have been named in an honours list.

The most recent New Year’s honours included a CBE for former Exeter College principal Richard Atkins, and an OBE for Sam Parrett, principal of Bromley College since 2010.

And last year’s birthday honours also saw former Leeds City College principal Peter Roberts receive a CBE, while Shelagh Legrave, principal of Chichester College, and Desmond Lambert, former principal of Plumpton College, both received an OBE.

Two principals were awarded CBEs in the New Year’s honours announced at the end of 2014 – Michele Sutton, former Bradford College principal, and Dawn Ward of Burton and South Derbyshire.

A further four principals were handed OBEs in the same honours list.

Movers and Shakers – Edition 177

Yorkshire Coast College’s principal, Clare Wareing, has announced that she has left her role.

Ms Wareing, who first joined the college in 2013 after 16 years at York College, said she was leaving to “pursue other educational interests”.

The Grismby Institute, which runs the college, confirmed the departure and added that deputy principal Ann Hardy was taking over as interim principal “with immediate effect”.

A spokesperson for the institute said: “Under the leadership of Clare Wareing we have focused on teaching and learning, and developing the aspirations of learners so they attain the highest possible levels of achievement from their experience with us.

“We thank Clare for her contribution and efforts in helping to meets the needs of learners and the local community, and wish her well for the future.”

The college said it will “shortly be advertising” for a new permanent principal.

Meanwhile, West Nottinghamshire College has welcomed Chris Thomas as its new deputy principal for teaching and learning.

He has joined from Blackpool and The Fylde College, where he rose to the position of director of FE during his five years there.

Mr Thomas said: “I’m really proud to have joined West Nottinghamshire College, which has a fantastic reputation throughout the FE sector and is regarded as being one of the best colleges in the country.

“I am looking forward to working with colleagues and governors to help realise our ambitions and am excited about the journey the college is on.”

Mr Thomas began his education career as a chemistry teacher before working in medical research at the University of Liverpool.

He then entered the FE sector as a science tutor at Runshaw College, Lancashire, and spent four years as head of curriculum at Hugh Baird College, in Liverpool.

Mr Thomas will replace the current deputy Patricia Harman, who leaves the college in late June.

And Greater Merseyside Learning Providers Federation, a regional umbrella organisation for skills providers, has appointed Gareth Jones to lead its new apprenticeships information desk.

Mr Jones joins from the Skills Funding Agency as apprenticeships strategy manager.

A spokesperson for the federation said the new service will steer more than 70 skills providers through revised government expectations of standards, the introduction of the apprenticeship levy and new funding criteria.

Mr Jones will oversee channels of communication to help skills providers, including webinars, regular bulletins and an apprenticeships reform microsite.

He said: “The challenge of providing the right apprenticeships for young people and local businesses will evolve as the latest government directives take hold.

“The federation is here to ensure local skills providers are equipped to embrace opportunities. We want our members to have all the information they need about apprenticeship reform at their fingertips so they can focus on delivering quality provision.”

Mr Jones has more than 15 years’ experience in the skills sector and sits on the board of Liverpool City Region Apprenticeships Hub.

Earlier in his career he worked on establishing the National Apprenticeship Service, where he worked for seven years.

Prior to this he was operations manager with Touchstone Learning & Skills for six years.

CSI Westminster: Forensics at WorldSkills

Some of the country’s most talented students in more than 50 different disciplines are currently battling it out for a place in the WorldSkills UK national finals. Reporter Billy Camden went along to a regional heat that could have been mistaken for a scene from the US TV series CSI.

An ominous looking sign marked ‘Police’ is stuck to the door of a forensic science laboratory at City of Westminster College — and a crowd of nervous-looking staff and students are gathered inside.

But fortunately no-one has committed a murder or attempted an armed robbery.

Instead, 21 competitors from London colleges — City of Westminster, Croydon, and City and Islington — have been tasked with searching for traces of blood and fingerprints in one of seven regional heats for the WorldSkills UK national championship in forensic science.

The competition was designed to put a “professional spin” on what students learn at college, preparing them for what life is actually like in the field.

Gary Howard, managing director at Complete Forensics, the skills competition organiser who works with sponsor Cellmark Forensics to run the activity, explained that, for example, competitors were “given a set of exhibits to search through from the theft of a motor vehicle”.

They had to assess those exhibits and “see if they were packaged suitably, if they needed repackaging, and what further forensic testing could be completed on them”.

Renal Stewart takes notes on his findings from the pieces of evidence
Renal Stewart takes notes on his findings from the pieces of evidence

One of the competitors, Alexandra Morar, aged 17, from City of Westminster College, told FE Week: “We are putting our knowledge from the classroom into reality. When you watch CSI, it is a lot different to what it is in real life, so it is good to get the opportunity to try it here.”

Another, Eden McWilliams, 18, from Croydon College, added: “I think it would be awesome to take part in the nationals going up against other students from across the country.”

Everyone was given an hour-and-a-half to examine 10 exhibits. They had to look for correct packaging, correct use of chemical treatments, and fingerprint powders.

Competitors then identified any exhibit that needed to be sent forward for DNA or other analysis, before taking the evidence over to a forensic laboratory.

The yet-to-be confirmed winners, those who scored the most points, will compete in the national finals.

Renal Stewart, 17, from Croydon College, said: “For me this was a real step up compared to our college work. I’m feeling confident but don’t want to get my hopes up too much.”

WorldSkills regional heats are held between April and August, and see more than 2,000 learners and apprentices compete in 57 different disciplines.

The eight highest-scoring competitors from each skill are then invited to compete in the national finals taking place at the Skills Show, from November 17 to 19, at the NEC in Birmingham.

Of the 57 skills, 35 are eligible for WorldSkills Kazan 2019.

The forensic science discipline is not taken to the world stage — Mr Howard said competing in the national qualifiers and finals would be hugely beneficial for wannabe scientists.

He said: “Taking part adds something extra to their CV. It says ‘I’ve put myself forward and I’m not scared to get outside of the box’.

“The process helps them mature as students as well. Employers are now looking at the competition because they know it is challenging and supported by the industry.”

Main picture: From left: Renal Stewart, aged 17, Eden McWilliams, 18, Karolina Bugajska, 18, and Alexandra Morar, 17, at the forensic science national qualifier at City of Westminster College

On the marks with revision app

Richmond upon Thames College student Pawan Saunya (pictured) has developed an interactive website to help his peers with revision in the lead up to exams.

The 19-year-old created Kaizenn.co.uk in his first year at college, and has since added subjects from his second year of studies.

The site allows students to choose a subject area and provides full access to revision notes.

Richmond-upon-Thames-College-web
Pawan Saunya

Pawan chose the name “Kaizenn”, as it means the “art of continuous self-improvement” in Japanese.

Pawan, who studies A-levels in economics, applied business and world development, said: “I set up Kaizenn as a revision website for others. I did it because I decided if you’re not making someone else’s life better, there’s no point in living.”

Politics lecturer Kasim Agpak praised Pawan for “transforming attitudes towards education” at the college.

Mr Agpak added: “Students have truly benefited from the website Pawan has created, especially those who can’t afford their own textbook resources.”

Classmates have since nominated Pawan for the college’s student awards to thank him for his efforts.

On right track with geranium trains

Handy apprentices at Moreton Morrell College have built brand-new geranium trains for the annual Leamington in Bloom gardening competition.

The trains are planted each year, with colourful flowers grown by children from local primary schools, but carpentry and joinery tutor Russell Harrison from the college in Warwickshire realised that the old wooden trains were beyond repair and needed to be replaced.

He and the apprentices then started work on designing and building the new set of two new engines and 28 carriages.

Mr Harrison said: “It’s been a lot of extra work for the apprentices, but they are a great group and have thrown themselves into it. We can’t wait to see the final trains painted up at Jephson Gardens and the station.”

Kyran King, 20, an apprentice at Nick Pointon Ltd, said: “We’ve been working on this for a couple of months, as we’re only in college one day a week. It’s really rewarding to be part of a community project like this and it’ll be great when they’re finished and we can see them on display.”

Picture: Back row from left: Philip Lester, aged 19, Adam Harris, 19, and Sam Griffin 19, Front row from left: Luke Allman, 20, lecturer Russell Harrison, Corey Little, 19, and Kyran King, 20

Bigger can be better

Bexley College, Bromley College and Greenwich College are merging from August 1. Sam Parrett, who will lead the new London South East Colleges Group, explains why she thinks this will be good for staff, students and the local community.

Mergers are certainly the order of the day in the FE sector. The colleges involved believe that combining forces will place them in a stronger position and secure their long term future – following a “bigger is better” mindset.

And for many mergers, this is the case. Spurred on by area reviews and tough economic climates, it is the obvious option for many colleges.

However, a merger isn’t always the right answer for every institution.

As has already been shown with the outcomes from the first area reviews, a merger is no silver bullet.

Several high-profile merged colleges have collapsed, and this is attributable to a range of factors – in particular to a lack of stability, and constant reforms within the FE sector.

In the current, challenging climate, our three-way merger is most certainly in the public interest

For us and our neighbouring colleges – Bexley and Greenwich – merging is however very much the right thing to do.

As of August 1, 2016, we will form London South East Colleges. As was the case with Orpington, which merged with Bromley College in 2011, this strategic and operational alignment will absolutely lead to growth.

Mergers often fail not because they are the wrong match, but because of poor execution pre- and post- integration.

That’s why we have spent a lot of time not only looking at the tangible benefits for our learners, but also trying to understand the human, social and economic capital of all three colleges.

We are also looking closely at the cultural DNA of our three organisations, in order to formulate our new identity as London South East Colleges Group.

It is not a decision we have taken lightly. One of the colleges taking part in the merger has had a series of well-documented quality and finance problems, which have been ongoing for some years.

The other college has good-quality provision, but it is small, meaning that being strategically aligned with a bigger college will strengthen its offer.

In the current, challenging climate, our three-way merger is most certainly in the public interest. Collectively we will be able to deliver more choice for students and protect some of the more expensive areas of delivery that might otherwise have been cut.

This merger will also allow us to bring resource and capacity to growing new provision to meet demand, while bringing economies of scale that will enable future investment.

As well as offering students more choice, there will also be more opportunity for our 1,200 staff members in terms of continuing professional development and progression.

For the community in Greenwich, which may well have lost its FE provision altogether, our federation has already brought about some real benefits.

As well as starting to rebuild the college’s reputation, our increased engagement with stakeholders has led to new opportunities.

This includes the development of an Alcatel training centre, Royal Greenwich Smart City and the extension of the Bromley’s Hospitality, Food and Enterprise Career College into Greenwich.

The community is now at the heart of economic growth in the region and rebuilding FE for future generations. This could not have been achieved without the merger.

Ultimately, the internal and external environments of colleges need to align well in order for us to prevent the kind of perfect storm that has impacted on so many within the sector recently.

If colleges are well-managed, financially strong and manage to deliver a responsive and robust curriculum – while operating in a stable external environment where there is adequate funding, less change, and more reform and intervention – we will see success across the board.

We are going through a period of change, something that can easily become an emotional roller-coaster – a time of uncertainty and loss of identity.

However, with a culture of engagement and building on our combined strengths, underpinned by fantastic local stakeholder support, our new identity will emerge in South East London

Headdresses fit for a Lion King

Barnsley College students have been lending their artistic prowess to local school pupils as they prepare for their production of the Lion King.

During a series of workshops with Horizon Community College pupils, the Barnsley art and design students used clay sculpting to create headdresses for the main characters of the show.

The college’s hair and beauty students then demonstrated face painting techniques for the various animal characters.

The FE students researched ideas for “simple yet effective” designs which the pupils could replicate on show night.

Amber Birtles, 16, who is a level one beauty therapy student at Barnsley College, and a former Horizon pupil, said: “The children have been an absolute pleasure to work with and were extremely eager to learn.

“We really hope we have inspired them for their production and have helped develop their make-up artistry skills.”

Suzy Dix, community enterprise coordinator at Horizon Community College, said the support from Barnsley College students had been “invaluable” for the production, which will be staged by more than 70 pupils later this month.

Picture: Horizon pupils and Barnsley College beauty therapy students during The Lion King workshops