Apprentices were today benefiting from a 20 per cent boost to their National Minimum Wage to £3.30 an-hour.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured above) said that the inflation-busting increase, from the old £2.73-an-hour rate, was “the largest in history, making sure that apprenticeships remain an attractive option for young people”.

It came as the adult NMW also increased this morning from £6.50 to £6.70.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) said that the rise for lowest-earning apprentices would mean that “those working 40 hours a-week would now have £1,185 more in their pay packet over the year”.

The increase, announced in March, represented a rejection of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) call in February for the apprentice minimum wage to rise by just 7p. The LPC itself had rejected a proposal from then-Business Secretary Vince Cable to bring the apprentice rate in line with the rate for 16 to 18-year-olds, then £3.79 per hour, but up by 8p to £3.87-an-hour from today.

The BIS spokesperson said: “By implementing a rate higher than the LPC recommendation, apprenticeships will deliver a wage that is comparable to other choices for work.”

The NMW rate for 18 to 20-year-olds has also increased today by 17p to £5.30-per-hour.

Mr Javid said: “As a one nation government we are making sure that every part of Britain benefits from our growing economy and today more than 1.4m of Britain’s lowest-paid workers will be getting a well-deserved pay rise.”

When the apprentice NMW wage increase was announced in March, Martin Doel, Association of Colleges chief executive, told FE Week: “The increase to the minimum wage for apprentices is very welcome in recognising the value that apprentices provide to employers and in recognising the costs that many apprentices have in transport and living costs. It makes the apprenticeship route still more attractive to young people seeking to earn while they learn.”

And spokesperson for the Association of Employment and Learning Providers said at the time: “We recommended narrowing the gap between the apprenticeship and NMW rates but we need to ensure that this is done in stages.

“We have to ensure that increases in the apprenticeship rate do not have an impact on the number of employers providing these apprenticeship places by ensuring that the programme is properly funded in the sectors where the minimum wage is an issue.”

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) today launched a consultation on a new destination data performance measure that will have the “bite” to “provoke transformational improvements”.

The government launched the consultation, which will close on December 2, to consider its proposal for an outcome-based success measure to complement the existing qualification achievement success rates.

The 38-page consultation document said that “by introducing minimum standards for learner outcomes, we expect to provoke transformational improvements in the provision that is delivered and will want them to be seen as having ‘bite’”.

“Where providers are not delivering provision that gets positive outcomes, they should face intervention action and be in scope of the formal intervention policy,” it added.

It could lead to action being taken, for example, by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), Education Funding Agency (EFA) or Ofsted, and ultimately cause a referral to FE Commissioner Dr David Collins.

The document explained that minimum standards, based on current qualification achievement rates, are under the existing framework “not a target to aim for, but are typically set below the levels that a good or average performing provider is achieving”.

The government would still, under the new framework incorporating the destination measures, “expect to set them below the level that a good or average provider is achieving”, it added.

But “if a provider fell below the minimum standards on either qualification achievement rates or positive destinations, government would expect to apply its intervention arrangements to determine whether action was warranted,” it said.

The document said the new outcome measures set for launch in summer 2017 would focus on learner destinations, into further learning and into or within employment including apprenticeships, learner progression, to a higher level qualification, and earnings following completion of a course.

But it added that the government was not proposing to use the earnings measure for the minimum standards framework, as it thinks that “is more appropriate for informing choice”.

The government also proposed measuring the proportion of learners that progress to a qualification at a higher level than their existing highest level of attainment, initially covering only 19 to 20-year-old learners, in a previous three-month consultation on the issue launched last August.

But the latest consultation document, which features 10 questions, said that this had proved to be “impractical” because of “greater than expected complexity with creating the required data from the available sources”.

In his foreword to the latest consultation, Skills Minister Nick Boles (pictured above) said: “The real value of vocational education lies in whether learners make progress into or within employment or further learning.

“In December 2014, I confirmed my intention to proceed with the new adult (19+) learner outcome measures for further education, to complement the qualification achievement measure we already use: destinations (into employment, apprenticeship or further learning), progression within learning and earnings.

“The new measures have been developed using data from across government, matched robustly and securely.”

Visit www.gov.uk/government/consultations/adult-further-education-measuring-success-detailed-proposals to take part.

 

A judge has rapped two open college network charities for running up huge legal bills in a trade mark infringement case.

The case, which was heard at the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, London, was brought by NOCN (formerly known as National Open College Network) against OCN Credit4Learning.

NOCN, an awarding organisation regulated by Ofqual, claimed that OCN Credit4Learning’s name, logo and website address infringed its trademarks.

In his judgement on the case, published on September 25 but heard in in July, Judge Hacon ruled that OCN Credit4Learning’s logo, but not its name or website address, had infringed NOCN’s trade mark.

The infringing logo, which has since been changed, included the word ‘OCN Credit4Learning’ along with a number of circles arranged in a shape similar to the swoosh used by NOCN in its logo.

Judge Hacon also ruled that NOCN’s trademark of OCN should be revoked. However, in a post script to his judgement, Judge Hacon criticised both parties for not having settled earlier in the process.

Noting that the two parties had incurred fees of more than £400,000 between them, Judge Hacon said: “A very strong recommendation to settle at the case management conference was not taken up.

“The laudable cause of encouraging adult education will presumably have to endure an equivalent cut in funding solely because this dispute was not resolved at an early stage. Such an outcome is much to be regretted.”

Graham Hasting-Evans (pictured right), chief executive of NOCN, said that NOCN had tried to resolve the matter by mediation following the case management conference, “but this was unsuccessful”.

NOCN had first raised its concerns with OCN Credit4Learning in 2012, he said, with the aim of avoiding legal action.

“With continuing confusion being reported to us by centres and learners about the status of achievements from Credit4Learning and their relationship to us and no resolution being offered by them we were regrettably forced to pursue the matter,” he added.

Tracey Bush, OCN Credit4Learning’s chief executive, said: “We too are very disappointed a settlement could not be reached.”

Ms Bush clarified that OCN Credit4Learning’s standard legal insurance covered the costs of the case, and as a result “no monies were redirected away from our educational aims”.

“We were forced into a position where we had no choice but to defend our right to use our name, of which the OCN element is central and spans over 25 years. Our name perfectly describes our objectives, concerned with encouraging and supporting projects involved with the so called ‘hard to reach’”, she added.

NOCN brought the claim as it said OCN Credit4Learning, which is not regulated by Ofqual, was infringing on its registered trademarks: the letters ‘OCN’, the letters ‘NOCN’, and its logo which included the letters OCN or NOCN and a ‘swoosh’ design.

NOCN also alleged that, by using its name, logo, website address and the letters ‘OCN’, OCN Credit4Learning was liable for ‘passing off’ — in other words, appearing to be associated with NOCN.

In his analysis, Judge Hacon found that the letters ‘OCN’, along with the words ‘open college network’ were purely descriptive and therefore did not meet the criteria to be registered as a trade mark.

However, Judge Hacon also found that, due to the visual similarities between NOCN and OCN Credit4Learning’s logos and the overlap between the services provided by the two organisations, “there exists a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public”.

In conclusion, Judge Hacon ruled: “The claim for trade mark infringement fails save that the swoosh marks are infringed by use of the defendant’s Logo. The OCN mark stands to be revoked. The claim for passing off succeeds but only in relation to the defendant’s Logo.”

The 2015 FE Week and Policy Consortium survey was published on the brink of a general election. 

Six months on and the new government has introduced a flood of reforms affecting the FE and skills sector. 

But far from showing improvement, this follow-up survey, in which the Policy Consortium revisited 32 of the initial survey respondents, paints a picture of ever-growing uncertainty amid conflicting priorities.

Jude Burke looks at the survey revisit results in detail.

Funding

Funding came out as the biggest issue facing the sector in our survey earlier this year — and six months on, things are only getting worse.

At the time of the original survey, the sector was dealing with the impact of 24 per cent funding cuts. Further cuts to spending on adult basic skills, announced in July, are now pushing colleges over the brink. One large college said the most recent cut had an immediate impact of £160,000. Other colleges talked of “seven-figure deficits”.

Overall, what emerged from the interviews was a sense that the government’s funding strategy is rushed, austerity-driven and focused on diverting cash to protected school budgets at the expense of the FE and skills sector.

Many of those interviewed for the six-month follow-up could see “not only a car crash, but a multiple pile up” from the unintended consequences of conflicting government funding policies.

 

Maths and English

Nowhere is this more evident than in the teaching of maths, English and Functional Skills. While some of those interviewed welcomed the increased focus on these areas — which was attracting learners on to courses “where once we had to drag them” — many said they simply did not have the money to meet demand: “If we sign everyone up, we will run out of money by mid-year”, was one response.

A lack of trained teachers is further adding to the problems around maths and English — and with schools able to offer better pay and conditions than the FE sector, this shortage is only going to continue.

As a result, maths and English were causing “major problems in the sector, stress on staff to deliver and stress on the administration of it — stressed, demoralised staff” according to one interviewee.

Apprenticeships

Further compounding this stress was a sense that apprenticeships were being made into the only show in town — at the expense, literally, of other vocational training. There was a widely-held view that training related to apprenticeships and traineeships was the only skills-related training that the government felt deserved public funding.

Given this, it’s worrying that many interviewees felt that ministers “still don’t get it” when it comes to apprenticeships.

Lack of clarity over standards and a lack of information for employers were high on the list of concerns — leading to worries that apprentices and trainees were “being sold short”.

There were also questions over the government’s target for 3m apprenticeships, particularly in relation to Trailblazers. Some suggested the push for quantity was undermining the quality of apprenticeships: “There is no quality control a
t all in the new Trailblazers; they can and are getting away with virtually no training,” according to one interviewee.

While there was support for the large employers’ apprenticeship levy — “if it is well conceived in detail” — the as-yet unresolved issue of funding arrangements for small and medium-sized enterprises was identified as a huge problem.

Uncertainty over the levy is also having an impact on employers, according to some: “Employers are still in the dark about how the levy will work. There’s still too much bureaucracy”.

Even before the question of the levy arose, there were still “far too few” employers coming forward. As a result, providers are cutting corners or breaking the law — such as creating jobs in college admin departments for business studies-related apprenticeships. Some private training providers were reported as taking on apprentices without an associated employer.

Adult learning and skills

There was widespread concern over the impact of the government’s focus on apprenticeships on the rest of the FE sector. As one person said: “FE is being destroyed for apprenticeships, which are not the answer for those who need vocational preparation and for whom opportunities are being curtailed.”

One area that’s been particularly badly hit has been adult learning and skills. The most recent cuts, announced in July, were described as “stultifying” by one respondent: “How can colleges — supposed to be businesses — plan when conditions of funding change? It threatens delivery and threatens staff morale.”

The impact of these cuts on learners is also alarming. Whether intentionally or not, those who have been worst affected so far have been the ones who need the most support — the most deprived and least likely to have access to other resources or loans.

Return-to-learn programmes have been among those hit by the “swathe of cuts to adult basic skills” since the election, despite the retention of the safeguarded £210m adult and community learning fund. The number of return-to-learn adults — those who “used to progress from around Entry L3 to L2 and subsequently find work” — has dropped sharply.

Area reviews

The view on area reviews was unanimous: to be successful, they must include all education and providers, not just colleges.

Making it optional for other providers to take part is seen as thinly disguised central government control that “side-steps the pressing issue of the uneven playing field between schools and colleges”.

There was also concern over the fate of specialist colleges. Despite government proposals for more specialist colleges, there is a fear that existing small specialist colleges will be swallowed up in the area reviews. In the words of one interviewee, there will be “collateral damage, unintended and lamented by all”.

It was also felt that the area reviews were “skewed to mergers” based on misinformation about the effectiveness of such reforms. As one person said: “We know larger colleges do not always result in better quality or performance, or greater financial stability.”

Conclusion

There was a clear sense from everyone in the follow-up survey that government reforms will have unintended and damaging consequences. These reforms appeared to be based on little or no evidence, it was viewed — if impact assessments had been carried out, they hadn’t been communicated to the people interviewed.

Despite the determination of everyone to provide a professional and effective service, the deep cuts and contradictory policy demands will inevitably hit learners — with the most disadvantaged being the worst affected, it warned.

Provision to school leavers who — through no fault of their own — fail and need the help of FE will almost certainly deteriorate, it said.

As one person said: “Cuts affect 50 per cent of young people. If this were done to the NHS there would be marching in the streets”.

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OTHER KEY ISSUES

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Loans are seemingly the only option for many post-19 learners — but how do you sell them to people who don’t want them? 

Localism — balancing out the desire for more local control against the pressure for aggressive competition at the cost of quality

The impact of the end of mandatory English for Speakers of Other Languages (Esol) funding on social integration

Ofsted reforms: “Does teaching and learning change so much every couple of years that Ofsted must constantly revise the way they evaluate it?”

Responding to the survey, a spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, said: “The government welcomes input from the sector, and the new Area Reviews of post-16 education are involving local FE providers, communities and stakeholders in discussions.”

Read the full Policy Consortium report on its interviews of 2015 survey respondents six months on by clicking here.

Campaigning to protect FE funding is one of Lucy Powell’s top three priorities, the new Shadow Education Secretary told activists at her party’s conference.

Ms Powell appeared at a fringe event hosted by FE Week and its sister paper FE Week at the Grand Hotel in Brighton this evening.

Accompanied by newly-appointed Shadow Skills minister Gordon Marsden, Ms Powell signalled a new-found focus on FE by adding this key area of policy to her top three priorities.

She said: “We have said we would protect the whole education budget. The Tories have said they would just protect schools budgets, and in fact they’re not really doing that. It’s going to put massive pressure on early years and post-16.

“We’ve got a comprehensive spending review coming up, and we need to be pushing on these issues, especially in a world where we are now asking post-16 to take on many more pupils who are having to re-sit English and maths.”

.@LucyMPowell says FE is "absolutely" going to be a big part of Labour's campaign. "We absolutely need to take this on" #Lab15

— Freddie Whittaker (@FCDWhittaker) September 27, 2015

.@LucyMPowell warns sixth form colleges could be closed as part of the govt's area reviews. #Lab15

— Schools Week (@SchoolsWeek) September 27, 2015