Sir Michael Wilshaw is of course entitled to his own opinions.
But when called to give evidence to the education select committee, shouldn’t what he says be based on evidence?
His assertion that 16 to 19-year-olds should be taught in schools, not colleges, undermined so much good work being done in our sector.
And there has to be concern now over what impact his comments will have on future inspections.
Sir Michael, whose speech will be hotly anticipated by visitors to our AAC conference on March 17, could never be accused of towing the government line.
He has always steered clear of churning out bland civil service speak and we have been grateful at FE Week over the years for many bold statements that created winning headlines.
But the fact that both the Education Secretary and Ofsted distanced themselves from what he told the Education Select Committee speaks volumes.
And Sir Michael isn’t afraid to use evidence when he points out his inspectors find poor performance at many secondary schools.
So lets hope he takes up the challenge from the AoC to provide evidence to back up his recommendation that young people stay on in these same failing schools for another two years. Watch this space…
> Ofsted chief tells MPs colleges are in ‘mess’ and 16-19 should stay at school
> Personal opinion sparks ‘anger’ as AoC letter demands evidence for claims
The government is distancing itself from inflammatory remarks made by Sir Michael Wilshaw (pictured above), after the Ofsted head told MPs he believed 16 to 19-year-olds should be taught in schools, not colleges.
Sir Michael’s comments during an appearance at the Commons Education Select Committee (ESC) on March 2 have provoked widespread anger in the FE sector.
“We are very supportive of the work done by colleges and distance ourselves from Sir Michael’s comments,” a source close to Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has told FE Week.
The Ofsted chief inspector laid into the FE sector during Wednesday’s evidence session, describing it as “in a mess — that’s why the government is reviewing it”.
“My view is that 16 to 19 should be done in school,” he told the committee, chaired by Neil Carmichael MP.
Vulnerable learners who need a familiar environment “head off towards the FE institution which is a large, amorphous institution on a number of campuses and do badly. They get lost. Drop out,” he continued.
“Youngsters who don’t do very well at 16 often don’t do very well two years later, particularly in English and maths where the results are pretty poor,” he added.
The reliance on success rates to secure funding meant that “too many youngsters are put on level one courses when they should be challenged to do level two”.
Sir Michael went on: “We also find in too many general FE institutions that they haven’t thought carefully enough about their curriculum. The curriculum is often irrelevant to the local workplace and national employment.”
FE Week’snews story about the chief inspector’s comments provoked an unprecedented and unanimous backlash, with more than 40 comments posted on the FE Week website in just 24 hours – many of which criticised him for airing his personal opinions in a public capacity.
Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges (pictured), has challenged Sir Michael to justify his opinions — which he said have caused “a good deal of consternation and anger” — in a letter that he has shared with FE Week.
Martin Doel
“Quite apart from the conflict inherent in Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector being called to give evidence in his official capacity and then providing a personal opinion, even personal opinions require justification if they are not to be regarded as mere prejudice or an unreliable anecdotal judgement,” Mr Doel wrote.
He called on Sir Michael to provide “as a matter of urgency a clear rationale for your conclusions”.
“It would be all the better if those conclusions corresponded with the judgment of the inspectors in your organisation;
“I fail to see how this could be so given that 82 per cent of colleges who provide 16 to 18 education have been judged good or outstanding in recent Ofsted inspections,” he continued.
Wednesday’s evidence session was not the first time Sir Michael has attacked the FE sector.
During a speech for the thinktank CentreForum in January, the Ofsted boss said that “educational provision, for the many children who do not succeed at 16 or who would prefer an alternative to higher education, is inadequate at best and non-existent at worst”.
The University and College Union described Sir Michael’s comments this week as unhelpful and offensive.
A spokesperson from Ofsted said it was clear that its boss’s comments were his own personal views.
The Department for Education declined to comment.
FE Week readers don’t hold back with online comments
Lynne Sedgmore, former chief executive at 157 Group
Lynne Sedgmore
This man speaks from limited knowledge as he has never bothered to visit or spend time in FE colleges or to read any facts.
He has no right to spill his personal unfounded predudice and ideological distortions onto hardworking, successful FE colleges, staff and students.
These statements are probably setting himself up for his next role – please retire with dignity not with such disgraceful nonsense.
Carole Kitching, Principal at Lewisham and Southwark college
Carole Kitching
Shockingly ill informed comments undermining the credibility of Ofsted and the positive choices made by over 840,000 young people every year.
No wonder technical and professional vocational education struggles to gain parity of esteem with traditional academic pathways.
Every public statement like this costs us 100s more young would be apprentices.
Ben Verinder, former director of comms at the AoC
Ben Verinder
‘Vulnerable learners do badly in college’ says Mr Wilshaw.
It’s so patently untrue, such a crude assessment, as to be laughable.
Except it was made in front of a select committee and the national media. Bravo to those calling out this nonsense, but sadly it doesn’t seem to be making any difference.
Can you impeach an HMCI? Strike them off? Before they blame colleges for, say, primary results?
Ofsted boss Sir Michael Wilshaw has said all 16 to 19-year-olds should be educated in schools, during a parliamentary session in which he attacked the FE sector again.
He was speaking in front if MPs at an oral evidence session of the Education Committee, chaired by Neil Carmichael, this morning.
“My view is that 16 to 19 should be done in school,” the Ofsted boss said.
Vulnerable learners who need a familiar environment “head off towards the FE institution which is a large, amorphous institution on a number of campuses and do badly. They get lost. Drop out,” he continued.
Sir Michael said that schools moving together into a clusters provided a “really great opportunity” to ensure high quality vocational education.
“If I was running one of those I’d have primary schools, I’d have secondary schools and I’d have a couple of UTCs [university technical colleges] as well,” he said.
“I’d make sure the progression was good, and I’d know the vocational offer that we were providing was of high quality.”
He also attacked the FE sector in today’s evidence session.
“The FE sector is in a mess – that’s why the government is reviewing it at the moment,” the Ofsted boss, who is due to retire in December, told MPs today.
“Youngster who don’t do very well at 16 often don’t do very well two years later, particularly in English and maths where the results are pretty poor,” he said.
The reliance on success rates to secure funding meant that “too many youngsters are put on level one courses when they should be challenged to do level two,” he said.
“We also find in too many GFE institutions that they haven’t thought carefully enough about their curriculum. The curriculum is often irrelevant to the local workplace and national employment,” Sir Michael alleged.
Core skills are “badly taught and results are pretty poor” in FE, he said.
Many FE colleges have amalgamated into large institutions, Sir Michael said, and “I’m not sure they’re delivering what the nation needs”.
Mr Wilshaw also defended his criticism of the standard of careers advice in colleges, which he said was based on inspection reports and destination data.
Colleges are “pretty poor at collecting destination data,” he said.
“They’re quite happy when they phone somebody up to say where are you working? Well, I’m doing a part-time job at MacDonalds, and to leave it at that.”
Read more about today’s evidence session as well as the sector reaction in next edition of FE Week. Feel free to leave a comment below
The Government has announced the first seven apprenticeship frameworks that will be closed to new starts this summer.
The announcement was made on the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) website this afternoon.
It said: “We have published a list of seven apprenticeship frameworks which will be closed to new starts from June 1. This means the last date for new starts is May 31.
“This is the first in a series of batches of frameworks to be removed as part of apprenticeship reforms.”
This includes frameworks at level three in blacksmithing, engineering and manufacturing technologies, campaigning business administration and law, energy assessment and advice, retail and commercial enterprise.
Also affected at level three are frameworks in providing mortgage advice, business administration and law, along with witness care, health, public services and care.
And further level two frameworks facing closure to new starts are for building products industry occupations, and cabin crew, engineering and manufacturing technologies.
The SFA added: “These had no starts in the 2014 to 2015 funding year or in the funding year 2015 to 2016 up to the R06 data return. We therefore consider three months’ notice of switch-off for these frameworks to be sufficient.”
A spokesperson added students still completing their apprenticeship on the seven frameworks would “continue to do so”, on their agreed funding arrangements, and “their apprenticeship completion certificate can be claimed as normal”.
“The Secretary of State has written to the relevant issuing authorities to remove the framework and they will notify providers and employers of this.”
It comes after FE Week reported in December last year that the government had scrapped plans to stop funding all apprenticeship frameworks after 2017/18.
The cut-off, that would ensure providers were only delivering new Trailblazer standards come 2018/19, was first announced in October 2013.
But it was revealed in the government’s 2020 vision document, published on December 7, that the 2017/18 end of frameworks has now been dropped.
According to the document, the government’s “aim was for all new apprenticeship starts to be on standards from 2017/18” instead of existing apprenticeship frameworks.
But it added: “We think the recent announcement of the apprenticeship levy warrants giving employers longer to consider which occupations they will require apprenticeships for.
“To allow for this, we envisage a migration from apprenticeship frameworks to standards over the course of the Parliament, with as much of this to take place by 2017/18 as possible.”
A further education college has plummeted from the highest to lowest overall grade after its first Ofsted inspection in more than seven years.
Mid-Cheshire College (MCC) has been slammed by the education watchdog, which branded its provision ‘inadequate’ overall, with six out of seven headline fields also rated as ‘inadequate’.
Inspectors last visited the college in November 2008, when it was rated ‘outstanding’ across the board.
Today’s report is highly critical of the standard of 16 to 19 study programmes at the college, which it says account for around two thirds of the college’s 2,600 learners.
“The requirements of study programmes are not met,” the report says.
Learners on study programmes “make slow progress in improving their skills, knowledge and understanding” and “do not have sufficient opportunity to develop essential employability skills to prepare them for work and life beyond college,” the report says.
“Too little” teaching on study programmes “is sufficiently challenging” and many learners “do not achieve the high grades they are capable of”, the report says.
The proportion of learners “who achieve functional skills qualifications in mathematics and English is low,” it continues.
College leaders were criticised for having “allowed the quality of provision to decline to unacceptably low standards”.
However, inspectors were more positive about MCC’s apprenticeship provision, which they rated as ‘good’.
“Well-managed apprenticeship programmes, developed in collaboration with employers, enable the majority of apprentices to make good progress and achieve,” the report says.
“Leaders and managers work closely with employers to ensure apprenticeships meet local and national needs,” and “the majority of apprentices gain sustained employment or promotion,” inspectors found.
MCC principal Richard Hollywood (pictured right), who took over in 2013 following the retirement of long-term former principal John Reilly, said the college had an improvement plan in place before the inspection “which Ofsted recognised during their visit”.
“We have already implemented significant changes to address the more immediate issues and myself, the Governors and the staff are fully focused and determined to bring about the required improvements,” Mr Hollywood said.
“My staff and I remain fully focused on our students and helping them to achieve their aspirational goals,” he added.
Neighbouring West Cheshire College, located 20 miles away from MCC, was also rated ‘inadequate’ in November. Both colleges are currently part of the Cheshire and Warrington area review, which began in January.
City College Plymouth (CCP) has become the second college to join the 157 Group since it exclusively revealed its expansion plans to FE Week in January, bringing membership of the group to 28.
The group’s chief executive, Ian Pretty (pictured above), said he was “pleased to welcome” CCP, which was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted at its most recent inspection in 2012, “to our network of forward thinking, entrepreneurial colleges”.
At the time, Mr Pretty said they had had enquiries about joining the group from 15 colleges.
“City College Plymouth is a pillar in their region with excellent employer engagement and apprenticeship programmes and an exciting plan for investing in a new STEM Centre of Excellence,” said Mr Pretty about the group’s newest member.
“City College Plymouth will make an excellent addition to our network of forward thinking, entrepreneurial colleges around the country and we look forward to working with them,” he added.
CCP, which has an SFA allocation of £9.1m and an EFA allocation of £10.8m for 2015/16, was awarded the Association of Colleges Beacon award for promotion and delivery of successful apprenticeships in 2015/16.
Phil Davies, CCP principal, said: “At City College, we work extremely hard to build and sustain mutually favourable partnerships with leading local, regional and national employers.
“To have that hard work recognised by such an influential group is simply marvellous, and we can’t wait to get started supporting the 157 Group in their mission to transform professional and technical education and support the UK’s productive economy.
“After all, their mission very much reflects our own.”
Sixth Form College members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) have voted for strike action.
The ballot, which closed today, showed 86 per cent of members in favour of action on Tuesday, March 15, from a 44 per cent turnout.
The question put to members was “In order to persuade the Secretary of State for Education [Nicky Morgan] to increase presently inadequate funding levels which cause detrimental changes to terms and conditions within the sixth form college sector are you prepared to take a day’s strike action?”
A total of 1,689 NUT members took part in the ballot, with 1,453 voting for the strike action and 235 against.
Kevin Courtney, NUT deputy general secretary, said: “This strong ballot result shows the strength of feeling among sixth form college teachers.
“They provide a vital service to over 150,000 young people, many of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds.”
He added many colleges will face closure if cutbacks to their government funding are not reversed.
“Funding has already been cut in real terms by 14 per cent and further real terms cuts of 8 per cent are now planned,” he said.
“Colleges are dropping courses and increasing class sizes. This clearly has a direct impact on the terms and conditions of our members as well as the education of many young people.
“The situation is untenable. It is simply wrong that Government has put NUT members in the position that the only way to defend their terms and conditions is by taking strike action.”
But David Igoe, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, refused to back the strike.
He said: “We have no problem standing alongside the NUT in a campaign to improve the funding levels for sixth form colleges.
“However, we consider this strike action to be ill-timed and ill-judged.
“It comes at a critical time in preparing students for public examinations in the summer and any disruption to that learning is regrettable.
“It also comes at a time when many colleges are actively recruiting and find themselves in very competitive environments.
“The signal this strike gives to potential parents and students is that Sixth Form Colleges are less stable institutions than other post-16 providers and that cannot be in the interest of the Union’s members.”
A Department for Education spokesman said: “Any strike action is disappointing. The disruption caused by strikes holds back children’s education and damages the reputation of the profession.
“We recognise the importance of investing in education which is why, thanks to the difficult decisions we have taken elsewhere, we have been able to protect core 16 to 19 funding.
“At the same time we have ended the unfair difference between post-16 schools and colleges by funding them per student to ensure that all young people leave education with the skills they need to thrive in modern Britain.”
Ofqual chair Amanda Spielman will act as chief regulator on an interim basis when Glenys Stacey leaves next week, it has been revealed.
The former merchant banker and strategy consultant-turned education professional will take up the post on Tuesday and serve until a permanent replacement for Ms Stacey is found by the Department for Education.
Ms Stacey, who has led the regulator for five years, announced in August that she would stand down at the end of this month.
Ms Spielman has been chair of Ofqual since 2011, having arrived shortly before the “GCSE fiasco” of 2012 – when results for English GCSE dipped dramatically after the regulator made changes to stop what otherwise would have been a dramatic increase in top grades.
The regulator said the next chief regulator would be announced “in due course”.
The government has finally confirmed that cash will be available for colleges to implement area review recommendations – almost two weeks after FE Week exclusively revealed details of the planned restructuring facility.
However, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ updated guidance on area reviews, published today, does not give a figure for the size of the pot.
Cash from the restructuring facility will be available to FE and sixth form colleges to “support recommendations arising from all waves” of the area reviews, the guidance says.
Colleges will be expected to seek alternative sources of funds for implementing the area review recommendations but “in cases where the required funding cannot otherwise be secured there is a restructuring facility available”.
As previously reported in FE Week, the “default position” of the facility, which is being held by the Treasury, “will be that where public funding is required it will be provided as a loan on commercial terms” and it will “cover only a proportion of the total costs”.
In exceptional cases, the guidance states, cash may be available as a non-repayable grant. This would only be available where the “combination of net liabilities” and “one off costs” would lead to “significant financial detriment to the financial position of one of the parties involved”.
Cash from the restructuring facility will be available until March 2019, although “any funding for waves one and two will largely be provided prior to March 2017”.
The guidance also reveals that colleges will no longer be able to apply for Exceptional Financial Support after implementation of the review recommendations for their area.
“A key objective of the reviews is that they result in resilient institutions in each area and therefore no further Exceptional Financial Support will be available for colleges following the implementation of review recommendations in the relevant area,” the guidance states.
“If colleges fail in future there should be a process which allows them to close in an orderly way which protects learners,” it continues.
“The government is proposing to introduce an insolvency regime for FE and sixth form colleges which would come into effect around the end of implementation of the area review process.”
