Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission chair Alan Milburn (pictured above) has told a Lords committee how the FE sector is “an absolute jungle” for learners and it needs to “take lessons from the higher education system”.
Mr Milburn told the House of Lords Social Mobility Committee that FE was in need of “simplification” as he gave evidence on improving the social mobility in the transition from school to work.
He appeared before the committee at its penultimate evidence session on Wednesday (December 2) and said: “The choices that young people are making are not the greatest choices.
“And that is for a whole variety of reasons, like the lack of transparency in the [FE] system.
“In fact to grace it with the word system seems to me a complete misnomer — this is not a system it’s a jungle.”
He said the higher education system had “total clarity” and “a portal of entry” — referring to Ucas, which operates a system called Progress for the FE and skills sector.
The FE system, he claimed, was “almost designed to induce more complexity and the wrong choices”.
He added: “We need to imbibe some of the lessons from higher education and translate those lessons into how we structure and guide people through vocational education.
“I think we have got to do some serious rethinking of all of this and almost go back to basics in terms of design.”
Mr Milburn referred to “16,000 courses” to choose from in FE and said “with such a multitude of organisations and qualifications, it’s almost impossible to make a trade-off between them”.
He said: “Heaven help us — if there is ever, ever a need for simplification it is here.”
He also commented on last month’s Budget and said “colleges probably breathed a sigh of relief” after hearing Chancellor George Osborne’s speech, but added that “there are some real challenges” with growth, which “has obviously fallen”.
The Social Mobility Committee evidence session came just a day after Association of Colleges (AoC) president John Widdowson (pictured) discussed higher education at the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee.
John Widdowson
He said: “It’s tempting to use university as a proxy for all higher education, but clearly it isn’t, and will become less so in the future.”
Mr Widdowson added that a set of metrics “might work perfectly well in the current university system, probably won’t work with some of the new entrants that are coming into the higher education world”.
The set of metrics to enhance teaching and learning in higher education include, focusing on enhancement, enhancing reputation, preserving diversity, preserving autonomy and efficiency within the sector.
The final Lords Social Mobility Committee evidence session is due to take place on Wednesday, December 9 at 10.35 with Education Secretary Nicky Morgan and Skills Minister Nick Boles as witnesses.
The committee has already heard from high profile figures including former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw.
It is expected to report its findings by late March.
Six reviews have been detailed in the Midlands, London and the North West among other areas, and are set to begin next month.
And just like the seven reviews of the first wave, in which 83 colleges are being reviewed, no school sixth forms were listed.
Steering groups for the second wave, each of which will be chaired by either FE Commissioner Dr David Collins or Sixth Form College Commissioner Peter Mucklow, are expected to get under way between January 18 and March 10.
The indicative timings for waves three, four and five to begin were April, September and November next year respectively, and comprising 22 proposed area reviews — although the government acknowledged that some local areas may wish to change the timing of their reviews and circumstances at some colleges may change.
“Together these three waves cover all of the areas in England not covered in waves one and two, although area reviews covering Greater London are yet to be confirmed. We currently anticipate that they will form part of waves two and three,” said a government spokesperson.
In the Marches and Worcestershire area review in wave two seven FE colleges will come under scrutiny, along with four SFCs. Thames Valley will have the greatest number of FE colleges reviewed in the second wave at eight institutions, but only one SFC — The Henley College.
The West of England will have four colleges examined and one SFC, St Brendan’s Sixth Form College, while Cheshire and Warrington will see six FE colleges and two SFCs under review.
In Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire it will be five FE colleges and one SFC, City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College, and in Surrey four colleges and six SFCs — the great number of SFCs for the regions in this second wave of reviews.
The first group of area reviews to be announced, as reported in FE Week on September 8, covered 22 FE colleges and 16 SFCs in Birmingham and Solihull, Greater Manchester, and Sheffield. More reviews, involving 21 FE colleges and 13 SFCs, were announced on September 25 for the Tees Valley, Sussex Coast and Solent regions.
The seventh and final region in the first wave of area reviews was announced on October 16 as West Yorkshire and included seven general FE colleges and four sixth form colleges.
The government has said the “need” to move towards “fewer, often larger, more resilient and efficient providers,” underlies the area reviews. However, Dr Collins has said “divorces” could also be on the cards.
Main image indicative only and based on local enterprise partnership boundaries
Wave two
The Marches and Worcestershire
FE colleges
Heart of Worcestershire College
Hereford College of Arts
Herefordshire and Ludlow College
North Shropshire College
Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology
South Worcestershire College
Telford College of Arts and Technology
Sixth form colleges
Hereford Sixth Form College
New College Telford
Shrewsbury Sixth Form College
Worcester Sixth Form College
Thames Valley
FE Colleges
Abingdon and Witney College
Activate Learning (City of Oxford College, Banbury and Bicester College and Reading College)
Amersham and Wycombe College
Aylesbury College
Berkshire College of Agriculture
Bracknell and Wokingham College
East Berkshire College
Newbury College
Sixth form colleges
The Henley College
West of England
FE Colleges
Bath College
City of Bristol College
South Gloucestershire and Stroud College
Weston College of Further Education
Sixth form colleges
St Brendan’s Sixth Form College
Cheshire and Warrington
FE Colleges
Macclesfield College
Mid Cheshire College
Reaseheath College (specialist land based)
South Cheshire College
Warrington Collegiate
West Cheshire College
Sixth form colleges
Priestley College
Sir John Deane’s Sixth Form College
Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire
FE Colleges
Burton and South Derbyshire College
Newcastle-under-Lyme College
South Staffordshire College
Stafford College
Stoke-on-Trent College
Sixth form colleges
City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College
Surrey
FE Colleges
Brooklands College
East Surrey College
Guildford College
North East Surrey College of Technology
Sixth form colleges
College of Richard Collyer
Esher College
Godalming College
Reigate College
Strode’s College
Woking College
The government also announced the following regions for indicative area reviews*:
The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) has appointed a Yorkshire-based firm to run a consultation with the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace) on how English and maths Functional Skills should be reformed.
The government asked ETF to carry out a comprehensive review of English and maths Functional Skills, as reported in FE Week in July, that will lead to new qualifications being launched by September 2018.
The ETF has now told FE Week that it has appointed Yorkshire-based Pye Tait Consulting, in partnership with Niace, to lead the consultation on its behalf, following a public procurement process.
Adrian Smith, associate director of Pye Tait Consulting, said: “We are delighted to be working with the ETF on the project.
“The evidence that ETF has already gathered shows that there is a need to look in more detail at Functional Skills.”
Joyce Black
Joyce Black, assistant director of development and research at Niace, said: “We are delighted to be working with Pye Tait Consulting in the delivery of this vital and timely ETF consultation.
“We know from our longstanding involvement in adult literacy and numeracy, and from our recent ‘What Employers Want’ project, how important good English and maths skills are in life and at work.”
She added that Niace was looking “forward to working with the learning and skills sector and employers to help ensure that Functional Skills English and maths qualifications will meet the needs of all learners, and offer improved support for progression in learning and at work, to benefit individuals and the wider economy.”
The ETF has in addition to this appointed London-based ICF Consulting Services, also through a public procurement process, to lead an “independent evaluation” of the reforms.
Colin Howat, project director for ICF Consulting Services, said: “We are delighted to be undertaking this independent evaluation of the reforms to maths and English functional skills qualifications for the ETF.
“We will be looking at both the process of reform and the eventual impact, as the programme progresses.’’
A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said that the overall aim of the review would be to “improve the rigour of Functional Skills and ensure they are recognised and respected by employers” and the new qualifications would be “available during 2018”.
A steering body, for example including the Association of Colleges (AoC), the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, Holex, the Federation of Small Businesses and the UK Commission for Employment & Skills, will help oversee the process.
David Russell
David Russell, ETF chief executive, said: “We’re delighted to be asked to lead this work through its next phase, having been closely involved since its beginning.
“With a million Functional Skills certificates issued each year, these qualifications must equip learners with the maths and English they need in a way that employers understand and trust.”
Gill Clipson, deputy chief executive of the AoC, said: “We are pleased to be working with the ETF to ensure that these improvements are made.”
The 2014/15 Ofsted annual report painted a picture of an FE and skills sector in which two years of improvement came to a near-halt last academic year — and general FE colleges even saw a “decline” in performance.
Shakira Martin
Click here for more of the report, which was launched at 10am, while sector responses to Ofsted’s findings can be found below.
Reflecting on the report’s comments on the financial pressures face by the sector, National Union of Students vice president for FE Shakira Martin said: “Colleges have done well to ensure that there is a decent standard of education during a time of immense financial pressure.
“However, we remain concerned that providers will struggle to continue with this given greater pressures on staff and with attention of senior leaders and governors diverted by area reviews and mergers.
“More needs to be done by providers to develop effective student engagement processes that drive quality improvement. The dependence on survey data as a measure of student satisfaction should not be the sole means. Providers could learn a lot, for example, about learners perceptions and ideas for the effective delivery of English and Maths GCSE, through effectively resourcing student voice and creating a partnership approach to quality improvement.”
David Hughes
David Hughes, chief executive at the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace) said: “The findings in the Ofsted report are worrying because we want every learner to have a great experience, but we have to recognise the funding pressures that colleges and providers are under at the moment, as well as the impact of the new inspection framework.
“The concerns raised about apprenticeships being used to accredit existing skills with no substantial new learning must be addressed.
“It is precisely why Niace is working closely with employers and apprentices to develop the Apprentice Charter, guaranteeing a high quality learning and learning experience.
“We’re also calling for the Government to use 1 per cent of the income from the new apprenticeship levy to create a quality and access fund — making sure everyone has access to a high quality apprenticeship.
He added: “Once again, the chief inspector was highly critical of learning and skills in our prisons.
“It cannot continue and we must make sure that the review led by Dame Sally Coates and re-tendering of Offender Learning and Skills Service (Olass) contracts really do make a difference.
Mr Hughes said: “Our recommendations to the Coates Review would help deliver a step change in offender learning, ultimately reducing reoffending rates.
“For instance, we need to enable long-term prisoners to access higher level courses, including on-line if we are to support people into decent jobs on release.
“We would also like to see incentives in Olass 5 contracts to increase partnership between education providers and community-based partners and to monitor progress through the gate.
“To help achieve the step-change, we need more up skilling of prison staff so that the important link between learning and rehabilitation is reinforced consistently across the whole prison regime,” he added.
Mr Hughes said that Niace was also pleased “to see that Ofsted has highlighted improvements in learning, skills and employment in women’s prisons.
“Our research ‘Learning for Women in Prisons’ shows the importance of addressing women’s personal, domestic and socio-economic circumstances alongside vocational learning and training.
“We have worked with female prisons to develop innovative approaches including family learning and tailored personal social development programmes.
“These have been successful in helping women to break out of destructive patterns, develop skills, access sustained employment and training, better care for their families, and become effective members of their community, and have led to some of the improvements noted in Ofsted’s report.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills responded to the concern raised in the report about the negative impact of funding cuts on FE provision.
She said: “Investing in skills is vital to achieving our ambitions to increase UK productivity. By 2019/20, government spending on apprenticeships will have doubled in cash terms compared to 2010/11.
“Funding for the core adult skills participation budgets will be protected in cash terms and five National Colleges will train an estimated 21,000 students by 2020 in industries central to the productivity agenda.
“Locally-led area reviews will help improve quality by securing an efficient and financially resilient sector, capable of delivering high quality apprenticeships and the technical and professional skills that learners and employers want. Additional government funding will help to support area reviews.”
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said: “Ofsted’s annual report is a damning indictment of the Government’s skills policy. Although young people clearly value the education and training they receive in FE colleges, they have 267,000 fewer students than last year.
Dr Mary Bousted
“It is extremely concerning that during the current academic year only 35 per cent of FE colleges have been judged good or outstanding, less than half the percentage in 2015 and a dramatic fall from the upward trajectory of improving performance between 2012 and 2014.
“Ofsted rightly lays the responsibility for fewer FE colleges being judged good or outstanding on the Government’s doorstep for putting ‘colleges under considerable financial pressure’.
“It is clear the devastating cuts to the skills budgets is having a marked effect on colleges’ ability to deliver good quality courses and affecting the opportunities for young people to improve their life chances through education.
She added: “Ofsted is also right to be critical about the withdrawal of funding for careers education, advice, information and guidance in schools, with only one in five schools ensuring students in years 9 to 11 are receiving the support they need to make key decisions about their future.
“With teachers unable to access the information, CPD and time they need to support their students, it is unsurprising that vocational opportunities and apprenticeships are not well promoted, and are still regarded as second best to A-levels and university.”
She also said that ATL agreed “with Ofsted that the Government‘s apprenticeship policies should focus much more on quantity, rather than relentlessly pursuing the target of 3m, if it is to attract young people onto these programmes”.
“As Ofsted points out, the surge in apprenticeships since 2010 has mainly resulted from new programmes in the customer service, retail, administration and care sectors, and many of these have not been of sufficient quality — nearly half of apprenticeships have been judged as inadequate or requiring improvement,” she added.
Gordon Marsden
Shadow Skills Minister Gordon Marsden said: “The decline [in FE standards] that Sir Michael has noted in his report is concerning, but it is hardly surprising in the face of a series of cuts that the sector has faced. He clearly acknowledged the impact of the financial problems in his report.
“Providers have also too often had to make major adjustments under impossible time constraints.
“His observations on the need for colleges both to improve and expand their apprenticeship provision is concerning, because FE colleges are so much the centre of the local skills community and have a vital role to play in this area.
“They need to take those points raised in the report on board, but unfortunately the area review process that the Government has embarked on is not conducive to such reflection, as it’s cost driven.
“Sir Michael also said little about adult skills in the summary of his report, which is unfortunate because this area, and how it is funded, will be just as important to the future of colleges in the coming years as 16 to 19 and 19 to 24 provision.”
Stewart Segal
Stewart Segal, the Association for Employment and Learning Providers’ (AELP) chief executive, said: “Despite the funding pressures acknowledged in the report, it is pleasing that in respect of independent learning providers, Ofsted has found the percentage of training providers who are judged good or outstanding has increased again in 2015 to 79 per cent, up a point from last year and an increase of 10 per cent in two years.
“It is a terrific achievement in a time of great change and challenging financial circumstances.”
He added: “The views of employers and learners are paramount in terms of measuring quality and large surveys by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Confederation of British Industry (CBI) regularly show high satisfaction ratings with training programmes.
“Therefore it is encouraging that Ofsted has underscored this with its own Learner View findings of 12,000 learners, 91 per cent of whom said that they would recommend their provider to a friend, AELP has always said that the views of employers and learners should rank as highly as success rates in an Ofsted inspection.
“Ofsted inspections early in an academic year tend to focus on the worst performers and this should be made very clear in the report. Nearly 80 per cent of provision overall is either good or outstanding and we need to promote good practice.
“Since September 2015, we have had another Common Inspection Framework in place after the previous one lasted a mere two years and providers now have to manage inspections under a new regime.
“We agree that the reforms of apprenticeships must focus on raising the quality, rigour and profile of all apprenticeships and not on simply increasing the numbers of apprentices. The resulting system must also be simple and easy for employers to use and it should lead to the employer commitment and improvement in quality that we all want to see.”
Sally Hunt
University and College Union general secretary Sally Hunt said: “As the report rightly recognises, the FE sector has faced massive budget cuts in recent years. It is little surprise that this rapidly changing funding environment is acting as a barrier to quality.
“If the government wants to support improvement in the FE and skills sector, it should put a sustainable funding system in place which ensures that cost is not a barrier to people accessing the skills learning they need. It should also recognise that apprenticeships are not the only solution to the country’s skills needs and enable colleges to focus their provision to meet local priorities. The report supports UCU’s previously expressed concerns about the poor the quality of many apprenticeships.”
Gill Clipson
Gill Clipson, deputy chief executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: “The government is committed to creating 3m apprenticeships by 2020 but ensuring a sufficient number of young people access these opportunities will require a change in attitude.
“Young people must be informed at school, by the age of 14 at the latest, about the wide range of careers that are open to them, and the education and training routes, whether technical, professional or academic. Colleges are keen to work closely with schools to the benefit of students as well as the wider economy.
“Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector has highlighted a decline in the overall performance of FE colleges inspected this year. We are pleased though that Ofsted has recognised the ‘context’ behind this.
“Considering the level of funding cuts colleges have had in the last five years, and the massive task of providing thousands of young people with GCSE maths and English qualifications, it is a great achievement that nationally, 77 per cent of colleges are judged to be good or outstanding.
“The government has given colleges breathing space in not reducing funding any further in the recent Spending Review. Ofsted has called for a renewed focus on FE and skills and colleges are committed to playing a key role in driving the country’s economic prospects, closing skills gaps and raising productivity.”
James Kewin
James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association, said: “This year’s report acknowledges that more sixth form colleges are judged to be good or outstanding than any sector.
“Attainment at A-level remains strong and the report shows that Sixth Form Colleges lead the way in securing good GCSE grades in English and maths for learners who did not achieve these at Key Stage four.
“All of this has been achieved against a background of funding reductions and curriculum reform. Sixth form college staff and leaders have done exceptionally well in helping to deliver such outstanding results at such a challenging time.”
Ofsted boss Sir Michael Wilshaw has told how he has “seen the pace of improvement slow” in FE and skills — picking out general FE colleges in particular as where “performance has declined”.
English and maths commitments, finances and falling standards in leadership were among the issues for colleges identified by the education watchdog’s chief inspector as he launched his 2014/15 annual report this morning.
Sir Michael’S report described how Ofsted had hailed sector improvements over the last two years — but they had had now “slowed down,” he warned.
“In the case of general FE colleges, there has been an overall decline in standards,” he wrote.
“With the financial pressures on the sector and the structural uncertainty brought about by the area-based reviews, it is imperative that the underlying weaknesses are tackled to prevent further falls in quality.”
Ofsted 2014/15 annual report
He added: “Ofsted found just 44 per cent of the leadership in general FE colleges to be good or outstanding, 19 percentage points lower than last year.
“Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) have reported concerns about the performance of leaders in the sector across most regions of the country, with London performing slightly worse than other areas.
“In the good and outstanding colleges seen by inspectors, leaders focused on ensuring consistently high‑quality teaching. They worked well with local employers when developing their curriculum offer and tackled long-standing weaknesses.
“As in schools, the challenge is to share this good leadership practice more widely, something that is not always done well or willingly in this highly competitive sector.”
His conclusions were drawn from the inspection results of 51 GFE colleges, 127 independent learning providers and 15 sixth form colleges.
“Across England, 77 per cent of all general FE colleges are good or outstanding compared with 79 per cent last year [2013/14],” wrote Sir Michael.
“This decline is because one-in-three of the GFE colleges inspected this year dropped at least one grade and a further 16 failed to improve from their previous grade of requires improvement or inadequate.
“Worryingly, just 34 per cent of 16 to 19 study programmes were found to be good or outstanding.”
He added: “The majority of general FE colleges inspected this year were judged less than good. With only 35 per cent judged good or outstanding, this reflects the fact that general FE colleges are struggling on a number of fronts.
“This year, the number of learners who had to study English and mathematics in order to have their study funded rose dramatically, and because many colleges did not have an adequate strategy to respond, the quality of teaching declined.
“At the same time, almost half of these colleges were operating a deficit budget, in part because the sector lost almost 267,000 learners in a single year.”
He revealed that a “thematic survey” of study programmes would be carried out to look into what the issues were.
“The quality of apprenticeships remains a particular concern, notwithstanding the fact that there continues to be some excellent practice in this country, notably in the construction and engineering sectors,” he wrote.
“The figures from our routine inspections this year are shocking, with almost half the provision judged to be less than good.
“Of the 190 apprenticeship programmes inspected this year, 72 were judged to require improvement and 21 were inadequate, affecting around 73,000 apprentices.
“This year we found that many of the programmes on offer were failing to give apprentices the skills and knowledge employers want.
“Too many low-skilled roles were being classed as apprenticeships and used to accredit the established skills of employees who had been in a job for some time.
“In some cases, apprentices were not even aware that the course they were on was an apprenticeship.
“Despite all the investment, the number of 16- to 18-year-olds being taken on as apprentices is almost as low today as it was a decade ago. In 2014/15, 43 per cent of places went to apprentices over the age of 25.
“I can only repeat here what I said when I launched the survey report in October. The fact that only 5 per cent of our youngsters go into an apprenticeship at 16 is little short of a disaster.
“The government has recognised these issues, and its recent reforms to apprenticeships are welcome. We now need to see the quality of apprenticeships improve and employers taking responsibility for ensuring expectations are kept high.”
But Sir Michael also acknowledged the sector’s financial pressures.
“The National Audit Office this year published a report that demonstrated the rapid decline in the financial health of the sector,” he said.
“The figures were alarming, with just under half of the 244 colleges operating in deficit. It is understandable then that the government has begun a process of area-wide reviews to ensure that FE providers have sufficient capacity to meet the needs of learners and employers, are financially stable and deliver high-quality provision going forward.”
Click here for breaking reactions to Sir Michael’s report.
Martin Doel will be standing down as chief executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC) from September to move to a new professorship for the Further Education Trust for Leadership (Fetl).
Mr Doel will continue in his post with the AoC until September 1, while also helping to establish his new role as Fetl Professor of FE and Skills at the University College London (UCL) Institute of Education (IOE) from April 1. He will start full time in the professorship role from the start of September.
A Fetl spokesperson said that he “will take up the prestigious role on April 1 on a partial basis moving to full time in September 2016”.
“It is the very first professorial role for the sector and will help lead thinking to influence policy and help shape the future for FE and skills,” he added.
Mr Doel said: “Working at the AoC has been the most rewarding job that I have had.
“I am immensely proud of the service my colleagues at AoC have provided to colleges and their students over the past years and I look forward to continuing to lead them over the next 10 months.
“In my new role on behalf of Fetl in the Institute of Education, I will look to draw on my experience at AoC to continue to enhance understanding of the FE and skills sector,” he added.
“I will do all that I can to help the sector to navigate the way ahead as it seeks to meet the needs of students, employers and communities in the same responsive and high quality way as it has always done.”
A spokesperson for the AoC said that it “will undertake the process of appointing a new chief executive in January 2016” to ensure a “thorough period of succession planning and handover for the new post-holder”.
Dame Ruth Silver (pictured right), DBE, president of Fetl, said: “Our mission is not to develop the practice of ‘doing’ leadership, it is to develop a specific dimension of leadership, and that dimension is thinking.
“So that’s thinking about other ways of doing, but also thinking about other ways of being, in order to shape the future to which we are loyal.
“I am delighted that Martin Doel is taking on this vitally important role”
The news comes at a time of change for leadership of sector bodies, after chief Executive of the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association David Igoe (pictured left) announced in September that he will be standing down at the end of March, as reported in FE Week.
Dr Lynne Sedgmore also stood down as chief executive of the 157 Group at the start of this academic year to be replaced by Ian Pretty.
Chancellor George Osborne’s extension of the FE loans system to 19 to 23-year-olds is a source of just as much uncertainty among his officials as his £360m savings plans are among sector leaders, government papers have revealed.
Chancellor George Osborne delivers Wednesday’s Budget
Mr Osborne made passing mention of the loans move in his Budget speech to MPs on Wednesday (November 25), with more details laid out in The Treasury’s Spending Review and Autumn Statement Blue Book.
It explains that “government will expand tuition fee loans to 19 to 23-year-olds at levels three and four, and 19+ year-olds at levels five and six” — but government policy costings reveal the “measure receives a ‘very high’ uncertainty rating”.
“Given the lack of data on the demand for public funding for these courses — there is currently no public funding available for standalone level five and six qualifications — and difficulties in estimating the additionality in take-up due to the measure, the estimated cost of this measure is highly dependent on judgement-based assumptions.”
Government policy costings outline “very high” uncertainty over the extension of FE loans to 19 to 23-year-olds. Click on image for link to document
Government figures published last month show the total amount awarded for 24+ advanced learning loans in 2014/15 was £149m, which was 62 per cent less than the £397m allocated for the FE loans budget.
And with the failed apprentice FE loans system, widely regarded as to blame for a sharp fall in adult apprenticeship numbers under the Coalition, still fresh in FE minds, the National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education (Niace) warned of expansion consequences.
David Hughes, Niace chief executive, said: “Extending eligibility of learning loans to younger learners and to higher level learning could easily exacerbate market failures in the 24+ advanced learning loan system.”
There was further uncertainty as to where £360m of adults skills “efficiencies and savings” by 2019-20 sat with the Chancellor’s pledge to protect funding for the “core adult skills participation budgets in cash terms, at £1.5bn”.
“We will not, as many predicted, cut core adult skills funding for FE colleges” Mr Osborne told MPs.
The news appeared even more positive with a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills spokesperson telling FE Week that funding of the loans extension would not eat into the £1.5bn.
However, the government’s spending review document makes it clear that not all areas of skills funding would be protected as “savings will be made from non-participation budgets”.
Dr Sue Pember, director of policy and external relations at Holex, said: “We are very pleased the government has acknowledged the importance of adult education. Of course we would like to know the detail of the proposed cuts to the non-participation budgets.”
Mr Hughes said: “It’s unclear which budgets are included and which aren’t. What are the implications for community learning and offender learning? What’s happening to learner support and additional learning support? I need more detail.”
Meanwhile, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) will be one source of adult skills saving with a Treasury spokesperson telling FE Week she “believed” it would “cease” from 2016/17, although a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills spokesperson was unable to confirm whether it would survive.
Martin Doel, Association of Colleges chief executive, said: “Following a massive 28 per cent cut to the adult skills budget earlier this year we had real concerns for the future of this essential training that provides the nation’s future workforce including nurses, social care workers and construction workers.
“It is a positive step in the right direction that Mr Osborne has chosen to spare the adult skills budget.
“Enabling 19-year-olds to access FE loans will also provide additional support for this vital training.”
Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Stewart Segal said the budget was “not as bad as some were predicting,” but he too had questions.
“It appears that the overall budget of £1.5bn will be ‘protected’. This may still mean that within the budget some provision will not be funded, for example, some of the co-funded vocational skills for those who are employed may be at risk,” he said.
A spokesperson for the UKCES said that the Chancellor’s announcement would “have a significant impact” on the organisation, but was unable to confirm what that impact would be.
The spokesperson said the UKCES was “awaiting further details” and would work with government to manage any changes.
“It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time,” the spokesperson added.
Click here for budget analysis by Shadow Skills Minister Gordon Marsden, here for a loans extension piece by education consultant Mike Farmer, and here FE Commissioner adviser Mark Dawe’s view of the Budget.
Main image: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire/Press Association Images
Clarity needed over £160m savings from 16-19 funding
Sector leaders have called for clarity around funding for 16 to 19-year-old learners amid concerns over £160m of cuts outside the now-protected national base rate.
Funding for 16 and 17-year-olds at £4,000 per learner and £3,300 for 18-year-olds will be protected in cash terms over the course of the parliament, Chancellor George Osborne announced.
But details included in the full spending review document raised the threat of cuts outside of this national base rate.
A Treasury spokesperson told FE Week some savings would “equate to around £160m from 2019-20 across 16-19 participation and participation support budgets which include the gradual removal of Formula Protection Funding from 2016/17”.
He added: “Some savings will naturally be made due to declining 16-19 budget demographics over this Parliament.”
A Department for Education spokesperson declined to comment further.
James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association, said colleges had already known that formula protection funding would end.
“If they have to find these additional targeted savings, what will they be?” he asked.
“We look forward to seeing the finer detail of this announcement and await confi rmation that there will not be reductions in other areas of 16 to 19 education such as funding for disadvantaged students or 18-year-olds.”
“Maintaining the funding base rate for 16 to 19-year-olds until 2020 will be welcomed, but with declining student numbers and funding being maintained only in cash terms this will lead to a signifi cant reduction in income to all colleges over the next four years,” said Mike Cheetham, a partner at audit firm RSM.
“Perhaps this is why sixth form colleges are being given the ‘option of joining a multi-academy trust’.”
Editor’s comment
Budget bonanza or blues?
On the morning of the Budget the Guardian front page memorably predicted significant cuts to FE funding.
Yet listening to the Chancellor that afternoon it would be easy to conclude the FE sector got an eleventh hour reprieve.
Adult funding allocations and the 16-19 funding rate is to be protected for the next four years and the 0.5 per cent apprenticeship levy by 2019-20 would be adding £900m to the annual pot.
Credit should be given to those who lobbied hard to save FE, although the surprise upturn in the macro-economic forecasts were also clearly a contributing factor.
But cash protection still means cuts in real terms, and not everything in FE is protected.
The DfE needs to secure £160m savings in 16-19 funding and BIS has £360m to find.
Also, loans are being extended, adults skills funding is being devolved and apprenticeship allocations are replaced by a voucher system.
So lots of unanswered questions, uncertainty for all FE providers and a long way from the ‘stability’ our sector deserves.
FE seems to have dodged a bullet, but it may turn out to be a boomerang.
The exclusive front page story of edition 154 on low levels of apprenticeship delivery among colleges promised more analysis.
And so while last week’s coverage expanded on this to feature apprenticeship allocations for all general FE colleges, this week it’s the turn of local authorities (LAs).
Dr Sue Pember, director of policy and external relations at Holex, said: “This is a very interesting table and demonstrates community learning providers are diversifying into apprenticeship provision.
“With the support of the Education and Training Foundation Future Apprenticeship development programme more providers are able to start or enhance their offer and I am confident numbers will grow.
“One thing we should watch out for is this table may not be a good indicator when reviewing the totality of an LA’s commitment to apprenticeships. For example, it may have entered into a partnership with at least one external provider for the specialist vocational programmes it needs for its own staff.
“Those numbers would appear on the independent provider list.”
The news comes at a time of change for leadership of sector bodies, after chief Executive of the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association David Igoe (pictured left) announced in September that he will be standing down at the end of March, 
