It’s good we have an apprenticeship levy; many apprenticeships are great and quality has improved. But few would argue it’s working just fine and should stay exactly as it is.
Apprenticeship starts have fallen by one-third since the levy and other reforms were introduced, with even larger drops for young people. Completion rates are low, and higher apprenticeships have the same access issues as other higher education.
For many large employers, the levy has become their training budget, skewed to older workers and learning at higher levels. That’s important, but with a fixed pot of money it’s come at the expense of training for young people and at lower levels. This is training which would have huge productivity benefits too and where the UK’s historic underinvestment in skills is starkest.
And yet we have an employer-led system in which employers say they can’t get what they want and where they’re investing £3.5 billion (7 per cent) less in training.
The need for reform is clear. The question is what reform, particularly in a policy area beset by chop and change.
Labour proposes to replace the apprenticeship levy with a skills and growth levy, allowing employers to spend up to half their levy on training outside apprenticeships. A new body, Skills England, would help decide what training should be fundable.
The argument is that apprenticeships aren’t the answer to everything; the current system is like a golfer going out with just a putter. Greater flexibility could allow employers to hit a bigger range of shots.
Some argue this would halve the number of apprenticeships, with large employers spending far more of their levy funds and leaving little for apprenticeships at SMEs. But that’s both vanishingly unlikely and focused on the wrong question.
Improbable choices
First, it would mean some highly improbable employer choices. For apprenticeships to halve, large employers would have to keep spending what they are on apprenticeships and spend the rest of their levy on other training too. This doubling of training investment would be some reversal of the 26 per cent fall in training spend per employee since 2005.
It is far more likely that levy-paying employers would switch some higher apprenticeships to qualification-based training. That would be a good thing if that training better suited the needs of the business.
After all, our research shows some employers are shoehorning training into apprenticeships to use up their levy funds rather than because it’s right for them.
This switch could also reduce the average cost per trainee at higher levels, because many of the alternative training routes would be lower cost than higher apprenticeships. All else being equal, that could free up more funding for apprenticeships in SMEs and for young people.
Step by step
Second, rules for employers and growth in the levy budget can help. Rising employment and earnings mean the levy is projected to raise another £736 million by 2028-29. This will give headroom, even though some will be needed to increase apprenticeship standard rates to reflect rising costs.
And Labour’s policy is ‘up to 50 per cent’ flexibility. It would be wise to start with lower flex and build up over time, perhaps requiring large firms to invest more in young people to unlock that flex.
Step-by-step reform could limit any unintended consequences.
From start to finish
Third, our aim should be getting the right training for people and employers and focus more on apprenticeship completions than starts. The latter is not a particularly useful metric when only around half of starters complete their apprenticeship.
Just increasing the completion rate to the government’s target of 67 per cent would mean an extra 20,000 apprenticeship completions per year from the same number of starts.
Besides, apprenticeships won’t always be the right answer to training needs, as great as they are.
The impact of Labour’s policy depends on the rules it sets. We need to know more about those.
In the meantime, estimates based on simplistic maths that don’t account for likely employer behaviour don’t get us very far. Nor does arguing everything is fine now.
Our ambition must be to increase employer investment in training and reduce the current inequality where graduates are three times more likely to get training than non-graduates.
The apprenticeship levy isn’t working. It’s time to fix it.
Earlier this week we released a report, working with Youth Futures Foundation, calling on the next government to introduce an apprenticeship guarantee for young people up to the age of 24. The guarantee would ensure that a Level 2 or Level 3 apprenticeship place is available for every qualified candidate. This was previously set out in the 2009 Apprenticeship Act but was later repealed.
One of the main barriers to overcome in implementing an apprenticeship guarantee is ensuring the availability of sufficient opportunities for young people. Critics have previously contended that in an employer-led system this would not be possible, unlike in other parts of the education system where government is simply able to just expand places.
Yet, while we recognise this critical delivery barrier, our research suggests that there is both significant employer support for the introduction of such a guarantee and willingness to provide additional youth apprenticeship places under one. Nine in ten employers (89 per cent) would support an apprenticeship guarantee for young people, and 60 per cent of employers would be able to offer an additional apprenticeship opportunity for a young person.
However, it would be unrealistic to rely on the goodwill of employers alone and further action would be required to unlock more apprenticeship opportunities for young people. In particular, to boost the provision of apprenticeship places in small and medium sized businesses, who are much more likely to provide apprenticeships for young people, as well as provide apprenticeship places at lower levels.
Our research has highlighted the concerning drop in SME engagement in apprenticeships since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy and other reforms to the system, which have driven the overall collapse in starts as well as the fall in intermediate apprenticeships. Restoring SME apprenticeship starts to pre-levy levels and unlocking additional opportunities would be required to realise the vision of an apprenticeship guarantee.
To do this the next government should shift to demand-led youth apprenticeship funding, for SMEs, and introduce targeted financial incentives for both small employers and apprenticeship providers to boost youth opportunities.
The next government should shift to demand-led funding
Alongside enhanced funding and targeted financial incentives there is also a need to build the appetite and capability of small firms to engage in apprenticeships and skills investment more broadly, as well as to help them navigate a complex skills system.
To do this we need enhanced partnerships and business support at a local level. Combined authorities can play a leading role here, while Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) have the potential to be a key actor but require long-term and sustainable funding if they are to fulfil this potential and make the required impact.
As well as action to boost SME engagement the next government should reform the apprenticeship levy into a flexible skills levy with at least half of the levy money ring-fenced for young people and the remainder for wider workforce skills needs.
Our research also highlighted that 54 per cent of those that pay into the levy admitted to rebadging existing training schemes as apprenticeships as a way to claim their allowance. Establishing a more flexible skills levy would remove the incentive for employers to reclassify training as apprenticeships. Additionally, it would enable the provision of accredited training choices that better suit the skill development needs of existing employees.
Finally, as part of a guarantee, there is a need for additional support for those young individuals who are not yet ready to embark on an apprenticeship programme, restoring a crucial initial step on the path to opportunity.
That is why we are calling on the next government to introduce a dedicated pre-apprenticeship programme which should include a weekly bursary, similar to that offered in Wales, to boost participation.
While a youth apprenticeship guarantee would be challenging to deliver, our research has clearly demonstrated an appetite and a willingness by employers to rebalance the apprenticeship system towards young people.
We need the next government to match this ambition with the necessary vision and funding to transform the apprenticeship and wider skills system so that it delivers much better outcomes for learners, organisations and the economy.
Interesting fact: With a special interest in improving outcomes for young people, Gary established the Young Advisors Charity in 2007 and grew the organisation to employ over 1,500 people nationwide.
Stuart Liversedge
Head of Operations and Customer Relationships, Active IQ
Start date: May 2024
Previous Job: Business Development Manager, Active IQ
Interesting fact: Stuart’s career in health and fitness spans two decades. He’s a passionate advocate for health and fitness, participating in charity runs for MIND and the Stroke Association and staying active as an amateur footballer.
Fraud investigations into principal pay, a subcontracting probe and reclassification are among the reasons for delays to multiple college accounts this year.
The government’s deadline for colleges to publish their financial statements in an easily accessible location on their website is January 31 each year to “maximise transparency and support accountability”.
But Department for Education’s release of its annual college accounts database revealed 21 of England’s 223 colleges had not filed their 2022/23 accounts by the end of April.
An FE Week audit found most of the offenders have since released their accounts, but five remain under wraps.
The most high-profile delay involves Weston College, where government fraud investigators are probing “funding irregularities” involving the pay to former principal Sir Paul Phillips (click here for full story).
Elsewhere, Warwickshire College Group said a government “funding assurance audit” meant its financial statements could only be issued this month. A spokesperson said the Education and Skills Funding Agency was “aware of the position” and had “granted a filing extension to the end of July 2024”.
Strode College’s accounts have been delayed by an ongoing investigation into a historic case of dodgy subcontracting, which involved hundreds of traineeship learners working illegal hours. The government is now seeking clawback which has shifted the college’s financial health from ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate’.
The FE Commissioner is currently conducting a structure and prospect appraisal at Strode, which could result in a recommendation for the college to seek a merger.
Principal John Revill told FE Week last month he plans to publish Strode’s accounts during the summer.
South Essex College has failed to publish accounts for the past two years. A spokesperson said this was due to the reclassification of FE colleges in autumn 2022, and the subsequent need to rebroker its commercial loan with the DfE.
The college emailed copies of both sets of accounts to FE Week following a request on Thursday and said the financial statements would be published online in the next few days.
Emergency funding
Eastleigh College, which merged with Fareham College and City College Southampton in August 2023 to form the South Hampshire College Group, also only published its accounts following an enquiry from FE Week.
Eastleigh’s delayed accounts show the college received more than £2 million in emergency funding from the government in 2022/23, and its financial health rating was ‘inadequate’.
The new South Hampshire College Group will not publish accounts until next year, but Ofsted released a monitoring report this week which found ‘significant progress’ was being made following the merger.
The remaining colleges with unpublished accounts – St Brendan’s Sixth Form College and the Windsor Forest Colleges Group – did not respond to requests for comment.
With a general election now scheduled for July following local and mayoral elections in which skills, jobs, productivity and regeneration were prominent on the doorstep, policy makers and political parties are scurrying to craft their manifestos.
For FE and skills, a workable Lifelong Learning Entitlement and collaboration across Whitehall are critical lifelines.
Back in March 2023 Right to Learn anticipated some of the holes in the LLE legislation. In our written evidence to the bill committee, we warned about cutting it off for people over 60. We argued, armed with Learning and Work Institute statistics, that getting the 1.5+ million would-be learners aged 40 to 60+ who had dropped out of economic activity since the pandemic was a priority.
We also argued, alongside David Blunkett, that the department for work and pensions was failing to use their local job centres to address these challenges. Mostly, they seemed to pressure clients to take inappropriate or poorly-paid jobs rather than allow universal credit claimants to retrain and reskill.
And along with City & Guilds and others, we gave evidence that young people, NEETs and particularly women were struggling for help and work.
Scorched earth
Yet instead of an LLE Mark II, ministers are clinging to Mark I like limpets to a rock and over-relying on T Levels and degree apprenticeships as their Holy Grail.
If there is an overriding theme to our work, it is ‘progression, progression, progression’. Without it, the pipeline will run dry and life chances for would-be learners of all ages will be lost
Keynes famously said “when the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, Sir?”. New skills minister Luke Hall’s answer seems to be to double down with a scorched earth policy by expanding the defunding of BTECs and other qualifications below level 3.
The FE sector is livid, its calls to delay to September 2025 roundly ignored.
March of the mayors
As it is now, with Rishi Sunak’s snap general election in July, the only groups who can plan effectively and get spades in the ground are elected mayors, combined authorities and others whose funding is devolved from Whitehall.
The local elections swept into office a clutch of new Labour mayors covering smaller towns , coastal and rural communities to reinforce the big city mayors.
And if Labour does gain power, Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner will see them as key allies for skills, productivity and growth, with lifelong learning central to upgrading, upskilling and reskilling towards net zero, housing and regeneration.
These devolved initiatives should spur the FE sector to be part of their action locally, reviving an all-ages formula that was whittled away under Tory austerity.
Skills England is a central enabler for Labour’s industrial strategy. But what will it look like? Can we hope to get rid of the vast apprenticeship underspend claw-back? Will we see more collaboration across departments on a meaningful skills strategy? And will we see more devolution, beyond mayoral authorities?
Heads up
We’ll soon see. Meanwhile Labour has to be aware of the future of skills as well as ‘must-dos’ coming into office.
The 2017 Taylor review of modern working practices commissioned by Government envisaged a rapid expansion this decade of the gig economy, fuelled by digital. It suggested millions of small businesses, co-operatives, and self-employed would form a critical mass for skills and productivity.
It was largely ignored, but with the rapid impact of AI (for good or ill), net zero and technical skills, it is looking more prophetic. Backed by a mission from a new Government to empower people of all ages to achieve genuine lifelong learning in a tertiary setting, it should be the goal for UK success by 2030.
To some, Mark Bremner is known as the boss who lets staff at his training business take as many holidays as they want.
But to others he’s a builder, a failed barrister, tech nerd, record label founder, fantasy fiction writer and a frustrated rock music merchandiser. He was also once made bankrupt.
The self-confessed “fidget” has taken his legendary energy from one venture to the next, but tells me he’s finally settled after “finding his tribe” among his 108 staff in Dudley, in the West Midlands.
Sitting at home in front of a Beatles calendar, Bremner says his first career dream aged 14 was to be a software developer after he created a database for his school and a “light pen” that could draw on a screen.
His dad was unimpressed. Bremner says: “He told me ‘no one’s gonna make any money sat in front of one of those things’, which I reminded him about several times years later.”
But the MBKB founder and chief executive learnt vital leadership lessons from his dad. As “an impetuous” teenager, he was initially outraged when he went to work on his father’s building sites and discovered the workers were allowed extra-long lunch breaks to listen to sporting events on the radio.
His dad told him: “If we can get five hours of good work out of these guys every day, that’s all we need…You judge them on the quality of the work they do.”
Mark Bremner
Broken and bankrupt
After forgetting all ideas of a computing career, Bremner took a course in building studies at Dudley College, then worked at Bryant Construction and for his dad before setting up his own firm, DMA Construction.
Things were going “really well” when he took on a £700,000 contract for a large office refurbishment. But then his client’s middleman stopped making payments for work done and gave a reassurance this “slight cashflow hiccup” would be rectified. So Bremner “took a punt” and finished the job.
His company ended up being owed £220,000, with Bremner owing £175,000 to subcontractors who he promised to pay back with interest.
Two years later, aged 27, Bremner racked up £40,000 in legal fees after taking his debtor to court.
Although he won, the defendant declared themselves bankrupt the following day – leaving Bremner forced to do the same.
It was an “incredibly stressful” time for Bremner, who had a two year old and newborn baby. He borrowed from his wife’s brother to save the family home.
Then one of Bremner’s suppliers, who was owed £4,000, took him to court. On the steps outside beforehand, Bremner pleaded with the man and his solicitor to settle. They refused, instead telling Bremner’s wife “be prepared to lose your house”.
Representing himself, Bremner questioned why they should “jump to the top of the list” as he owed several other people money too. The judge threw the case out, and back outside Bremner told his antagonists “you’ll never see a penny of that debt as long as I live”.
Mark Bremner and his team at MBKB
Laughed out of the room
Now armed with experience of being at the sharp end of debt collection, Bremner thought he’d put all he’d learnt to good use in the legal world and train as a barrister. But he only lasted a few weeks. “There were so many really inspiring youngsters already ahead of me in their journey,” he says. And a lawyer’s wages are “not like in the movies”.
He applied for work as a business consultant but was “almost laughed out the room” because of his bankruptcy. He wore the setback as a “badge of honour”, believing his experience was “a lesson”, which “taught me a lot of valuable things”. He adds: “I learnt not to be so trusting financially.”
Feeling like a lost soul, Bremner went to work at his wife Kathy’s nursery.
Realising the strength of her business came from the staff, Bremner organised for them to be trained up for free when Spring Skills (which later became Protocol Skills) offered fully funded level-three NVQs in customer service.
The workers passed in three months, although Bremner admits with the current childcare sector challenges “you couldn’t do that now”.
Mark Bremner (right) when he was with Protocol Skills
Going Platinum
Bremner applied for a job with Protocol in 1999 as a leadership and management trainer.
He tells me he was given “quite the speech” from the manager during his interview about the industry’s “three P’s” – “the pressure’s insane, the pay’s appalling and there’s no promotional opportunities”.
But after a week in the job his manager was sacked and, “much to everyone’s amusement”, Bremner got a promotion.
At the time, Protocol was the UK’s largest work-based training provider but Bremner believed it was “too rigid”. He says there was a “massive gap” in the market for childcare training and became “disillusioned” when he was blocked from pursuing that growth. He sought the company’s permission to explore these “unique opportunities” through his own business.
Striking that agreement wasn’t a smooth process, but “ultimately” the resulting “gentleman’s agreement” allowed Bremner to contract with the Learning and Skills Council through the company he formed, Platinum Training, on the condition he wouldn’t “tread on Protocol’s toes” and would only operate in the childcare sector.
The firm’s first Ofsted inspection in 2004 awarded it with “grade twos and threes across the board” – enough to persuade the Learning and Skills Council to turn the funding taps back on.
Fable Label and their Laney Amps t shirts
Rock ’n’ roll lifestyle
Platinum by then had 87 staff, and while Bremner could see changes afoot with technical certificates and the move from key skills to functional skills, he admits he had “lost interest” in the business.
Then In 2009, Bremner lost his father “out of the blue”. His children were aged 15, 13 and nine and the shock prompted a realisation for Bremner that he’d spent “a great swathe” of their young lives working.
He grabbed an offer to sell up for £3 million in 2010 and took a year off.
It was at this point his career went a little off-piste. After renovating his house, Bremner achieved his childhood dream of writing a book – a fantasy fiction, entitled Intervention, about devils and angels. “It turns out I’m not very good at writing books,” he admits.
Then he became “incensed” by the “lazy” style of a John Lennon T-shirt he spotted on holiday at Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando, Florida. It featured a “standard” picture of the star with the lyrics of the song Imagine.
He believed rock concert T-shirts at that time were “cheap and horrible” and thought he and his graphic designer brother-in-law could do better. Sadly, retail giant Primark had the same idea and so the licences the pair needed were yanked from their grasp.
At the same time, Bremner’s son Daniel started a band, first called Audio Disease, then renamed EofE, who were “getting a bit of notoriety”.
“Not to do anything by halves”, Bremner then set up a record label, Cream Record Corp, to manage them.
He tells me he “pulled every string” to get them on tour with McBusted, then The Vamps. They were tantalisingly close to getting their big break after “touring relentlessly” for 20 months, but then they fell out and it was all over.
Mark Bremner managed the band EofE
‘Unlimited holiday’
By then, previous employer Paragon had embarked on a restructuring which released a “massive wealth of talent” onto the market, tempting Bremner back into the training game.
Bremner says he had “missed the sector” and “learned a lot from the retail and record industry” he wanted to put into practice – by “doing it our own way”.
So in 2015, MBKB was formed and staff were told “pick your own hours”, and offered “unlimited holidays”. He tells me: “My accountant and business partner still can’t get his head around this.”
MBKB started with a focus on childcare but times were tough because they had to “subcontract to colleges” which Bremner tells me “clipped our wings in terms of innovation”.
Then with the introduction of the apprenticeships levy, funding was slashed because the childcare framework did not become a standard.
Bremner considered “closing the doors” but decided to “repivot” into payroll instead. By this time, his agreement not to compete with Protocol had expired, giving him freedom to access other opportunities.
By 2018 he had 12 staff, including his youngest daughter. An inquiry from the revived travel brand Thomas Cook became the big break they needed.
Bremner says: “We were this tiny little company in Dudley that no one’s heard of, then Thomas Cook call [about payroll].”
Pets at Home, several NHS Trusts and local authorities followed. And Brent Council asked MBKB to collaborate on an internal audit, which brought about a new niche for the provider.
“The world and his dog” were delivering leadership and management training, so Bremner felt it would be “difficult to rise above that noise”. But later, they added HR and coaching as an add-on for companies.
EofE before they split
On-off months
Bremner was “horrified” when an Ofsted monitoring visit in 2019 found MBKB only making “reasonable progress”. He “fought” the judgement but to no avail.
Then Covid hit them hard financially. A silver lining was the guidance service they could provide on navigating furlough requirements.
Ofsted in 2022 rated MBKB as ‘outstanding’ in all but one category (personal development was ‘good’), which Bremner welcomed as “giving us something to aim for”.
But he worries “getting ‘outstanding’ is often a precursor to a downfall”.
“Mistakes” were made in 2023, when in “certain months we grew too quickly” and apprenticeship starts had to be delayed.
To manage the flow better, the company embarked on a process of “on-off months”, so apprentices were recruited one month, and paperwork and initial assessments were done the next.
Mark Bremner at the 2022 AAC awards
Giving the anti-sell
Bremner says the high number of people leaving apprenticeships early is frustrating and tells me we live in a “throw your toys out of the pram world where people quit”.
MBKB tries to combat this by “lovingly” doing “an anti-sell”, giving the apprentices “all the negatives about the apprenticeship and why they shouldn’t do it” to weed out unsuitable candidates.
Achievement rates were a “grim” 52 per cent for last year partly because “a lot of programmes” began before end-point assessments (EPAs) were in place. MBKB was the first provider to put corporate responsibility and sustainability apprentices through assessments, but there were “teething problems” with those EPAs.
Brenmer believes working for MBKB is “probably 25 per cent more difficult” than for other providers, because “we’re very stringent on what we want”.
But he still allows staff to work the hours they want, although the business has “slightly tightened up” with team members who are “new to the industry”.
With a career path that’s taken so many twists and turns, is Bremner still seeking the next big thing?
The answer is no. He tells me: “I’ve found my tribe with the people at MBKB. I’m very happy here.”
Long-awaited plans to award UCAS points to apprenticeships have been revealed by the university admissions body.
From this September, people completing level 3 apprenticeships could be awarded up to 112 UCAS points to apply to universities, depending on the length of their apprenticeship.
However, the proposed tariff model would mean learners on apprenticeships lasting less than two years would not reach the typical minimum entry requirements for an undergraduate university course.
Introducing points for apprenticeships will help higher education institutions compare the programmes with other post-16 qualifications in their admissions processes, a consultation on the plans launched today said.
The proposed UCAS tariff for apprenticeships uses the expected duration set out by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) to determine the number of points. Apprentices must pass their end point assessment to be able to use UCAS points on their university applications.
Lindsay Conroy, head of apprenticeships and UCAS, said the aim is “to position level 3 apprenticeships on an equal footing with A-level, T Levels and other UK level 3 programmes of study”.
She added: “While universities and colleges are used to managing differing qualifications in their offer-making, apprenticeships have not carried tariff points to date. We want to ensure all doors are open for all students considering their next steps into higher education, to ensure all pathways are visible to them and to maintain an informed and fair admissions system.”
The proposals
UCAS has baselined level 3 achievement so a two-year apprenticeship is equivalent to three grade C A-levels and so worth 96 UCAS points.
Apprenticeships lasting 18 months would be awarded 64 points and a 12-month apprenticeship would be awarded 48 points, according to the model proposed.
UCAS said typical entry criteria for year one university entry requires 72 to 128 tariff points. Between 32 and 64 points are typically required for entry to a foundation year.
For example, the most popular apprenticeship for under 19-year-olds last year was the level 3 business administrator, which IfATE states has a typical duration of 18 months. This would give successful apprentices 64 UCAS tariff points, short of the typical minimum university entry requirements.
Achieving a 24-month apprenticeship would be equivalent to 96 tariff points and an apprenticeship lasting 36 months or longer would accrue 112 UCAS points.
Simon Ashworth, director of policy at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said the proposals mark “another positive step forward to ensuring proper recognition of the currency of vocational and technical programmes alongside academic equivalents which has been severely lacking”.
“Whilst the expected duration of level 3 apprenticeships ranges from a year to up to 4 years, the average expected duration of all the 230 currently approved level 3 apprenticeships is around 25 months. For a typical level 3 apprenticeship under these proposals it would mean the awarding of the same tariff points awarded for three A-Levels which is what they should be,” he added.
Not all apprenticeships come with qualifications. For those that do, apprentices can use the UCAS points attached to the qualification they’ve achieved if that is higher than the apprenticeship.
As the tariff points system is UK-wide, UCAS has had to find a way of making its proposed model work across four countries with different apprenticeship requirements.
UCAS’s consultation acknowledges “concerns” that apprentices in England could be advantaged because they have access to apprenticeships that last longer than in Northern Ireland, where there is a two-year maximum.
And while apprentices in England can achieve pass, merit or distinction grades in their apprenticeship assessments, apprentices in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can only achieve a pass. UCAS’ proposed model therefore provides points for a pass for all UK apprentices so English apprentices can’t be unfairly advantaged.
UCAS said level 4 and 5 apprentices can already apply for degree-level courses through existing accreditation of prior learning (APL) admissions.
The admissions body first announced its intention to award UCAS points to apprenticeships in March 2023. Since then it has worked with over 60 organisations UK-wide to land on these proposals.
Fraud investigators have exposed “funding irregularities” involving payments to England’s former highest paid principal Sir Paul Phillips, FE Week can reveal.
The government has intervened and longstanding chair Andrew Leighton-Price has stepped aside at Weston College, where Phillips worked for over 20 years and employed his son as chief financial officer.
Tim Jackson, an adviser to the FE Commissioner and former principal of Sparsholt College, has been parachuted in to lead the college’s governing board while investigations continue.
Weston College is yet to publish accounts for 2022/23 but previous financial statements show Phillips was paid £357,000 and £362,000 in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Paid 9.6 times median wage
The government’s probe follows revelations in FE Weekthat Phillips earned a basic salary of 9.6 times more than the median pay of his full-time staff in 2022 – the highest pay multiple across the college sector. He was set to take on a unique remunerated role of “president” after he retired but governors U-turned after the controversial plan thwarted the college’s recruitment process for a successor.
Interim principal Jacqui Ford told staff yesterday the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s counter fraud and investigation team, through auditor BDO, had “uncovered some historical failures of financial management and controls, and failure to disclose certain financial information”.
Weston College has now been handed a financial notice to improve (NTI) which says: “The investigation has found failures of management and controls, including high remuneration packages to the retired ex-principal, and failure to disclose such details of senior pay as required through the ESFA’s college accounts direction.”
The NTI, published today, also found the college failed to declare an “in scope payment” to Phillips on a Managing Public Money return in April 2023.
The college has now been requested to hand over all information relating to the payments for the FE Commissioner Shelagh Legrave’s assessment on the “failing to manage and report accurately on payments made to the retired ex-principal.”
Once the assessment is completed, the FE Commissioner may impose further conditions on the college.
In the meantime, Ford, the chief finance officer and the “appropriate governors” have been summoned to attend regular meetings with DfE and must supply the government with a draft single improvement plan.
The college nor the government commented on the full nature of the financial irregularities at the time of going to press.
Staff are “not massively surprised” about the intervention, according to FE Week sources.
Phillips was appointed as one of the government’s national leaders of further education in 2017 and knighted for services to further education in 2022. Weston College was awarded the Association of Colleges award for excellence in governance last year.
Phillips retired from his principal role in August 2023. His departure was highly commemorated by the college, which organised a donation page for a holiday for Phillips and his wife, and a staff lunch that was set to show a video of staff lip-syncing Tina Turner’s Simply the Best, tailored to Phillips’ tenure at the college.
His son Joe Phillips joined the college in 2010 and has held posts including vice-principal for finance and business planning, deputy principal and most recently chief operating officer.
Joe Phillips resigned in late 2023.
Paul Phillips’ 2021 total pay packet included a basic salary of £222,000, “benefits in kind” of £28,000, a “deferred payment” from a “retention scheme” of £37,000, plus pension contributions of £70,000.
His basic salary shot up by 16 per cent to £258,000 a year later. He also received £29,000 for benefits in kind and £75,000 pension contributions.
Phillips’ pay packet for 2023, his last year in post, is not yet known.
The government requires colleges to publish their accounts by January 31 each year. The counter fraud investigation is understood to be the reason why Weston College has delayed publishing its figures for this year.
University and College Union regional official Nick Varney said: “For years [Weston] management failed to properly negotiate and reward our hard-working members, who remain some of the lowest paid in the further education sector. If this intervention finally creates the opportunity to reset industrial relations and open up the secret world of senior management at the college, we are all for it.”
‘No threat’ to college’s future
In a video sent to staff by interim principal Jacqui Ford, she made clear the intervention notice “focuses on the actions of staff no longer at the college” and does not threaten the college’s financial sustainability.
She added that the NTI will not impact day-to-day operations and was not a reflection of the quality of education at Weston College, which earlier this year was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted including for leadership and management.
“I have full confidence that we will quickly meet the requirements of the notice to improve and will restore the confidence of the ESFA,” Ford told staff.
Incoming chair Tim Jackson is expected to begin his role next month. He has already met with the board, staff and incoming permanent principal Pat Jones who is set to take the reins in July.
Ford told FE Week: “The college is cooperating with the Department for Education and the FE Commissioner’s team on the matters identified, and to implement the conditions set out in that notice within as short a period of time as possible.
“In the meantime, the college is continuing to operate normally in serving our students, communities and businesses and we’d like to thank our staff for their hard work and professionalism at this time.”
FE Week has attempted to contact Paul Phillips, Joe Phillips, Andrew Leighton-Price and the DfE for comment.
A Levels were once seen as the main route into higher education (HE). Today this couldn’t be further from the truth. In 2023 over 112,000 18-year-olds were accepted into university or college without the traditional 3 A levels typically associated with application to HE.
With different qualifications opening up different pathways, students now face more options than ever before. UCAS’s Where Next: What influences the choice school leavers make? report found that post-16 choices strongly influence students’ futures, highlighting the importance of young people knowing where all pathways lead when making choices in school.
Higher education providers are increasingly recognising the value of the broad range of qualifications and the role this plays in widening access and participation. This positive shift means progression routes are now more interconnected than ever before. This gives individuals access to a variety of pathways that suit their needs and aspirations.
To support this, UCAS allocated tariff points to all regulated Level 3 qualifications in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and SCQF Level 6 apprenticeships in Scotland in 2022. However, to date, Level 3/SCQF Level 6 apprenticeships have not carried tariff points (although in some cases, the composite qualifications may do).
We’re looking to change that. Under new proposals, UCAS is looking to allocate tariff points to Level 3/SCQF Level 6 apprenticeships across the UK, signalling that HE may offer a progression route for these individuals. And we want to hear your views.
The tariff is a simple model that allocates points based on the size and grading structure of a qualification. Over the next four weeks, we will be holding a public engagement exercise with the sector to gauge feedback on our proposed approach to apprenticeships.
Our aims are to signal to apprentices that HE may be an option for them, and to make it easier for them to engage in the process and recognise potential routes.
We recognise that this is not a silver bullet. Universities and colleges are autonomous in the qualifications they accept, and not all universities and colleges use the tariff when making offers. Many use qualifications and grades instead, and many institutions are likely to still use Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) when assessing a candidate’s application.
Our aim is to signal to apprentices that HE may be an option for them
Of course, not all Level 3 apprentices are considering HE either. But it is a step towards making pathways more visible. Students are at the heart of everything we do, and we want to help those with an apprenticeship understand all available options for their next steps. We will support them in understanding the route to higher education through personalised information, advice and guidance.
It is worth remembering that tariffs are only one aspect of the overall admissions process. Universities and colleges also consider a range of other factors, such as an applicants’ knowledge, skills, personal statement and references.
By promoting a greater understanding of these pathways to universities and colleges, we can support young people in progressing across the full range of post-secondary destinations. While universities and colleges are used to managing differing qualifications when making offers, the allocation of tariff points will help enhance their understanding of this route.
UCAS has an important role in supporting the growing number of individuals interested in apprenticeship opportunities. The next milestone for our apprenticeship service will be the launch of our new CV builder.
Sixty per cent of employers require a CV as part of an apprenticeship application, but many young people find creating one challenging. We also know disadvantaged applicants are initially more interested in apprenticeship opportunities but are less likely to be placed on one – with lack of support and understanding a determining factor.
This new tool will help people apply for apprenticeship vacancies by creating a high-quality CV on our website.
Our four-week public engagement seeking feedback on our proposed model for allocating tariff points to Level 3/SCQF Level 6 apprenticeships is now live. We welcome all sector stakeholder views on the model, with the engagement exercise open until Thursday 20 June. We will then review all feedback and aim to announce the outcome in the summer.
