Prime Minister David Cameron is tomorrow expected to unveil plans for 2.3 per cent of staff in large public sector bodies to be apprentices.
It is thought the move will see apprentice numbers boosted by 200,000 as the government chases its 3m starts election manifesto target for this Parliament.
Measures to achieve the public sector numbers will be laid out in a policy package entitled English Apprenticeships – Our 2020 vision.
Around three quarters of apprenticeships are in the private sector, with the rest coming mainly (16 per cent) from the public sector while around a tenth are in the voluntary sector.
Mr Cameron is due say: “In our manifesto, we made specific commitments – we said we’d reach 3m more apprenticeships.
“I can tell you, in the three months after the election alone, we delivered 115,000 more – in industries from law to fashion design, aerospace and more.
“And today, we’re going even further, with our apprenticeship 2020 vision. We will make every part of the public sector – from Whitehall to local government, the NHS to the police, ensure that apprentices form at least 2.3 per cent of their workforce.
“And our 2020 plan will also help an age group that has, so far, missed out: young adults. Just 6 per cent of 16 to 18-year-olds take an apprenticeship at the moment.
“But with the public sector and the private sector fully on board, we want to increase that, helping us to make sure every school-leaver goes into an apprenticeship, work or university – and gets the skills they need.”
The principal of a Midland college behind two studio schools struggling with low pupil numbers has told of her regret at having to shut them down.
Midland Academies Trust, which is sponsored by North Warwickshire and Hinckley College, is set to shut Midland Studio Colleges in Hinckley and Nuneaton next summer with just 157 pupils out of a combined capacity of 600 making them economically unviable.
Marion Plant OBE, college principal and trust chief executive (pictured above), told FE Week: “The first thing to say is that is it hugely sad and personally am deeply regretful that, what was a very innovative project and development, hasn’t worked.
“What I am proud of is the huge amount of success that has come out of both studio schools, because a lot of the young people have progressed to apprenticeships and gone on to working with local companies.”
The Hinckley school opened just three years ago and the Nuneaton branch followed a year later.
But trust board chair Tim Render said “lower than forecast” pupil numbers meant the trust was unable to achieve a “high standard” of education.
The trust has started the process of finding places for pupils from the losing studio schools at its other four schools — The Nuneaton Academy, Hartshill School, The George Eliot School and The William Bradford Academy.
Ms Plant was adamant there would be no further school closures, that the decision would not affect the college, and said: “It is just two small schools which, for different reasons, have under-recruited and are not viable in the longer term.”
She added: “It’s about us having put everything into trying to address the situation around student recruitment, including investing heavily in a very professional marketing and recruitment campaign.”
The year 11 and 13 pupils can stay at the closing studio schools until the end of the academic year and the year 10 and 12 students will be given the option to continue their studies at either The George Eliot School, or The William Bradford Academy from January 2016.
Ms Plant said the schools had been appreciated by employers who saw them as connecting education and work.
She said: “While I am expressing regret — and I am deeply regretful that the students’, parents, and carers are so upset at the decision — I think what we have learned on a positive sense is the studio school model of learning is a really effective model.”
High Street giant Next slashed £2.5m off its wage bill by employing hundreds of low-earning apprentices, according to a hard-hitting Channel Four programme exclusively previewed to FE Week.
Apprenticeships come under scrutiny in Dispatches tomorrow night as investigators look at the wages and quality of training delivered by high-profile companies.
The programme, entitled Low Pay Britain, focuses on retail giant and employer provider Next, which was given nearly £1.8m of public funds last year for training 30 hours a-week apprentices.
The programme claims that, with the apprentice minimum wage of £3.30 an-hour lower than that of normal workers at £6.70 an-hour for those aged over 21, “if all of Next’s 800 apprentices had been paid the full rate for the 30-hour week they were working, it would have cost Next almost £2.5m pounds extra in wages this year.”
Investigators heard from a number of former learners at Next — which has been given Skills Funding Agency (SFA) permission to take on new learners despite an Ofsted grade four result this year — who saw full-time fellow workers paid more even though they did the same shopfloor work and got little or no training.
They also hear how former learners felt let down at seeing more apprentices taken on after they’d finished their own programmes only to be offered contracts of just 15 hours a-week.
“I know the management did all they could and they wanted me to stay there, but it was the company saying: ‘We’d prefer to churn out another apprentice’. So I felt I had to turn it down on a moral point and also a financial point,” former Next apprentice Alex Harding tells presenter Seyi Rhodes.
The firm claims it provides specialised training so apprentices are set up for a career in retail and, following severe Ofsted criticism, has implemented a “vigorous programme of improvements”.
Mr Harding told the Channel Four show when he joined Next as an apprentice in 2013 he was paid £2.65 an-hour, the apprenticeship minimum wage at that time.
Channel 4 investigators were told learners would go on to earn around £2 an-hour more. And while the programme questions the fairness in paying apprentices less than colleagues, it also looks at the quality of training for learners.
Mr Harding told the programme: “There was very little one-on-one training. It was just such a small store which wasn’t suited to having this kind of position where you’re meant to be training someone when actually, you need everyone working at the same time because the number of staff is so small.”
Similar criticism, that Next apprentices were given little or no time to learn, came from Becky Markham.
“The training was just on the shop floor, so it wasn’t like I was on my own doing my work,” she said.
“I was still there helping customers when really I should have been learning and studying. Well, I never really had a chance to write in my book, basically, thinking about it, because I always had to really be there for the customers.”
She added: “They [supervisors] were just basically throwing out warnings, if you don’t do it, we’ll give you a disciplinary, we do need you to be on the shop floor.
“They were just making sure they hit their targets. They weren’t focusing on what I needed. To me, it didn’t feel like an apprenticeship at all, it just felt like a job.”
Their report read: “Too many apprentices withdraw from their learning — the support provided for them is inadequate and does not ensure that they remain on their apprenticeship to complete their qualification.”
The result saw the SFA issue Next with a Notice of Concern and suspend it from taking on new apprentices.
But, according to figures obtained by Dispatches, the firm has been handed more than £200,000 since the inspection in July after it was given permission to take on learners again.
Next said after its inspection that it “completely accepts the report’s findings and recommendations”, adding: “We have commenced a vigorous programme of improvements and aim to make significant progress within the next six months.”
A spokesperson for the firm told Dispatches the apprenticeship management team has been “re-organised and strengthened” and rates of pay have been increased so 67 per cent of apprentices now earn above the national minimum.
The improvements were recognised in a monitoring inspection report published by Ofsted in October.
An SFA spokesperson said: “Since receiving the notice, Next has put in significant work to develop and strengthen their programme and received a positive Ofsted monitoring report.
“Although the notice remains in place and continues to be monitored until concerns have been successfully addressed, given significant improvements made by Next, the SFA has given it permission to take on a maximum of 50 new learners.
“These learners will be funded through Next’s existing contract allocation and we will monitor and review this delivery on a monthly basis.”
Next did not respond to a request for further comment for FE Week yesterday (Saturday).
Dispatches Low Pay Britain airs at 8pm tomorrow (Monday).
Picture: Dispatches reporter Seyi Rhodes outside a Next store
Ofsted inspectors who uncovered “degrading treatment, racist comments and care from staff under the influence of illegal drugs” at a youth prison have reported an improvement.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ), as previously reported on feweek.co.uk, pledged “urgent action” in light of Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre’s May inspection report.
And the actions appeared to have set the G4S-managed centre, near Rugby, on the path to improvement with a team made up of four Ofsted inspectors, two from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons and one from the Care Quality Commission, reporting it now required improvement. It was previously labelled inadequate.
Inspectors said inmates at the centre, which houses young people aged 12 to 18 who have been given a custodial sentence or are on remand, “have not experienced the level of harm or degrading treatment identified at the last inspection”.
They found “senior managers have taken consistently prompt robust action to deal with staff and protect young people, which is an improvement”.
The inspection report, published on December 2, added: “Education provision is judged to be good overall but would benefit from the recommendations of the previous inspection being fully implemented alongside new recommendations to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.”
It was announced in October that MTC Novo would be taking over from G4S in managing the centre for five years from May next year.
Paul Cook (pictured above), managing director for G4S children’s services, said: “I am encouraged that inspectors now report that the team has responded effectively to the findings of the last inspection and that the centre has improved.
“We set out to return the centre to the high standards we have delivered over our previous 16 years and it is heartening that inspectors report many examples of staff putting themselves at risk to prevent harm to young people and that over 95 per cent of trainees say that staff treat them with respect.”
Lin Hinnigan (pictured above), Youth Justice Board chief executive, said “We are pleased that progress has been made at Rainsbrook STC since Ofsted’s last inspection and that the improvements reported are in line with findings from our own monitoring activity.
“We will continue to monitor and ensure robust action is taken to address any staff conduct issues.
“The YJB will work closely with G4S to see it makes the improvements required in line with the standards we set. We expect continuous improvements to take place throughout the transition to MTC Novo taking over the running of Rainsbrook STC from May.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “It is encouraging to see progress is being made at Rainsbrook and that, crucially, the majority of young people reported feeling safe. Clearly there is more work to be done and we will continue to closely monitor the situation.”
Trade union Unison will ballot FE workers in England in the New Year, in the latest development of an ongoing row over pay.
The ballot is in response to a zero per cent pay offer for 2015/16 made by the national employers’ organisation, the Association of Colleges (AoC), in the summer.
Unison represents 25,000 workers in FE colleges in England and it says around 80 per cent of these are likely to be covered by the ballot. The workers involved include technicians, managers, library, catering, cleaning, security and other support staff.
Unison has already carried out a consultative ballot of members on the pay freeze, the results of which were announced in October. A total of 95 per cent of those voting in the ballot rejected the offer and twice as many colleges participated as last year.
The union then wrote to the AoC, and the colleges it negotiates for, with the result and a warning that unless the offer was improved the union would be “in dispute” with them.
Next year’s ballot will cover all those colleges that are members of the AoC and have not made an improved local offer.
Dave Prentis, Unison general secretary, said: “Following years of pay restraint, this non-offer by FE employers is insulting and is driving workers to take their anger to the picket lines.
“Another year of pay restraint will do nothing to help recruit, retain and motivate staff in the sector. Many will have no choice but look for jobs that pay better.
“There is still time for employers to come back to the negotiating table and come up with a fair pay offer that rewards staff for the hard work they do.”
In response to the announcement of the ballot, Marc Whitworth, director of employment services and policy at the AoC, said: “The pay recommendation made by the AoC reflects the feedback we have had from colleges about the stringent financial circumstances in the sector.
“Although not unexpected it is nevertheless disappointing that Unison will ballot for action in the New Year. There is a willingness from the employers’ side to continue to engage with our union colleagues to protect the prospects of FE, its skilled workforce and the students it serves.”
Unison says it will continue to work with other FE unions to seek to achieve an improved offer from the AoC.
A UCU spokesperson told FE Week that a decision was yet to be made over whether they should take further action, saying: “Following the strike last month, our FE members are due to meet on Friday, December 11, to decide on next steps.”
The UCU strike was called after talks over the AoC’s proposal for a pay freeze in 2015/16 failed to reach agreement. At the time, an AoC spokesperson told FE Week: “We haven’t got any plans to reopen negotiations.”
The UCU strike was announced in October, after a ballot of members on the pay freeze proposal resulted in 74 per cent of those who voted (4,184) backing industrial action.
Providers have been warned that government funding to help long-term unemployed people back into work was likely to be dramatically cut by 2020, FE Week can reveal.
The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) director for contracted employment provision Matt Thurstan last month sent a letter, seen by FE Week, to providers advising on what will happen after current Work Programme contracts end in April 2017.
The scheme, launched in June 2011, involves private, public and voluntary organisations helping to find jobs for people who have normally been unemployed for at least 12 months, although shorter-term unemployed people can also be referred by local Job Centres.
Total funding to providers through the payment-by-results scheme was around £2,001m up to June — which worked out at just over £500m a-year.
But Mr Thurstan said in the letter that the department now recognised “the number of those requiring this support is reducing” — so “core funding” could be cut to just £130m-a-year by 2020/21 for a replacement scheme expected to be launched from May 2017.
“Our new provision will support long-term unemployed claimants reaching the 24-month point in their claim, as well as targeted referrals of claimants with health and disabilities issues,” he added.
Funding cut for back-to-work support The DWP currently has contracts with 15 providers for 18 regions across the country.
The only FE college group contractor is NCG, which currently covers Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country.
The DWP terminated NCG’s contract for the North East Yorkshire and the Humber last March, replacing it with Devon-based Maximus.
The DWP told FE Week at the time that this was because it was the “lowest performing [contract] assessed against a range of measures”.
No-one from NCG was available to comment, but Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) chief executive Kirsty McHugh (pictured above), which represents employment support providers, said: “The programme has done fantastically at moving the long term unemployed into work, but it’s no surprise that the new contracts from April 2017 will focus far more strongly on jobseekers with disabilities and health conditions.
“Our understanding is that the funding mentioned in the letter is the minimum available for the new work and health programme.”
A spokesperson for the Association of Employment and Learning Providers said: “The number of people who have been out of work for over a year has fallen by a quarter in the last 12 months, so providers had anticipated that a replacement programme would be on a smaller scale.”
A spokesperson for the DWP said:“Our welfare reforms and the Work Programme have helped thousands of these individuals return to work. We now have two million more people in work, and employment at a record high.
“We want to build on this success and provide further support to those with health conditions and disabilities. That is why we are increasing funding by around 15 per cent, and creating a new ‘Work and Health Programme’ to help them to return to, and remain in, work.”
Ofsted deputy director for FE and skills Paul Joyce has outlined how the story of the education watchdog’s 2014/15 annual report was one of a huge rise in maths and English learners “undoubtedly” impacting upon worsening inspection grades.
He spoke to FE Week moments after Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw unveiled the report, which raised concern that only 35 per cent of English and maths provision had been judged good or outstanding, on Tuesday (December 1).
Sir Michael Wilshaw
It blamed the percentage in part on colleges struggling with the consequences of meeting a rule obliging providers to ensure 16 to 19-year-old FE learners without at least C grade GCSE maths and English continued to study the subjects or miss out on funding.
Mr Joyce told FE Week: “Maths and English undoubtedly has had an impact on [overall Ofsted] inspection grades, although it is important to realise they’re not the only factors.”
The research showed the proportion of general FE and tertiary colleges inspected up to that point and graded inadequate or told to improve was up 27 percentage points on the previous year, while the percentage of sixth form colleges and independent learning providers with grade three or four inspection results had also increased.
The previous year, 36 per cent of inspections across the sector had resulted in providers being rated as inadequate or requires improvement — it stood at 66 per cent in February.
And the 2014/15 annual report warned the performance of general FE colleges had been hit harder by maths and English resit requirements than sixth form colleges (SFCs) with higher GCSE entry requirements.
Mr Joyce said these pressures “had a detrimental impact in terms of inspection outcomes [across the sector] in that many providers are struggling to deliver maths and English to the required quality standards that both they and we would like to see”.
“I think there’s a whole host of reasons [for this], undoubtedly one will be due to the number of learners that are now having to do these qualifications,” said Mr Joyce.
“Often when I speak to principals or chief executives, particularly when there are very large numbers on these programmes, their concern is the recruitment of staff that can deliver to the standard they would like.”
Sir Michael recognised in the report that “many colleges” had been placed under “considerable” pressure, because of funding cuts and merger proposals, including this year through post-16 education and training area reviews.
Mr Joyce told FE Week: “The financial situation the sector finds itself in, and the reorganisation potential through area reviews, are obviously challenging circumstances.
“Area reviews are something additional for leaders to deal with, but in many cases some of these colleges, particularly those in financial difficulty do need that support in order to survive.
“Inevitably there’s likely to be recommendations around merger,” he added.
But, said Mr Joyce: “Inspectors are not, or predominantly not, auditors or accountants. When we go in we are primarily looking at the quality of education and training provided.
“But clearly under leadership and management, you wouldn’t expect our inspectors not to take account of the financial viability of a provider, so they are provided with that information by the funding authorities and people qualified to make those judgments.”
Mr Joyce also said inspectors saw “a variable picture over employer engagement”.
“Providers that we see as good or outstanding have very good relationships with employers, have employers involved in their curriculum planning and perhaps involved on their governing board.
“Hence, the shape of the curriculum and the courses are tailored to those employer needs.
“However, we do see some instances where employers aren’t as engaged and providers are not doing enough to engage with employers.”
But the report also raised concern about poor progression rates to apprenticeships from traineeships and a lack of “high quality training” through apprenticeship programmes run by colleges and independent learning providers (ILPs).
Mr Joyce told FE Week: “You can see in the report that we are worried about delivery of apprenticeship provision, whether that’s with an ILP or a college.”
“Our key message is whether you’re a college, ILP, or an adult community provider, what matters is getting leadership and management, the curriculum, and teaching and learning right, so the outcome for learners on apprenticeship or study programmes are positive,” he added.
The report was based on inspections from 2014/15 which were carried out under a common inspection framework (Cif) that was changed this academic year.
However, Mr Joyce said the annual report was still of relevance.
Gill Clipson
“I think the report lays out the challenges that the sector faces in light of the new Cif — so with progression from learner starting points, the increased focus on personal development and behaviour, and learner destinations,” he said.
She said: “Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector has highlighted a decline in the overall performance of FE colleges. We are pleased though that Ofsted has recognised the ‘context’.
“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 good or outstanding.”
James Kewin
James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association, said: “This year’s report acknowledges that more SFCs are good or outstanding than any sector.
“All of this has been achieved against a background of funding reductions and curriculum reform.”
Stewart Segal, the Association for Employment and Learning Providers chief executive, said: “Despite funding pressures acknowledged in the report, it is pleasing Ofsted found the percentage of training providers judged good or outstanding increased again in 2015 to 79 per cent, up a point from last year.”
Stewart Segal
A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills responded to the concern raised in the report about FE funding cuts.
She said: “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.”
She added: “Area reviews will help improve quality by securing an efficient and financially resilient sector.”
Poor prison education back in the dock
Learning and skills in prisons came in for severe criticism once again from Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw in his 2014/15 annual report.
He said it had been one of the “worst performing elements of the FE and skills sector for some time, and Ofsted has long been critical of this failure”.
There were 50 prison and young offender institution inspections — of which four resulted in outstanding grades, 24 good, 56 requires improvement and 16 inadequate.
Sir Michael wrote: “The overall quality of the education and training funded by the Skills Funding Agency was reflected in the judgements given for the offender learning and skills service.”
The report comes with Justice Secretary Michael Gove having ordered a review of the system of prison learning in September, as previously reported by FE Week.
Former Education Secretary Mr Gove wants the inquiry to, in part, look at how the Offender Learning and Skills Service (Olass) — currently contracted regionally to three general FE colleges and one independent learning provider — operates.
It will be led by Dame Sally Coates, director of academies south for the United Learning schools group, and an interim report is due by the end of next month with the full report, including recommendations, expected two months later.
Rod Clark, chief executive of the Prisoners Education Trust (Pet), said: “We have long called for learning to be at the heart of prisons and this latest report highlights the increasing and urgent need for improvements to be made.
“We agree with Ofsted that there must be more accountability and leadership to achieve this and the government’s Coates Review provides a timely opportunity for new policies to reform learning in prison.”
David Hughes, chief executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace), said: “Once again, the chief inspector was highly critical of learning and skills in our prisons.
“This cannot continue and we must make sure the Coates Review and re-tendering of Olass contracts really do make a difference.”
Falling numbers in community learning
Falling numbers of people taking part in community learning was an issue addressed by Sir Michael Wilshaw.
A graph appeared in his 2014/15 annual report’s section on adult learning, showing how the number of funded students undergoing personal and community development learning had fallen from around 580,000 in 2009/10 to just under 500,000 in 2013/14.
“The community learning budget has been frozen and therefore buys less each year,” he said.
“There has also been a shift towards courses for people who are more disadvantaged, which are more expensive to deliver. As a result, across the sector, the number of learners in ‘personal and community development learning’ has dropped by just over 80,000.”
Ofsted inspected 60 community learning and skills providers in 2013/14, including specialist designated institutions, not for profit organisations and local authorities.
Of these, two resulted in outstanding overall grades, 32 good, 19 requires improvement and seven inadequate.
“There has been increasing pressure for providers to deliver value for money by aligning publicly funded adult learning to some demonstrable community benefit,” said Sir Michael.
With no school or academy listed as automatically involved in any of the seven area reviews announced so far, it was thought that dropping the SFC status might provide an exemption.
However, in response to a parliamentary question from Conservative MP Bob Blackman, Mr Boles said any SFC conversion plans would be addressed alongside other area review outcomes, and added that colleges choosing not to convert would face further scrutiny.
“We will give sixth form colleges the opportunity to establish themselves as 16-to-19 academies as part of the area reviews of post-16 education and training,” said Mr Boles.
“When a college’s application is approved, it will be eligible for VAT reimbursement as soon as it has been re-established with 16-to-19 academy status,” he added.
“Once all the area reviews have been completed, we will of course review which SFCs have not yet taken up the option and what course they want to take.”
It has led to a call for the seven area reviews already under way to be extended to allow the 33 SFCs involved to “develop their plans and understand the finer detail of conversion”.
But just days after Mr Boles’s answer to Mr Blackman, Education Minister Lord Nash said he expected the number of SFCs becoming academies to be in “double figures”.
There are currently 93 SFCs which educate around 160,000 16 to 19-year-olds, therefore his estimate, aired at the House of Commons Education Select Committee meeting on December 2, could theoretically mean all SFCs converting.
James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association, said he welcomed the news his members would be able to apply for academy status via area reviews.
“Academy status is a great opportunity for some SFCs, but governing bodies will want to see the formal guidance that is expected in February 2016 before making a decision on whether to convert.
“It would be helpful if the first wave of reviews was extended to allow the SFCs involved more time to develop their plans and understand the finer detail of conversion.”
A Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) spokesperson said: “We recognise the urgency for sixth form colleges in the first wave of reviews.
“We will be working with these colleges to ensure that they have the opportunity to develop information to support an application and can begin preparing applications in advance of publication of detailed criteria in February, while continuing to be a key player in the local review to secure the best outcomes in their area.”
Phil Hatton reviews the Ofsted 2014/15 annual report and pinpoints as key its mention of how funding issues are affecting quality.
Reading the learning and skills section of the Chief Inspector’s annual brought few surprises for those who have been monitoring inspections throughout last year.
However, the picture painted of being ‘above’ or ‘below’ the line of being good or better made difficult reading.
Being a principal or leader of any learning and skills provider is becoming an increasingly demanding and difficult task, as reflected by Sir Michael.
Ofsted has recognised that the declining budgets to run our sector are so severe that they are contributing negatively in their impact on quality
At least Ofsted has recognised that declining budgets to run our sector are so severe they are contributing negatively in their impact on quality.
The report is a key one in that it is also brings to an end the last Common Inspection Framework (Cif) after a relatively short three years.
Sadly, a substantial chunk of the sector did not get the chance to be evaluated against that Cif, which put more emphasis on developing the English and maths skills of learners, even if they have a grade C or above in their previous GCSE results.
It has been a real game-changer, as a key part of both study programmes and apprenticeships, contributing to ever declining overall and timely success rates for the latter.
Sir Michael likes to headline what the sector looks like by quoting what providers look like at their most recent inspection, giving a falsely high and reassuring picture of learners attending ‘good or better’ providers.
For example, general FE colleges (GFEs) are headlined as having dropped from 79 per cent to 77 per cent for the gradings, while in reality for the 48 colleges inspected only 35 per cent achieved them.
Rather oddly, Sir Michael claims that ‘what differentiates the colleges that succeeded from those that are in decline is the calibre of the leadership and management’, yet inspections found leadership and management to be good or better in 44 per cent of GFEs.
Ofsted has put more emphasis on leadership in the new Cif, including governance, by placing the judgement before that of teaching and learning and increasing the inspection focus on it.
Good or better for outcomes in GFEs was only 27 per cent while for teaching and learning 40 per cent. The last year saw an increased focus on linking curriculum development to local and national priorities.
It is good that Ofsted has recognised the prior attainment of learners in GFEs is much lower than in school sixth forms and sixth form colleges, with prior attainment for those elusive GCSEs in English and maths also being lower.
Hopefully, this will be taken into account more when making judgements under the new Cif. The loss of some 270,000 mainly 25+ learners is also acknowledged as a consequence of funding.
The report continues the Ofsted rhetoric when assessing the performance of independent learning providers that only certain types of apprenticeship are worthy of the name.
While there is some substance that there is a need to get equality in levels of apprenticeship right (NVQs at level two vary too much in content and difficulty) it is not the fault of the providers that there are more places with employers who want customer service than there are in aeronautical engineering.
Oddly, comments around weak subcontracting performance are made around small providers when it is a feature of parts of the entire sector including colleges and community learning. Little mention is made of traineeships save to say they appeared to have little success in fulfilling their primary role of being a stepping stone into apprenticeships.
This is a disappointing oversight as it is an area that is being pushed by local enterprise partnerships as a possible stepping stone. Ofsted needs to be giving government a firmer steer on the success, or not, of the value to young people of the current traineeship model.
In summary, Sir Michael has at last stated what those of us with lifetimes in the sector have always known, that the inequalities in funding impact on what we can do with our learners.
Mr Joyce said these pressures “had a detrimental impact in terms of inspection outcomes [across the sector] in that many providers are struggling to deliver maths and English to the required quality standards that both they and we would like to see”.
But the report also raised concern about poor progression rates to apprenticeships from traineeships and a lack of “high quality training” through apprenticeship programmes run by colleges and independent learning providers (ILPs).
