Senior FE and skills figures warned that colleges would have to change “more than ever before” to survive, at the launch of a 216-page book celebrating ‘the coming of age of FE’.

The book, which focuses on the experiences of FE colleges since incorporation in 1993 and also considers their future, was unveiled at the Institute of Education (IoE), in Central London.

One of the book’s 25 contributors, Mick Fletcher, a founding member of the Policy Consortium and senior IoE research associate, spoke to the audience that included former Whitehall FE and skills chief Dr Sue Pember and chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers Stewart Segal.

“Surviving and surviving in its current form are two very different things for FE. Colleges will have to adapt,” said Mr Fletcher. He added: “Incorporation has done a lot of wonderful things, but people are still worried about many of the same things as they were all those years ago [around the time of incorporation]. Finance is obviously the biggest concern.”

Dr Lynne Sedgmore, 157 Group executive director, also told the 120-strong audience of college, awarding organisation, union, and other sector membership body leaders that “we need to change perceptions of the sector”.

This was something, she said, “we haven’t managed in the 35 or 36 years that I have been involved, but I think we can focus minds on the important economic contribution that we make”.

Kirstie Donnelly, managing director of City & Guilds UK, said: “We have to be more responsive to learners and what they need. They are going to be paying for their training, either directly or indirectly [through employers], so we need to listen to them.”

She added: “We must be bold about technology and look at more innovative ways of delivering learners’ needs.”

The book was published by the IoE and was partly inspired by an FE Week supplement in April 2013 entitled Celebrating Twenty Years of College Independence.

Paul Grainger, co-director of post-14 research and innovation at the IoE, which published the book, said: “This is a very proud day for everyone at IoE. I think it is the first time that a book has gone into so much detail about the changing fortunes of our wonderful sector.”

Click here to buy the book, priced at £24.99 and entitled The Coming of Age for FE? Reflections on the past and future role of further education colleges in England. The book launch took place on Thursday (June 4).

Click here for an expert piece by Ann Hodgson

From left: Ian Nash, Dr Lynne Sedgmore, book editor Ann Hodgson and Mick Fletcher

 

————————————————————————————————————————————–

‘Newcomer’s’ view of incorporation book

Nikki Gilbey (pictured), head of learning, land-based at Chichester College, gives her view on Ann Hodgson’s new book on FE.

For those of us who are relative newcomers to the sector, with less than a decade under our FE belts, this publication comprehensively covers a range of issues and topics that give a broad yet detailed understanding of, as described in the first chapter, this “important but visible sector”.

Ann Hodgson, Bill Bailey and Norman Lucas’ contribution to The Coming of Age of FE? in opening chapter What is FE? should be recommended reading for all politicians, teachers elsewhere in the education sector, employers, in fact everyone should read this.

The authors’ sense of importance of the sector and the impact it clearly has on thousands of people shines through the data and descriptions of what FE colleges do, how they are managed and also how they have changed over the years since incorporation.

Hopefully this book will go a long way in changing the problem of the “low political profile” of the sector, reminding all who read it of the numbers of students who have successfully passed through the doors of colleges with qualifications, knowledge and skills and the dedicated staff at all levels who make that happen.

————————————————————————————————————————————–

Twenty one years of central government control

Politically, FE has been an instrument of central government control from day one of incorporation. It was soon apparent that “freedom” was tied to unrelenting “efficiency savings” — a euphemism for cuts.

Labour did bring huge funds and a heyday of lifelong learning expansion with former Education Secretary David Blunkett’s vision in The Learning Age, but this was with hindsight remarkably short-lived and everything soon focused on skills in line with the Treasury-commissioned Leitch review demands for meeting skills targets.

From then on, if not before, FE policies of all parties converged. It became clear that Labour’s big spending had brought false hopes as an unrelenting shift of emphasis
on funding for skills priorities took precedence only to accelerate with
ensuing spending cuts.

Considerable research evidence in support of wider lifelong learning as an effective means of social and economic inclusion — getting people on to the first rungs of the skills ladder — was swept aside as too slow. Has the skills push really achieved much? No, other than to minimise demands for employers to meet essential training costs.

With no-one other than government paying for FE and skills training in any substantial way, FE colleges were forced as ever to follow the money and, consequently, successive failing government skills-for-work strategies.

The constant effort to get employers on board too often ends in spending money on dead weight training and scams, with exaggerated claims on all sides about the success of apprenticeships and other schemes.

The answer from politicians of every political hue is to shift the focus to schools with the creation of University Technical Colleges, Career Colleges and the like. FE colleges were seen as suitable sponsors — particularly when businesses failed to come forward in significant numbers — but this meant they were yet again tarnished by the failures resulting from bad policies, poor strategy and
lack of cash.

In the end, you could not get a cigarette paper between the policies of different political parties, with an increasing consensus around an ever-narrowing skills agenda and colleges taking blame
for shortcomings while the schools sector and employers take the increasingly limited resources.

But if one thing is certain it is that colleges will creatively bounce back and — being the “adaptive layer” as defined by Dame Ruth Silver — will bail out those who fail the system created by the short-term strategies of politicians. And, when they do, they will yet again bear the brunt of blame for any perceived failures.

 

 

 

Labour MPs Iain Wright (pictured above left) and Roberta Blackman-Woods (pictured above right) have launched bids to challenge Adrian Bailey for the chair of the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Committee.

Nominations for the post opened on Thursday after it was confirmed that the chair would be elected from Labour’s stock of 232 MPs following negotiations between the main parties in Parliament.

Mr Bailey, who served as chair during the last Parliament, has confirmed that he will seek re-election to
the post.

And now Hartlepool MP Mr Wright, a former parliamentary under-secretary of state for 14 to 19 reform and apprenticeships, and City of Durham MP Ms Blackman-Woods, once a Shadow Business Minister and former member of previous guises of the education and business committees, have told FE Week they will be putting their names forward.

Mr Wright said the skills agenda was “vital” to addressing issues of Britain’s competitiveness and productivity, adding: “I don’t think there is sufficient co-ordination between education and business policy.

“I’d like the select committees to undertake more joint working to discuss education and business policy. I can see more scope for the BIS and education select committees to work together on key issues.”

Ms Blackman-Woods said she had taken a “keen interest” in and held offices relating to business and skills since she entered Parliament.

She said: “I have previously been a member of the education select committee, the innovation and skills select committee, the science and technology select committee and the BIS select committee and so have a strong understanding of the select committee system.”

The battle for the chair of the education select committee will be between Conservative MPs, and with former chair Graham Stuart having ruled himself out to seek election to chair the culture, media and sport committee, former Education Minister Tim Loughton and former committee member Neil Carmichael are among those who have thrown their hats in the ring.

Nominations close at 5pm on June 10 with elections by MPs due a week later.

 

A college’s exams blanket ban on watches over fears learners could use outlawed web-enabled smart watches has been branded “a classic example of how the assessment and accountability system inhibits innovation and progress”.

North Nottinghamshire College (NNC) said it took action because smart watches were becoming increasingly similar to normal watches — and it didn’t want to risk cheats sneaking internet devices past invigilators and into exam halls.

But Bob Harrison, a member of the Further Education Learning Technology Action Group (Feltag), criticised the move, claiming the assessment system needed to “catch up”.

He said: “The key message of the Feltag report was to ensure ‘the agile evolution’ of the FE sector to ensure it is fit for purpose for the digital age.

“This is a classic example of how the assessment and accountability system inhibits innovation and progress.

“In the week that Google and Levi’s announced joint working on wearable computers this just confirms the need for our assessment system to catch up and reflect the digital age and not try and ban it.”

Martin Hamilton, from education technology charity Jisc, suggested emerging technologies could one day be embraced by colleges.

He said: “What this is really symptomatic of is the shrinking and embedding of technology to the point where it will become increasingly hard to tell who is using it and how.

“Invigilators might well spot a student spending a lot of time fiddling with their
watch, but who’s to say that Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids aren’t relaying exam hints and tips from a phone?

“As technology becomes ever more deeply engrained in our lives, I think we will find that assessment changes too, to be much more about demonstrating how a learner can effectively marshall the wealth of open information to be found on the internet to demonstrate a point, solve a problem or create a coherent argument.

“Perhaps it won’t be long before most exams are open book, and the sign at the door of the exam hall reminds students how to connect to the wireless network.”

But NNC director of quality David Barnett defended the ruling, telling FE Week the college was just extending existing rules set by the Joint Council for Qualifications which prohibit the wearing of watches with any data or web capability in exams.

“Previously we have felt we have been able to identify these types of watches through the use of invigilators,” he said.

“Obviously, with GCSEs we have a high volume of exam entrants, and with the advances in technology it is more difficult to tell the difference between types of watches, as a lot of the smart watches look like normal analogue watches.

“All candidates already have a mobile phone pouch on their desks, and we are asking them to put their watches in there too.

“It just seems like the best way of dealing with these advances in technology without causing disruption.”

 

The Department for Education (DfE) has overlooked Skills Minister Nick Boles (pictured above left) for its careers guidance remit — despite him having been handed the job for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Mr Boles, who serves as a minister in both departments, has been given BIS responsibility for post-18 careers advice, while Education Minister Sam Gyimah (pictured above right) was handed DfE responsibility for careers advice up to the age of 18 and for the government’s new careers company.

It is a move that has led to concerns about a lack of “joined-up thinking” from the government on careers advice. However, a DfE spokesperson told FE Week that dividing the issue between two ministers was “evidence of how highly we are prioritising this important subject”.

Tristram Hooley, professor of career education at the University of Derby, told FE Week he had concerns about whether “desperately-needed” inter-departmental strategy on careers would take place under the new model.

“I think that we haven’t seen the direction that the current government wants to take on careers yet,” he said.

“The signs at the end of the last government were that there seemed to be some improvement, the question is whether that will be sustained.

“The OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] review of career guidance policies argued that the strongest model was to have a lifelong guidance system. Instead in England we have multiple ministers in multiple departments responsible for fragmented services.

“There is a desperate need for some strategy here.”

A DfE spokesperson said: “Two ministers having responsibility for two distinct areas of careers education — one focusing on young people up to 18 and one on adults — is evidence of how highly we are prioritising this important subject.

“Our new careers and enterprise company for schools will also help deliver real social justice by ensuring all pupils have opportunities to thrive, regardless of their background.”

BIS declined to comment.

 

Colleges readying themselves for an impending Department for Education (DfE) policy have witnessed a dramatic rise in the number of English and maths GCSE exams that has left many struggling to accommodate learners.

One college even saw gridlock on nearby roads with bumper learner numbers on Tuesday (June 2) and also had to resort to using its principal’s office to host exams.

Elsewhere, principals have hired external venues or partially suspended classes to provide rooms for exams.

The increase in candidates was caused by a DfE post-16 funding policy, due from August, requiring learners with GCSE grade D in English or maths to resit, alongside taking their other studies.

Many colleges piloted the requirement this year — and found themselves overwhelmed not just by booming GCSE numbers thanks to resits, but also clashes with the A-level and vocational exam timetable.

It has left colleges pleading with awarding organisations to change timetables for next year with separate English and maths GCSE days.

Havering College of Further and Higher Education, in East London, saw a rise of 159 per cent in those taking maths GCSE, to 591, while 763 students sat English GCSEs — a 137 per cent increase on last year.

Vice principal Asfa Sohail told FE Week that the office of principal Maria Thompson (pictured) was even commandeered in the quest to accommodate learners.

Every member of staff was also enlisted to invigilate and direct learners to exams, while mini-buses were placed on standby to transport students who turned up at the wrong campus.

Ms Sohail said: “We had to hire external venues, empty out classrooms and use staff offices — literally anywhere we could find.”

She added: “We’ve got students who have failed three times and it’s knocking their confidence.

“Government needs to look at improving learners’ grades in school — we shouldn’t be getting so many through with such low grades.”

Meanwhile, East Kent College principal Graham Razey said he “had to effectively close” for three half-days to accommodate 450 candidates in rooms normally used for teaching.

At Exeter College, classes were re-roomed, a community centre was hired and 85 invigilators were drafted in to cover GCSE English, AS-level English language and other non-GCSE exams all taking place at the same time.

Assistant principal Emma Fielding said: “The focus on English and maths is critical, nobody’s denying that, but what we would ask is that the policy is properly thought through — to put that expectation on us as a sector with significant funding cuts is really difficult, and for many colleges in the long run not possible.”

And New College Swindon principal Graham Taylor said: “Our exams officer wrote to exam boards last year pleading for dedicated GCSE maths and English days because of the sheer numbers.

“They clashed with other ‘big ticket’ subjects so the logistics were a nightmare.”

A spokesperson for the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), which oversees the organisation of GCSE timetables, said: “In 2016 GCSE English/English Language will not be timetabled at the same time as any other GCSE or AS examination.

“For one of the GCSE maths timetable slots this has been possible in 2016 and further work will be taken on GCSE maths timetable slots in 2017 following the introduction of new linear specifications.”

A DfE spokesperson defended the incoming condition of funding policy and said colleges were “making good progress” in preparing to implement it.

“It is vital that all those leaving education have high standards of maths and literacy,” she said.

“That is why we want all young people who do not achieve at least a C in English or maths to continue studying until they reach that standard.”

From left: Maria Thompson, Graham Razey & Graham Taylor

John Woodcock, the Labour MP for Cumbria’s Barrow and Furness, was appointed Shadow Education Minister for Young People last month.

It’s a post that has seen a fair amount of change, with Mr Woodcock taking over from Yvonne Fovargue after she became Shadow Veterans Minister having had the education role for just seven months. She had gained the brief from Rushanara Ali after her tenure of a year.

Mr Woodcock takes on responsibility for 14 to 19 apprenticeships, vocational education, youth services and careers advice in Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt’s team, with Liam Byrne having retained the Shadow Skills Minister brief in Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna’s team.

The Labour shadow ministerial duo will be taking on Skills Minister Nick Boles, whose brief straddles both the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

And with a few weeks of the job under his belt, FE Week caught up with Mr Woodcock to find out what his impression of the FE sector was and what he made of his new brief.

What qualifies you for the post and why do you think you got it?

I’m delighted to get the chance to serve in this capacity.

My experience as a constituency MP has been representing an area which has some of the country’s finest apprenticeships in BAE, and GSK and others, an FE college — Furness College, which has been rated good again by Ofsted — as well as the sixth form college which is turning around.

FE and apprenticeships have long been recognised as fundamentally important to the community and the success of the local economy that I represent and I’m looking forward to getting to grips with the challenge nationally and hopefully helping to make this debate go from one which is too often on periphery of the ways in which government can help people and businesses to get on, and be absolutely part of the mainstream conversation.

Have you ever been to/visited a FE college? What did you think?

I was privileged to put a ceremonial golden bolt into Furness College’s new building which has now been up and running for two years and is doing great stuff.

I started a summer school for 10-year-olds which took place in the college last year, and that was a great location — whenever you take young people into FE institutions that are doing well and have been able to invest in their facilities, it really does inspire those young people to want to achieve, but it can also help open their eyes to see there are many routes to the kind of success that they’ve just started thinking about, rather than simply the traditional school, sixth form, then university.

Have you ever visited an independent learning provider? What did you think?

That’s one of the things I’m looking forward to — getting out and seeing some of the best examples of how those institutions work.

What is your experience of careers guidance?

Oh it’s awful, awful, awful — this is one of the things where we have just got to get better.

I am not suggesting the system was right under the last Labour government, clearly it had real issues, but we have undoubtedly as a country gone backwards by placing responsibility on each individual school with everything else they are doing.

Too many schools do not have the capacity to reach outwards and bring people in from the world of work and it’s something no one person as a guidance counsellor could ever manage — to give the breadth of opportunities that are out there.

One school working in isolation will always find it incredibly difficult, even if it has a laser-like focus on this will always struggle to deliver, so it’s a service which I think cries out for partnership and collaboration, which has been made more difficult over the last five years, and I think we need to be rethinking our whole approach to this.

What are the top things in your shadow ministerial intray?

The difference between being a minister and shadow minister is so biting — not being able to effect change immediately in government.

I’m not going to pretend that I come in here as an expert with all of these answers and I think if I did I’d get pretty short shrift from the men and women who’ve been working in this field to do their best for students for many years.

So number one is getting out, listening and understanding what is happening in the range of areas across my responsibility. I am clear that we need to understand both the strengths of apprenticeships but also where we need to improve the system.

Apprenticeships have become a buzzword in Westminster of unalloyed good, and but I want to hear from the small firms who are concerned about the risk and the investment — I want to understand why that is and what governments can do to change the balance so those firms do feel it’s in their interest to take students on. I want to really get into the guts of the FE sector, to understand exactly how it adds value at the moment both for young people coming up and for lifelong learning, and what the best role of government is to aid that process.

If you could have any role on front bench in future what would you want it to be?

A few weeks into being made Shadow Education Minister for Young People is not the time when I tell you what other jobs I want to do. I’m really happy to have been appointed to a subject which is close to my heart and is enormously important for the future of our country.

What do you think are the biggest challenges for those educating and training young people today?

I recognise that the funding situation has been disrupted over the years — they don’t always feel that they’ve had a government that fully understands and values what they’ve given and is prepared to create an incentives system that rewards them in the right way for the work that they put in and the huge difference that they can make to people’s lives. I want to hear more from them about how things are on the ground and what we ought to be doing differently.

Do you have any message for the sector?

What you do is critically important, you don’t always get the credit for what you do and too often you’ve been in recent years struggling against the tide where people should have been making it easier for you. I want spend time listening to what you say before Labour comes up with any grand new announcement of how things should be.

Are you staying away from ladders (he escaped serious injury, but called himself an “eejit” on Twitter in 2012 after spending a night in hospital in 2012 having falling from a ladder while putting his wife’s belongings in his attic)?

I’ve realised anything practical is not for me. I’ve been banned from doing any kind of DIY in the house. But I’m very glad to be back.

An interview with new Business Secretary Sajid Javid was requested by FE Week following his appointment, but he was yet to respond by the time of going to press.