The damning Ofsted report cited as one of the reasons behind the closure of one of the flagship University Technical Colleges (UTCs) was today released, revealing inadequate grades across the board and a failure to promote vocational options.

Black Country UTC (BCUTC) announced plans to shut in April partly blaming a “disappointing” Ofsted report for the decision to close its doors from August 31.

The report shows the UTC, which offers specialist engineering training for 14 to 16-year-olds alongside core qualifications, had been placed in special measures following concerns raised by inspectors over learner safety and achievement — and concerns that its sixth form was failing to promote vocational options to leavers.

It said learners had “limited access to appropriate careers advice and guidance” and also found student achievement was “well below the national average and should be higher”.

The UTC has apologised to the students and parents who had been “let down” by its underperformance. Meanwhile, the Baking Dearing Trust, which oversees UTCs, admitted its response to the UTC’s problems should have been “more robust”.

Governors of the University of Wolverhampton and Walsall College-sponsored UTC, which opened in 2011, announced their decision to close the school on August 31. Black Country UTC principal Paul Averis (pictured) said when the closure was announced: “This has been a difficult decision for all concerned.”

The UTC has 158 learners on role, which, inspectors noted, was “considerably smaller than most schools” — and less than a fifth of learners at the college are girls, while the majority of students were white British.

According to 2011 census data, almost one in four members of the population of Walsall is from a minority ethnic  group (23.1 per cent)

Meanwhile, standards in the UTC’s sixth form provision were “very low” according to the report, with poor guidance for learners opting for a vocational route — despite the UTC’s own vocational focus.

“Students who intend to apply to university are well supported with their applications,” the report said. “Students who intend to follow other pathways, for example apprenticeships, receive less guidance.”

Inspectors also raised concerns about  students not being guided onto appropriate courses within the UTC, inspected in March.

“A number of students are on courses that are too hard for them and they are unlikely to be successful,” the report said, adding a lack of effective tracking meant students had not been identified quickly enough to allow them to move to more appropriate courses.

The UTC was previously inspected in April last year, when it received a grade three, and the most recent report found key concerns raised last time had not been dealt with.

“Leaders, including governors and the sponsors, have not addressed low standards, poor behaviour, low levels of attendance and weak teaching in the college,” the report said.

A spokesperson for the UTC said the governors accepted Ofsted’s verdict, “with regret”, but a “thorough assessment” of the report had led to the decision to close.

“We are very sorry that the positive hopes we had for the BCUTC have not been fulfilled,” she said.

“We apologise wholeheartedly to the students and parents that have been let down by the performance of the BCUTC.

“It was very difficult to decide to close the BCUTC and we are giving full support and guidance to students and parents affected by the closure.

“The principal and staff are working closely with the Department for Education, Walsall Council and local education providers to ensure a smooth transition for all students.”

Its closure follows that of another early UTC — Hackney UTC. It announced in July that it had failed to attract enough learners to stay open beyond this academic year.

There are currently 30 UTCs operating, including Hackney, with 15 more due to open in 2016 and a further five in 2017.

A Baking Dearing Trust spokesperson also expressed “regret” over Ofsted’s findings, but said it supported the governor’s decision to close.

“Baker Dearing Educational Trust’s role in supporting Black Country, and other UTCs, is advisory,” she said.

“UTCs are autonomous institutions, controlled by their own board of governors which is ultimately responsible for the management and performance of the school.

“In this case, we accept that our interventions needed to have been more robust and plans are now in place that enables this to happen in the future.

“The Ofsted report is very disappointing and we take the issues raised very seriously.

She added: “Baker Dearing Educational Trust is committed to supporting all UTCs. There are many local factors, unique to this project, which led to the decision to close BCUTC and it isn’t a judgment on the UTC model as a whole.”

The spokesperson also said Baker Dearing would help to ensure the BCUTC learners where supported.

Nearly 40 per cent of FE workers struggle to get a mortgage because of their “casualised” employment contracts, research from the University and College Union (UCU) suggested today.

Its 17-page report, entitled Making ends meet: the human cost of casualisation in post secondary-education, looks at how workers lives are affected by zero-hour and other types of “casualised” contracts, it defines as also including variable with guaranteed minimum hours, hourly paid, fixed term and agency, among others (see below).

Critics of zero-hour and similar “casualised” contracts argue they create uncertainty in the workforce, leaving staff without sick or holiday pay, and make it difficult to get tenancy agreements, credit cards, loans or mortgages because it is impossible to show a regular income. But proponents claim they allow for flexible working patterns and mean employers can take on more staff.

However, the UCU surveyed 696 staff from FE, which included colleges, adult and prison education, and found 32.4 per cent of respondents were on zero-hour contracts (second most popular type of casual contract after hourly paid at 39 per cent) and that 37.8 per cent said their casualised employment contract had hindered them in getting a mortgage.

“The real extent of the problem is far bigger though as many who answered ‘no’ to the question reported that this was because they had never even tried and knew there would be no point while they remained on a casual contract,” according to the report.

The research also looked at whether FE staff had struggled with bills and 56.1 per cent of sector respondents said meeting household costs such as fuel and repairs had been a problem.

The UCU further found that  almost two-thirds (64%) of people work 30 hours or less a week and two-fifths (39%) earn less than £1,000 a month.

Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary, said: “People on casual contracts are unable to plan their lives month-by-month or even week-by-week. One in 10 people cannot even estimate how many hours they work on average each month or what they might earn. That is no way for anyone to live their life.

“Ministers and employers must stop trying to defend these practices as flexible. Any flexibility is not a two-way street and people who want security and a proper contract should be able to get one.

“The high levels of casualisation in further and higher education would shock many students and parents and expose the harsh reality of life in a modern university or college.”

The Association of Colleges (AoC) said UCU’s conclusions were “concerning” and “not representative” of feedback it received from its member colleges.

Marc Whitworth, AoC director of employment services and policy. said casual contracts were “beneficial for the students, college and employee”.

“Colleges have always needed a flexible workforce and they employ people on different types of contracts to respond to the needs of students and the college business,” he said.

“These needs include the levels of demand for some courses, covering staff absences and delivering short courses.

“Some teachers continue to maintain employment in their own profession whilst being employed by colleges on a casual basis as secondary employment.”

There were 2,551 responses to the survey between January 26 and April 12. More than two-thirds (71 per cent) of respondents (1,787) were from the higher education sector. Only FE respondents are covered in this report.

Ms Hunt said: “Millions of students of all ages now enter our education system, most of them paying considerable sums for it.

“They have a right to expect that they will be given a high quality education delivered by passionate staff who are respected and properly rewarded for their work.

“What many students probably don’t realise is that most of them are taught at some point, perhaps for most of their time in education, by people on insecure casual contracts.

“The exploitative use of casualised contracts breeds insecurity, anxiety, stress and forces people to work long hours for poor pay. This report exposes the true human cost of life on a casual contract and shatters any ‘aura of prestige’.”

Mr Whitworth said the report “makes some concerning conclusions but these are not representative of the discussions we’ve had with our college members”.

It’s all systems go to hit 3m apprenticeship starts as the government today revealed for the first time how it was aiming to hit the target.

An email from deputy apprenticeships chief Jennifer Coupland (pictured below right), and seen by FE Week, tells how the government’s “most important and high profile commitment is to deliver 3m apprenticeship starts during this Parliament”.

She outlines the “step change” required to hit the target as “more support and communication from government, more providers working with local employers, more existing apprentice employers expanding their programmes and more new businesses coming on board”.

The Conservatives’ target was set in the General Election run-up and featured in the party’s manifesto. However, it would require a huge increase on the 2,208,100 apprenticeship starts over the five academic years from 2009/10 to 2013/14.

Indeed, there have been concerns that measures to safeguard the quality of apprenticeships, such as a one-year minimum duration, could be looked at in order to make hitting the target easier.

But the only mention of specific measures by Ms Coupland, deputy director of the joint Department for Education and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills apprenticeships unit, was the scrapping of standard and assessment plan panels for new Trailblazer apprenticeships.

It is understood that of the 33 assessment plans that were submitted at the last meeting just nine were approved.

“We have been reviewing our processes to see where we can make them simpler, in response to your feedback, and in light of this Ministers have decided to end the formal panel process beyond the June panel,” said Ms Coupland.

She added: “The outcome should mean that we are able to turn round decisions quicker, and where more work is required before being approved, it will mean that standards and assessment plans can be re-submitted as soon as they are ready, without having to wait for the full panel to reconvene.”

The panels will be scrapped after their next meeting, on June 5, moving instead to rolling monthly deadlines for submission of standards and assessment plans. This will allow formal review and approval at any time in agreement with relationship managers.

From the last Thursday of each calendar month, from August 27, standards and assessment plans submitted during the month will be reviewed.

Ms Coupland said: “Ministers were clear that the apprenticeship reform programme we started in the last Parliament will need to continue at pace, putting employers in the driving seat of designing and delivering apprenticeships.”

She added: “We want to accelerate this programme further so that we can offer high quality employer designed apprenticeships in even greater numbers. Our aim continues to be that from 2017/18 all apprenticeship starts will be on the new standards.

“We remain committed to giving employers greater control over apprenticeship funding and will continue to work with you to ensure that the funding reforms are a success.

“This will include involving you in the detailed design of the new Apprenticeship Voucher mechanism announced on 17 March 2015, to ensure that the system is simple and easy to use.

“One of the most welcome elements of recent apprenticeship expansion has been the growth of Higher Apprenticeships, giving businesses and young people the opportunity to develop higher and specialist skills through the programme.

“We want to expand Higher and particularly Degree Apprenticeships to support growth and ensure that young people have more opportunities to secure a degree or postgraduate degree from a University through an apprenticeship route.”

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has pledged “urgent action” after inspectors visited a youth prison and uncovered a shocking regime “degrading treatment, racist comments and care from staff under the influence of illegal drugs”.

Among the horrific incidents recorded at Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre, near Rugby, was a young person having to wait for 15 hours for treatment on a fractured arm that “potentially occurred during a restraint”.

The inspection report, which resulted in an inadequate rating, added that staff had taken illegal drugs and “a finding of contraband DVDs in the centre is likely to be attributable to staff smuggling these in and raises a concern that young people were allowed to view inappropriate material they should not have been”.

An MoJ spokesperson said: “The safety and welfare of young people in custody is vital. This report has raised issues of serious concern at Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre. Urgent action will be taken to tackle the unacceptable failures raised in this report.”

The centre, for young people aged 12 to 18 who have been given a custodial sentence or are on remand, is run by outsourcing contractor G4S whose director of children’s services, Paul Cook (pictured below right), said it was recognised the report painted an “unacceptable” picture of the facility, designed to house up to 87 male and female young people.

It was visited by a team of inspectors from Ofsted social care and learning and skills departments, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Their report, published this week following a visit in February, said that young people’s “achievements in education” at the centre were “good” and their attendance was “outstanding”. Education is provided on site by G4S — a grade four-rated employer provider in its own right —  and there were 77 young people in residence when the inspection took place from February 3 to 13.

However, the report raised concern about “discord between healthcare services and other centre senior managers” that had “contributed significantly towards poorer performance regarding young people’s wellbeing and outcomes”.

It said: “On a number of occasions clear clinical advice was overruled by non-health qualified senior managers. Because of this one young person did not receive treatment for a fracture for approximately 15 hours.”

It added that “the volume of very poor staff behaviour warranting disciplinary measures is a serious concern”.

Action was called for by Oftsed “immediately” to ensure that “the senior leadership team should make every effort to ensure the accuracy of data relating to violence and reduce the number incidents”.

It also called for improvement to “the quality and use of learning resources in the classroom, especially the use of information technology, reference books and materials”.

A G4S spokesperson said that the “incidents referred to in the report took place in the previous 14 months, before the inspectors arrived”.

Mr Cook said: “This is an extremely disappointing report for everyone connected with Rainsbrook and it’s the first time in 16 years that the centre has been found by any inspecting body to be less than ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’.

“We recognise that the incidents highlighted by inspectors were completely unacceptable and took swift action at the time, in discussion with the Youth Justice Board (YJB).”

Lin Hinnigan, chief executive of the YJB, said: “Earlier this year, Ofsted informed the YJB of serious concerns in performance at Rainsbrook.

“As the safety and wellbeing of young people in custody is of paramount importance, and the YJB sets high standards to ensure it is maintained, we immediately required G4S to address the issues swiftly and effectively.

“Rainsbrook has new leadership in place and an action plan to improve recruitment and training is being implemented.

“We are confident that Rainsbrook will return to the high levels of performance and care it previously delivered.”

The Department for Education declined to comment.

Two Devon-based colleges that need to make around £4m savings between them over the next academic year could merge.

Exeter College, which received a grade one rating from Ofsted in February and needs to make £1m savings in 2015/16, and Petroc College, which received a grade two Ofsted rating in April 2012 and has predicted around a £3m budget shortfall for next academic year, are hiring independent consultants to carry out simultaneous structure and prospects appraisals.

Exeter College principal Richard Atkins (pictured above), president of the Association of Colleges, said he had postponed his retirement originally planned for Christmas by up to 12 months to oversee the process that could lead to merger.

“The reason that I have delayed my retirement is that two Devon Colleges, Exeter and Petroc, were advertising for principals at the same time,” he said.

“The [former] principal of Petroc [David Dodd] retired and left at Easter and both sets of governors asked me to stay on while the two colleges carried out, in tandem, strategic reviews, to consider if Petroc and Exeter should collaborate further in the future.

“These reviews are just beginning and will take until the autumn to report.”

He added: “I think both colleges are going to consider all options for working closer together, which could potentially include merger.”

Mr Atkins said that it was “sensible” for his college, which had 9,500 learners in January, to consider developing closer ties with its neighbour, in view of the financial challenges facing the sector.

“Exeter College has to make 2.5 per cent savings for 2015/16, which equates to approximately £1m on a turnover of £39m. We are doing this by reducing sub-contracting and a small number of job losses among support staff. Teaching and learning is unaffected,” he said.

He added: “My decision to postpone my retirement is entirely unrelated to the college making 2.5 per cent savings, which are significantly below college sector averages this year.”

Petroc announced in January that principal David Dodd was retiring, with Diane Dimond (pictured left) taking over as acting principal.

Mr Dodd became principal of the college, which has around 20,000 learners and was formed in August 2008, when North Devon College and East Devon College merged in January 2005.

The college’s chair of governors, Paul Petrides (pictured below right) said: “The structure and prospects appraisal is an exciting opportunity for us to investigate new delivery models and consider changes that are responsive to our learners, employers and the wider community.

“As our neighbouring college we are working with Exeter to look at how FE organisations could potentially work closer together.”

Ms Dimond, who will continue in her role as acting principal during the process, added: “Throughout this period it will be business as usual for our learners, staff and wider stakeholders. Our focus remains the delivery of high-quality education and training.”

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) said it would not comment on the colleges’ “own management decisions given that they operate independently”.

It comes after FE Week reported on May 1 that FE Commissioner Dr David Collins had launched a city-wide review of vocational education in Nottingham that is looking at merging Central College Nottingham and New College Nottingham (NCN).

It followed grade three Ofsted inspection results for both colleges over the last year and the revelation, reported in FE Week on April 20, that NCN plans for a multimillion pound campus revamp had to be saved by £12m funding from the local authority and Skills Funding Agency (SFA).

Dr David Collins was also sent into Greenwich Community College and Lewisham Southwark College in recent months after they both got grade four Ofsted results — the second in a row for Lewisham Southwark.

He launched structure and prospects assessments for both and while the report of Dr Collins’ second Lewisham Southwark inspection has not yet been published, a BIS spokesperson told FE Week that the two colleges had already entered into “discussions” with each other about a possible merger. It prompted calls for a similar area-wide review to the one happening in Nottingham, but for FE provision across South East London. BIS declined to comment on this.

The Prisoner Learning Alliance (PLA) has called on Business Secretary Sajid Javid and Justice Secretary Michael Gove to extend current Offender Learning and Skills Service (Olass) contracts by a year, to July 2017.

A report by the PLA said the extension would allow more time to update the terms of the current Olass4 contracts, so that issues including a 55.5 per cent fall in the number of the prisoners passing level three qualifications can be addressed.

PLA chair Alexandra Marks said: “Improving education in prison is a critical route to reduce the annual £9-13bn cost of repeat offending. We welcome the new Secretaries of State and invite them to seize this opportunity.”

The PLA report, entitled The Future of Prison Education Contracts, Delivering Better Outcomes, stated: “We are very aware of the costs and disruption for staff and learners that comes with re-competition.

“To avoid this, we would therefore recommend that the contracts are extended… subject to building in greater flexibilities and incentives to achieve better outcomes.”

Only 600 learners passed a level three qualification last academic year, a decrease of 55.5 per cent from 987 in 2012/13, according to the report. It added that 32,400 learners achieved a level two learning outcome last year, which was an increase of 11.2 per cent from 29,928 in 2012/13.

Meanwhile, there were 89,900 Olass learners in 2012/13, which increased by 6 per cent to 95,300 learners last academic year, the report said.

The Olass system was first rolled out across the country in 2006 and the Olass4 contracts agreed in August 2012 are currently set to end in July next year.

The Manchester College took over the £17m Olass4 contract for London in January from A4e, after a spokesperson for the welfare-to-work provider said that “delivering the service [in the capital] has become extremely challenging due to a number of constraints beyond our control”.

A spokesperson for the college, which also runs prison education in the North East, North West, Kent and Sussex, and Yorkshire and Humber regions, said that “longer contracting” would “encourage sustainable investment to promote quality improvements and better outcomes for offenders”.

The PLA’s report, published on Monday, May 18, said: “The number of level three courses supported by Olass being achieved in prison has halved since 2010 (from 1,200 to 600).

“The [current] structure of the Olass contract funds numbers of learners completing and attaining courses.

“It is therefore more difficult to deliver higher-level special interest courses that take longer to deliver with potentially less completions.”

It added that there should be better provision for prisoners with learning difficulties and more involvement from community and voluntary organisations to, for example, help boost literacy levels.

It also called for increased use of computer-based technology to complement traditional classroom-based teaching and more encouragement of prisoners who have passed a qualification to act as mentors to other inmates.

Prison governors, the report added, should be held more accountable “for the integration of education within the wider prison regime”.

Dr Paul Phillips (pictured right), principal of Weston College which currently runs prison education in the South West of England, said: “In terms of extending the Olass contracts I think this should only occur where Skills Funding Agency (SFA)/ National Offender Management Services are completely happy with a provider.”

He added: “Supporting learners to progress beyond level two is undertaken but not funded under Olass4. Information is provided about higher level study, but many offenders are reluctant to incur debt by taking out a learning loan.”

MK College, which currently holds the contracts for the South Central, East and West Midlands regions, and A4e, which still holds the East of England contract, declined to comment.

Mr Javid and Mr Gove also declined to comment. However, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: “Education plays a crucial role in the rehabilitation of offenders and we are fully committed to improving prisoner learning across our prison service.

“We will continue to work closely with the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) and the SFA to review and develop how we can best meet the learning needs of prisoners.”

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Skills Funding Agency, which directs Olass4 funding, declined to comment.

Garage chain Kwik Fit today returned to its former outstanding status with publication of its latest Ofsted report, having previously dropped to a grade three rating.

The employer provider, which had a January Skills Funding Agency allocation of £1.6m, had made “considerable improvements” since inspectors’ October 2013 visit, the result of which meant Kwik Fit had to stop running traineeships.

The education watchdog’s findings from its latest visit, last month, resulted in outstanding grades across all headline fields, however despite the new grading, Kwik Fit said it would not start running traineeships again

The Ofsted report said the improvement in learner outcomes since the last inspection had led “to a demonstrable impact on apprentices’ future career prospects” and praised 540-learner Kwik Fit’s “exceptional leadership and strong management” and “very knowledgeable and experienced tutors and assessors”.

Kwik Fit head of learning and development Paul Binks (pictured below) told FE Week the grade was “a resounding endorsement” of the company’s investment in its development programme.

“Our previous inspection was significantly affected by two poorly performing programmes which we had already cancelled,” he said.

“However, what’s clear is that our strategy to strengthen the core apprenticeship scheme has delivered excellent results in returning the high grades we have previously achieved.

“The report reflects our own day to day experiences – we believe that apprentices are vital to our company as they are our future leaders.

“Our apprentices are appointed into permanent roles and provided with a structured training mix of classroom theory, workshop practice and on the job coaching.

He added that almost nine in ten apprentices chose to stay on after completing.

Kwik Fit was among the first companies to offer traineeships following their introduction in August 2013, at which point its most recent inspection result was an outstanding from July 2008, but was barred from continuing the work experience-based programmes after being slapped with the grade three, ‘requires improvement’ rating.

The firm, which had a turnover of nearly £640m for the year ending March 2012, had already come under fire from the National Union of Students after advertising for trainees to work unpaid for 39 hours a week for 24 weeks.

But it will not be restarting a traineeship programme now that it is eligible. Mr Binks told FE Week: “We believe traineeships can provide a valuable stepping stone for those school leavers who are not quite ready to enter the world of work, but currently we have no plans to restart a traineeship programme.”

Kwik Fit has four training academies in Derby, Harlow, Reading and Broxburn.   A Kwik Fit Apprenticeship lasts around two years and provides a total of 91 Learning credits, said a company spokesperson.

Labour’s John Woodcock has replaced Yvonne Fovargue as Shadow Education Minister for Young People.

The MP for Barrow and Furness, in Cumbia, and former Shadow Transport Minister announced the appointment on Twitter this morning, saying he was “really pleased to be returning to Labour’s front bench”.

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

The Labour 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.

Mr Woodcock told FE Week this afternoon that he was “delighted” with the appointment, adding: “I have seen in my constituency the vital importance of good apprenticeships and strong FE institutions and am looking forward to getting out across the country to understand how government must improve to help young people get the chances they need.”

Ms Fovargue had been appointed to the post in October. She replaced Rushanara Ali, who resigned after refusing to support her party’s stance on military action in Iraq.

Ms Fovargue, who has taken on the role of Shadow Veterans Minister, said: “I have enjoyed my time in the education team. FE is such an important sector and brings immense value to the country, but faces a big challenge around funding.

“I know that John has the skills and knowledge to make a big impact and will be an excellent shadow minister.”

Mr Woodcock was first elected to represent Barrow and Furness in 2010 and was re-elected with 42.3 per cent of the vote in the May 7 General Election.

The father-of two and former journalist for the Scotsman was Shadow Transport Minister from 2010 to 2013.

His Labour profile said that he had to step down from the transport brief “as he recovered from a nasty fall off his attic ladder. He admitted suffering from depression triggered by the slow recovery from his accident and now campaigns to raise awareness of mental health issues, which affect one in four of us in any given year”.

He served on the House of Commons Defence Committee over the last two years.

 

Apprenticeship target a ‘significant challenge’

The creation of 3m apprenticeships by 2020 is a “significant challenge” that can only be achieved with more funding and employer engagement, sector leaders have said.

The Conservatives made the target acentral plank of their General Electionmanifesto.However, it would require a huge increase on the 2,208,100 apprenticeship starts over the five academic years from 2009/10 to 2013/14.

The most successful academic year during that period was 2011/12 which saw 520,600 starts, but it fell to 510,200 in 2012/13 after a minimum 12-month duration was introduced for apprenticeships in August 2012.

It slumped to 440,400 in 2013/14 and there would have to be a 36 per increase on that figure to achieve the 600,000 starts per year needed by 2020.

Concern also remains over whether there will be sufficient funding, improvements to  schools’ careers guidance on apprenticeships,and interest among small and medium-sized enterprises to produce the extra starts.

But the government’s tactics for achieving the 3m target will, according to new Business Secretary Sajid Javid in a Sky News interview on Tuesday (May 12), be laid out in an employment and apprenticeships bill set to unveiled in the Queen’s Speech.

Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said the target would be a “significant challenge” that “can be achieved if the government and others can persuade sufficient numbers of employers to recruit an apprentice”.

He said: “We will also need to ensure the careers advice, delivered by schools, gives a thorough explanation of the opportunities provided”.

Dr Lynne Sedgmore, executive director of the 157 Group, said: “Securing such an increase will rely on gaining much more buy-in from the employer community and that, in turn, is about making sure employers can see the value of engaging with skills training.”

David Hughes, chief executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, said the 3m target was “an ambitious yet important step”. He called for more “incentives for employers to take on apprentices”, the “quality bar” to be raised through a new apprentice charter, and traineeships to be given a “shot in the arm”.

Stewart Segal, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said there would need to be “improved careers guidance in schools and for adults, a streamlined system of contracting and funding that gives providers and employers greater certainty over planning, and a more considered approach to apprenticeship reform”.

He added: “Above all, it will need increased and sustained investment.” The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) confirmed in March that apprenticeship  funding would be protected from 24 per cent sector cuts with apprenticeship allocations “initially set at £770m”.

Nevertheless, Bedford College principal Ian Pryce tweeted on Monday (May 11) that the 3m target was still “not achievable” and called on the government to “allow us to use that funding for 19-24 full level three who get job after”.

John Allan, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said the government would need to “improve take-up among the UK’s 5.2m small businesses”.

“Apprenticeships must be affordable, have standards based on current industry practice, and the quality of training must give confidence to employers that apprenticeships will produce the skills they need,” he said.

A CBI spokesperson said: “Employers must have real control over standards and funding if more businesses are to step up and play their part.”

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills told FE Week that Mr Javid and Skills Minister Nick Boles were not available for comment.

Editor’s comment

The party political focus on FE and skills during the last Parliament was the greatest it has been in a long time, as that ‘parity of esteem’ mantra, trotted out to knowing nods and various seals of approval, showed.

And that focus has intensified with Prime Minister David Cameron putting a 3m apprenticeships target front and centre for his new Government.

It’s an aim the sector can take pride in being set. It’s a tribute, finally, to the economy-boosting powers of FE and skills.

Questions as to whether it’s a realistic aim and whether the methods by which it might be achieved would dilute the quality of provision are best left until we know more of the Government’s tactics.

But it has already shown commitment to the apprenticeship cause with safeguarded funding for the programme.

However, while this is something to be celebrated, at some point it will be worth reminding Skills Minister Boles that there’s more to FE and skills, at least for now, than apprenticeships.

It’s a reminder that will hopefully not be necessary for Business Secretary Javid (as himself a product of FE and skills).

Chris Henwood, FE Week editor

chris.henwood@feweek.co.uk