Pearson has stopped certificating a higher education course at Sussex Coast College Hastings (pictured) because of concerns over a “lack of rigour” with grading and enrolments.

A report published by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) this month following an inspection in February was highly critical of the higher national certificate (HNC) in business (management) delivered through “distance learning” at the grade two Ofsted-rated college.

It stated that students without standard-entry qualifications were only required to complete a 100-word statement to be enrolled and “in the view of the [inspection] team this is not a sufficiently robust assessment tool”.

It added that Pearson, which is the awarding organisation for the course, had “highlighted some issues relating to the lack of rigour in the internal verification process resulting in grades being too high”.

“As a result, Pearson had ‘blocked’ the programme,” the QAA report said.

It called on the 6,000-learner college to submit “an action plan to address the issues” next month.

College principal Clive Cooke said: “The college is working very closely with QAA, Pearson and the Higher Education Funding Council for England to address the recommendations and has already submitted an action plan with the aim to implement all recommendations by the end of the academic year.”

The QAA report said that private Middlesex-based education support services firm Acquire Learning had acted as a “recruitment agency [for the college course] providing guidance through the application stage and making offers to standard-entry students”.

An Acquire Learning spokesperson said: “There were some teething issues with this course but the college has made considerable steps to address these. The admissions process is quite robust.”

A spokesperson for Pearson said the college was not registering students on the course “while they work to address the issues identified”.

She added: “We continue to work with the college to ensure standards are met and maintained.”

Sector leaders have welcomed Sajid Javid’s “experience” of FE after David Cameron announced he would take over as Business Secretary.

Mr Javid’s appointment was announced this morning and comes after Liberal Democrat former Business Secretary Vince Cable lost his Twickenham seat in last Thursday’s election.

The appointment of the Bromsgrove MP (pictured above), a former Parliamentary Private Secretary to ex-Skills Minister John Hayes who has served in two Treasury positions and as Culture Secretary since his election in 2010, has been welcomed by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) and Association of Colleges (AoC).

Stewart Segal (inset, top), chief executive of the AELP, said Mr Javid would come to the post with experience having “worked closely” with Mr Hayes.

He added: “A bill on apprenticeships is expected in the Queen’s Speech and AELP looks forward to discussing with the new ministerial team at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills [BIS] how training providers can play a key role in delivering the targeted growth for the programme while maintaining quality.

“As the Secretary of State also has experience as a backbencher on employment issues, we will be encouraging him to work closely with the Department for Work and Pensions on bringing about more integrated employment and skills provision to help greater numbers of people achieve sustainable employment.”

Martin Doel (inset, bottom), chief executive of the AoC, said: “We congratulate Sajid Javid on his appointment to the role of Business Secretary. He brings with him experience of working with the former Skills Minister and of working with colleges in the creative industries in his previous post at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

“We look forward to meeting and working with him and talking to him about the vital work that colleges do in providing high-quality technical and professional education and training for young people, adults and employers. No doubt the Secretary of State will recognise this as a former student of the now South Gloucestershire and Stroud College.”

Mr Doel said colleges would play a “key role” in the creation of the 3m apprenticeship starts pledged in the Conservative Party manifesto, and added that the AoC would be encouraging Mr Javid to ensure those “many millions of adults not eligible for an apprenticeship” were able to access training.

 

Main picture: Sajid Javid in Downing Street today. Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Nick Boles is to continue to serve as Skills Minister, Prime Minister David Cameron has announced.

The newly-re-elected MP for Grantham and Stamford was called to Number 10 Downing Street a short while ago and joked with journalists on his way in.

Mr Boles took over as Skills Minister last July when the previous minister Matthew Hancock was promoted to attend cabinet as a business and energy minister.

The role will continue to be split between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Education and will include additional responsibilities for trade union and employment law.

Mr Hancock has now been appointed as Minister for the Cabinet Office, and will take charge of civil service reform.

It was confirmed earlier that Nicky Morgan will continue her work as Education Secretary and Sajid Javid will take on the role of Business Secretary in Mr Cameron’s majority Conservative government.

Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna and Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt remain in their jobs following a partial reshuffle of the shadow cabinet by acting Labour leader Harriet Harman.

See next week’s FE Week, dated May 18, for more information and reaction.

The chief executive of Skills Show organisers Find a Future Ross Maloney (pictured above) is to leave for the Scouts at the end of next month, it has been announced.

Mr Maloney, who has overseen the Skills Show since its inception in 2012 and was the subject of an FE Week profile in June 2013, is returning to his previous employers the Scouts, as director of operations.

He told FE Week: “I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to lead and build Find a Future, in partnership with the board, staff and stakeholders, to deliver life changing experiences for so many young people.”

He said the organisation was “strong” and had “a bright future”.

“I know that through the iterative innovations across the organisation’s activities it will continue to exceed already high expectations and create real impact in championing further education, skills and apprenticeships,” added Mr Maloney.

It comes a fortnight after the Edge Foundation was unveiled as new lead sponsors of the Skills Show for 2015, with City & Guilds’ three-year agreement having come to its natural end.

Just two months after Mr Maloney leaves, competitors for the UK team for WorldSkills 2015, chosen, supported and coached by Find a Future, are due to jet off for the competition in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The final team line-up is due to be selected on Saturday, May 23.

Find a Future chair Carole Stott (pictured below right) said: “Under Ross’s leadership, Find a Future has made a huge contribution to skills across the UK and internationally.

“It has developed the nation’s largest skills and careers event, the Skills Show, which has pioneered a modern and dynamic model of careers information and advice for young people.”

Mr Maloney joined UK Skills in 2009 as operations director in the run up to WorldSkills 2011 in London 2011, and became chief executive, first of the Skills Show and then of Find a Future when it was formed on 2014 to oversee both the Skills Show and skills competitions.

Ms Stott added: “Ross leaves Find a Future in good health and with ambitious plans for how we continue to develop and grow our impact. The board is very grateful for Ross’s huge contribution and we thank him and wish him well in his new role.”

The board was working to find a new chief executive through “a robust executive recruitment process,” she said.

“Meanwhile, the current management team, supported by me and our deputy chair David Cragg, will ensure that the organisation’s programme continues to be delivered,” added Ms Stott.

Mr Maloney worked in a range of roles at the Scouts between joining them in 2002 and leaving as head of head of activities and international affairs in 2009.

A spokesperson for the Scouts confirmed Mr Maloney’s appointment. The organisation was expected to issue a statement tomorrow.

Former Culture Secretary Sajid Javid has been appointed to run the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Mr Javid will take over the post of Business Secretary in David Cameron’s new majority Conservative government, moving from his old post at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Sajid Javid has been appointed as the Secretary of State for Business.

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) May 11, 2015

It comes after Liberal Democrat Vince Cable, who served in the post for the last five years, lost his seat in Twickenham to the Conservatives on Thursday.

Elected as the MP for Bromsgrove in the West Midlands in 2010, Mr Javid rose through the ranks quickly, promoted to serve as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from September 2012 to October 2013 and Financial Secretary until April 2014, when he was appointed to replace Maria Miller at DCMS following her resignation over an expenses scandal.

He also served for a period as Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Hayes, the former Skills Minister.

Mr Javid was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, but moved to Bristol with his family at an early age, where he was educated at a comprehensive school near the city and at Filton Technical College, now part of South Gloucestershire and Stroud College.

Mr Cameron has already confirmed Nicky Morgan will continue to serve as Education Secretary, while further announcements, including Skills Minister, are expected to be made later today.

The Association of School and College Leaders has reacted to news that Nicky Morgan will continue to serve as Education Secretary under the new Conservative majority government.

Ms Morgan, who replaced Michael Gove in the job last July, was re-elected as MP for Loughborough on Thursday with an increased majority as the Conservatives stormed to power with 331 seats.

And the Prime Minister’s office confirmed last night that Ms Morgan would continue to serve in her cabinet role.

Brian Lightman (pictured right), general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “ASCL welcomes Nicky Morgan’s reappointment as Secretary of State for Education and we look forward to working with her during this Parliament.”

He added: “In the constructive dialogue with the Secretary of State, to which we very much look forward, we will be proposing how we can work with government to create the conditions for us collectively to achieve that ambitious and compelling vision for the future of our education service.”

It was also announced yesterday that Mr Gove, who was effectively demoted to the post of government chief whip last summer, is the new Justice Secretary.

The new Business Secretary is expected to be announced tomorrow, replacing Dr Vince Cable, who claimed last October to have fought off suggestions from civil servants in 2010 to cut budgets to a level that would have “killed off FE”, became one of the most high-profile casualties of the General Election on Thursday (May 7) when he lost his Twickenham seat to the Conservatives.

Ms Morgan had already received the Prime Minister’s backing to continue in the role in the event of a Conservative victory, and told FE Week sister newspaper FE Week last weekend that she wanted to stay on.

Speaking during a Q&A with journalists at the NAHT conference, Ms Morgan said: “The Prime Minister said in a speech he gave back in March, he talked about me continuing in the role, and I couldn’t be clearer about how much I love doing this job and very much hope to continue.”

Former Skills Minister Matthew Hancock has been installed as favourite to take over from fallen Liberal Democrat heavyweight Dr Vince Cable as Business Secretary.

Meanwhile, Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna is the bookies’ favourite to succeed Ed Miliband as Labour leader, while former education and skills select committee member Tim Farron [subject of an FE Week profile in February] is being hotly tipped as the man to lead the Liberal Democrats back from electoral oblivion.

Dr Cable, who claimed last October to have fought off suggestions from civil servants in 2010 to cut budgets to a level that would have “killed off FE”, became one of the most high-profile casualties of the General Election on Thursday (May 7) when he lost his Twickenham seat to the Conservatives.

The economist and former Liberal Democrat deputy leader (pictured left) was first elected to Parliament in 1997 and had increased his majority every year until 2010, when he won by more than 12,000 votes.

Ladbrokes was today offering odds of just 5/1 against him being succeeded as Business Secretary by Mr Hancock, who was Skills Minister before being appointed Business, Enterprise and Energy Minister last July, making the Tory favourite for the post.

Ladbrokes spokesperson Alex Donohue said: “The rumour mill has been churning and by no means is political betting slowing down [after the General Election] as punters speculate on future appointments.”

Mr Umunna (below right) was favourite this afternoon among bookies to take over as Labour leader, with Betfair, Paddy Power and BetVictor offering odds of 2/1, Betfred 15/8 and Ladbrokes 13/8.

Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt was fifth favourite with each of the same bookies, also behind Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, and Dan Jarvis, with his odds ranging from 12/1 to 14/1.

The bookies were not offering odds on whether Nick Boles would stay on as Skills Minister in the new government, with Prime Minister David Cameron expected to announce the make-up his first all-Tory government on Monday.

Mr Boles told FE Week yesterday (May 8) that Mr Cameron had not yet discussed this with him, as he had “been really busy with going to see the Queen and attending a VE Day event”.

Meanwhile, Ladbrokes installed Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Mr Farron (pictured left) as 1/6 favourite to be the next leader of the Liberal Democrats following the resignation of Nick Clegg, with Paddy Power also offering 1/5 odds.

Sector leaders have issued their responses to the Conservative victory in the general election.

Martin Doel (pictured right), chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “After offering our congratulations to the new Government, our message is simple – if you want to boost this country’s economy, then the education and training provided by colleges, whether technical and professional or academic, is essential.

“We are deeply concerned that the Conservatives were the only main party not to pledge to ringfence funding for 16 to 18-year-olds.

“This leaves college students extremely vulnerable to further cuts and we appeal to the Prime Minister to think again before risking the education and training opportunities of thousands of young people.

“The Conservative Party manifesto promises to increase the number of apprenticeships, but we must recognise that quality is as important as quantity.

“Apprenticeships are also not the only way to give people the skills they need to get a job.

“For the country to stay competitive and cohesive, we need a wider offer to people to develop themselves and to keep learning. We simply can’t afford to put all of education and training eggs in the apprenticeship basket.

“The adult skills budget has experienced a swathe of cuts in the last few years and we’ve already warned that adult education and training in England will not exist by 2020 if the Government continues with cuts at the same rate.

“We will press the new government to carry out a once in a generation review of education funding to make sure the budget is being fairly divided across the age ranges.

“Skills gaps are beginning to appear in our economy, particularly at technician level, which is where colleges must have a leading role. Colleges are vital to the country in developing a highly skilled and productive workforce but in order to fulfil this role they need the resources to do the job.”

Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE (pictured left), executive director of the 157 Group, said that the Tory win was “of course, surprising”.

“We are especially sad to say goodbye to Vince Cable, who has been very supportive of FE despite the difficult times we have been facing over the past few years. We pay tribute to his work,” she said.

“We will, of course, be engaging with new Conservative ministers on behalf of our member colleges as soon as possible, and we will be working hard to ensure that colleges are given genuine freedoms in order that they can continue to be responsive to the needs of local communities and employers.

“There are now real risks from further spending cuts, but we will be strongly demonstrating the undoubted contribution of FE to the economy in a way that we hope will be hard to resist within the Treasury.

“The Conservative commitment to both apprenticeships and UTCs was made clear during the campaign, and our focus will be on making sure that these initiatives form part of a more coherent whole education system.”

James Kewin, Sixth Form Colleges’ Association deputy chief executive (pictured below right), said: “We look forward to working with the new government but the sector faces some significant challenges that need to be urgently addressed. We are now resigned to the fact that he A-level reforms will be here to stay. There was a lot of uncertainty in the sector about what would happen in that respect if Labour had been elected.

“The biggest issue to us is about future funding cuts, as the Conservatives were the only major party that said they wouldn’t protect 16 to 19 funding in real terms.

“The evidence is clear that the sector has already been cut to the bone and we won’t be able to absorb more cuts without it having an adverse affect on students. We will make it a priority to step out the evidence of the damage past cuts have already done to the sector and argue against any more ahead of the upcoming spending review.”

A spokesman for the University and College Union said: “The government set out plans for some very dangerous cuts ahead of the election and the sector reacted in unity against them.

“The return of a Conservative majority means the sector must redouble its efforts in making the case for FE.

“Those cuts need to be reversed. If they are not then it will be a very difficult time for colleges, the economic recovery will be put at risk and social cohesion in our communities will suffer.

“Whoever picks up the FE brief has to understand that you will not get people back to work without supporting a sector that trains and educates those people.”

David Hughes (pictured left), chief executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace), said: “Despite the loss of some champions for our sector, there are still many MPs from all parties for whom learning, skills and employment are high priorities.

“We know that many new MPs feel the same. There is a strong cross-party consensus about the skills and employment challenges we face as a country as we strive for sustained and inclusive economic growth as well as for a society where everyone has real life chances.

“We have already set out the priorities for the new Government’s first 100 days in our ‘Ten Policies for Ten People’ proposals. We will be promoting our pragmatic policy proposals with the new Government and look forward to working with what will be a new Ministerial team.”

Stewart Segal, Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) chief executive, said: “We recognise the significance of the Conservatives’ election victory and we will work with the new government as it implements its manifesto.

“We welcome that employment and skills were at the centre of the government’s manifesto because there is a proven return on investment in these programmes in terms of the economy, business competitiveness and wage growth for people in sustainable employment.

“We also welcome the fact that government wishes to grow high quality apprenticeships and that these should be available across all levels and all ages.”

Mr Segal (pictured below right) added: “Reducing youth unemployment must remain a major priority and we look forward to discussing with the government how for example the proposals for a new Youth Allowance for unemployed 18 to 21 year olds will be linked to apprenticeships and traineeships.

“AELP’s own manifesto called for greater integration of employment and skills programmes and we believe that it will be a wasted opportunity if we don’t see more progress on this during the next five years.

“We will work with the government on developing major programmes for the long-term unemployed, including the ‘Work Programme’ and ‘Work Choice’.

“We will urge ministers to drive more coherence between programmes for the unemployed, including more integrated contracting processes, success measures and provider payment methodologies.

“The inclusion of LEPs in the Conservative manifesto is an important aspect of the English devolution agenda.  This needs to be integrated with national programmes such as apprenticeships, traineeships and the main welfare-to-work programme.

“Skills and employment will continue to be a driver behind a sustained economic recovery and training providers will continue to be at the forefront of that delivery.”

Cap main pic: Victorious Conservative Party leader David Cameron