Skills Minister Nick Boles has tried to reassure colleges undergoing post-16 education and training area reviews that mergers were “nothing to be afraid of”.

He was told today by Shadow Consumer Affairs and Science Minister Yvonne Fovargue (pictured right) that colleges in her Makerfield constituency feared that their local Greater Manchester review launched last month with the “strong presumption” that mergers were “the only way forward”.

When the former Shadow Education Minister for Young People then asked, during the education questions in Parliament this afternoon, if other ways to achieve financial stability and good outcomes for learners would be given “serious consideration”, Mr Boles said: “We are certainly open to a whole range of options.”

But, he added: “I would disagree that there is somehow there is anything necessarily to be afraid of from mergers.

“A merger can mean that you save on a whole lot of administrative and management costs, so that you can actually put more money into paying for teachers doing the job we all want them to do.”

It comes after FE Commissioner Dr David Collins told delegates at the Higher and Further Education Show, in London on October 14, that “divorces” as well as “marriages” would be encouraged as viable options between colleges undergoing area reviews, as reported in edition 151 of FE Week.

Area reviews have so far been announced for 83 general FE colleges and sixth form colleges in the West Yorkshire, Tees Valley, Sussex Coast, Solent, Birmingham and Solihull, Greater Manchester, and Sheffield city areas.

However, a number of principals involved, along with sector leaders, have told FE Week of their concerns that school sixth forms were not necessarily subject to the reviews.

When questioned during today’s Commons hearing on the issue, Mr Boles said: “The regional school commissioner, who has responsibility for commissioning school provision in his or her area, is always going to be part of these reviews and can bring in the perspective of sixth forms in schools.

“But I don’t think he or she would think it practical to include every single school with a sixth form in this review and actually achieve a result.

“We are determined to achieve a result in a short space of time so we have strong, specialist insitutions able to achieve high quality education.”

Bob Blackman MP (pictured left) also asked Mr Boles what discussions had taken place over the “VAT treatment of SFCs”.

It comes after the government’s policy of continuing to charge SFCs VAT while schools and academies are entitled to a refund of the 20 per cent tax sparked a campaign for reform by the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association (SFCA), backed by sector leaders and dozens of MPs, before the May general election, as reported in FE Week. There has still been no change from the government so far on the issue.

But Mr Boles told MPs that he “entirely understands those arguments” and had “some sympathy with them”.

However, he said that any decision on this would lie with Chancellor George Osborne, which “we all wait for… with baited breath”.

He added that SFCs “might want to link up with groups of schools, with multi-academy trusts in order to be stronger themselves”.

An SFCA spokesperson told FE Week after the debate: “We hope that ending the unfair VAT treatment of SFCs will be a key priority in the spending review.”

She added: “We are very much in favour of academisation and the opportunity to link up with schools.”

College sector leaders will add their voices to an inquiry by the House of Lords Select Committee on Social Mobility tomorrow, discussing funding changes and how to improve employment opportunities for young people.

The witnesses will help the committee explore the choices and opportunities available to young people from age 14 in the UK education system. The evidence sessions will be the tenth and eleventh so far in the inquiry into social mobility in the transition from school to work.

The initial session will take place at 10.35am involving Pat Brennan-Barrett (pictured right), principal of Northampton College and chair of the higher education in FE Network at the Association of Colleges (AoC); and Malcolm Trobe, deputy general secretary of the Association of Schools and College Leaders (ASCL).

The second session, scheduled to begin an hour later, will focus on the development of University Technical Colleges (UTCs) and Studio Schools with witnesses David Nicholl, director of the Studio Schools Trust, and Charles Parker, chief executive of the Baker Dearing Educational Trust.

Issues the committee will explore with the witnesses include careers guidance, work experience, funding, performance measures and the role of Ofsted. The possible outcomes of the Government’s review of FE will also be discussed, as will inequality of provision for girls, black and minority ethnic (BAME) groups, and working-class boys.

The session will follow on from last week’s meeting on October 21, when the committee heard David Pollard, chair for education, skills and business support at the Federation of Small Businesses, call for the UK to define the first priority of the education system as preparing young people for work.

Maggie Walker, chief executive of awarding body Asdan, also spoke, saying that there was growing inequality and the group the committee is looking into actually encompasses the majority of young people.

Other witnesses who have contributed to the inquiry so far include former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg MP; Andrew Battarbee, deputy director, vocational education strategy, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS); and Oliver Newton, head of the Apprenticeship Growth, Strategy and Legislation Team, Department for Education and BIS.

The committee was formally appointed on Thursday, June 11, “to consider social mobility in the transition from school to work”, with Baroness Corston (main picture above) as chair. It is required to report its findings by March 23.

Follow @feweek for live coverage from 10.35am.

Ofsted boss Sir Michael Wilshaw told conference delegates that FE providers dishing out “dubious qualifications of little economic relevance” were among the “guilty parties” for apprenticeships failings.

The chief inspector was in an uncompromising mood today as he addressed the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) West Midlands education and skills conference, with a speech that officially launched the publication of Ofsted’s long-awaited apprenticeships report.

“Why is it that so many local firms are forced to rely on imported skilled labour because they find it impossible to find the right capabilities locally, and who is to blame for this?” Sir Michael asked delegates at the St John’s Hotel, in Solihull.

“In my opinion there are three guilty parties: schools, FE providers and… employers.”

Sire Michael called for an overhaul of the system for delivering apprenticeships, with a focus on Germany and Switzerland as examples of good practice.

He added the “snobbery” that has seen apprenticeships packaged as “the last chance for the academically challenged” has to end.

“The fact that only five per cent of our youngsters go into an apprenticeship at 16 is little short of a national disaster and a national tragedy,” he said.

His pulled no punches when offering guidance to both educators and employers.

He advised FE providers to specialise, rather than attempt “to be all things to all men and women”.

“Our inspection evidence shows that when they focus on the curriculum, when they concentrate on specialisms that meet local employment needs — standards invariably rise,” Sir Michael added.

“We are increasingly seeing providers, especially general FE colleges, failing because they’re not engaging with local businesses and not updating their courses to match local needs.”

Sir Michael was equally unforgiving, when addressing the many employers in the audience.

He said: “It’s no good carping from the sidelines about standards, if you don’t get involved yourselves.”

He recommended that businesses should lead by example — through sponsoring academies, engaging with curriculum design, and supporting employees who act as school governors.

Addressed business leaders directly, he added: “This is my challenge to you, organise yourselves, it’s no use waiting for others to put structures in pace and then bemoaning the progress made. Use your networks and knowledge to find solutions.”

Sir Michael claimed that low level apprenticeships were “wasting public money”.

“They’re abusing the trust placed in them by government and apprentices to deliver meaningful, high quality training,” he said.

Sir Michael added that Ofsted would not “shy away” from reporting failures, and called on funding agencies and the government to “continue to be prepared to withdraw finance from those employers and providers who abuse the system”.

“I urge government to be radical in its reform of this sector. We’ve indulged in mediocrity for far too long and we should no longer accept it,” he said.

Sir Michael added: “An apprenticeship isn’t endless tea making, shelf stacking or envelope stuffing. It is not an induction course, or a six week in house training scheme. It is not a badge for doing what is already being done.

“An apprenticeship is quality training, delivered over a long period, which meets real business needs and is regularly assessed by experts.”

Hackney Community College went up an Ofsted grade to good today as it became the first FE and skills provider rated under the new common inspection framework — but the revamped report itself came under fire.

The 6,200-learner East London college was inspected from September 29 to October 2, having previously been visited by the education watchdog in March last year with the resulting 19-page report featuring grade three — ‘requires improvement’ — ratings in each of the four headline fields.

The latest report, at 10 pages long, paints a rosier picture at the college, with eight out of the now-nine headline fields being rated as good and the other as requires improvement.

But the document itself has drawn criticism for a”broad brush stroke but superficial approach” from former Ofsted inspector Phil Hatton (pictured right), who now works as an adviser at the Learning Improvement Services.

Numerical gradings, previously listing outstanding as one and good as two and so on, have been dropped from the new reports along with round-up tables that used to sit towards the back of Ofsted reports. There was also a new pared-down colour scheme of light blue, black and white.

The changes come as part of Ofsted’s new unified framework, introduced from September across the FE and skills, early years and schools sectors.

“The style is more readable but in attempting to cover, judge and write about the work of a whole college, the level of sampling and applying findings more widely to the whole is a very difficult one to get right and have confidence in,” said Mr Hatton.

He added: “They will evolve but first thoughts are that they would benefit from more meat about what a college is doing well so that others can benefit”.

Further key changes in the new-style inspection reports include a new focus on learners’ personal development, behaviour and welfare, and a change from reporting on subject areas to types of provision.

Types of provision that can be covered in FE and skills inspection reports include 16 to 19 study programmes, adult learning programmes, apprenticeships, provision for learners with high needs, traineeships and full-time provision for 14- to 16-year-olds.

A spokesperson for Ofsted ruled out the return of the numerical grading system in reports, said: “In line with our common inspection framework we have sought to make our reports clearer, more straightforward and more closely comparable across remits”.

Hackney Community College’s Ofsted lead, deputy principal Lois Fowler, was unavailable for comment on the new-style report.

However, Hackney college principal Ian Ashman (pictured above) said he was “delighted” at the result of his inspection. Among its comments was the statement that “since the previous inspection, leaders and managers have successfully focused on precise improvement actions and outcomes for learners and teaching; learning and assessment are now good.”

Mr Ashman said: “The report reads extremely strongly, with praise for all departments of the college, for students, staff, managers and governors.”

A spokesperson for the Association of Colleges declined to comment on the new style reports, adding that it was more appropriate for college principals to comment.

More than 50 employers and apprentices have been recognised in the latest round of National Apprenticeship Awards ceremonies.

The event took place for the South East region on Wednesday (October 21), and Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Staffordshire, and South West, Thames Valley and Solent last night (October 22).

Awards and special commendations went to 26 apprentices, aged between 18 and 67 years old, and 28 employers.

Sue Husband, director of the National Apprenticeship Service, said that the “winners are the best of the best in the region and I would like to congratulate them on their achievements”.

“They deserve to be rewarded for their efforts,” she added. “There has never been a better time to become an apprentice or employ one.”

Skills Minister Nick Boles also said that he wanted to pass on “a big congratulations” to all the winners.

It comes after awards ceremonies for the North West (including Liverpool, Cumbria and Lancashire), South West, Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands, and North East took place between October 8 and October 15, as reported in FE Week.

Awards and special commendations went to 47 apprentices and 53 employers for those regions.

Ceremonies for the final two regions will be held next week — for the East of England on Tuesday (October 27) and the East Midlands on Wednesday (October 29).

 

Main picture above: The winners at the Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Staffordshire awards ceremony

 

Here are the latest winners and highly commended apprentices and employers:

South East

Winners:

McDonald’s Award for Intermediate Apprentice of the Year: Freya Ward, Napier Partnership Ltd

EAL Award for Advanced Apprentice of the Year: Yasmin Stageman, IBM

The Nuclear Decommissioning Site Licence Companies Award for the Higher Apprentice of the Year: Thomas Cope, IBM

City & Guilds Award for Apprenticeship Champion of the Year: Martha Kempsford, Kentucky Fried Chicken

Unilever Award for Small Employer of the Year: Snow-Camp

BAE Systems Award for Large Employer of the Year: Arqiva

BT Award for Macro Employer of the Year: Kent County Council

EDF Energy Award for Newcomer SME of the Year: Travelbag

Rolls-Royce Award for Newcomer Large Employer of the Year: Be Wiser Insurance

 

Highly Commended:

Sophie Hannington, Hampshire County Council IBM

Emma Pople, IBM

Tarnya Gardiner, level three, Base Connections Telemarketing Ltd

Daniel Brown, Visa Europe

SGN

British Army

KFC GB Ltd

Andreas Stihl Ltd

 

South West, Thames Valley and Solent

Winners:

McDonald’s Award for Intermediate Apprentice of the Year: Jodie Cook, South West Apprenticeship Company Ltd/Rosebank Health

EAL Award for Advanced Apprentice of the Year: William Jacobs, IBM United Kingdom Limited

The Nuclear Decommissioning Site Licence Companies Award for the Higher Apprentice of the Year: James Garnham, Cisco Systems Ltd

City & Guilds Apprenticeship Champion of the Year: Kevin Haydock, Royal Naval Armaments Depot (RNAD), Gosport

The E.ON in partnership with the National Skills Academy for Power Award for Medium Employer of the Year: Isys Intelligent Systems

BAE Systems Award for Large Employer of the Year: Clarkson Evans Ltd

BT Award for Macro Employer of the Year: Amey Plc

EDF Energy Award for Newcomer SME of the Year: Buckinghamshire Care

Rolls-Royce Award for Newcomer Large Employer of the Year: Microsoft UK

 

Highly Commended:

Christopher Daniels, Parsloe Consulting

Louise Holton, level two, South West Apprenticeship Company Ltd

Jordan Wilshire, level three, Vector Aerospace Helicopter Services UK

Jessica Quinn, level four, Cisco Systems Ltd

Crayon Limited

DAF Trucks

Virgin Media

Gigney Enterprises CIC

Hovis Ltd

 

Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Staffordshire

Winners:

McDonald’s Award for Intermediate Apprentice of the Year: Laura Broughton, Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service

EAL Award for Advanced Apprentice of the Year: Sophie Knight, IBM

The Nuclear Decommissioning Site Licence Companies Award for the Higher Apprentice of the Year: Jade Aspinall, MBDA UK Ltd

Unilever Award for Small Employer of the Year: Adary Joiners

The E.ON in partnership with the National Skills Academy for Power Award for Medium Employer of the Year: Tangerine PR

BAE Systems Award for Large Employer of the Year: KMF

BT Award for Macro Employer of the Year: United Utilities

EDF Energy Award for Newcomer SME of the Year: Metamorphic PR

Rolls-Royce Award for Newcomer Large Employer of the Year: ao.com

 

Highly Commended:

Zachary Keneally-Smith, Greater Manchester Police

John Jones, Keepmoat Regeneration LTD

Connor Stevenson, Raise the Youth Foundation

Ryan Atwell, Barclays Bank Plc

Anna Schlautmann, MBDA UK Ltd

Sarah Herrington, United Utilities

Wardworth Ltd t/a Ladderstore

Heat Trace Ltd; UKFast

Aspire Group; Barclays RBB Technology

Elior UK

 

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Ofqual chief Glenys Stacey has spelled out how its “transparent” audit system will work under the new Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF).

Ms Stacey told the Federation of Awarding Bodies’ conference today that Ofqual would be publishing the results of its audits, as she challenged awarding bodies to create qualifications that are “valid”.

“We will be transparent about our work,” Ms Stacey said. “We will publish the outcomes of audits and scrutinies as we complete them, so that all of you, not just those of you involved in each audit, can consider what you can learn from them.

She added: “We will be checking too that our regulations and processes are doing what they need to do.

“We will be making sure that compliance is likely to lead to good outcomes so that we are not placing unnecessary burden on you, or getting in the way of those good outcomes.”

The RQF, Ofqual’s new framework for vocational qualifications, came into effect on October 1, as reported in FE Week.

It is designed to have fewer rules than its predecessor, the Qualifications Credit Framework (QCF).

“There is no longer a straitjacket,” Ms Stacey said at the conference in Leicester.

Under the new RQF, she added, qualifications should be “more valid, relevant and fit-for-purpose”.

Awarding bodies will need to be “flexible, adaptable, innovative” to respond to a new environment where employers and learners have more say over qualifications, rather than decisions being made by central government, she said.

Ms Stacey warned that learners “will want to know what value the qualification will add to their earning potential”.

“Employers will [also] want to know whether people with particular qualifications can really demonstrate the skills and activities they say they can,” she added.

Now that the rules of the QCF have been removed, Ms Stacey urged awarding bodies to “innovate” and “adopt new and different ways” of designing qualifications.

“You can decide what works best. Not decisions about how to meet rules,” she said.

However, Ms Stacey warned, “we won’t tell you how to meet our conditions”.

Ofqual’s requirements, she said, would provide a “firm foundation”, but “we will not come to your rescue”.

Instead, she said that awarding bodies should engage with “your customers, your learners and those who rely on your qualifications” to develop valid and relevant qualifications.

Awarding bodies will be deemed to be successful if people chose them — “not because they’re funded, but because they trust and value them,” she added.

[Photo: Glenys Stacey speaking at the Federation of Awarding Bodies conference. Credit: Osborne Photography]

Experienced troubleshooter Ian Clinton has temporarily taken charge at Stafford College, following the resignation of previous principal Beverley Smith.

Mr Clinton, who saw Stockport College’s Ofsted rating improve from ‘inadequate’ to ‘requires improvement’ during a short stint in charge, will start as interim principal at Stafford on November 4.

His appointment comes after Ms Smith resigned earlier this month, following five votes of no confidence from staff and management.

Chair of governors Mark Winnington said: “We are looking forward to Ian bringing his expertise to the college and supporting the staff and students.”

Mr Clinton, who was awarded an OBE in the New Year’s Honours list for services to FE, was interim principal at Stockport College from around February 2014 to April this year.

He oversaw rapid improvement from a grade four Ofsted rating, that was slapped on the college (in November 2013) before he took over, to grade three in January.

Mr Clinton (pictured above) previously led Blackburn College from 2004 until the end of 2013.

It was rated by Ofsted as good in eight curriculum areas, satisfactory in five and outstanding in hairdressing and beauty therapy in May 2004, before improving to outstanding across-the-board in January 2008.

Ms Smith’s resignation from Stafford College, which received a grade three-across-the-board Ofsted rating last November, was reported in FE Week on October 14.

She had been the focus of growing unrest and concern among staff at the college, amid allegations that she was operating a regime of “crippling workloads, rising stress levels and a culture of fear”.

Ms Smith (pictured right), who took over at the college early last year, received five votes of no confidence from staff and management, including members of UCU, in June, as reported by FE Week.

According to reports in the local media, up to 150 members of staff took part in a protest outside the college, calling for Ms Smith’s resignation.

However, following a four-hour meeting on June 29, governors concluded that there was “no evidence presented which would support any action to be taken against the principal”.

Mr Clinton was unavailable for comment on his new appointment, but said in an FE Week expert piece he wrote in February on his experiences at Stockport: “Taking on the principal’s role at a college that has been called ‘toxic’ is not for the faint-hearted.

“I believe you need to take on such a role for the right reasons, namely to make a difference for students, staff, the local community together with businesses.”

Skills Funding Agency (SFA) finance director Paul McGuire is stepping down next month — which will clear the way for responsibilities falling under his remit to be shared with the Education Funding Agency (EFA), FE Week can reveal.

The announcement was made by Peter Lauener (pictured below left), who became chief executive of both agencies in November, in an email to partner organisations that has been shown to FE Week.

It said that Mr McGuire (pictured above) would be stepping down at the end of next month.

“At that point Paul’s responsibilities will be split,” Mr Lauener added in the email.

“His responsibilities for financial management and assurance and for ICT [information and communications technology] systems and digital, as well as premises will be managed by Simon Parkes, who is currently chief financial official in the EFA,” he said.

He added that Mr Parkes would also lead “the establishment of a shared finance and system operation which will cover both EFA and SFA”.

The decision will raise further questions about the long-term futures of the EFA and SFA as separate entities.

It comes after Mr Lauener answered questions on the possible merger of both agencies, during a House of Commons Public Accounts Committee hearing on Monday (October 19).

He told MPs that he was working on delivering “savings” for both, but “actually took the job on the basis that there was no planned merger”.

An FE Week report earlier this month also revealed details of a leaked Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) memo suggesting plans to more than halve the number of its partner organisations by 2020.

Meanwhile, Mr Lauener said in the leaked email, which was dated October 12, that he planned to “take responsibility for our [the SFA’s] legal team” following Mr McGuire’s departure.

Mr McGuire’s responsibilities for funding allocations, the central delivery service, and human resources would pass to the SFA’s former interim chief executive Keith Smith (pictured left), who is currently the agency’s director of funding and programmes, the email added.

Mr Lauener was full of praise for Mr McGuire, saying that he “has been a driving force for change and quality and he has also been a passionate advocate of the skills agenda”.

A Skills Funding Agency spokesperson said: “Paul McGuire has taken the decision to move on and will be leaving the SFA at the end of November.

“We are working to further realise the opportunities to be gained from closer working with the EFA, as part of our ongoing efforts to make our systems simpler and more effective.”

The EFA was unable to comment ahead of publication.