The winner of the FE Week and Me Photography Competition (in partnership with NCFE) has spoken of her surprise after receiving more than 41 per cent of the public vote.

Mikaela Mae Cobby (pictured below), an 18-year-old photography level three extended diploma learner at Stoke-on-Trent College, was one of 10 entrants shortlisted in the photography student category, and after 2,562 votes were cast online, has been named as the winner.

In her entry, one of more than 980 across the photography student and non-photography student categories, Mikaela used a joiner image to show the different stages of a girl’s educational life, against the backdrop of a zebra crossing.

As the winner of the competition, she will receive a prize of a Nikon D5100 Camera Kit and the opportunity to take part in a work shadowing placement with a professional photographer.

Mikaela, who lives in the Sneyd Green area of Stoke with her family and is in her second year at the college, said: “I was really surprised. I have never really entered something like this before so to find out I had won was quite a shock.

“I first got into photography when I was on a residential university open event when I was in year 11 and there was a professional photographer there who was showing us all the things you could do, and it’s been an interest ever since.

“I’m not too sure what I’m going to do in the future. I really like the entertainment industry so I am considering a media course so I can go into directing, but photography will always be a passion of mine.”

Entrants to the competition were asked to submit an image which represented life in the FE and skills sector.

Mikaela added: “The concept behind my image is that the crossing represents a guided education, like school, where you are told what to do and how to do it.

“But then you reach college which gives you the freedom to choose what you want to do and how to do it, and so the stepping onto the pavement represents the end to this guided path and onto a path that you choose yourself.

“I did this by creating a joiner image that shows the same girl progressing through education as the crosses the road.”

Shane Mann, managing director of Lsect, which publishes FE Week, was one of the judges. He said: “We were seriously impressed by the calibre of the entries, and Mikaela’s was one of the ones which really stood out. We are not surprised she won such a high share of the public vote.

“What I really liked was that it showed her evolution from a child into a college learner and the freedoms which were expressed in how she could wear her own clothes and was no longer constrained by things like uniform and had become herself.”

The FE Week and Me Photography Competition was sponsored by NCFE and supported by the Royal Photographic Society.

A report for the Local Government Association (LGA) claiming more than £800m of public money went on teenagers who dropped out of post-16 education “shines a light on failing careers advice in this country,” Association of Colleges chief executive Martin Doel (pictured above) has said.

Analysis for the LGA by the Centre for Economic & Social Inclusion (CESI) claims the cost to taxpayers of education and skills provision started in 2012/13 but not completed was £814 million – 12 per cent of all government spending on post-16 education and skills.

According to the estimates, this was made up of £316m from AS and A-level, £302m from FE and  £196m from apprenticeships and prompted Coun David Simmonds (pictured right), chair of the LGA’s children and young people board, to blame a “centralised bums on seats approach”.

But Mr Doel said there could be many reasons for young people not finishing their course and, like Mr Simmonds, pointed towards careers guidance reforms as part of the solution.

“Further education colleges educate and train over 830,000 16 to 18-year-olds every year and the LGA’s report confirms that FE student retention rates have improved markedly in recent years,” said Mr Doel.

“Colleges provide a tailored learning experience which is constantly developing to meet current and future local needs with expert teachers, industry-standard facilities and a close on-going relationship with local employers of all sizes.

“College student success rates, a combination of retention and achievement, are 86.7 per cent. This is a remarkable achievement.

“The reasons why some young people don’t finish their course are complex. Sometimes they get a job and therefore leave education. They might also change course which the data doesn’t necessarily take account of.

“Funding for 16 to 18-year-olds has faced significant reductions too, particularly the abolition of the Education Maintenance Allowance in 2011 which supported young people through their education.

“In addition there are outdated policies resulting in poor careers advice and growing transport costs.”

He added: “This report shines a light on failing careers advice in this country. We would like to see the establishment of careers hubs in every local area supported by schools, colleges, universities, local councils, employers and Jobcentre Plus to ensure that everyone has access to the high-quality impartial advice they deserve.”

The 27-page CESI report, entitled Achievement and retention in post-16 education, claims the £800m-plus figure consists of 178,100 young people, of which 92,000 were withdrawals in schools, primarily for AS and A-levels; 61,900 estimated withdrawals in FE; and 24,200 who did not complete apprenticeship training.

It further claimed that apprentices were most likely to drop out, with one-in-four doing so, then FE at one-in-10 and also AS-levels at one-in-10, and then A-levels at one-in-20.

Coun Simmonds said: “Councils want every young person to achieve their full potential but too many are still dropping out of post-16 education and training or not achieving a passing grade.

“Our analysis lays bare the substantial financial cost of this but the human cost is even greater with youngsters left struggling with uncertainty, a sense of failure and facing tough decisions about what to do next.

“Councils are having success in helping young people that do drop-out back into learning but fear a failure to reform the centralised ‘bums on seats’ approach to funding further education could leave too many teenagers at risk of dropping out or without the skills needed to get a job.

“Local councils, colleges, schools and employers know how to best help their young people and should have devolved funding and powers to work together to give young people the best chance of building careers and taking jobs that exist locally.”

Colleges and local authorities will get a multi-million pound Skills Funding Agency (SFA) payout for non-apprenticeship provision this month while independent learning providers (ILPs) look set to miss out on the cash boost, FE Week can exclusively reveal.

In a letter seen by FE Week, SFA funding and programmes director Keith Smith told colleges and local authorities they would be getting in-year growth allocations before the end of the current financial year if they had delivered at least 97 per cent of their adult skills budget (ASB) contract value in 2013/2014.

Mr Smith said: “As part of the performance management process, we continue to work to ensure funding supports the skills needs of every local community. While apprenticeship and traineeship growth are still our priority, we value the breadth of skills training (including English and maths) that colleges deliver locally. We recognise that the funding for this provision has been, and continues to be, under pressure.

“Alongside increasing the funds available for apprenticeships and traineeships through the performance-management process, we are now able to make additional other ASB funds available in the funding year 2014 to 2015. We will allocate this funding to those colleges and grant-funded training organisations that delivered 97 per cent or more of their ASB contract value in 2013 to 2014.”

Among those set for the payout this month was Sheffield College. It delivered nearly 99. 5 per cent of its June ASB allocation last year and told FE Week it was in line for £700,000.

However, the SFA declined to comment on the payouts or reveal the total amount going to colleges, but said figures would eventually be published. It also declined to comment on whether ILPs would get a payout, but FE Week understands none has received such notification, sparking questions about whether they would get similar windfalls.

Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Stewart Segal told FE Week: “This money has been allocated to colleges because of the different type of funding systems for colleges and independent providers.

“Our view for the long term is that all providers should be funded in the same way and this will ensure that allocations in the future reflect employer and learner demand rather than according to the type of provider.”

Julian Gravatt, assistant chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “In March 2014, the SFA notified colleges of cut to the ASB of around 15 per cent for courses that didn’t lead to apprenticeships.

“The decision half-way through the 2014/15 academic year to reduce this cut by a small amount is helpful but is also late.

“We’re sure that colleges will make sensible use of the money but we also know that they’ll be tightly constrained in what they can do because they face further cut to this budget line of at least 16 per cent for 2015/16. Colleges will find out in March 2015 what precisely they have.

“The year-on-year reductions in public spending are taking their toll on adult learning and skills. The best way to get good value from the funds available will be via a more stable funding system.”

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) is axing the public funding of 1,567 adult qualifications in its third annual cull.

Just 45 of 195 submissions from awarding organisations resulted in a stay of execution after the SFA said in November that the future of 1,612 qualifications was in jeopardy.

Of those to have their public funding cut, 700 had no take-up in 2014/15 while 867 had low take-up of fewer than 100 enrolments. All the qualifications to have survived were in the low take-up category.

The qualifications review process began in 2013, and today’s announcement covers the offer for the 2015/16. The total number of qualifications eligible for government funding has been reduced by 6,900 and will now stand at 3,100.

Skills Minister Nick Boles said: “Vocational qualifications must respond to local business needs, be respected by employers and help people into jobs. That’s why we are removing a further 1,600 qualifications from public funding, making a total reduction of 6,900 qualifications since 2013.

“The qualifications we are removing had few or no users, and are simply cluttering up the system. People who work hard towards publicly-funded qualifications must be able to trust that they are worthwhile and valued by employers, and a streamlined, comprehensible system is an essential part of this.”

The announcement came the same day as the 2015/16 qualification funding catalogue was published, but with the Skills Funding Statement yet to be published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, it contained no rates.

Stewart Segal, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said: “We were pleased that the SFA involved all of the key groups in the review of these qualifications, including training providers. It would appear that qualifications which are being used effectively will remain fundable.”

David Hughes, chief executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, said:“It is clearly right that qualifications should support people to get into jobs, progress in their careers and get on in life and we want people to achieve qualifications which are recognised and respected by employers and others.

“But this should not be a simple numbers game; having fewer qualifications cannot be a sensible policy aim in itself.”

For more, see edition 127 of FE Week, dated Monday February 9.

The body responsible for funding higher education has been instructed by the government to work with FE colleges to improve the “technical expertise” of learners.

In its annual grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce), which confirms overall funding for universities and FE colleges with higher education provision will rise from £11.1bn for 2014/15 to £12.1bn for 2015/16, Business Secretary Vince Cable called on Hefce to facilitate joint working between institutions.

The letter does not explain what form Hefce’s increased involvement with FE colleges will take.

It said: “The government is supporting new pathways into higher education through the expansion of higher level apprenticeships and National Colleges.

“The council should facilitate work with higher education institutions and FE colleges to develop innovative curricula and new modes of delivery that will meet employer needs for high levels of technical expertise, contributing to local enterprise partnerships’ growth plans, and to the government’s industrial strategy.”

It comes after Hefce reported last year that the number of people starting undergraduate study at FE colleges in 2013/14 was 10,000 higher than in 2010/11, a 57 per cent rise, and former Universities Minister David Willetts expressed his desire to see more learners taking higher education courses at FE colleges.

It also comes after the FE sector was given more than £700,000 to help 74 FE colleges encourage young people to progress into higher education.

Hefce announced earlier this month that £714,772 would be allocated to FE colleges with higher education provision between now and 2016 in a bid to improve collaboration with schools and other colleges.

The FE sector share is less than 6.5 per cent of the £11.02m total allocated to individual universities and colleges, and grants range from £2,534 for South Gloucestershire and Stroud College to £53,280 for Blackpool and The Fylde College.

Labour this afternoon lost a House of Commons vote on plans to scrap apprenticeships of less than two years’ duration and below level three.

Following a heated opposition day debate in Parliament, a vote on a motion calling for the new standards was defeated 294 votes to 218.

The motion, submitted in Labour leader Ed Miliband’s name and supported by Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna (pictured) and Shadow Skills Minister Liam Byrne, was criticised by government ministers and MPs who accused the opposition front bench of “dismissing” level two apprenticeships.

But Mr Umunna said: “It is not to devalue them, it is frankly to bring them up to the same benchmarks as our competitors who are more productive than us.”

He said his proposals were not about doing away with lower level apprenticeships, but re-branding them. He also said he would give local councils more power over apprenticeships, including over enforcement of the minimum wage.

Responding on the minimum standards issue, Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “I think there is an important point about levels. I think the honourable gentleman dismissed too easily the value of level two apprenticeships.

“He seemed to imply that these were not quite apprenticeships, but actually there is quite a lot of statistical evidence that people who do a level two apprenticeship and no more have significantly higher earnings than people who don’t go through that channel.

“I think the figure is 11 per cent over a three to five-year period. There are a lot of very import trades, bricklaying for example, where a level two is a valuable progression into a badly-needed occupation.

“So although he’s right that we should be moving up the level chain, and we should be doing that, I don’t want him or anybody else to devalue level two qualifications or to eliminate them from the camp.”

As well as calling for the proposed minimum standards to be implemented, the defeated motion also called for concern over the fact apprenticeship starts among 19 to 24-year-olds has fallen by 6,270 in the past year and called on the government to use money already spent on procurement to require suppliers for large government contracts to offer new apprenticeship opportunities.

Mr Cable used the debate to defend the government’s record, and said he had acted to protect FE spending as much as possible in the early days of the Coalition Government, despite having to take a “political hit” after raising tuition fees for university students.

He said: “When I came into office I was told that there were plans by his government had they returned to office to cut my department’s budget by 25 per cent. That was all very clear, and indeed we’ve had to confront that.

“This is a budget which is dominated by higher education and adult skills. The advice I got, particularly from opposite in a particularly shrill and angry way, was ‘you must give priority to undergraduates’.

“Had we followed the advice we would have had to cut the ASB by about 40 per cent. Within that we would have had to cut apprenticeships even more because they’re more expensive than other forms of training.”

“I then made a decision which I think was one of my better decisions which was to listen to the advice, to reject it and do the exact opposite. We took a serious political hit on higher education but did the right thing and we made the decision to invest more and not less in apprenticeships.”

Principals have been urged to “be brave and stand” as the Association of Colleges today (AoC) begins the hunt for its next president.

Nomination papers are being sent out, before an election and then appointment to the year-long role from August.

Current president and principal of Exeter College Richard Atkins said: “I would unreservedly recommend this role. My advice would be brave and stand and if you have a genuine appetite to get involved in this work and represent the sector you’ll really enjoy it.”

Once the nomination papers are received, a college, through its chair of governors, can put its principal forward from nomination, which must then be seconded by a separate member college.

Candidates can also be nominated by individuals, with the backing of two principals.

Nominations close on March 4, and ballot papers will then be sent out on March 9 with the deadline for returning falling on April 1. The president for 2015/16 will be revealed two days later.

“The job is partly ceremonial but it’s also very much about influencing and getting involved with policy development and giving the team at AoC the voice of a working principal who’s in college two or three days a week,” said Mr Atkins.

Former AoC presidents include Bournville College principal Michele Sutton CBE and City College Coventry governors’ chair Maggie Galliers CBE. They were principals at Bradford College and Leicester College, respectively, at the time of their appointments.