Neet numbers down on-quarter and on-year

The number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) has fallen on-quarter and on-year.

Figures for the period from July to September, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show that during the period, 954,000 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK were considered to be Neet.

The figure represents a 0.1 per cent fall on the previous quarter’s figure of 966,000, and a 1.9 per cent drop from the same period last year, when figure was 1,096,000.

The ONS released the figures, as well as data for previous quarters adjusted based on the latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) information and 2011 Census data, last week.

The government, which has previously refused to acknowledge the ONS figures, has put out its own release using different figures adjusted based on its own rules.

The government’s release shows the number of England’s Neets to have risen, from 811,000 between April and June to 932,000 between July to September.

It comes after FE Week reported concerns about the raising of the participation age becoming a “lost opportunity” due to a lack of investment in FE in August, despite a fall in England’s Neet numbers for the period from April to June.

The next set of statistics are due to be released on February 26.

Cable warns principals of bleak funding future

Money for FE “will be scarce”, no matter who wins the general election, Business Secretary Vince Cable has warned.

In a bleak speech which sounded at times like his farewell message to the sector ahead of what is expected to be a punishing election for his party, the senior Liberal Democrat told the Association of Colleges (AoC) annual conference in Birmingham that further cuts to public spending will hit FE hard.

He said: “Whoever is in government next, any party, any combination of parties is going to grappling with this issue. Money will be scarce. I am not going to pretend otherwise, it is not going to be easy.

“Predominantly, the burden of deficit reduction has fallen on public spending. It’s something in the order of 20 per cent of the burden has fallen on tax and 80 per cent on public spending. I personally don’t think that’s sustainable. I have been making the case for high tax relative to public spending. That is not a fashionable view. It’s not a popular view. But I will continue to make it.”

Speaking to FE Week after his speech, he said his record in defending the sector was the only reassurance he could offer colleges worried about their futures.

He said: “The reassurance I can give them is my own record. I came into office faced with demands to cut FE by 40 per cent, and I totally rejected it.

“But I have warned principals that if the next government, whoever it is, presses ahead with deficit reduction based on spending cuts rather than tax or a sensible mixture it’s going to be very tough. The current system is already quite painful, we’re only just over halfway through it.”

But in a move which will be welcomed by colleges, Dr Cable indicated that a decision on whether or not to scrap proposed mandatory employer cash contributions for apprenticeships would be announced soon.

He said: “I can’t give an absolute commitment that it will [go ahead]. We are aware of the criticisms and we are trying to respond to them, and I would hope that certainly well before the election there is some clarity about this.”

Representatives of the Conservatives and Labour Party also offered no words of comfort to colleges at the conference, with both Skills Minister Nick Boles and his shadow Liam Byrne unwilling to make specific promises about funding post-2015 when asked by FE Week.

Mr Byrne said Labour saws skills funding as “one of those areas which should get devolved to city regions” and admitted he “just doesn’t know what the numbers are going to look like”.

“I will go into those spending review sessions with every skill I acquired as Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the last Labour government and determined to deliver a growth agenda for FE,” he said.

Mr Boles said: “The idea that we as a government are going to cut FE off at the knees, having already demanded quite substantial economies, there is no basis for that. But I can’t make any further commitment because I’m not the chancellor and we haven’t had the election yet.”

 

Sector welcomes alignment plans for traineeships

Government moves to align traineeship rules for 16 to 18 and 19 to 24-year-olds have been welcomed by the FE and skills sector.

Older trainees with level two qualifications will, from January, be able to enrol on the programme — like 16 to 18-year-olds.

The change follows the government’s eight-week consultation on traineeships, which had also considered a new system in which progression into apprenticeships, jobs or further learning was a funding incentive.

But the programme will continue to be funded using the “existing funding systems,” it said in the government’s consultation response published on Tuesday (November 18), meaning 16 to 18-year-olds remain funded per learner by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) and 19 to 24-year-olds funded per enrolment by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA).

However, Mr Boles said sector responses to the traineeship consultation, which closed on August 14, meant the government favoured an “evolutionary approach”
to reform.

Teresa-Frith
Teresa Frith

Progression into further learning for 19 to 24-year-olds is also to count as an acceptable outcome for workplace funding. With the SFA funding 80 per cent of older traineeships based on learners simply getting to the end of the programme, and the remaining 20 per cent based on outcome, it means that providers could get 100 per cent of funding for the pre-employment scheme despite no job outcome for the learner.

The move means the same funding result as that of 16 to 18-year-old traineeship providers, paid by the EFA, who get 100 per cent of funding based on whether learners get to the end of the programme.

The Association of Colleges (AoC) has previously made its feelings known to the government regarding learner workplace outcomes potentially affecting funding.

Joy Mercer, AoC director of education policy, responding to the government’s August consultation launch on FE outcome-based success measures, said: “The government must be careful not to confuse helpful data on which courses can lead to better employment prospects, with expecting colleges to have direct responsibility for job success.”

And, responding to the traineeship announcement, Teresa Frith (pictured), senior skills policy manager for the AoC, said: “Aligning funding and eligibility across the 16 to 24-year-old age range will make it easier for colleges to provide effective traineeships to help more young people into the workplace.

“We are pleased that the government has incorporated further learning in its response.”

Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Stewart Segal said: “Many of the additional flexibilities will enable more providers to respond to the needs of the young people on Traineeship programmes. We proposed more flexibility on eligibility especially older trainees with a level 2 and also support the simplification of the funding system for 19+ learners that will enable a more flexible approach to delivering vocational elements of the programme. We need to discuss the detail of the implementation of these changes but we hope this will encourage focus on traineeships as the main focus on getting young people work.”

David Hughes, chief executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, said: “Our research has consistently shown that providers were being forced to turn significant numbers of young people — aged 19 to 24 — away from a traineeship because they had previously achieved a full level two qualification.”

A presidential view of the AoC manifesto

The pre-general election AoC manifesto makes a number of requests to the next Government. Richard Atkins outlines the key points and underlying message.

With just six months to go to the General Election, this period of time is crucial for general FE and sixth form colleges.

The AoC has set out its stall of recommendations for the next Government in its manifesto for colleges.

We hope future ministers will take FE seriously, and make decisions that help, rather than hinder colleges and their students.

Our priorities are simple — supporting student choice; sustaining economic recovery through education and training; and creating a fair and effective education system.

Fairness is the name of the game. It is simply not right that the budget available for a student aged 16 to18 is so much lower than a school pupil. It’s the first step on the road to a future career or to university.

Education policy has moved on, young people must stay in education or training until they are 18, but the system hasn’t caught up. Therefore the post-2015 Government should carry out a once-in-a-generation review of the way education is funded to help make spending fair across all age groups.

Pupils at school are supported to travel to and from school, but once they leave school and attend college, a whole new set of less favourable rules apply. The rules need updating to ensure that local authorities carry out a full assessment of 16 to 18 students’ travel needs.

Young people should choose where they want to study based on the course they want to do, rather than the distance from home.

Poor careers advice means young people are often not aware of the best option to choose and are, instead, urged to stay in school to study A-levels when that isn’t necessarily appropriate.

A big chunk of what we’re asking for comes back to funding. We make no apology for this

We’re campaigning for a careers hub in every local area, managed by local enterprise partnerships (Leps) and supported by schools, colleges, universities, Jobcentre Plus and local authorities, to make sure the advice is impartial and young people (and adults) have access to all the options available.

Business leaders keep telling us that there aren’t enough skilled workers for the jobs available and colleges take this very seriously. They already provide support with apprenticeships, but we need to make sure the Government doesn’t focus on them as the magic pill.

In AoC’s recent member survey about their relationship with employers, 80 per cent said it was difficult to get employers to take young people on traineeships and 36 per cent said the same about apprenticeships. Some young people aren’t ready to take an apprenticeship. Instead, we need a pre-apprenticeship scheme which adequately prepares people for the workplace.

The Government’s requirement that all young people aged 16 to 18 continue studying maths and English is absolutely right, and colleges support this.

But we are clear that it is not in all students’ best interests to be required to re-take the same GCSEs that they took at school over and over again. For many students, Functional Skills are appropriate and successful. For others, colleges need to assess the ability and potential of each student before guiding them to a GCSE re-sit, or to an alternative post-16 English or maths qualification.

Therefore, the next Government should work with businesses, large public sector employers such as the NHS and local councils, and colleges to develop new maths and English qualifications, which are rigorous and related to the world of work.

A big chunk of what we’re asking for comes back to funding. We make no apology for this. We say to government — stop singling out 16 to 18 students for all your cuts to the education budget. The AoC Manifesto offers solutions.

If we want to prepare our young people to work in a global economy in which skills are at a premium, we must argue clearly and consistently that the next Government takes on board these recommendations so that England develops the best technical and professional education system among all of the countries within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

 

24 MPs back £10 wage motion

A bid to put the apprentice minimum wage on a par with that of ‘normal’ workers — and for it to be increased to£10 an-hour — has had the backing of more than 20 MPs.

John McDonnell (pictured) sponsored an Early Day Motion (EDM) demanding action to end the “scandal” of the £2.73 apprenticeship minimum wage, and rejected claims that any rise in the apprenticeship wage could put employers off.

The EDM said action was needed “to address the scandal that apprentices can be legally paid as little as £2.73 per hour”.

At the time of going to press, 22 Labour MPs plus Lib Dem Andrew George and Respect’s George Galloway, had signed the EDM which backed a Trades Union Congress motion demanding employers pay £10 an-hour national minimum wage (NMW) — or prove they cannot.

Mr McDonnell told FE Week: “I’m calling for a minimum wage of £10 per hour with no age differentiation. This about ensuring people have a wage they can live off.

“I do not believe this represents a disincentive to apprenticeships, but simply seeks to redistribute some of the profits of individual companies.”

Employer bodies also cautioned that raising the apprenticeship minimum wage could reduce opportunities.

The Confederation of British Industry deputy director general Katja Hall said: “The independent evidence-based Low Pay Commission [LPC] already successfully sets the NMW at the highest level possible for apprentices, without risking reducing the number on offer.

“To encourage more employers to offer quality apprenticeships it’s important that the cost of delivering them is affordable.

“Raising the cost of taking on young people would dissuade smaller firms from getting involved.”

The Federation of Small Businesses national chairman John Allan said: “While we think there is a case for increasing the minimum wage for apprentices, further rises should be gradual so employers aren’t disincentivised from taking on a new apprentice.

“We have always supported the minimum wage, but the decision of what level it should be set at should be informed by the independent advice of the LPC.”

The EDM comes after an LPC consultation on all rates of the UK minimum wage came to an end on September 26. It is considering simplifying the rate for apprentices, prompting fears the system could entail a new minimum rate for all apprentices with learners above the age of 18 no longer moving up after 12 months to the higher rates enjoyed by normal workers.

Its findings and recommendations are due in February.

 

Commissioner in FE funding support call

The government should look at shifting schools funding to colleges as they struggle to cope with more learners re-sitting GCSE maths and English, according to FE Commissioner Dr David Collins.

Dr Collins, who took up post in November last year, received a round of applause for his comments at the Association of Colleges (AoC) annual conference in Birmingham on Tuesday (November 18).

He spoke out in response to changes introduced by the government from September that mean learners who didn’t reach C grade maths and English GCSEs at school must carry on studying the subjects in FE.

Dr Collins said: “If you want success at GCSEs from colleges, two things have to happen — you could actually move money from schools to colleges to support them.

“The second thing is you probably need a different sort of GCSE for people coming to college, something like GCSE business maths or business English is going to be much more useful to both the individual and the employer.”

His comments came just days after publication of his first annual report, in which he presented a worrying financial outlook for the sector, warning colleges struggling to make ends meet against abandoning expensive subjects such as science and engineering.

“It would be foolish to pretend that the FE sector does not have a difficult time ahead,” Dr Collins wrote in his report.

“Reductions in public spending will necessarily continue for the foreseeable future and the demands for highly skilled individuals to service a growing economy will increase.

“When resources are short it is all the more important that colleges and institutions work together to ensure that those resources are best used for the benefit of learners and employers.

“This will mean some consolidation and indeed some specialisation, as well as neighbouring colleges, institutions and providers considering joint plans for their respective communities.

“There is a danger that without such a consideration the more expensive areas of the curriculum (for example, science and engineering) will disappear from areas where they are needed in a college’s pursuit of financial stability.”

Martin Doel, AoC chief executive, said: “The commissioner is right to warn of the impact spending cuts are having in narrowing colleges’ curriculum and to raise a concern that more expensive courses, such as engineering, may not be sustainable in the future.”

He also spoke to FE Week after his speech at the conference and issued further warning to colleges in pursuit of alternative revenue streams in addition to teaching “local learners”.

“The focus of colleges should be for the local learners and local employers,” he said.

“That’s their job and they’ve got to get that bit right first, and that means getting the cost of the income right for that.

“Then if they want to go and make money somewhere, that’s fine, as it will support local learners and what happens in their community.

“But many of these ventures are not really undertaken on the basis of careful cost-benefit analysis.”

 

AoC launches 10-point manifesto for general election

The Association of Colleges (AoC) has launched a manifesto setting out key issues affecting FE that it wants the next government to take on board.

President Richard Atkins spelled out the document’s 10 key demands (set out below) to delegates at the AoC’s annual conference in Birmingham on Wednesday (November 19).

He called on colleges to use the manifesto to raise the issues with their local parliamentary candidates in the build-up to the general election.

Mr Atkins said: “As a colleges sector, we demonstrated our unity and our strength when we lobbied against the unexpected and iniquitous 18+ funding cut last December.

“Between now and May 7 next year, we need to argue our case, on behalf of our students and staff, with the same urgency and energy.”

The manifesto tackled a number of thorny issues including careers advice for 11 to 18 year-olds and called for a new careers hub between schools, colleges and universities.

The document stated: “We have expressed our concern about recent policy decisions, particularly placing a duty on schools to secure careers advice for their pupils, but with no funding attached.

“The next government needs to work with schools and colleges to reintroduce systematic careers education into the curriculum.”

It also called for funding cuts to be stopped for 16 to 18-year-old education.

The document stated: “There should be no further cuts to spending on 16 to 18-year-olds and, immediately on taking office, the next government should bring this age group within the protective ringfence.

“By the end of the first year of the next parliament, a once in a generation review should be conducted setting out how much is required to adequately educate or train children and young people.

“The results of this review should be implemented by the end of the next Parliament in 2020 at the latest.”

The manifesto also called for reform to the the government’s flagship traineeships.

It said colleges were finding it difficult to convince employers to take on trainees through the scheme introduced in September, aimed at 16 to 24-year-olds, while the number of 16 to 18-year-olds apprentices had declined.

The document stated: “This is because in most sectors businesses are reticent about employing an apprentice this young.

“To address this increasing concern, traineeships should be converted into pre-apprenticeship training, specifically created to prepare 16 and 17-year-olds for a full apprenticeship.

“This training should last two years, be set at level two and include the soft skills so desperately needed by employers.”

Visit here to download the full manifesto

Here are the AoC’s manifesto demands:

1. The next Government should introduce systematic careers education for 11 to 18-year-olds and facilitate a careers hub between schools, colleges and universities in each area, led by the local enterprise partnership

2. All adult students, whether studying at university or college, should have equivalent access to grants and loans via new education accounts. The Government, the student and their employer should contribute to this account

3. Transport legislation has not caught up with the fact that everyone is now required to participate in education and training until their 18th birthday. The transport rights for 16 to 18-year-olds in education should mirror those which apply to
school children

4. The next Government should reform the higher education system to ensure it can respond quickly in training the engineers, technicians and professionals of the future. FE colleges should be given the power to award higher technical and professional certificates, in partnership with employers

5. The next Government should reform the higher education system to ensure it can respond quickly in training the engineers, technicians and professionals of the future. FE colleges should be given the power to award higher technical and professional certificates, in partnership with employers
6. The way students are assessed in school and college should reflect the fact that we learn in the workplace and at university incrementally, not solely through end of year exams. The next Government should maintain AS Levels in their current form and should allow for rigorous modular assessment in vocational and academic qualifications, alongside final exams

7. The next Government should continue to allow colleges the freedom and flexibility to respond to the needs of their community and local businesses, rather than setting rules from Whitehall

8. To enable colleges and schools to meet the OECD challenge, the next Government should develop new English and maths qualifications which allow students, aged 16 to 19 and adults to gain the skills that businesses need

9. There should be no further funding cuts to the education of 16 to 18-year-olds and they should be brought within the Government’s protective ringfence. The next Government needs to conduct a once in a generation review of how money is spent at each stage of compulsory education to ensure the budget is used most effectively

10. New schools should only be approved where there is genuine local demand because of poor quality provision and/or rising pupil numbers

 

Commissioner on collision course with Ofsted

Further Education Commissioner Dr David Collins has called for change at Ofsted if it is to “be more useful” after it rated a Midland college’s leadership as outstanding despite a “critical cash position”.

Bournville College was rated as good overall by the education watchdog in May, before Dr Collins was sent in three months later after a Skills Funding Agency notice of concern issued three months before Ofsted went in.

He told FE Week that Ofsted would have been aware of the college’s financial position, but it was nevertheless glowing in its assessment of the Bournville leadership, reporting: “The board has an impressive range of expertise.”

But the commissioner said the board needed new members, specifically with reference to “financial expertise”.

The governing board has been under the leadership of new chair Alan Birks after former chair Hugh Griffiths stood down in September due to family commitment.

The college principal, Norman Cave, has also gone on leave since the commissioner’s visit and been replaced by Mike Hill, the college’s finance director, as acting principal.

A college spokesperson said the move was unrelated to the commissioner’s findings, but Dr Collins has now turned his focus onto Ofsted as he raised questions about its handling of colleges’ financial information.

Dr Collins told FE Week: “If you look at FEFC inspection reports from the 1990s, they contained some very useful comparative data. They talked about class sizes, the talked about the cost of income spent on various things, turnover.

“As a principal in the 1990s I could pick up somebody else’s Ofsted report and learn what had gone wrong and I could get indicators of what I needed to do.

“Ofsted reports now do not contain the same amount of useful information and data as they used to, so I can’t tell how many classes were inadequate, what proportion of the teaching was outstanding, what the staff costs were as a percentage of income, what the class sizes were, how their results by level compared with other colleges etc.

“So I think if Ofsted is to be even more useful than it is at the moment, it would be helpful to share that data, which they will know from their inspections.”

Dr Collins had criticised Bournville College’s “undue reliance on an ambitious growth strategy” and “little margin for error in financial projections” at the college.

Mr Hill claimed Ofsted’s view was formed because it did not take college finances into account, a fact acknowledged by Dr Collins in his report on the college.

Mr Hill said: “Ofsted judged our leadership and management outstanding because they felt that our financial situation did not impact on teaching and learning.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: “The FE Commissioner’s report raised concerns about the financial position of the college and made recommendations on the actions that need to be taken to deliver financial recovery. The FE Commissioner did not make specific recommendations about individuals in the leadership team at Bournville College.”

No one from Ofsted was available for comment.

 

Outstanding across the board

Two independent learning providers (ILPs), one offering IT and accountancy apprenticeships and the other training the nation’s future tennis stars, have won outstanding praise from Ofsted.

Both Aspire, Achieve, Advance (3aaa) and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) were served grade one results in all headline fields.

Ofsted said the 780 apprentices at 3aaa, which has its headquarters in Derby, “make excellent progress which leads to high success rates, outstanding contributions and early positions of responsibility in the work place, and sustainable employment”.

“Apprentices learn well in a highly motivational environment, benefitting from excellent teaching and a strong support culture,” the report said.

The inspection, which took place between October 20 and 24, was 3aaa’s first since it was founded in 2008.

Co- founder Peter Marples said he was “absolutely delighted” by the grade. “This is indeed a reflection of the sheer dedication, hard work and commitment of everyone — staff, employers and partners,” he said.

Co-founder Di McEvoy-Robinson, said: “We have worked exceptionally hard to understand the needs of employers at a local level and fit those needs, so to be recognised by Ofsted for this is such an achievement.”

The LTA’s tennis coaching apprenticeship provision for 16 to 18-year-olds was inspected between October 6 and 10.

The report on the 239-learner organisation, which previously had a good grade, found “learners make exceptional progress in improving their playing and coaching skills and are very well prepared for their future careers as players or coaches”.

Inspectors visiting the London-based ILP also noted managers ensured the apprenticeships “meet the needs of British tennis outstandingly well”. They were the third and fourth outstanding ILP reports published this academic year, after reports on SW Durham Training in August and The Military Preparation College the following month. They were also the eighth and ninth ILPs to be judged outstanding under the current common inspection framework, introduced in September 2012.

No one from the LTA was available for comment.