Independent learning provider Bright International Training has gone into administration.

The Warwickshire-based company, also known as Bright Assessing, has been placed in the hands of administrators BDO.

Bright was left without an awarding organisation after NCFE stopped certificating its courses in February and OCR and Ascentis followed suit four months ago.

It left hundreds of people without qualifications for courses they had paid for, with many taking to Facebook forum Bright Training Problems to complain.

Ian Gould, BDO business restructuring partner, said: “We are early in the process of fully understanding the financial circumstances of the company, but it has come to our attention some former staff may still be owed pay. Any former employee who believes themselves to be in this situation should contact the administration team based at BDO’s Birmingham Office.

“Any customers of Bright who have paid for all or part of their training, but do not believe their course has been completed, should also contact the administration team as soon as possible. The administrators will work to maximise recoveries wherever possible.”

He added no staff were employed by Bright when it went into administration.

NCFE confirmed in May that it had decertificated 225 former Bright learners, following allegations of malpractice which were denied by Bright chief executive Krissy Charles-Jones. A further 119 learners were left without certificates for Bright courses after OCR cut ties.

An OCR spokesperson said: “No OCR candidates have had their certificates withdrawn or been ‘de-certificated’.

“Some OCR candidates have been in touch as they were not awarded with their certificates by the time centre approval was withdrawn.

“We have offered these candidates a free registration transfer so they don’t lose the [OCR] registration fee that Bright paid on their behalf.”

An NCFE spokesperson said: “All refunds have been dealt with directly by Bright and will be picked up by their administrators.”

An Ascentis spokesperson said: “We have not withheld or withdrawn any certificates.”

An Ofqual spokesperson said: “We are aware of this case. Students should contact the awarding organisation concerned with any queries they may have.”

Bright was listed on the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) website in March as a subcontractor for Chesterfield College, through a contract worth £1,175,000, Avant Partnership, through a £136,194 contract, and the Derbyshire Network, through a £22,000 contract.

Chesterfield College and Avant Partnership confirmed in May that their Bright contracts had concluded and the Derbyshire Network declined to comment.

An SFA spokesperson said: “The SFA takes any allegations of financial irregularity against an organisation involved in the delivery of government funded skills extremely seriously.

“We continue to work with lead providers to ensure that funding claims in respect of all payments claimed or received for delivery by Bright are fully recovered.”

Former Bright staff and learners can email richard.tonks@bdo.co.uk to register for refunds.

Ms Charles-Jones was unavailable for comment.

Staff at Lambeth College who went on a five-week strike towards the end of last academic year will  be able to vote from Monday on whether to walk out again — a week before scheduled talks.

University and College Union (UCU) members walked out indefinitely on June 3 in a dispute over new staff contracts.

The UCU has said the contracts would leave staff with longer working hours, less sick pay and less annual leave.

But principal Mark Silverman has said the terms of the new contract, which was introduced from April 1, were “in line with sector norms”.

The strike ended on July 9, with staff returning shortly before the start of the summer holidays.

But the UCU will open a ballot on Monday on whether to renew strike action.

The ballot is due to close on October 13, but FE Week understands that talks are expected to take place on October 6 — in the middle of the ballot period.

A UCU spokesperson said: “UCU remains hopeful the dispute can be resolved and talks are scheduled to take place in early October.

“It’s in everybody’s interest that a resolution is found to the dispute as quickly as possible.”

A spokesperson for Lambeth College said: “We are surprised and disappointed at the UCU’s position and we were expecting to be sitting round the table on October 6.

“Were not expecting any action until the enrolment period was over, which we’re only just coming out of now.”

The college, which was slapped with an Ofsted grade four rating in 2012 but worked its way up to a grade three last year.

Mr Silverman told FE Week: “I’m disappointed that UCU feels it appropriate to risk causing more unnecessary disruption to learners

“The new contracts are for new staff only, and reflect normal practice across the FE sector.

“The college has taken great strides in the past two years to ensure we continue to improve learner outcomes and remain on a path to becoming the outstanding and sustainable college that South London deserves.

“With enrolment nearing completion and an Ofsted inspection looming, our focus remains on settling learners into their new courses and giving them the best start possible.”

The spokesperson added that applications to roles with the new contracts “have been strong, both in terms of numbers and calibre of candidate”.

Further Education leaders have backed Skills Commission findings that government departments were failing to work together on skills policy.

The commission’s interim findings warned of a lack of joined-up working between Skills Minister Nick Boles’s departments for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), and Education (DfE), plus Work and Pensions (DWP) and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) agreed with the findings and called for closer links between employability and skills programmes and consistent application of the VAT rules.

Stewart Segal, AELP chief executive said: “There should be more coherence between programmes for the unemployed, including more integrated contracting processes, success measures and payment methodologies.”

David Hughes, chief executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace), pointed to the Niace manifesto, released earlier this year, calling for a combined government department for education, skills and work.

The lack of joined-up working at government was one of four barriers to “successful skills policy,” according to the commission, whose four-page interim report came out on Tuesday (September 23).

The others were uncertainty around responsibility for training in an increasingly flexible labour market; declining social mobility owing to a reduction in the alignment of skills provision to work; and, fragmentation in the system making it difficult for employers to engage.

Inquiry co-chair and Further Education Trust for Leadership president Dame Ruth Silver said: “It is right we raise these four trends as ‘alerts’, such is the gravity of the threat they pose, and the urgency with which they must be addressed.”
An Association of Colleges spokesperson agreed there had been “a worrying decline in opportunities for adults to learn and train” and said government departments had “a shared responsibility for tackling this together”.

Lynne Sedgmore, 157 Group executive director, agreed, saying: “The report echoes what we hear from members and what we have been saying to government for some time.”

A spokesperson for BIS, DfE, DWP and HMRC said the government had “made it easier” for young people to move between work and training but further groups from across the sector agreed with the commission’s findings.

“This government is absolutely committed to boosting the skills of  young people and helping them realise their ambitions,”
she said.

The commission’s final report is due out at the end of next month.