Latest news from FE Week

An independent learning provider that has seen just one learner achieve an apprenticeship since it started running the programme almost two years ago is having its government funding withdrawn after it was branded inadequate by Ofsted.

Kats Learning Ltd, a Hampshire-based company with 118 apprentices on hairdressing, business management and customer services frameworks, was issued with a grade four rating by the education watchdog following inspection in January.

Kats, which has provided government-funding training since 2008 and has a current Skills Funding Agency (SFA) allocation of £334,080, was previously rated as good by Ofsted, but fell to a grade four following its most recent visit, in which inspectors noted that just one apprentice had achieved their goal.

Now the SFA has confirmed it will withdraw the provider’s funding and help it to transfer learners elsewhere.

An SFA spokesperson said: “We have formally notified Kats Learning that we intend to terminate their contract. This decision was taken in line with our ‘Approach to Intervention’, following an inadequate Ofsted inspection.

“We will be working to transfer learners to other providers. This is to ensure continuity of training for learners and employers and to minimise any disruptions.”

The Ofsted report said outcomes for learners were inadequate, adding that since Kats received a contract to deliver apprenticeships in May 2013, only one learner had achieved their apprenticeship.

It said: “A small minority attained the competence element of the programme but too often learners leave before successfully achieving all aspects of the apprenticeship framework.”

In its report, Ofsted also said too many learners made slow progress towards the completion of their apprenticeships and that learners did not make sufficient progress in developing English and maths skills.

It added that strategies to improve teaching and learning were not having sufficient impact also warned that teaching, learning and assessment were inadequate, going on to claim that most tutors did not use pre-course assessments to identify learners’ starting points or needs accurately.

It criticised monitoring of learners’ progress and “poor” target setting, resulting in learners making inadequate progress. It said advice and guidance failed to provide the significant majority of apprentices with “appropriate information to ensure that they and their employers are aware of all aspects of the learning programme”.

The report criticised feedback given to apprentices on their work, which it claimed did not help them improve, and said quality assurance and performance management arrangements were inadequate. It added that the development of learners’ understanding of equality and diversity and their application to the workplace were “weak”.

Kats Learning director Chrisy Kemp claimed the Ofsted inspection result contradicted positive comments from learners collected by the watchdog during the inspection.

She told FE Week: “People should read some of the answers to our learner survey and also take a look at the survey results that were carried out during the Oftsed inspection. These are held on the news page of the website.”

The Skills Funding Agency has relaxed its rules on new traineeship subcontracting to allow all grade three-rated and non-inspected providers to work with a grade one or two lead to deliver the programme.

Thanks to the changes, brought in this month, grade three-rated (‘requires improvement’) providers and those not inspected by Ofsted can draw up traineeship agreements with grade one (‘outstanding’) and two (‘good’) lead providers they have no previous contractual relationship with.

Previously, new traineeship agreements could only be established if the provider already had a relationship with a grade one or two lead provider dating back to before the 2013 introduction of the youth employability scheme. To set up a new traineeship agreement between unconnected providers, both the lead and the subcontractor used to have to be either grade one or two.

Grade three subcontractors also had to have been on the SFA subcontractors’ list before June 2013. But, as providers are only registered on the subcontractors’ list once they are delivering more than £100,000 of provision, smaller subcontractors were excluded from offering the programme. This restriction has now been lifted.

Funding rules for 2015/16, published by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) said: “If you want to enter into a new sub-contracting arrangement with a new sub-contractor for traineeships then as of April 1, 2015, the original requirement that traineeship sub-contractors have to be graded Ofsted one or two has been removed on the basis that the lead provider has to be (and remain) at these grades. The sub-contractor can be Ofsted three or no grade.”

The move comes as the government also said all 16 to 19-year-olds would be able to continue receiving job seekers allowance (JSA) while participating in a traineeship.

A separate announcement in the SFA’s update newsletter said 16 to 19-year-olds, who had previously been prevented from claiming JSA if they were on a traineeship programme for more than 12 hours a week, would now be allowed the benefit.

The SFA said the change, which came in on Friday, would “increase access” to traineeships and “enable all young people to benefit from full-time participation while maintaining entitlement to their benefits”.

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which oversaw the benefit change, said: “Traineeships are important in giving young people the skills they need to move into work which is why we are ensuring that all young people continue to receive their JSA while in full-time training.

“This will also give providers and employers greater flexibility when they are designing their traineeships.”

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), which has campaigned against the restrictions on grade three providers since there were introduced in May 2013, welcomed the news.

An AELP spokesperson said: “This is a big step forward but the initial restriction of only allowing Ofsted grade one and two-rated lead contractors to deliver traineeships should also be reviewed.

“A provider that has evidence it can deliver a high quality traineeship programme should be allowed to deliver.

“Many of these providers have existing relationships with employers currently not involved in traineeships and have established apprenticeship programmes.

“They can make those links and ensure the programme can be expanded leading to more employers seeing the benefit of providing these important first work opportunities.”

AELP has previously argued Ofsted grades were “too blunt a tool” by which to measure providers.

Teresa Frith, senior skills policy manager for the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: “It’s clear that the Coalition Government listened to the concerns raised by ourselves and others that the restrictions around Jobseeker’s Allowance for 16 to 19-year-olds and Ofsted grades for sub-contractors reduced access to traineeships.

“It is far more important for the college to have an Ofsted grade one or two and to monitor the quality of the traineeship, rather than expecting a sub-contractor to have that grade. Traineeships are supposed to increase a young person’s ability to get a job, but preventing 16 to 19-year-olds undertaking traineeships from claiming JSA made it more difficult.

“We would, however, like to see even more flexibility in the pre-apprenticeship offer to help prepare young people for a job with training.”

157 Group exectutive director Lynne Sedgmore said: “Anything which widens access to traineeships is to be welcomed so these announcements are both very positive.

“We remain concerned, though, that the same rules regarding Ofsted grades are not applied to all types of provision and continue to press for an equitable approach which enables young people to access traineeships wherever they are in the country”.

Lewisham Southwark College has been given the ignominious honour of becoming the first FE and skills provider to be branded inadequate by Ofsted twice in a row.

In a report on an inspection in February, which was released today (pictured above), the college was mauled by the education watchdog over the pace of improvement and a failure to raise standards after it was first given a grade four rating in January last year following a visit by inspectors in November 2013.

The 17,943-learner general FE college, which has a current Skills Funding Agency (SFA) allocation of almost £24m, actually got an even worse result than last time with grade fours across the headline fields as opposed to two fours and two threes last time (see below).

It is believed to be the first to receive two inadequate ratings overall in a row under the current common inspection framework.

In its report, Ofsted warned that governors, senior leaders and college staff had “not made enough progress in improving key weaknesses identified at the previous inspection”, including poor provision in both English and maths.

It added that teaching, learning and assessment were improving too slowly, with too few learners experiencing good teaching, and described attendance and punctuality as poor.

It said: “Since the creation of the college in 2012, leaders and governors have failed to raise standards and expectations of both teachers and learners.

“The college’s curriculum does not currently meet the skills needs of local employers, and progress to resolve this weakness has been far too slow.”

Carole Kitching (pictured), who is due to take over as principal and chief executive of the college in the summer from interim principal Jo Lomax, said she was disappointed with the outcome.

She said: “Clearly the outcome of the Ofsted re-inspection is a disappointment to everyone but the report makes many references to recent improvements and ‘green shoots’.

“Over the next few months I will be working with the interim team to drive forward the pace of change and to ensure the hard work of everyone who works at the college bears fruit for all our students.”

The report also raised concerns about the college’s “precarious” financial position, which Ofsted said limited its ability to improve provision “swiftly”, in contrast with Ofsted’s first full report last January which made no mention of the financial position.

The rating comes after four Ofsted monitoring inspections since the first inadequate rating, and three visits by FE commissioner Dr David Collins, who identified some weaknesses in the governance and leadership of the college following a visit last January.

After a second visit in July, following the departure of former principal Maxine Room and the appointment of ex-Warwickshire College principal and former 157 Group chair Ioan Morgan to the position of interim principal, Dr Collins praised the progress of new leadership. He also visited in January this year. His follow-up findings have not been made public.

Lewisham Southwark College, previously named Lesoco, was formed in 2012 when Lewisham College, which had been outstanding in 2006, merged with Southwark College, which was branded inadequate in 2011.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and SFA are yet to comment on whether further intervention, including a revisit from Dr Collins, would take place.

Two FE colleges have defended their dealings with a religious school chain denounced as a “cult” by former members and under investigation by the Department for Education (DfE).

City College Coventry and Barnet and Southgate College both held contracting agreements, as leads, with Focus Learning Trust, an independent school chain run by the Exclusive Brethren (also known as the Plymouth Brethren), until last year.

Focus Learning Trust’s subcontracting arrangements are being “looked at” by the DfE  and concerns were reported in The Times last month over the trust’s teaching practices, which allegedly included banning certain books and refusing to teach about evolution, sex or homosexuality.

The Brethren, a Christian sect which believes members should live separately from the rest of the world to avoid being corrupted by non-believers, has been condemned as “a cult” by former members over its practice of exiling defectors and preventing them from seeing their families.

However, City College Coventry principal Steve Logan defended the college’s relationship with a group, which held an £80,000 a-year contract to deliver A-level provision for around 20 students at the trust’s Coventry school and briefly at its Gloucester school.

Mr Logan told FE Week: “I am only able to comment on our experience of the extremely good provision delivered at the Copsewood School in Coventry. On that basis, I must question the validity and accuracy of the comments made in the press.”

The arrangement had been in place for 10 years, added Mr Logan, but concluded in 2014.

The trust also had a £475k agreement in 2013/14 with Barnet and Southgate College, where a spokesperson said the arrangement was “subjected to the full and usual contracting due diligence”.

“Where necessary, this included seeking specific assurances on eligibility from relevant agencies. In accordance with funding rules the contract was covered by in-year quality control processes,” she said.

“The sub-contracting arrangements were concluded in July 2014, reflecting the changes to college funding allocations and revised strategic objectives.

“The college has, therefore, no relationship with Focus Learning Trust in 2014/15. The college has been in contact with the EFA and has received assurances about its historical position and Focus.”

A spokesperson for the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, which runs Focus Learning Trust, said the arrangement with Barnet and Southgate College had been “legitimate and approved”.

She added: “Some Focus Learning Trust schools have in the past entered into approved sub-contract arrangements with City College Coventry and Barnet and Southgate College.

“Our own in-house FE provision is evolving and improving and there are currently no sub-contract arrangements in place.”

A DfE spokesperson said: “We are looking into the arrangements between Focus Learning Trust and other institutions to ensure they meet our strict subcontracting standards.

“These partnerships can be used to give students access to facilities they may not otherwise have.

“Our guidance is clear that if subcontracting arrangements are not meeting these standards then they will be investigated. In extreme circumstances, we will not hesitate to terminate a funding agreement.”

The Exclusive Brethren is already facing investigation by HMRC over multimillion pound gift aid claims to fund its schools and is being questioned over whether it should count as a charity and so can be eligible for tax breaks.

A Brethren spokesperson said the issues HMRC was looking into “derive from uncertainty about the correct application of the rules” and said other faith schools were also being investigated, although HMRC declined to confirm this.

*** Hands up if you fell for it? Yes, this was our April Fool’s Day 2015 prank story, and thanks to Dr Lynne Sedgmore for playing along.

Thanks too, to Martin Doel and Stewart Segal.

“We may have played a joke — some fun amid the gloom — but we are clear that  the severity of cuts facing the sector is anything but a joke,” said Dr Sedgmore.

“And on a serious note we do pay homage to all the dedicated FE professionals who continue their excellent work and their commitment to students.”

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The FE and skills sector is set for its own Poet Laureate later this year with outgoing 157 Group executive director Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE the first to take up the newly-created role, FE Week can reveal.

It is understood the post will feature in the Queen’s Speech on May 27 having already been agreed as a biennial appointment.

And, in a break with Queen’s Speech protocol, details of the first Poet Laureate were released today by the first incumbent — Dr Sedgmore, who is already a published poet. Her first collection “Enlivenment” was published in 2013 by Chrysalis Press.

The appointment is set to be made official with Dr Sedgmore’s retirement from her 157 Group post later this year following the appointment of her successor, for which a date is yet to be set.

However, she has already penned her first poem for the role. It is entitled “A Farewell Ode to FE” and has been released exclusively to FE Week — see below to read Dr Sedgmore’s poem.

Dr Sedgmore described her appointment as “ground-breaking”.

“For a sector to have its own official Poet Laureate is quite an achievement and I was overwhelmed to learn that I would be the first post-holder,” she said.

“The schools and higher education sectors do not have an equivalent post and so I hope to raise the profile of FE and skills through words to heights the likes of which have hitherto never been imagined.

“This is a ground-breaking role and I hope to do justice to not only the sector but also poetry as an art form.”

The new post, and Dr Sedgmore’s appointment, was welcomed by Association of Colleges chief executive Martin Doel (pictured right).

“FE will benefit from having its own bard,” he said.

“I’m sure that Lynne will be able to translate the emotional attachment that we all have for our sector into words, capturing the highs and lows of working with students, principals, governors and government, as well as other representative bodies.”

Meanwhile, Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Stewart Segal (pictured left) said Newcastle-under-Lyme -raised Dr Sedgmore’s poetry would be more accessible than the works of, for example, Charles Baudelaire, William Morris and Lord Alfred Tennyson for modern workplace learners.

He said: ‘”This is a very important appointment when we are looking at the attainment of good GCSE or Functional Skills within the context of vocational programmes.

“Nineteenth Century poetry is not enough to arm young people with the skills for today’s workplace, so the Stoke Bard’s take on modern life will make a huge difference to their prospects.”

Five former A4e workers have been jailed for their parts in a back-to-work scheme fraud that cost the taxpayer nearly £300,000.

A further five former employees were handed suspended sentences at Reading Crown Court  for a plot that involved creating faked records of welfare-to-work learners.

Between 2008 and 2011, the defendants submitted fraudulent paperwork for learners on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Aspire to Inspire programme, claiming to have found work for learners who either did not exist or who remained unemployed.

Four people were convicted following the 13-week trial at Reading which finished on January 14, with sentencing taking place yesterday.

Former account manager Ines Cano-Uribe, aged 39, of Madrid, Spain, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for two counts of forgery.

Former contract administrator Zabar Khalil, 35, of Slough, received a 12-month sentence suspended for two years, 150 hours’ unpaid work and £2,000 costs for one count of forgery.

Former deputy business manager Matthew Hannigan-Train, 31, of Bristol, was sentenced to 12-month sentence suspended for two years, 200 hours’ unpaid work and £2,000 costs for one count of forgery.

Former recruiter Hayley Wilson, 27, of Milton Keynes, was handed a 12-month sentence suspended for two years, 200 hours’ unpaid work and £2,000 costs for one count of forgery.

Six other defendants pleaded guilty to their part in the scheme at earlier court hearings.

Former recruiter Dean Lloyd, 38, of Milton Keynes, was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment for 13 counts of forgery.

Former recruiter Julie Grimes, 52, of Surrey, was jailed for 26 months for nine counts of forgery.

Former recruiter Aditi Singh, 31, of Slough, was given a 10-month sentence suspended for two years, 150 hours’ unpaid work and £530 costs for three counts of fraud and forgery.

Former recruiter Bindiya Dholiwar, 28, of Slough, received 15 months in prison for seven counts of forgery.

Former recruiter Nikki Foster, 31, of Workingham, was sentenced to 22 months’ imprisonment for eight counts of fraud and one of conspiracy.

Former recruiter Charles McDonald, 44, of Surrey, received a 40-month sentence for six counts of fraud and one conspiracy.

The defendants worked at A4e branches throughout the Thames Valley.

Although the money claimed from the DWP was given to the company rather than to the fraudsters themselves, they received bonuses for helping people into work and meeting targets.

When the Department of Work and Pensions audited the contract and asked to see 21 files in March 2011, Cano-Uribe, Hannigan-Train and Wilson were all involved in making the files appear to be in order, including fraudulent ones.

A4e helped 558 people find jobs on the £1.3m Aspire to Inspire contract for Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, but staff fraudulently claimed for a further 167 people.

The fraud came to light when Grimes confided in a new member of staff that she had forged signatures, who reported it to senior staff.

However, defence lawyers claimed that fraudulent practices were “entrenched” within the company itself which, they said had a “culture of dishonesty” and put “unrealistic demands” on its staff. A4e rejected the claims.

Andrew Dutton, A4e group chief executive, said: “We note that the judge in her sentencing remarks dismissed claims that a culture of dishonesty existed within our business.

“We also note that those who made these claims raised no concerns about workplace practices or culture until they were confronted with the proof of their own dishonest behaviour.

“Their claims do not reflect the way this company operates, or the values of our 2,100 staff, whose honesty and integrity are much valued.”

He added: “A4e has a zero tolerance policy towards fraud and took this case extremely seriously.

“The sentences bring a conclusion to the investigation that was started by A4e in 2010, when we uncovered some irregularities in a small contract in the Thames Valley, and we co-operated fully with the Department for Work and Pensions and police to bring this case to court.

“These convictions relate to a single contract which ended four years ago and represented only 0.24 per cent of our annual business at that time, and to people who no longer work at A4e.

“We are obviously disappointed and sorry that there were people working for us on this historical contract who behaved dishonestly, and in doing so let down the customers we had intended them to help and the taxpayer.

“A4e long ago set aside the money to pay back the DWP the amount it received as a result of the unsubstantiated claims and we have ensured that the taxpayer will have lost nothing from the conduct of the people involved.

He added that A4e had made “far-reaching” improvements to its control system.

Detective Inspector Gavin Tyrrell, from the Thames Valley Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said the offences had “targeted vulnerable people who had been out of work for long periods and were trying to find jobs during what was a very difficult employment climate”.

“I hope the convictions send out a clear message,” he said.

“Thames Valley Police takes offences of this nature seriously and makes every effort to ensure offenders face the consequences of their actions.”

 

The Government has been branded “cynical” by the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association (SFCA) after responding to a long-running campaign to scrap members’ VAT a day before Parliament was dissolved.

The SFCA’s e-petition to bring sixth form colleges in line with school sixth forms, which do not pay VAT, reached the 10,000 signatures needed to trigger a government response on January 9, and was handed to Education Secretary Nicky Morgan with a letter of support from the Education Select Committee chair Graham Stuart that day.

However, her response, explaining the DfE “cannot afford” the scrap the tax, was only given to Mr Stuart on Friday and published this morning, the day Parliament was dissolved ahead of the general election on May 7.

SFCA deputy chief executive James Kewin (pictured above) said: “Issuing this response on the morning Parliament was dissolved was a cynical move.

“Almost half of the 93 Sixth Form Colleges in England are in marginal constituencies and this announcement was obviously timed to minimise the damage to candidates in those seats.”

Because sixth form colleges do not receive a refund on VAT in the same way that school sixth forms do, they are left with, on average, £335,000 less to spend each year, according to the SFCA.

The Government response said it had “explored the possibility” of refunding sixth form college VAT and “understood” the arguments in favour of the move.

However, it added the estimated cost of the refund would “be in the region of £31m per year”.

“The DfE cannot afford to cover the costs of doing so in the financial years 2015-2016.”

Mr Kewin accused the government of ignoring “the pleas of parents, students and teachers that have signed the petition and the cross-party group of MPs that have lent their support to the campaign”.

“We hope an incoming government will move quickly to address this longstanding anomaly to ensure young people receive the same level of investment in their education, irrespective of where they choose to study,” he said.

As well as gaining more that 10,000 signatures on the e-petition, the campaign against sixth form college VAT has drawn support from celebrity former sixth form students including actor Colin Firth and TV presenter Dermot O’Leary.

The Association of Colleges (AoC) has demanded an inquiry by MPs in the next Parliament into a “waste of scarce funds” after figures revealed the government’s employer ownership of skills pilot has resulted in just 37 per cent of desired starts.

A review of the early stages of the £340m pilot, which aimed to involve employers in the design of skills training by giving them public money to combine with their own investment, has revealed that starts were at 37 per cent of the 10,000 apprenticeships and 90,000 non-apprenticeship qualifications originally planned in grant offer letters from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

The review, commissioned by BIS and carried out by CFE Research, the University of Sheffield and Qa Research, has led to criticism of the project by the AoC and Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), with AoC chief executive Martin Doel (above) calling for a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) investigation.

Mr Doel said: “We’ve always had considerable doubts about the employer ownership pilot, and it gives us no pleasure to note that the recruitment of students to training was only just over one-third of that which was expected.

“Financial contributions to skills education or training from employers were also mostly in-kind and the project’s sustainability is an ongoing concern.

“We hope the next government learns lessons from this expensive failed project, which was based upon unsubstantiated assertions and unrealistic assumptions rather than hard evidence.

“This project should be scrutinised by the new PAC, not only in relation to the waste of scarce funds but also the approach to policymaking that it embodied.”

As well as disappointing numbers in terms of starts, the review also revealed that five of six projects with targets higher than 300 apprenticeship starts were led by an intermediary rather than a single employer or group of businesses, and three of these achieved just 4 per cent of their target.

The report continued: “Only a minority of projects met or exceeded their target for both apprenticeship and non-apprenticeship provision, which shows that recruitment of learners has been a key challenge across all of the projects.

“Data from the interviews suggest the majority of employer investments were in-kind (mostly in staff time).

“Moreover both government investment and employer contributions are behind the expected expenditure profile, which is a direct consequence of the under-recruitment of learners.”

AELP chief executive Stewart Segal (left) said: “We have been calling for a review of the Employer Ownership Pilots for some time.

“We know there were a number of issues in setting up these pilots and the results are disappointing.  Some of the pilots have been successful but overall they have delivered only a third of the results that were set out in the projects.

“There are a number of lessons that can be learned from the projects including the fact that delivering to those aged 16 to 24 has been even more difficult for employers. We should also understand that most of the contributions from employers have been in kind and these are large companies.

“We should learn this lesson when looking at the proposals for the apprenticeship programme. In our view the funding for these pilots should be included in the mainstream support for apprenticeships and traineeships rather than setting up expensive pilots which have not delivered.

“The £340m set aside for employer ownership pilots would have made a big difference to the apprenticeship programme where one of the biggest barriers to growth is the budget.”

Any investigation by the PAC would have to be commissioned by the new committee, which will be elected by the new Parliament following next month’s general election.

New legislation around apprenticeships and training will be one of the first bits of work for a Labour government, with a bill expected in the first 100 days of the next parliament if the party wins, Tristram Hunt has said.

The shadow education secretary made the comments to journalists following his speech to the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) annual conference in Liverpool today.

He did not say exactly what would be included in the new legislation, but his party’s pledges for FE so far in the election campaign have included overall protection of the education budget, including for 16 to 19-year-olds, new technical institutions and apprenticeships for every learner who “gets the grades”.

He also said the Department for Education (DfE) and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) would work together on the bill and work more closely generally if Labour forms a government.

Mr Hunt said: “Within the first 100 days you will have a Labour education bill about vocational education, apprenticeships and training.

“It will be a joint DfE and BIS bill because, once again, we are moving away from the isolated vision of the DfE. The DfE is going to work once again with BIS on apprenticeships and training.”

Mr Hunt also used his speech to announce “far-reaching reform” of Ofsted and plans to introduce a peer review improvement system by 2020, claiming the current system was too focused on a “target-driven, exam factory model” of education and had “reached its end stages”.

Mr Hunt said: “There can be no doubt in my mind that Ofsted has been an extraordinarily progressive force for improving this country’s educational outcomes and spreading equal opportunity to areas of historic disadvantage.

“But I also believe we may have reached the tipping point. The moment when our inspection system begins to choke something far more precious.

“When the joy, wonder and beauty of schooling risks being buried in the avalanche of bureaucracy that emerges out of the increasingly byzantine demands of inspection. Or at least the frazzled, insecure interpretation of those demands by some head-teachers.

“So whilst I believe Ofsted has been a vehicle for progress in our education system, it too must surely evolve.”

He added: “I want to see an end to the nonsense of FE experts inspecting primary schools, and other equally absurd misallocations.”