Why we’re backing our UK skills champions (and why you should too)

Whilst the publicity might not be on the same level as the Olympics, WorldSkills is a landmark event for those who study and deliver vocational and technical qualifications and training.

Held every 2 years, 1,500 competitors from more than 65 countries and regions around the world will travel to Lyon to compete in 62 skill categories. From Renewable Energy, Health and Social Care to Electronics; WorldSkills Lyon 2024 will give these young competitors the opportunity to showcase their skills and share their passions with the judges and hundreds of thousands of visitors.

This year, Pearson is sponsoring the UK team on their journey to Lyon. Why are we partnering with WorldSkills UK in 2024? In short, we believe the conversation about the future of jobs and skills has never been more important – or more urgent.

Mind the gap – what the data tells us

Pearson is already working to help employers and employees understand the challenges and opportunities ahead through our own Skills Outlook series, which provides vital insight into the immediate needs of the modern workforce to help employers and employees stay relevant and adaptable for the long term.

Recent findings include a deep dive into Power Skills – the human skills that will be most in demand in the future, feedback from employees on how they are preparing for the future of work and most recently a global look at the impact of generative AI on the workforce.

Last year we also published our own Pearson Skills Map of England. Looking at nine regions, we explored which jobs are expanding and declining across different sectors. We also looked at the current skills in demand from employers, as well as those growing in importance. The vision being that if we know that regional workforces are facing significant technological change, localised insights can help us to navigate this.

The Skills Outlook findings give us a glimpse into a possible future. But that future is not decided. The insights give us a chance to shape outcomes. And this means that all is still to play for. The data tells us that people can improve their employment prospects by acquiring the right skills. This is only going to happen if we raise the profile of skills and the vocational learning route.

A future for every learner

The WorldSkills movement promotes and celebrates the world’s most technically skilled young people. One of the event’s key missions is to gather the latest global best practice in skills – insight that we can all use to build better qualifications and progression routes for every kind of learner.

Our BTEC qualification alone has been providing learners with a clear route into employment and further and higher education for 40 years. But the world of work is constantly changing. In response, all learning providers must evolve their products and services to best meet the needs of educators, learners, and employers.

WorldSkills champions and shines a light on emerging skills – the ones employers say they really want – and gathers data on how to execute them well. Pearson is actively developing qualifications in subjects like sustainability and robotics through its BTEC and Apprenticeship programmes – some of the very best practices that will be showcased in Lyon this September.

The power of recognition

The WorldSkills competition, above all, is about recognition. And recognition is powerful. As an awarding organisation, we are at the heart of recognising academic achievement. But events that champion and celebrate skills excellence are rarer.

Pearson is passionate about raising the profile of skills and inspiring the next generation to consider a vocational route. We are passionate about employer engagement and helping employers develop a talent pipeline so they can grow their businesses. We are passionate about increasing awareness and recognition of the skills agenda with our politicians and policymakers, and we are passionate about promoting skills-based learning – wherever it happens in the world.

The Olympic motto translates as “Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together.” Events such as WorldSkills give us the opportunity to come together to promote the skills agenda and take vocational and technical education higher. The faster we do that – the more quickly our economies, our businesses and the workforce of tomorrow will benefit.

Learn more about our partnership with WorldSkills UK

Land-based college retains ‘outstanding’ Ofsted grade

A specialist sports and land-based college in Gloucester has received its second consecutive ‘outstanding’ Ofsted result.

Hartpury College was handed the top rating by Ofsted in all areas late last month, in a report that also lauded the college’s ‘strong’ contribution to meeting local skills needs.

The college was first handed an ‘outstanding’ grade in 2009, and after a period under a grade two ‘good’ rating, achieved the top rating once more in 2018.

“Retaining our outstanding rating is testament to the dedication and hard work of our staff, whose passion for what they do creates a dynamic learning environment for our students,” said Andy Collop, principal of Hartpury College.

The college at the time of inspection had around 2,000 learners aged 16 to 18 on level 2 and 3 programmes, 700 of which live on campus. It also had a small cohort of adults studying higher education courses and under 50 apprentices at the college.

Inspectors praised learners’ behaviour and participation in extracurricular activities and “high-quality” work placements to improve their skills and confidence.

They added that staff are “highly inspirational” for learners and apprentices and apply curriculums “very effectively” so they build their knowledge, skills, and behaviours securely over time.

The report also commended the college’s provision of careers information such as agriculture learners receiving talks from organisations specialising in livestock genetics, nature conservation, crop and grain marketing.

Additionally, inspectors applauded the college’s achievement rate of learners, apprentices and adults.

The report found nearly all learners successfully completed their courses. The majority of level 2 learners with high needs move onto level 3 programmes, nearly all adults on higher education courses gain a place at university, and apprentices are “highly valued” by their employers.

In 2023, 98 per cent of A-level students passed their courses, while BTEC diploma students achieved an overall 99 per cent pass rate. The college added that 97 per cent of students progressed into employment, university or further study last year.

Hartpury College was found to make a strong contribution to meeting industry skills needs through staff working with business representatives such as the Federation of Small Businesses to understand the needs of employers.

College leaders were praised for investing in capital and physical resources to meet gaps in digital skills in agriculture as identified by the Local Enterprise Partnership and the Local Skills Improvement Plan.

“This is such an important aspect of what we do and really does reflect how well our offer aligns with skills requirements related to current and future job toles in support of the local, regional, and national economy,” said deputy principal Claire Whitworth.

The watchdog said managers provide a broad range of continuous professional development for staff, which is linked to the identified areas of improvement.

For example, agriculture and animal care staff carry out training in rough terrain telehandlers, cross-cutting chainsaw operation and nutritional management for dogs. Workers also learn how to deal with learners with SEND and high needs.  

“Teachers of learners with high needs build their skills very well over time, taking account of their individual needs and preferred learning strategies,” the report said.

Lastly, Ofsted said that governors were supporting and challenging leaders well as understand the detail of curriculum developments and how well curriculum areas are performing.

Young people’s voices ought to be heard in education reform

The Baker Dearing Educational Trust recently published an independent assessment of University Technical Colleges (UTC), the technical education secondary schools that we support.

The assessment, titled ‘Powering the Engine of Opportunity’ and produced by education think tank ImpactEd included a number of very positive findings about the UTC programme that we are, naturally, very happy about.

However, the most interesting part of the research and the part that has given us the most food for thought is ImpactEd’s work with student focus groups.

During these sessions, students said they wanted work experience during Key Stage 4 to help prepare for more advanced learning, explaining: “If we have work experience now, we’ll be prepared for it in Year 12 and 13.”

One Year 11 student also discussed how her UTC inspired her to go against gender stereotypes in technical fields. Unsure what career path to follow, she reports that coming into a UTC, experiencing what engineering is like and what employee engagement was on offer in the sector “helped me want to become an engineer and show everyone that girls can also do it”.

These focus groups, along with the data from the annual student surveys that Baker Dearing carries out, have revealed an enormous appetite among students for greater employer involvement in education. Students also expressed a strong desire to know more about university alternatives such as apprenticeships.

All of which is good news for technical education providers and has encouraged our efforts to establish a pilot of UTC Sleeves, which would deliver the employer engagement opportunities and technical education curriculum of a UTC within a mainstream school.

Yet, as the focus groups demonstrate, young people have their own views on education and ought to be respected as stakeholders in their own right, independent of other stakeholders such as teachers or employers.

Young people ought to be respected as stakeholders in their own right

They ought to be directly consulted on education reforms, those that are being planned and those that are already underway. This includes Labour’s promised curriculum review, the Conservatives’ plans for the Advanced British Standard and ongoing changes to Ofsted inspections.

If we do, we’ll find students’ engagement with T Levels is worthy of recognition. ASCL’s new general secretary, Pepe Di’Iasio told this publication earlier this month that he’s not convinced T Levels are the “only answer” going forward. Yet many students think T Levels are the right answer.

Zaeem Basit, The Leigh UTC’s director of T Levels says students there “love” the new courses because they can focus on a subject that they are passionate about. Jannath, who recently completed a Digital T Level there, concurs. Previously studying several different subjects, she switched to T Levels when she realised that it was mainly focused on computer science – and hasn’t looked back.

Industry placements, which many providers recognise the value of but which they struggle to deliver, are also greatly valued by students. Ahana, who studied the Design T Level at Thomas Telford UTC, told us that during her industry placement, she went on site visits and worked on multiple projects, enthusing: “You don’t get to see that in class”.

My take-away: Government and other policymakers should routinely make use of student focus groups.

Baker Dearing is supporting the UTC Young Women’s Network, a board of female students who have provided a focus group for our external partners to gather feedback on outreach work. This group and the ImpactEd research clearly demonstrate why the government, regulators, representative bodies and think tanks should make greater use of student focus groups in their research and policy development.

They may be surprised by the results, but they will come to understand that young people often have uniquely well-informed perspectives on their own education.

But more than that, they will be giving young people the chance  – one they will genuinely value – to be involved in the decisions that affect their education and their futures. And what better way to ‘power the engine of opportunity’ can there be than to give them a voice?

WorldSkills Lyon 2024:  How we’ll set a new ambition for UK skills

Having just passed my 10-year anniversary at WorldSkills UK I have had the opportunity to see again and again the transforming power of FE. I have witnessed the development of young people and heard the belief from employers that highly-skilled young people are the answer to many of their workforce challenges.

Yet the most recent Youth Voice Census from Youth Employment UK shows that young people are still twice as likely to consider going to university than picking an apprenticeship. For most of us there continues to be a disconnect between our experience of FE and how the sector is viewed by the public.

I am a strong believer that to alter the culture around apprenticeships and technical vocational training, we need to invest in both the perception and reality of skills in the UK. We need to create excitement around these career choices and the successes they can lead to.  And we must do so while ensuring at the same time that the mechanisms and innovations are put in place to raise standards in training programmes so that employers can better compete nationally and internationally. 

This exact approach is personified in Team UK, a group of ordinary young people achieving extraordinary things.  Just like our sporting Olympians, they are pushing themselves to break through barriers everyday as they train for the toughest skills competitions in the world, demonstrating excellence in their skill.

We must celebrate their achievements, while using their world-beating performances to set a new ambition for skills in this country. And with Pearson as Team UK’s official partner, we believe WorldSkills Lyon 2024 gives us the perfect opportunity to do both. 

So, as we prepare for the competition, we have three priorities to play our part to raise standards, champion skills and empower young people. 

First, we will be shining a spotlight on the individual members of Team UK and the teams behind them: their Training managers, their training providers and their employers.  We are asking you to join us in celebrating our ‘skilled’ heroes. By sharing their inspirational stories of achievements, resilience and setbacks we can excite young people, from all backgrounds, about their career choices and opportunities.  

We can empower young people to expect nothing short of world-class training

Second, we’ll be gathering international best practice, using our network of 86 WorldSkills member countries to understand the latest techniques and training methodologies, and sharing these insights across the sector.

We have already made great strides in embedding world-class teaching and learning through our Centre of Excellence, in partnership with NCFE, and through our work with IFATE where we’re helping to update existing occupational standards and develop new ones in line with global standards.  The WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence is free to join and is a growing network of organisations committed to delivering excellence for their learners.

Third, we need to use the focus on global skills development at WorldSkills to help meet rapidly changing employer needs in existing and emerging industries. As an international learning company, Pearson understands the importance of global standards in cutting edge industries, so we are delighted to have their support for Team UK to enter the renewable energy and additive manufacturing competitions for the first time.

By using insights from Lyon, we will continue to champion, promote and develop the skills young people need and employers are crying out for.

As the country gets behind our sporting Olympians in Paris, we must celebrate our skill Olympians in Lyon. Working together, we can empower young people to expect nothing short of world-class training to launch their careers. 

In doing so, we will set a new ambition for skills, one that focuses on excellence, to drive investment, jobs and economic growth across the UK. 

FE Week, the media partner of Team UK will be keeping you up to date with all the latest news as the team prepare for WorldSkills Lyon 2024.

Team UK for WorldSkills Lyon 2024 revealed

More than 30 of the UK’s most talented young skilled professionals have been selected to compete at WorldSkills Lyon later this year.

The 31-strong team of young apprentices and students will battle against their global counterparts in 27 disciplines including cyber security, digital construction and hairdressing in the “skills Olympics” competition in France this September.

The young skills champions will fly out just hours after the Olympic flame for this year’s summer Olympics is dimmed in Paris.

They will join around 1,500 other young people from 65 countries to win gold, silver and bronze medals across 62 different skills competitions.

Ben Blackledge, chief executive of WorldSkills UK, which trains and selects competitors from all four nations, said: “WorldSkills Lyon 2024 – think Olympic Games – where the prize is the world-class skills that UK employers are crying out for.  

“The UK’s participation in the ‘skills Olympics’ will provide vital insights to ensure we can develop our apprenticeship and training programmes, to make them truly world-class.”

The team has been selected from a cohort of 94 skilled young people forming Squad UK. Squad members have been subjected to an 18-month intensive training programme to prepare them for the global competition.

Some of the squad were selected to take part in last year’s EuroSkills competition in Gdańsk, Poland, and took home nine medals, including one gold and two bronze.

EuroSkills Gdansk 2023, Opening ceremony
Photo: Jacek Sadowski / WorldSkills Europe

Meet the team

Charlotte Lloyd, an apprentice who works at Reds Hair Company and won bronze at EuroSkills, said she cried when she heard she got into Team UK to compete in hairdressing in Lyon.

Charlotte Lloyd, won bronze in hairdressing at EuroSkills, is in Team UK

“I have done over 800 hours in training over three years – it’s a long process, and I’m still learning,” she told FE Week.

“I am aiming for a top-three finish at the world finals in Lyon.”

Meanwhile, Simonas Brasas and Mikhaela Rain Roy are jointly representing the UK in Industry 4.0.

Rain Roy is studying robotics at Middlesex University whilst Brasas has a BTEC in engineering from Barking and Dagenham College and is studying at Kingston University.

Brasas said: “I still can’t quite believe it.  This is a very demanding multi-skilled discipline, being able to proceed further is going to be quite interesting now.  We can’t wait.” 

Rain Roy added: “This is definitely a life-changing moment for me.”

All members of Team UK will undergo an Olympic-style training regime, overseen by their training managers in their respective skills to prepare for the intense week of competition.

“You are so invested in the students, I have seen them grow for the last four years, to become competent and confident competitors, so driven,” said Karla Kosch, a training manager in Robot Systems Integration and a lecturer at Northern Regional College.

Skills minister Luke Hall said: “Best of luck to our remarkably talented competitors at this summer’s ‘skills Olympics’. 

“WorldSkills is an excellent opportunity to prove on the global stage that we have built a world class skills and apprenticeship system. I am hoping for a podium sweep from our apprentices and students in Lyon.”

Lead-up to Lyon

The last WorldSkills competition was scheduled to take place in Shanghai, China in 2021, but was delayed to the following year and subsequently cancelled due to the pandemic restrictions in the country at the time.

Mikhaela Rain Roy and Simonas Brasas are competing in Industry 4.0 in WorldSkills Lyon

Instead, a special edition was held in late 2022, where 15 countries from the WorldSkills global network hosted skills competitions across 26 cities, two of which were in Wales (Cardiff and Wrexham).

Team UK finished in tenth place that year and achieved its best ever fourth-place finish in digital skills where they finished above Germany and China.

Shanghai will now host WorldSkills 2026.

WorldSkills Lyon 2024, the 47th WorldSkills Competition, will take place from September 10 to 15.

Earlier this year, education giant Pearson was announced as the official partner of Team UK for WorldSkills Lyon.

FE Week is the official media partner for WorldSkills UK and Team UK.

NUS reaches settlement with sacked president

The National Union of Students has reached a confidential settlement with a former president who was sacked over allegations of antisemitism.

Shaima Dallali hired law firm Carter-Ruck last year as she launched an employment tribunal against the union, claiming she was subject to “discriminatory conduct”.

Dallali was elected NUS president in March 2022 and started the role in July, but was dismissed in November 2022 after the union said there had been “significant breaches” of its policies. 

The “breaches” related to historic social media posts, including one from 2012 which referenced a massacre of Jews in 628. Dallali later apologised for the post and called it “unacceptable”.

Dallali, who is the first NUS president to ever be sacked, claimed her dismissal was motivated by “antipathy towards her protected anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian protected beliefs, the fact that she supported the Palestinians and her religion as a Muslim”.

The case has now been settled out of court, but the terms of settlement will not be disclosed.

A joint statement from Carter-Ruck and NUS, released today, said: “NUS accepts that pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist beliefs may be protected beliefs, as may pro-Zionist beliefs.

“As a private individual Ms Dallali is, and as president of NUS she was, entitled to hold protected beliefs.

“As has been noted repeatedly in the media, NUS was very concerned by a tweet that was written by Ms Dallali when she was a teenager, before she was even a student, in 2012. Ms Dallali has accepted that while it was not her intention, the tweet was antisemitic. Both parties accept that Ms Dallali has repeatedly apologised for that tweet.”

The statement said that through the proceedings Dallali has suffered “truly horrific abuse”, which has included “death threats, threats of sexual assault and flagrant Islamophobia”.

“This is wholly unacceptable, and NUS categorically condemn it,” the statement added. “Ms Dallali now has the right to move on with her life and her career free from harassment or abuse.”

Dallali said: “I am pleased that we have been able to resolve matters and that I can put this matter behind me.

“I am an anti-Zionist and a proud pro-Palestinian. Following today’s settlement, I look forward to being able to focus on continuing to dedicate myself to the Palestinian cause and to serving my community.”

Dallali’s term of office as NUS president would have ended this July. NUS has been led by its vice president higher education, Chloe Field since Dallali’s dismissal. A new president, Amira Campbell, was elected last month and will take office in July.

Shared apprenticeship scheme barely meets half its recruitment target

The architect of the government’s trailblazing flexible apprenticeship scheme has said a “misunderstanding” of the programme led to repeated missed recruitment targets.

“Shared” apprenticeships were rolled out by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) in 2012, way before the government’s flexi-job apprenticeship scheme was unveiled in 2021.

CITB, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Education, aimed to recruit 500 apprentices per year via the partly funded programme but barely met half that figure in each of the past seven years, according to exclusive figures shared with FE Week (see table).

CITB admitted the figures were not as “high as initially expected”, insisting this was due to the shared apprenticeship model not being “as understood as the traditional routes” into construction, as well as the scheme not giving learners long-term job security and consistency of a traditional apprenticeship.

In 2023/24, just 160 apprentices started through the route, a fall of one-third from the 240 apprentice starts in 2017/18 when the scheme finally became fully fledged across England, Scotland and Wales. Achievement rates have fluctuated between 45 and 63 per cent.

CITB officials explained that when shared apprenticeships were first rolled out in 2012, the 500 annual recruitment target was accepted following a “high adoption rate” in Wales. However, a slow rollout across England, compounded by pandemic challenges, hindered overall recruitment.

Shared apprenticeships were originally set up for careers in the built environment sector to enable small- and medium-sized employers (SMEs), who cannot offer full apprenticeships, to hire apprentices. They need to last for at least 12 months by law.

The scheme works similarly to a flexi-job apprenticeship. Apprentices are placed on to short-term placements with different employers via one of six regional agencies, typically between two to five placements for the whole apprenticeship.

These agencies end up coaching SMEs with little knowledge or experience of apprenticeships, which does not always work out, according to Sally Moore, director of Training and Apprenticeships in Construction (TrAC), one of the agencies.

“We’ve had situations where we had to move people sooner than the expected duration and situations where a host company doesn’t like training an apprentice. We’ve had to move them as well because it’s not good for anybody,” she said.

TrAC, along with the other five agencies, now also offer flexi-job apprenticeships.

Construction skills gap concerns

The low take-up of shared apprenticeships speaks to widely reported recruitment challenges in the construction industry.

CITB said in a 2023 report that an extra 225,000 construction workers may be needed by 2027. Yet statistics show the annual apprenticeship starts in construction has hovered around 20,000 since 2017. Retention rates have been just 56 per cent for the past two years.

“Employers [sic] reluctant to commit to the time required to train or needing experienced and already skilled staff,” a CITB spokesperson explained.

They added that “despite the lower-than-expected numbers”, shared apprenticeships remain a “big success” as it led to different flexible apprenticeship schemes across construction and other sectors coming onstream.

“We accept there are still skills challenges for the sector, and apprenticeships – whatever form they take – are just one of many routes to try and attract new people,” they said.

Wider flexi-job scheme struggles to take off

apprenticeships
Flexi-job apprenticeships are available in the media and construction sectors

Ministers launched flexi-job apprenticeships after the pandemic to boost opportunities in the creative, digital and construction sectors where short-term employment models are more prevalent.

The DfE wanted between 1,500 to 2,000 learners starting flexi-job apprenticeships by 2023. But to date just 1,330 starts have been recorded, according to the latest figures. Of those, 110 have completed their apprenticeship.

DfE introduced a register for companies to apply to deliver flexi-job apprenticeships in February 2022 and a quality framework came out last October to ensure providers can meet standards.

A total of 40 agencies form the final register. Companies can either voluntarily remove themselves or are expunged from the register if they do not meet DfE’s conditions.

Since last year, five companies have been removed from the register. Multiple agencies have exited due to low employer demand and high delivery costs.

A DfE spokesperson said: “We expect these numbers to grow as our network of 40 agencies mature. We will continue to monitor their progress, and work with agencies to make any changes we believe will boost uptake and improve the experience for employers and learners.”

This is not the first time a government apprenticeship target has bombed. DfE’s 18-month “portable” flexi-job apprenticeship pilot failed after FE Week revealed last year that it reached barely one per cent of its 2,000-recruitment goal.

Providers delivering flexi-jobs apprenticeships arrange employer placements, whereas learners on “portable” apprenticeships find their own placements and are supported by one training provider.

Providers in the pilot told FE Week at the time that employers were not convinced by apprentices working for a short time with them and preferred the full-time apprenticeship route.

Waltham Forest named London’s only ‘outstanding’ general FE college

A London college group has been named the capital’s only ‘outstanding’ general further education college, with inspectors noting “extremely” good student achievement.

Waltham Forest College in Walthamstow, north east London, received a near-clean sweep of ‘outstanding’ grades following its March Ofsted inspection, an upgrade from its ‘good’ result in 2018.

According to Ofsted data, the college will be the only ‘outstanding’ rated general further education college in London.

Learners and apprentices at the college – which has about 2,000 16 to 18-year-old and 4,000 adult learners – “flourish” thanks to excellent teaching and training, the report said.

They are “highly motivated, ambitious and work hard” to reach their goals, benefit from an “excellent” tutorial programme and an “exceptional” and ambitious leadership team.

The report is yet to be published by Ofsted, but today the college published it themselves – with a celebration of the improved grade and its “excellent” educational outcomes for learners.

It said the college is ‘outstanding’ in all areas including quality of education, behaviour, and leadership, with only apprenticeships receiving the lower grade of ‘good’.

College “delighted” at grade

Principal and CEO Janet Gardner said she is “delighted” that Ofsted has recognised the quality of her students’ experience.

She added: “The whole staff team work relentlessly in their drive to support our students and ensure they achieve the very best outcomes to progress.

“The strong collaborations with employers, partners and stakeholders further supports the overall experience and ensures the college continues to meet local, regional, and national skills needs.”

The top Ofsted grade marks a new high for the college, which had a series of three ‘requires improvement’ grades from 2013 to 2018.

“Strong” contribution to London’s skills needs

Apprentices quickly gain “advanced technical knowledge and skills” from lecturers who are “experts in their field,” inspectors said.

The college makes a “strong contribution” to meeting London’s skills needs such as childcare and construction while also offering courses that are suitable for refugees and asylum seekers.

Lecturers also work with industry specialists and business owners to ensure curriculums, such as Level 3 cookery, are relevant.

Although inspectors praised “extremely helpful” feedback to students’ work, English and maths could be taught earlier, and achievements are “not high enough”.

However, teachers and lecturers monitor students’ progress “extremely effectively”.

High needs students have “life-changing experiences” thanks to experienced SEND professionals who “work very effectively” to develop their confidence.

The report notes: “Most learners, including learners who have high needs and those at their subcontractors, achieve extremely well.”

Alongside their courses, the college offers students a range of “outstanding” enrichment activities, a “very impressive” tutorial curriculum and “high-quality” careers education.

Leaders have relevant background and expertise, are “passionate and highly committed” and have a “thorough oversight” of the college’s strengths and areas in need of improvement.

A team of 12 inspectors visited the college, led by Saher Nijabat HMI.

Wolverhampton college freed from intervention after 12 years

The sector’s longest-running “financial notice to improve” was withdrawn from City of Wolverhampton College last week after 12 years.

First issued in 2012, the notice raised concerns about “very weak” financial management practices including high “overall indebtedness”, low working capital and cash reserves, and repeated deficits.

It also came shortly after the college was judged ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted, in a report that warned its “weak financial position” was of “serious concern”.

But last week, the government confirmed that its financial intervention has ended after agreeing to help the college clear a £10.7 million debt to Barclays bank that dates from 2007.

The Department for Education has taken on £6.1 million of the debt, with the remainder to be paid off through the future sale of City of Wolverhampton College’s Paget Road base for housing.

A new £61 million campus home for the college – City Learning Quarter – is under construction. It will include City of Wolverhampton Council adult education services and a “modernised” central library.

The college’s 2022/23 accounts say it had a deficit of £931,000, down from £2.4 million the previous year, but a self-assessed financial health score of ‘good’.

College ‘delighted’ that financial intervention over

Principal Mal Cowgill said the college, which was judged ‘good’ by Ofsted last year, is “delighted” the financial notice has been lifted and praised his staff for developing financial systems and processes that reflect “best practice in the sector”.

He added: “Despite our financial challenges, we are proud that the quality of education we offer to our students and apprentices has never been compromised, and has been recognised by Ofsted.

“Our college now has a very bright future ahead as our campus transformation journey progresses.”

While construction has started at the City Learning Quarter, the college is also set to begin training thousands of students and apprentices at its new Advanced Technology and Automotive Centre from September this year.

Longest running intervention

The government’s 12-year financial intervention at City of Wolverhampton College was the longest-running in the country when it was closed last Friday.

Unlike when such notices are issued now, the government did not publish any explanation of why it took this step.

Of the 53 colleges issued with notices to improve since 2012, only two have lasted ten years or more. 

The DfE closed West Kent and Ashford College’s second longest-running notice of ten years in 2022.

In February, Hull College exited intervention after seven years, a £50 million government bailout, reductions in staff and closing one campus.

The DfE can issue notices to improve when it has concerns about a college’s financial health or teaching quality.

Following this, the FE Commissioner usually assesses the college within a few weeks and publishes an intervention report with recommendations on how to improve. 

Why in intervention for so long?

The FE Commissioner has published two assessment reports into City of Wolverhampton College.

Its latest report, published in 2020, noted that it had struggled with the “combined effect” of an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted rating in 2012, regional demographic decline of 16- to 19-year-olds and “steep reductions” in adult funding. These issues, combined with the limited appeal of its 1960s-built campus, resulted in a significant drop in income.

It praised the college for improving its financial practices, appointing “capable” leaders and maintaining a ‘good’ Ofsted grade at each inspection since 2014.

Central to the college’s long-running intervention was its ‘inadequate’ financial health rating caused by a requirement to classify its large debt as a liability due to a “covenant breach”.

Efforts to repair the finances began in earnest following a 2016 appraisal, after which the DfE agreed to help the college restructure its debt and a deal was struck with the council to move one of its sites to the City Learning Quarter.

However, “highly ambitious” forecasts of income from apprenticeship growth only partially materialised, and funding needed to start building the new campus took much longer than planned.

A DfE spokesperson said: “The current leadership team and governing body of City of Wolverhampton College has significantly improved the strategic and operational performance of the college, increasing income and rationalising costs.

“The financial notice to improve has been lifted following the submission of accounts that demonstrated improvement in financial health for the year 2022/23.”