The 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz was marked with a memorial event organised by learners who had visited the notorious concentration camp.
A plaque at Queen Alexandra Sixth Form College was unveiled as part of the event, overseen by North Tyneside mayor Norma Redfearn.
A-level learner Kaldyne Field, aged 17, said: “Going to Auschwitz is an experience I will never forget, it really hits home what went on there.
“The idea of the plaque came to us on the way home from Auschwitz, we wanted to do something that would be permanent, creating a place of remembrance for students and the wider community.”
Coun Redfearn said: “The students have done an excellent job in commemorating the 70th anniversary and taking it upon themselves to educate other young people and their community.”
Main pic: from left; Queen Alexandra Sixth Form College history teacher Steven Driver with 17-year-old A-level learners Harry Smith, Kyran Brady, Kaldyne Field and Connor Burgess
A Weston College student who trained in plastering after being made redundant has launched his own business and discovered an ability in 16th Century skills.
Dan Garner, aged 32, recently completed his level two plastering diploma at the college’s construction and engineering centre of excellence (CECE).
It was there that lecturers found his ability with the 500-year-old skill of pargetting, which uses plaster of Paris mixed with hemp to sculptural effect.
Father-of-three Dan, 32, said: “I was made redundant from a printing company and decided I wanted to work for myself.
“I found plastering easy and then discovered my niche with this creative work.
Plastering lecturer Barry Allford said: “I made a musical note on the wall and Dan then created a cherry blossom branch. I have not seen talent like this in all my
years here.”
Main pic: from left; Dan Garner and Weston College plastering lecturer Barry Allford at work
Colleges risk failing their Ofsted inspections if they are not engaging effectively with employers, Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw has warned.
During questions from the House of Commons Education Select Committee this morning on the education watchdog’s annual report in December, Sir Michael warned inspectors were going to be “more critical” of poor employer engagement by colleges.
Responding to a question from Labour MP Alex Cunningham about incentives for colleges to engage with business, Sir Michael said they risked an inadequate rating.
He said: “That’s such an important question because apprenticeships aren’t going to work unless employers get heavily involved, and some of the classroom-based courses that these FE institutions are running don’t go well because employers are disengaged.
“When we go to a really successful college, they have really strong links with local employers, local chambers of commerce, Leps [local enterprise partnerships] and so on, they go out of their way for youngsters who are demotivated, lacking in confidence.
“We are going to be a lot more critical of the FE sector and colleges in particular if they’re not doing that. They will fail their inspection if they don’t do it.”
The annual report had painted a mixed picture for FE and skills, highlighting a rise in the proportion of good or outstanding providers while also pointing to one-in-six learners at less than good providers.
It said that in 2013/14, 3.2 million learners were at grade one or two providers because 81 per cent of providers were judged to be good or outstanding at their latest inspection — compared with 72 per cent the previous year and 64 per cent as at August 31, 2012.
And Ofsted director of FE and skills Lorna Fitzjohn told MPs today she wanted a new system to help colleges engage with smaller companies.
She said: “We see large employers, and even medium-size employers engaging, and colleges have had some success in that, but what there hasn’t been success in is engaging in small and medium employers within that. There has to be some kind of structure, some kind of brokerage to encourage them.”
See FE Week edition 126, dated Monday, February 2. for more coverage of the committee hearing — plus analysis of the sector’s 2014/15 Ofsted results so far.
Apprenticeship starts in the 16 to 18 age group were up by almost 9,000 in the first quarter of 2014/15 versus the same period last year, provisional figures released today have revealed.
But the apparent increase could be explained by problems with reporting learner data through the Skills Funding Agency’s Funding Information System (Fis) during the reporting period relating to the 2013/14 numbers. Final figures for the August to October 2013 period showed 54,400 starts for under 19s.
The provisional figures further show that all-age apprenticeship starts between August and October last year stood at 147,500, an increase of almost 40,000 from the provisional 108,800 reported the previous year. But again, the 2013/14 August to October figures ended up actually being 130,300 starts.
Traineeship data was also released today, showing 5,000 starts in the first quarter of 2014/15 (August to October), compared to 3,300 in the first two quarters of 2013/14.
A “lack of understanding” about salaries has been blamed on careers guidance failings after research released today showed teenagers under-estimated pay in skilled sectors by almost 40 per cent.
The research marked the launch of this year’s Vocational Qualification (VQ) Day awards, which celebrate the achievements of vocational learners and aim to raise awareness of non-academic options.
Image and figures supplied by Edge Foundation
However, the research, conducted by VQ Day organisers the Edge Foundation, revealed many young people did not know how much they could earn in technical or skilled roles.
In 2014, the sector with the highest annual earnings was electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply — but only one-in-six teenagers guessed it was even in the top three. What’s more, they thought average earnings would be around £23,000 — nearly £15,000 below the true median figure of £37,922.
Association of Colleges (AoC) president Richard Atkins said poor careers advice was responsible for young people’s inaccurate expectations.
“It is not surprising there is a lack of understanding around salaries. Careers guidance and advice is currently failing young people in this country,” he said.
“If, as a country, we are going to increase the number of young people opting for professional and technical education and choosing apprenticeships then we must improve careers education in schools.
Mr Atkins’s comments follow the creation of a “careers company” announced by Education Secretary Nicky Morgan last month with the aim of building links between schools and employers.
However, Mr Atkins called for advice to go one step further. “We would like to see the establishment of a careers hub in each local area, supported by schools, colleges, universities, local councils, employers and Jobcentre Plus to ensure that everyone has access to the high-quality impartial advice they deserve,” he said.
The Association for Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) agreed. “This illustrates why England should have an integrated all-age careers service with the Department for Education and Department for Business Innovation and Skills presiding over a single structure built around the services of the National Careers Service which parents and young people can access,” said a spokesperson.
Edge Foundation chief executive Jan Hodges OBE warned it was “essential” that young people were encouraged to take up vocational training.
“With the cost of education at an all-time high, future salaries are more important than ever to the majority of teens,” she said.
“But our research highlights a worrying gap in both theirs and their parents’ understanding around earnings. A skilled workforce is essential to the UK economy and high quality vocational routes need to be encouraged – not just for the personal fulfilment they bring but also the lucrative financial opportunities they offer.”
This year’s VQ Day on June 10 will be the eighth annual celebration of vocational qualifications, and nominations for the awards recognising outstanding vocational learners, employers and teachers open today. Visit www.vqday.org.uk/vq-awards by May 1 to nominate.
Approval of FE sector leadership and management has declined since last year, according to the results of an Education and Training Foundation (ETF) survey released today.
The survey revealed that 44 per cent of the 255 respondents thought the standard of leadership and management in the sector was good or very good, while 22 per cent rated it as bad or very bad.
In the previous survey, conducted in February, more than half (52 per cent) of respondents gave a positive response to leadership and management, while only 7 per cent had a negative response.
The survey report (pictured below right) said: “The difference between the two surveys may be due in part to the higher proportion of teachers and trainers in this year’s sample as there was considerable variation in the response depending on job role — 58 per cent of Principals or Chief Executives responded positively on the standard of “leadership and management” compared to just 28 per cent of Teachers and Trainers.”
Among teachers and trainers, 36 per cent rated leadership and management as bad or very bad as did 24 per cent of middle/functional managers, while 9 per cent of principals and chief executives and 7 per cent of senior managers did.
Almost 60 per cent of respondents thought professional standards within the sector were very good or good.
This is the same as last year’s survey, although this year, the percentage saying very good (10 per cent) was more than double that of the previous survey (4 per cent).
A third of respondents thought sector governance was very good or good although well over half did not know or gave a neutral response — this compares to 38 per cent giving a positive response in the previous survey. Of the 12 governors who responded, all but two gave a positive response.
More people are now aware of the ETF, launched in August 2013, the survey also revealed.
In February last year, 78 per cent of those who responded to the survey knew about the ETF — this went up to 90 per cent this year.
The survey also found three quarters of respondents were are ‘very likely’ or ‘likely’ to use the ETF’s services and 90 per cent of those who have previously engaged with the organisation would do so again, as would 63 per cent of those who have not.
Olivia Dorricott (pictured below), ETF director of leadership, management and governance, said: “It’s great to see that awareness of the ETF’s role and remit has risen significantly since we carried out our initial perception survey in the spring.
“Overall, the Perceptions Survey provides a positive and encouraging picture of our first year. Those of you who have engaged with us report consistently high satisfaction rates, often well in excess of 70 per cent.”
Eight out of ten respondents were ‘very aware’ or ‘quite aware’ of the ETF’s role and remit, compared to 63 per cent in February.
However, the survey also revealed low levels of awareness of the some of the ETF’s programmes, including governance and clerks support programmes, foundation online learning, the leadership register and FE advice.
Ms Dorricott said: “We clearly need to do more to achieve whole sector awareness of the range of programmes and support we offer, and will be striving to improve our communications reach in order to achieve that.
“Resources such as FE advice, foundation online learning and the leadership register are very popular with users, but the results indicated that awareness of these is still not high enough.
“We will be working hard to promote these more effectively, using all the communications channels at our disposal.”
Following feedback from the last survey, Ms Dorricott added, the ETF has made alterations to its website, such as changing fonts and colours which survey respondents said were hard to read.
Review of non-GCSE English and maths kicks off
The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) is tomorrow launching its review of teaching and accreditation of maths and English for learners unable to reach D grade GCSE.
The review, entitled Making maths and English work for all, is chaired by former Highlands College principal professor Ed Sallis and is expected to close on February 24 with the findings due out the following month.
It will look at how non-GCSE maths and English qualifications are understood by employers, how well they meet their needs, and how they might become validated qualifications with large scale recognition across the population.
It comes as learners who record a D in English and maths at GCSE will, from August, have to retake in pursuit of an improved grade, while those who get an E or below can try alternative qualifications in the hope of getting a C grade equivalent.
Professor Sallis said: “GCSE is a recognised brand among employers and the public. Government policy is to enable as many young people as possible to have the chance to achieve GCSE maths and English, at grade C or above, at 16 or shortly thereafter.
Professor Ed Sallis, OBE
“However for many groups of learners, GCSE retake is not the most appropriate route for acquiring the relevant skills.”
The ETF will not be reviewing GCSEs, rather, their alternatives, including Functional Skills — already the subject of an Ofqual review — and has called on employers, practitioners and learners to contribute to the consultation stage.
The review was announced by Skills Minister Nick Boles at the Association of Colleges (AoC) conference on November 18: “I have asked the ETF… to work with employers, colleges and awarding bodies to understand what kind of English and maths qualifications might give those who are not able to pass GCSEs a certificate of real value — something that is emphatically not a soft option, something practical and relevant but demanding.”
The review will include online surveys with employers, practitioners and stakeholders, in depth telephone interviews, workshops with a range of organisations and learners and webinars.
“With this review we are working to establish what kind of improvements might be needed to make sure non-GCSE English and maths qualifications have labour market respect,” said Professor Sallis.
“This means equipping people with relevant skills, being taught well, being accessible to learners at all starting points, and enabling steps to higher level learning.”
“I encourage anyone with an interest to contribute.”
Ofqual has issued a four-point improvement plan for awarding organisations (AOs) in a bid to make Functional Skills qualifications “more valid and more reliable”.
The qualifications watchdog today published the report on its review, launched last year, of level two English and maths Functional Skills, which concluded that they “need to be improved”.
The report said AOs had already responded “positively” to findings that action needed to be taken to improve the quality of assessment materials and reduce the risk of malpractice and maladministration. The report also said AOs needed to strengthen standard-setting procedures and evaluate better how far qualifications were meeting user needs.
“The majority of improvements will be in place by this summer,” it added. “We are also taking action to make sure standards are more consistent between different awarding organisations.”
Jeremy Benson (pictured), Ofqual executive director for vocational qualifications, said: “We take the quality of Functional Skills qualifications very seriously and have high expectations of the AOs that offer them.
“The changes awarding organisations are making should result in real and visible improvements to Functional Skills assessments — making them more relevant and more reliable.
“We will follow up on these changes and if we find that qualifications don’t meet our requirements, we will take further action.”
The Ofqual review included investigation of the Functional Skills offer in each of the 13 AOs that run the 28 level two English and maths qualifications.
The report, entitled Improving Functional Skills Qualifications, outlines how City & Guilds and Pearson “dominate” on Functional Skills, controlling almost 80 per cent of the market, and highlights how the total number of certificates issued has gone up from nearly 300,000 in 2010/11 to more than 1m in 2013/14.
Kirstie Donnelly MBE, UK managing director at City & Guilds, told FE Week: “We welcome Ofqual’s feedback which enables us to review and improve our qualifications to ensure our learners get the best possible outcomes.
“However, as we have noted in our recent Sense and Instability report we caution against change for change’s sake as learners and employers need stability to have confidence in measures of attainment.
“We have established a demand for the credible and valuable role of Functional Skills, reflected in the delivery figures the report highlights.
“We look forward to the ongoing and important contribution Functional Skills will make to improving the maths and English skills of learners and the overall functional literacy of the UK workforce.”
A spokesperson for Pearson said: “We have been working with Ofqual following their thematic review of Functional Skills, and welcome the opportunity to ensure that these qualifications continue to provide a valuable demonstration of a learner’s skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT.
“We will continue to work with Ofqual to make these changes to our qualifications and will be keeping our customers fully up-to-date as we progress.”
A spokesperson for the Education and Training Foundation, which today launched its review of teaching and accreditation — including Functional Skills — of non-GCSE maths and English for learners unable to reach D grade GCSE, said: “It is very helpful to have this Ofqual review of Functional Skills qualifications.
“It provides additional data for our Making maths and English work for all review [click here to take part]. We are working closely with Ofqual as partners in our review.”
The review marks a turnaround for Functional Skills, which were increasingly being seen as mere “stepping stones” toward GCSEs by some, including former Skills Minister Matthew Hancock. They were even due to be removed as a requirement for apprentices in favour of GCSEs from 2017.
But Skills Minister Nick Boles, describing Functional Skills as “important” as he appeared at an FE Week fringe event at Conservative Party Conference late last year, pledged to work with Ofqual on improving elements of the qualification, including the branding. He said he wanted to make the them “legitimate, valid, respected and admired”.
David Hughes, chief executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace), said: “We welcome the work Ofqual is doing to improve the quality of these important qualifications. It is vital that they are understood and valued by learners and employers, the quality of the qualification itself and the way it is taught are both important parts of that.”
A further Ofqual review of Functional Skills was due in the autumn, it said in the report, following up on changes made by AOs and to check they were meeting regulatory requirements.
“We will not limit this to level two English and maths, but will look across all subjects and levels. Where there is evidence that our requirements are not being met, we will consider formal regulatory action,” it said.
The Association of Colleges (AoC) has issued a plea to the Labour Party not to raid the FE budget to pay for higher education.
An Aoc spokesperson said Labour leader Ed Miliband (pictured above) was expected to announce a policy of cutting maximum university fees for students by a third, from £9,000 to £6,000.
And the BBC’s Robert Peston said yesterday that he had been told by the Labour Party that it was planning to cut the maximum fee higher education providers could charge by a third. Labour did not deny the claim.
But AoC chief executive Martin Doel (pictured below right) warned the FE and skills sector could not “stand by” while funding to pay for the higher education policy was taken from its budget.
“While we welcome Labour’s commitment to ensuring that higher education is accessible for as many people as possible, we must urge caution about how the funding for a reduction in tuition fees will be found,” he said.
“Great care would be needed to ensure there is not a knock-on effect for the rest of the education system.”
University tuition fees were raised from £3,000 a-year to £9,000 in 2010, despite a Liberal Democrat promise to abolish them.
However, in October, Business Secretary Vince Cable revealed he had blocked moves by civil servants to “effectively kill off FE” by taking from the sector’s budget to fund the pledge.
Mr Doel said: “FE for people aged 19 and over has already sustained heavy funding cuts of 22 per cent since 2009-10. We can’t stand by and see this budget raided to sustain higher education in universities alone, just as it was in Scotland.”
He said political parties should not forget that colleges also provide technical and professional education at levels four and five.
“As all parties look to increase the number of apprenticeships, we need to ensure that the money to fund university fees is not taken away from the FE sector which is expected to deliver this training,” he said.
He added the next government should conduct a “once in a generation funding review” spending at each stage of education.
A Labour spokesperson said: “In trebling tuition fees, this government has managed to find a system of university finance that puts a huge burden of debt on students, while almost costing the taxpayer more than it saves.
“It lets down both the next generation and the public finances.”
He added the party would announce details of its education policy in due course.
