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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Visit here to download the full manifesto

Here are the AoC’s manifesto demands:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Ofsted boss Sir Michael Wilshaw has challenged employers to engage more with colleges in an effort to bridge the skills gap.

The education watchdog chief inspector said businesses should consider apprenticeships as the answer to their vacancies problems.

Speaking to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)’s East of England education conference in Cambridge on Tuesday (November 19), he said: “The economy is improving, jobs are more plentiful, and there is cross-party agreement on the need for more high-quality apprenticeships.”

But, he said: “Vocational education is still failing to deliver the needs of both young people and of society. There are currently 146,000 job vacancies that employers cannot fill because applicants don’t have the required skills.”

He further issued a series of challenges to employers, saying: “Have you made a sustained effort to engage with schools and colleges and let them know what opportunities you offer? What would it take to turn a job vacancy into an apprenticeship?”

He added: “It’s easy to bemoan the lack of qualified youngsters, but what are you doing to help solve that problem?”

Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “Colleges already work with an average of 700 employers in their local area but they are keen to do more.

“Sir Michael is absolutely right to call for more involvement from employers and we hope to see more engagement over coming months and years.

“Employers create apprenticeships and they must be involved in their development for them to be successful.

“However, young people need to be aware of the options open to them. Only a step change in the careers advice available to them will lead to more becoming apprentices.

“That’s why our Careers Guidance Guaranteed campaign calls for the establishment of careers hubs in every local area involving schools, colleges, local councils and others.”

Sir Michael said “a fundamental shift” in educational structures was needed, praising schools and colleges who had come together in “clusters”. “That trend to federation should be encouraged,” he said.

At least one school in a cluster should offer vocational provision to 14-year-olds, such as a specialist college or University Technical College, he said.

“Young people could then transfer across institutions in the cluster to provide a route to high-level academic or vocational study,” he said. This would mean they “would not be stuck in one route”.

Sir Michael said the UK had “been stuck on the same policy roundabout year after year without any clear idea of which direction to take”.

To solve this, he laid out a number of steps to transform vocational education, and to help it match up to schemes abroad.

“Apprenticeships must have parity of esteem with A-levels,” he said.

“They must be sold aggressively to schools, parents and young people.”

Vocational education “should be seen as a valid option for every student and not as the consolation prize for those who cannot do anything else,” he added.

He also said vocational training must give a clear line of sight to work and employer engagement should be at the forefront of any reform.

Neil Carberry, CBI director for employment and skills policy, said: “Businesses support schools and colleges in many different ways, but can do more. We know that the more interactions young people have with the workplace, the better prepared they are for life outside school and college.

“We want all businesses to increase their engagement with schools, but this cannot just be laid at the door of firms alone. The government must do more and start by reintroducing work experience for Years 10 and 11.”

 

Staff at Lambeth College have voted in favour of a new walkout over employment contracts — just six months after launching an indefinite strike only to return to work just before the summer holidays.

The possible action by members of the University and College Union (UCU) includes another indefinite strike, a one-day strike or a series of escalating strikes, said a UCU spokesperson.

No date has yet been set for the strike, although the UCU said it would announce its plans “in the coming days”.

Union members claim contracts for new staff, introduced by the college in April will leave them with longer working hours, less annual leave and less sick pay.

A strike ballot which opened on September 22 was shelved in early October while the union considered an “improved offer” from the college, where existing staff would stay on the original contract until September 2017, or accept a £1,500 “cash incentive” to transfer to the new contract.

In the latest ballot, 66 UCU members to strike, of a turnout of 80 members, which has a total of 250 teaching staff.

Principal Mark Silverman (pictured), who came to the college two years ago tasked with improving the college’s financial sustainability after it was hit with an Ofsted grade four inspection result, said the new contracts were necessary.

“The unwillingness of UCU to accept that the new contract is for new staff only, and to acknowledge that it still offers new staff better terms and conditions than they could expect to receive elsewhere in the sector, is almost beyond belief,” he said.

“Improvements at the college over the last two years are evident, but we remain in financial recovery and await an Ofsted inspection.

“I call on UCU to acknowledge that to take strike action when only a quarter of our teaching staff support it is reckless, and that irresponsible and unmerited strike action will achieve nothing, other than to undermine those improvements and jeopardise the future of the college.”

A UCU spokesperson said: “We want to resolve this matter as quickly as possible and are ready to negotiate with the college leaders, but the support for renewed action must serve as a wake-up call to the college.

“It is clear that staff remain strongly opposed to the current proposals, and any attempts to railroad them through will meet strong resistance.”