The Great FE and Skills Survey 2014

It is perhaps not surprising that when FE Week and the Policy Consortium invited staff across the sector to highlight the issues that really concerned them they should paint a rather troubling picture.

More than a thousand people responded to the opportunity to record what worried them most about the state of FE, and their comments make disturbing reading. It would be wrong however, to dismiss these concerns as just an inevitable consequence of allowing hard-pressed staff to let off steam — there are clear patterns in these responses which deserve serious attention.

One headline finding is the extremely high level of concern about institutional funding, common across all subsectors.

It is revealing that the highest degree of concern is among the most senior staff — those best-placed to see what is going on and perhaps what further cuts are just around the corner.

With protection being given to pre-16 school budgets, cuts in the Department for Education inevitably focus on 16 to 19-year-olds despite their already being less well-resourced than those in earlier years. With university teaching largely funded through student fees, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills funding cuts also focus on the FE sector, and with apprenticeships given priority everything else is under threat. Staff are fearful of the future for their learners and their institutions and perhaps rightly so.

Another message that comes through strongly is concern over the pace of change, whether in funding mechanisms, curriculum content or institutional arrangements. Staff report that they have not had time to assimilate one set of changes when another is upon them, giving nothing time to bed down or to settle in.

In most cases this is not hostility to specific innovations as such. There is little criticism of fundamental changes such as the move to study programmes or the new priority given to English and maths for example. What comes across is the sheer frustration of not being given a chance to get on and do a good job before the rules change yet again.

Two specific changes stand out as exceptions to this rule. Proposals to transfer apprenticeship funding to employers attracted serious criticism in a series of comments from those in training providers but also from staff in colleges. Staff echoed concerns made by many national organisations about the potential impact on the engagement of small and medium-sized enterprises with the apprenticeship programme.

Transferring funding for those with high level needs to local authorities raised similar fears for both college staff and those in independent specialist providers, sometimes linked with fears about the reduction in funding levels for learners with disabilities more generally. In both cases staff concern is focussed around a move away from established arrangements that are understood and work tolerably well to a new system that in their view threatens to destabilise provision and restrict opportunities for learners.

Several respondents were very sceptical of the inspectorate’s independence from government and the centralist influence on both inspection findings and inspection priorities. Inconsistency was also felt to be operating at a local level where individual inspectors were seen as having individual agendas leading to considerable variability.

The inspection framework and its operation were often felt to ignore the context in which individual providers were working in.

This applied to the type of provider (college, independent learning provider, etc), provision (especially LLDD/SEN) and also in addressing deficits that were perceived as the responsibility of schools rather than FE.

Finally, many comments suggest that FE staff do not see government sponsored changes to the sector as wholly legitimate; initiatives are described as politically inspired and respondents talked frequently of political ‘interference’ or ‘meddling’. There is not so much a sense of partnership between internal and external stakeholders as of the sector being ‘used’ by politicians for their own, often short term and extrinsic ends.

If political leaders are to secure sector support to take forward the reforms they believe in they will need to make far greater efforts to convince staff that they are motivated by a genuine desire to improve outcomes for learners, rather than just indulging in change for its own sake.

Click here to read about The Great FE and skills survey

 

Matthew Hancock MP, skills minister

With two offices across two government departments, two Secretaries of State as bosses and one of the broadest ministerial briefs around, life is hectic for Matthew Hancock.

But while it certainly isn’t cricket — a game he regrets not having the time for anymore — things seem to have gone quite well for our 35-year-old Skills Minister.

Promoted to replace John Hayes last year, Hancock had big shoes to fill.

And while some may have doubted whether the role was right for him — an Oxford PPE grad with a background in economics — no one can deny he expresses a passion for the challenge.

And it is this passion with which the father-of-three speaks when I meet him in his large office, set roughly halfway up one side of the impressive glass atrium (which aides admit turns their offices into a sweltering greenhouse in the summer) at the Department for Education — one of the government departments he calls home.

“I find my job is juggling,” he says, his trademark pink jumper hanging neatly behind his desk below a painting by his six-year-old son, Ferdinand.

Politics is a team game, so you play the part in the team that you are asked to play

“I juggle two departments, I’ve juggled two secretaries of state, three children, and a job as an MP as well as a job as a minister…doing the job effectively means juggling all these competing demands.”

Born in Chester and brought up by small business owners in the Cheshire countryside, Hancock attended a village primary school before moving onto secondary school in the city of his birth.

His decision to attend an FE college — albeit to study one subject — sets him apart from most on the Tory benches, although his politics, philosophy and economics degree from Oxford does less to defy stereotype.

Above: Matthew Hancock after playing the northernmost game of cricket on record near the North Pole in 2005 Left: En route to the North Pole
Above: Matthew Hancock after playing the northernmost game of cricket on record near the North Pole in 2005

“I went [to West Cheshire College] because my school wouldn’t do computing A-level,” he says.

“I came from this computing background and I wanted to get the deeper underpinning of what it was all about.

“It was pretty unusual. Actually, my brother did it as well, he went to a different college for sixth form. But it wasn’t usual at all. But I was looking out to what I wanted to achieve. One of the things I really wanted to do was to get a full grip of what was going on in the business.

“But [it] was an experience that really changed what I wanted to do at about that time — in the early 1990s recession, the business had a perfectly decent product, but because of late payments by a client that was struggling in the recession, we got to a point where, if we hadn’t got the cheque by the end of the week, the business would have gone under.”

It was that interest in how business success could rise and fall so sharply which took him to Oxford and then on to a job at the Bank of England, but it wasn’t until five years later that a conversation with a certain Shadow Chancellor set him on the path to public office.

“The Conservatives had just lost the 2005 election,” he says.

“I had met George Osborne once, and we had talked about my trip to the North Pole, but also about some policy things and he called me up and said, ‘Why don’t you come and get involved?’ So I took a gamble and went to work for him.

“I had been in the Conservative Party for a period, and I had got involved in the 2005 election supporting a friend of mine, Nick Boles (now Planning Minister), who was then a candidate. So, I was involved — but as a grassroots activist, so it was leaflets through letterboxes.

“I still have a scar on the back of my hand from where a dog tried to bite me in Hove, and I pulled my hand out of the letterbox and there must have been a nail or something catching on it. It was in a tower block so probably not our most productive area.”

It wasn’t long before his work for Osborne, along with a realisation that the real power lay in government, had inspired Hancock to seek a seat of his own, and East Anglia, rather than his native Cheshire, beckoned.

But he is keen to point out that he was not “parachuted” in to the safe seat of West Suffolk.

En route to the North Pole
En route to the North Pole

He says: “In the Conservative Party, that’s not how it works, and this concept of parachuting doesn’t exist in the same way as it does in some of the other parties.

“The final decision for every selection comes down to the local people in the room, and so you have to fight your corner — and in some cases, being a candidate who is close to the leadership isn’t helpful.”

Hancock won the support of locals and comfortably won the seat in May 2010, devoting his first few years on the back benches to fighting for his constituency and co-writing Masters of Nothing, a book about the financial crash, with fellow Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi. He still lists achievements like the dualling of the A11 and improved rail links among his proudest in the Commons.

Had a coalition agreement with the Lib Dems not been in place, Hancock’s economics background would have made him an attractive choice for Chief Secretary to the Treasury, but he claims he was more than happy to be offered his dual role for skills, which he shares between Michael Gove’s Department for Education and Vince Cable’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

He says: “As a backbencher you tend to pick up the phone when the Prime Minister is on the line during a reshuffle and say, ‘yes, Prime Minister, that sounds fascinating.’

“But it was an area that I had an interest in, and I know that the party knew that I was interested in it, and I had been doing some work on apprenticeships as a back bencher anyway and had spoken up about them a lot. I don’t know whether or not that had been noticed, but I was absolutely delighted to be offered.”

Family remains important to Hancock, who lives with wife Martha and children Hope, seven, Ferdinand and Humphrey, nine months, in Little Thurlow, Suffolk. The Hancocks moved to the village shortly after he was selected to fight his seat.

But he is ashamed to admit that his devotion to cricket has suffered as a result of his newfound hectic lifestyle.

He says: “The one thing that has been squeezed out since I have been a minister is almost all of my cricket. In fact, having run the parliamentary cricket club the year before as a back bencher, last year I was scheduled to play three games of cricket.

Hancock is depicted in the FE Week edition 49 cartoon (his first) riding off with former Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg’s plans for a Tech Bacc
Hancock is depicted in the FE Week edition 49 cartoon (his first) riding off with former Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg’s plans for a Tech Bacc

“One was rained off, my son was born during another, and in the other I faced one ball which I hit straight to a fielder without bouncing. So I had, literally, the worst batting season you could ever have, which involved facing one ball.”

Suitably non-committal about his future, Hancock doesn’t respond to the news that Paddy Power have him at 7/4 to be promoted into the Cabinet at the next reshuffle along with the likes of Liz Truss and Anna Soubry.

When asked if he would accept a Cabinet role if it was offered, he simply says: “Politics is a team game, so you play the part in the team that you are asked to play.”

So that’s a yes then.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

It’s a personal thing

What’s your favourite book?

The Art of Captaincy, by Mike Brearley. It’s about dealing with strong characters to get the best out of them in difficult circumstances

 

What do you do to switch off from work?

I spend time with my children as much as I can. I like to cook. I am not particularly good, but I am blessed with performing a lifelong apprenticeship to my wife, who is a brilliant cook. I cooked a chicken and mushroom risotto recently

 

Do you have a pet hate?

I hate the fact that I hate split infinitives. I hate split infinitives, and then I get cross with myself for being so pernickety. So I wish I was more relaxed about it but it makes me stop every time I see one

 

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

I think I went through a whole series of them. At one stage I definitely wanted to be a pilot, and now I definitely don’t

 

If you could invite anyone, living or dead, to a dinner party, who would it be?

I would want RA Butler to talk to him about his Education Act and what he envisaged of it. I would like Oscar Wilde for his wit and repartee. I’d like Albert Einstein, as much for his pithy quotes as much as his physics knowledge. And I would like Tim Berners-Lee, to talk about the future

 

Ofsted launches provider review tool for employers

Employers will be able to anonymously rate, review and compare providers using an online tool launched by Ofsted today (Monday, April 28).

Employer View will allow staff to share their thoughts on providers they have worked with, and find out what other employers think about any provider which trains their employees, apprentices and work placement or work experience staff.

The site is open to the public, but employers’ details will be kept confidential.

Ofsted national director for FE and skills Lorna Fitzjohn said: “The tool will inform inspectors’ understanding of the effectiveness of provision, increase employers’ engagement in education and training, and help them and employees to choose the provider that is right for them.”

A questionnaire on the site asks employers to rate their provider partners on the quality of their communication, monitoring of employee progress, training provision, and feedback and support.

“Employers in the past have often not been sufficiently included in the education and training of learners, including apprentices, and we recognised that this needed to change,” said Ms Fitzjohn.

“Engagement with employers was highlighted as a major theme for improvement in Ofsted’s Annual Report and we hope Employer View will facilitate a dialogue between employers and providers that will improve the provision of further education and training.

“Employer View underpins Ofsted’s aim to raise standards in education and training.

“I therefore urge all employers using a provider inspected by Ofsted to visit the Employer View page on our website and contribute to improving the standard of training across the further education sector.”

A statement by Ofsted said safeguards would be in place to prevent the site from abuse.

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) chief executive Stewart Segal said: “We are pleased Ofsted is giving more recognition to the views of employers.

“We have always said that the more focus we put on outcomes and views of the ultimate customers the better.”

However, he said there was already a “crowded marketplace” for information on providers.

“Employers now have a number of sources of information and support including National Apprenticeship Service website, FE Choices, Ofsted main site, Ofsted Employer Choices, Apprenticeship Makers, National Careers Services which will confuse many smaller employers,” he said.

“We are now looking at how access to these services and support can be made more effective through one single information source.”

He added: “Ofsted need to use the informal information generated by Employer Choices carefully and ensure that this is balanced with the more formal survey information already generated by training providers.

“Responses to the system will be anonymous and may not be statistically significant so there has to be a process where the information is reviewed with the provider as the responses may not be a balanced sample.”

The tool will use the same model as Learner View, a tool launched in September 2012 to allow learners to rate their providers.

FE Week understands that Ofsted will also be launching a data dashboard for colleges in May, which will display information on learner destination and attainment, as well as Local Enterprise Partnership priorities.

The Employer View tool can be accessed at www.employerview.ofsted.gov.uk.

Inadequate college leaders stay despite commissioner questions

The principal and governors’ chair at a grade four London college that Ofsted said was failing to improve are clinging to their posts — despite FE Commissioner Dr David Collins having identified leadership as a weakness, FE Week can reveal.

LeSoCo was rated inadequate in January and came in for renewed criticism from the education watchdog this month when inspectors said there was insufficient monitoring of sub-standard teaching at the 17,600-learner college.

But principal Maxine Room (pictured) and governors’ chair John Landeryou remain in post and it has now emerged that Skills Minister Matthew Hancock’s FE Commissioner, Dr David Collins, questioned those at the top of LeSoCo.

Dr Collins’ two-week assessment of the college took place from January 27 having been triggered by the inadequate inspection result. A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) said Dr Collins “identified some weaknesses in the governance and leadership of the college”.

She said: “The chair is required to produce an action plan for how they will address the weaknesses and ensure improvements are made. The commissioner will monitor progress regularly and provide advice to the minister on the college’s progress.”

But a LeSoCo spokesperson confirmed none of its leadership team was standing down.

She said: “The FE Commissioner has made a number of recommendations which the college is acting upon.

“We are working towards improvements in curriculum delivery, quality control and financial management, and assessing options for developing the breadth of skills and experience on the senior leadership team and board of governors as suggested by the commissioner.

“Any changes to the senior leadership team and board of governors will be focused on recruiting additional expertise in line with the commissioner’s findings.

“We remain committed to the journey of transformation that was necessitated by the merger that created LeSoCo, and look forward to working further with the FE Commissioner and Ofsted to raise standards.”

The college was formed after a merger in 2012 between Lewisham College — rated outstanding in 2006, before dropping to satisfactory (a grade three and now termed ‘requires improvement’) in 2012 — and Southwark College, which was graded inadequate in December 2011.

LeSoCo, which has a current Skills Funding Agency allocation of £25.5m, resigned from the 157 Group after January’s grade four rating. Ofsted’s report criticised overall teaching standards and said improvements were needed to tutorials.

Inspectors on an initial follow-up inspection painted a picture of a college struggling to improve and a second monitoring visit inspection found there was still insufficient monitoring of sub-standard teaching and “too many tutorial sessions have low attendance”.

However, “reasonable improvement” had been made in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in foundation English and maths.

 

Warning for providers as SFA named in fraudster ‘spear fishing’ campaign

Email fraudsters are targeting FE and skills providers by posing as the Skills Funding Agency.

The sector has been warned about ‘phishing’ attempts to get bank details. Deceptive emails have been reported, asking for details that would allow the sender to take money from the provider’s bank account — a practice known as phishing.

One attempt is known of and it proved unsuccessful, but the agency has asked providers to report any suspicious emails they receive. The Association of Employment and Learning Providers has also alerted its members to the issue in its weekly Countdown newsletter.

An agency spokesperson told FE Week: “We have been made aware of a phishing attempt, where a person/body has used the agency name as a cover to attempt to obtain the bank details of a provider.

“We ask providers to be aware and remain vigilant. If you receive any phishing emails, please inform your relationship manager so we can provide intelligence to the police about this attempted fraud.”

Tony Neate (pictured), chief executive of government internet advisory body Get Safe Online, said it was common for fraudsters to pose as government agencies.

“Phishing has been happening for years but recently it’s become very sophisticated, using targeted phishing or ‘spear phishing’, which targets an individual with the sort of email they would expect to receive,” he said.

“This happens with all the major banks, retailers, government departments — we’ve even seen phishing emails with the Get Safe Online logo on them.

“Students have been sent emails supposedly from the Student Loans Company — it’s to do with money so you’re going to take it seriously and many students did hand over their details.”

He urged providers to be on their guard about emails asking for any company or personal details.

“It’s unlikely banks or government agencies will ever ask for your details by email, so check it comes from an email address and a URL you recognise — for example if the website is usually a .com address, be careful if an email has come from a .tv address,” he said.

“Check any landline numbers and street addresses given match those on an organisation’s website and check it comes from the person you’d usually deal with — if not, contact them and ask if they know anything about it.

“Above all, be cautious, be suspicious.”

Have you been targeted? Send any ‘phishing’ emails you have received, purporting to be from the Skills Funding Agency, to news@feweek.co.uk

 

Colleges ‘tackling’ apprentice farrier bullying but ‘need’ modernisation

Ofsted monitoring inspections of three colleges that took over apprenticeship provision following accusations of bullying found safeguarding had improved, but warned the programme was still in need of modernisation.

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) demanded “immediate action to safeguard the welfare of all trainees” in June last year after physical and verbal bullying, harassment and exploitation were uncovered when inspectors visited the National Farrier Training Agency (NFTA), in Peterborough, and later downgraded it from good to inadequate.

Myerscough College, Warwickshire College and Herefordshire and Ludlow College took responsibility for farriery (horse shoeing) apprenticeship provision in November and all were judged to have made “reasonable” or “significant” progress in preventing employers abusing farriery apprentices.

The transition has been managed by Farriery Apprenticeship Steering Group (FASG), a body made up of the colleges, the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and industry organisations.

A spokesperson for Warwickshire College said it was “really pleased” with the progress it had made in “a very short timeframe”.

Although Ofsted said Myerscough College had not been “sufficiently robust” in dealing with poor-performing employers a college spokesperson said: “We are very pleased.

“The inspectors… noted the obvious commitment of the college’s teaching and support staff and the way Myerscough has worked closely with the professional bodies.”

Herefordshire and Ludlow principal Ian Peake said he was “delighted”.

He added: “We have worked very hard to rectify a range of issues and are now very well positioned to take a leading role in providing education and training to this important industry.”

All the reports said “insufficient progress” had been made in evaluating and modernising the programme.

However, Ofsted blamed this on other organisations in the FASG, saying the Worshipful Company of Farriers (WCF) had not “responded with sufficient energy”, leading the FASG to suspend modernisation activity until 2015.

WCF deputy registrar Ginny Ifould rejected Ofsted’s findings, saying the WCF had “not at any stage obstructed debate or action, and we are not aware of any decision to suspend activity until 2015.”

She added the WCF looked forward to working on the issue with the FASG.

An SFA spokesperson said: “The agency is aware of the recent Ofsted inspection reports into the three colleges which identified two areas of insufficient progress.

“We remain in close contact with the FASG as they continue to work on improving these areas.”

 

Taxman looks to reissue restaurant bill

A Hampshire college that went to court in its bid to win a training restaurant tax rebate could be facing a new legal battle from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), FE Week can reveal.

The taxman has been granted leave to appeal a decision made in February which found the supplies used by Brockenhurst College for its on-site training restaurant, MJ’s, were integral to educating students and so should have been exempt from VAT.

The college was awarded a £55,000 refund of four years’ worth of tax paid to HMRC on supplies to the 50-seater training restaurant, which is staffed by students and open to the public.

The win had prompted the hopes of a potential multi-million pound tax windfall for the wider college sector, and even the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) has been looking at whether its members might be due a similar payout.

However, a spokesperson for the HMRC told FE Week: “We have been granted leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

“We think meals provided by student restaurants to visiting members of the public who pay for them should be subject to VAT so they receive the same VAT treatment as meals provided by local restaurants.”

The original ruling was welcomed by the sector, as more than 160 colleges in England operate similar facilities, plus other training enterprises such as hair salons, spas and theatres, meaning if other colleges were to pursue claims, it could net the college sector tens of millions of pounds.

Assistant chief executive of the Association of Colleges Julian Gravatt described news of the possible appeal as “disappointing”.

He said: “VAT law is exceptionally complex and this case revolved around the way in which VAT exemptions apply in cases where students are providing services as part of their education, for example in a training restaurant on campus.

“Any VAT savings that colleges make are reinvested for the benefit of students so it is disappointing that HMRC are making an appeal against the earlier decision.”

Brockenhurst College principal Di Roberts (pictured front page) had said she planned to plough the windfall back into the college, but he college declined to comment on the latest development.

Brian Palmer, an Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) tax policy adviser, said the ruling awarding the tax refund made “perfect sense”.

“Brockenhurst College argued the restaurant supplies were exempt by virtue of being part of the education and vocational training for the hospitality students — quite rightly, in much the same way as we argue that concerts and performances given by students as part of their educational course are also exempt,” he said.

“The absence of a profit element (to the supplies) demonstrated an intention to supply education, rather than commercial catering or entertainment provision.”

“In the current economic climate where funds are tight, receiving a rebate could make all the difference to a college and the courses it offers.”

A spokesperson for the AELP confirmed it had been taking advice on whether independent learning providers could also take advantage of any potential refunds, but added that it was unclear whether the same rule would apply.

He added that it was likely HMRC would “consider any case on its own merits”.

 

Success on the South Coast

Chichester College has received an outstanding grade from Ofsted.

The 14,500-learner college, previously rated as good, achieved the top grading in all headline fields.

Inspectors praised staff for putting learners “at the heart of all college activity”.

The University of Sunderland also received a grade one result for its art and design foundation diploma provision in an Ofsted report, also published this month.