Latest news from FE Week

Should the title of ‘college’ be earned and protected?

The title of ‘college’ appears to be coming back into sector fashion — and even worth fighting for, just ask Newcastle College principal Carole Kitching. Ruth Sparkes considers whether it, like ‘university’, should be protected.

After news that Newcastle College Group (NCG) successfully, and legally stopped a mystery outfit calling itself Newcastle College Ltd from trading under that name, it’s probably worth considering just what value there is in our institutions’ brands.

Other than one business trying to pass itself off as another, which is a suspect practice to say the least, it’s interesting to consider that some highly regarded and well-established colleges have changed their names — an important part of any brand.

Some colleges have dropped the word ‘college’ from their titles. Indeed, it was a bit of a trend a few years ago, but I think the word college is coming back ‘en vogue.’

I suspect the college rebrand with the most press coverage was Lesoco (or LeSoCo as it had said). Born out of the Lewisham and Southwark colleges’ merger, it has since become Lewisham Southwark College. West Notts College became Vision, now it’s Vision West Nottinghamshire College.

Newcastle College (the real one) is part of this gang, sort of. As the institution grew, it took over or merged with other colleges
and independent training providers, and became NCG.

As I think many of these other colleges at one time or another have claimed, NCG is more than a college.

A cursory glance at its corporate website details its might. It is a collection of FE colleges, a sixth form, a training provider, a free school and more besides.

It boasts a turnover of more than £179m, has the largest Education Funding Agency contract in the UK, its own degree-awarding powers, delivers around 20,000 apprenticeships a year and employs thousands of staff. Arguably, the word ‘college’ is not enough.

Why, I wonder did the former ‘Newcastle College Ltd’ ever take it on? Perhaps it thought it could operate under the radar — that it could piggyback on NCG’s mighty brand. Or maybe it thought NCG was so big, it’d never notice?

Is there an argument for more control over the terms ‘college’, ‘school’ or ‘academy’, to help make sure that everyone understands what sort of learning institution it might be?

But there are plenty of organisations wanting to call themselves a ‘college’ — it is such an accessible word.

Schools call themselves colleges, ‘Anytown Community College’. Some independent learning providers call themselves colleges, and some private colleges that might be legitimate or dodgy ‘visa factories’ have also used the term ‘college.’

Is this practice a deception? Are these institutions deliberately using the term
college to present themselves as something they are not?

Can similar be said for the term ‘academy’? The Royal Academy of Music is a long way from being like the O2 Academies in Bristol, Brixton or Newcastle, and even further away from the Marlowe Academy, in Ramsgate.

And schools, they can be nurseries, primaries, secondaries or even higher education institutions. The AA’s driving school offer, for example, would never be confused with the courses at the London School of Economics (LSE).

So, the only term that is very rarely ‘misused’ for the UK’s education institutions is the word ‘university’.

And that’s because the use of the term ‘university’ in any institution’s title requires the government’s consent.

University is a title that has to be earned, to be applied for and is generally seen as an achievement when the title is eventually bestowed. Ror example Falmouth School of Art, became Falmouth University College and then Falmouth University. King Alfred’s College became University College Winchester, then the University of Winchester.

So, is there an argument for more control over the terms ‘college’, ‘school’ or ‘academy’, to help make sure that everyone understands what sort of learning institution it might be? Would it be better if these titles had to be earned and bestowed like the word university? And what value does the word college really have when so many are prepared to ditch it, even if it is a trial separation?

Edition 130: Kevin Smith & Richard Heatly

Stoke on Trent College has welcomed Kevin Smith as its new principal.

Mr Smith, who has more than 25 years’ experience in education, will support chief executive Sarah Robinson, allowing her to dedicate more time to the strategic future of the college, according to a college spokesperson.

In his most recent role as vice principal at Riverside College, in Cheshire, Mr Smith helped lead the college’s 11-month turnaround from Ofsted ‘inadequate’ to ‘good’ by early 2010.

“I am passionate about transforming people’s lives through the power of education; making teaching, learning and assessment our first priority and ensuring that the needs of our learners always come first,” said Mr Smith.

“Among my main aims as principal are to help Stoke on Trent College become the first choice for school leavers, adults and employers across the sub-region and lead the college to become a centre for vocational excellence.”

Mr Smith, whose appointment at the grade two-rated college came around three months after FE Commissioner Dr David Collins visited over financial concerns, brings with him expertise in curriculum and quality following his time with FE Associates, where he provided interim management and performance improvement solutions to more than 100 colleges and independent learning providers.

Ms Robinson, who had previously served as Stoke college principal, said: “Kevin is passionate about high standards within education and his attention to detail in quality improvement makes him a perfect fit for our college.”

Meanwhile, Richard Heatly’s 12 years at the helm of Hereford College of Arts (HCA) is due to end at the end of the academic year.

Before he moved into teaching at the 350-learner specialist college, rated as good by Ofsted in November 2013, he was a maker and ran a successful creative business, exhibiting his work in London, Milan and Paris.

A college spokesperson said: “When Richard joined the college in 2003, the future of HCA was uncertain. In August he will leave a financially secure College that has developed immensely, thanks to the major achievements of staff and students under Richard’s leadership.”

Mr Heatly said: “HCA is now the major university-level provider in the county, and its future will be as an arts university.

“It will complement the technology focus of the new university — which of course we also support.

“The college is the kind of place that hardly exists elsewhere, so we should all value it and be proud of it. Herefordshire is a really creative place, and this college is the foundation and centre of that creativity.”

He added: “I plan to pursue my interest in the arts as a practitioner again and by being involved with organisations.

“I hope to keep in touch with the College as of course I will remain a great supporter of HCA.”

Equine job joy for visually impaired learner Maria

A Bicton College student determined to secure an equestrian career despite slowly losing her sight, has taken her first step towards making her dream a reality by securing a role in industry.

Maria Dowswell was 13 when she was diagnosed with retinal dystrophy, a condition that slowly takes away vision.

Despite this, the 21-year-old is currently undertaking a British horse society (BHS) stage one training course at college and has now secured a role at Devon-based Otterdene equestrian centre as a working pupil.

Maria said: “Bicton College offered me the course that I wanted to study with horses and the support that I needed because of my visual impairment.”

Alex Robinson-Barr, head of equine at Bicton College, said: “I can’t express how proud I am of her to be working in industry while also continuing with her BHS course.”

Main pic: from left, Polly Edwards, owner of Otterdene Equestrian Centre with Bicton College student Maria Dowswell

Edition 130

Labour’s apprenticeship policy, so eloquently presented by Ed Milliband, totally exposes how out of touch his party is with the reality of the country’s skills needs and how the Westminster bubble has removed him from his party’s working
class routes.

Under his plans, 18-year-old school leavers with three A-levels will go to university and those with two A-levels will go onto an apprenticeship.

But where does that leave the 50 per cent or more who will have no A-levels or the 40 per cent who will not have basic English and maths when they leave school?

Their policy assumes the entry point for apprenticeships is 18-plus post-A-level, when in reality it is 16-plus post-GCSE (or equivalent) and ignores the fact that for many young people leaving school for an intermediate apprenticeship at 16 is the
best option.

It also overlooks the fact that even in the 21st Century many poorer families need to send their children out to work.

How have the Labour Party succumbed to this elitist A-level apprenticeship entry when the growth in the economy is being driven by level two entry jobs in hospitality, care, retail and construction.

Yes, we do need to expand the technician and digital advanced apprenticeship programmes, but not at the expense of
craft skills.

For many work-focused people, an intermediate apprenticeship is the best entry route to an advanced or higher apprenticeship.

While stating the apprenticeship and traineeship budgets are to be ringfenced, the reality in the way funding works, will mean funding for traineeships will be restricted to the numbers currently on the programme

They are wrong in their assertion that the current apprenticeships are simply rebadging of employers’ internal training.

Apprenticeships are strictly regulated and independently content-led. Apprenticeships can have elements added to meet employers’ needs, but not taken away. Surely that’s the best of all possible outcomes?

By focusing on advanced and higher apprenticeships Labour risk perpetuating an economy where staff at intermediate skills levels have to be imported from overseas, leaving many work-focused British citizens unemployed and without a springboard to higher skills.

Is this really the policy of the working class Labour Party or just their current academic, out-of-touch with reality, leadership?

Would a bacon sandwich be easier for politicians to swallow if cooked by an A-level advanced apprentice rather than a level two working chef?

The unintended consequences of an overall 11 per cent cut in Skills Funding Agency budget for 2015-16 will be to freeze traineeship numbers.

While stating the apprenticeship and traineeship budgets are to be ringfenced, the reality in the way funding works, will mean funding for traineeships will be restricted to the numbers currently on the programme.

Without being able to grow their programmes, many providers will cease delivering as decreasing starts will make the programme unviable.

Eventually the whole programme will wither, which again will disadvantage young people who need the traineeship programme to kick-start them into employment.

This has endangered our traineeship programme with a national retail chain, which had committed to recruit all its new sales assistants through the traineeship route and produced at 75 per cent into-work success rate to date.

Let’s hope the party policy makers listen to some of the noise being generated by us the apprenticeship practitioners at the three current conferences — AELP/City & Guilds, Apprenticeships4England and FE Week — being held.

Otherwise we face a bleak choice between the flawed and childish Richard reforms of the Conservatives and the intellectual proposals of the Labour Party to remove craft skills and non A-level achievers from the apprenticeship route.

We can only hope one or more of the minority parties, who may hold the balance of power, can bring some sense to the debate.

Whoever thought the likes of the SNP, Greens or UKIP could determine our apprenticeships future?

AoC calls for clarity on new ‘wilful neglect’ crime

The Association of Colleges (AoC) has called for clarity over proposed new rules that could see college staff jailed for failing to report sexual abuse of learners.

Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a consultation on plans to extend the new criminal offence of ‘wilful neglect’ to cover those who work in education — but he stopped short of saying what age range of learners it would cover, or which institutions.

The announcement has already led the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) to warn the change could lead to a “flood of referrals,” fearing the change could scare teachers into a culture of “over-reporting”.

And Marc Whitworth (pictured), AoC acting director of employment policy and services, said: “We’ve always called for child protection rules in colleges to be the same as those in schools.

“Following the consultation on the government’s new plans to tackle child sexual exploitation, it will need to be absolutely clear what the specific requirements would be for college staff and they must be given adequate support to feel confident about referring children they believe to be at risk.”

Brian Lightman, the general secretary of the ASCL, said: “School and college leaders and their staff play a key role in child safeguarding and already work closely with social services and police where there are any concerns about a child’s welfare.

“There are robust professional systems in place in schools and colleges to ensure that staff report suspicions and it is unnecessary and counter-productive to threaten them with jail sentences.

“The unintended consequence could be that teachers are scared into over-reporting and that this leads to a flood of referrals to social services departments which are already struggling with workloads. This will ultimately make it more difficult to identify and deal with cases needing urgent attention.”

A spokesperson for the University and College Union (UCU) has called for the consultation on the change to be “full and open”.

She said: “FE staff already take their safeguarding responsibilities seriously. Any proposed changes to requirements should be subject to a full and open consultation with colleges and education staff.”

Speaking at a Downing Street summit organised in the wake of a series of damning reports which identified “systematic institutional failings” in response to child sexual exploitation scandals in Rotherham and other areas, Mr Cameron said the proposals were about “making sure professionals… do the jobs they are paid to do”.

He said: “Children were ignored, sometimes even blamed, and issues were swept under the carpet — often because of a warped and misguided sense of political correctness.”

The dates of the consultation have not yet been announced.

————————————————————————————————————————————–

Editor’s Comment

Taking a lead on care

At present, a number of colleges come into daily contact with children through school links.

And there is also a small, but growing number of ‘direct recruiters’ — and it’s on this point that my mind is cast back to the AoC conference of 2012 when then-Shadow Education Minister Karen Buck displayed all the petty ignorance with which the sector sadly still has to contend.

She said she was worried that “very young people going into college may not get the full pastoral care and support they would want”.

Of course Ofsted reports on college provision for 14 to 16-year-olds has shown just how wrong she was.

But more than this the sector has been at the forefront of other safeguarding issues.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan told fellow MPs a few days ago about a new portal for reporting abuse — a concept many colleges will have been familiar with for some time on a local level.

The will to take such a lead has not come via the threat or force of criminal law — it has come through care for the learner and as such the sector’s voice should be among those most keenly heard in the government’s consultation on the wilful neglect law.

LEPs delivered £1bn euro skills cash blow

A European Commission-forced government climbdown on plans to hand control of nearly £1bn of Euro skills cash to the 39 local enterprise partnerships (Leps) has been labelled a “backward step” and “reverse-devolution”.

The government had previously planned to give Leps a “direct role” in decision-making over European Social Fund (ESF) spending for skills training schemes up to 2020.

But the Minister for Communities and Local Government European Programmes, Lord Ahmad, has written to Leps telling them that only the London Enterprise Panel (London’s Lep) would now be allowed to “manage and take decisions” over ESF and other European Union (EU) structural and investment funds.

His letter said the commission had “advised that this approach is non-compliant” with European Structural and Investment Fund Regulations, which state that only the managing authority — central government in England’s case — could decide where the money goes.

The Greater London Authority Lep will be able to spend the cash as it has the necessary intermediate body devolved status.

It has left the remaining 38 Leps with merely “advisory” roles.

The climbdown failed to impress Alex Pratt, chair of the management board of the Lep Network and also chair of Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Lep that was allocated £5m capital skills funding up to 2021 last July.

“It is reverse devolution that’s giving more power to London from the regions and not what was previously planned,” he said.

Daniel Mouawad, chief executive of South East Midlands Lep that was allocated £9m capital skills funding up to 2021 in July, said: “At face value, it would seem that this goes against previous policy to encourage devolution beyond London.”

A government spokesperson said: “Throughout the development of the EU Structural Funds programmes, the Government has sought a substantial amount of local involvement.

“We have always been clear that central government would retain Managing Authority functions, but as part of this the government has sought to give Leps and partners a direct role in decision-making on projects.

“However, the commission has expressed concerns about our proposed approach. To ensure that the programmes can start as soon as possible the government proposes to proceed with a model in which Leps and partners have a key advisory role while decisions will remain with managing authority teams based in local areas.

“The government will review the position in the next 12 months and use that time to work with Leps to develop proposals for greater local responsibility.”

Warning FE finance probe ‘may not go far enough’

A National Audit Office (NAO) probe into FE and skills finances may not go far enough in looking at how the sector has been hit by “multiple funding cuts,” National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace) chief executive David Hughes has warned.

Mr Hughes, a former national director of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), told FE Week of his concerns about the purpose of NAO review in looking at the work of the SFA and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to monitor the financial health of FE providers and intervene.

The review, launched last month (February) and due to conclude this summer, has a “particular focus on colleges” and comes with FE and skills providers facing a national budget cut of up to 24 per cent next academic year. Apprenticeship providers are expected to escape the worst of the cuts.

Mr Hughes said: “I think the issue of the multiple funding cuts colleges have faced and the increasingly narrow margin they are expected to operate in is putting the sector into a really difficult situation and I would hope that would be part of the context for this review.

“It is almost impossible to make every college in the country financially viable given all the funding changes that have been made, and the NAO may not want to ask about that, but it’s certainly something the next government is going to have to answer.

“The NAO has to be apolitical, and given the decisions that have been made concerning the most recent cut, just looking at how the BIS and the SFA work to identify financial difficulty and intervene is a very narrow purpose.

“They have to do this review in the context of all of the cuts which have happened, including the one most recently announced, but I don’t think it will deliver quite what some of us might like it to, which is a proper review of the financial future of the sector, particularly for colleges. That is a much bigger political debate, and one which the NAO is not going to start.”

And while Stewart Segal, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, called for the financial situation of his members to be taken into account as well as colleges’, the Association of Colleges, University and College Union and Association of School and College Leaders have already called for the 24 per cent cut to be considered by the review.

Meanwhile, Dr Lynne Sedgmore, executive director of the 157 Group, said: “It will be important that the NAO examines all aspects of the future sustainability of our skills system, including the responsibility of government in this area.”

Dr Mary Bousted, Association of Teachers and Lecturers general secretary, said: “Following the government’s announcement that it would cut FE funding for 2015-16 by up to 24 per cent, we hope the NAO evaluates the government’s unnecessary focus on apprenticeships.

“We believe this focus on apprenticeships will limit colleges’ usual operations, and reduce the options for learners because colleges will have to cut many other courses to be able to fund apprenticeships.”

College-sponsored school shuts after just two years

Leaders of a general FE college that sponsored a local school have seen it forced to close just two years after opening having failed to attract enough pupils.

Stockport Technical School, a 14 to 19 free school that opened in September 2013 and currently has 98 learners, offers vocational courses in engineering, construction and motor vehicle engineering through Stockport College, alongside traditional GCSEs.

It was heralded as the first technical school of its kind in the country when it launched and was described as “innovative” by principal Philippa Ollerhead (pictured above right) and “groundbreaking” by chair of governors Wayne Jones (pictured above left).

But no new students will join the school from September, and those currently attending will complete their courses and work placements until September 2016 when the school will shut its doors for good.

Ms Ollerhead blamed problems with the school’s accommodation, which left it operating out of an office block in Stockport town centre, for the recruitment problems.

“We found it difficult to attract sufficient learners as we have been located in a temporary office building — this did not support our ability to market and recruit new learners,” she said.

“The Education Funding Agency purchased the former Hillcrest Grammar School site on behalf of the school in August 2014, but unfortunately on analysis it became apparent that the building was not financially viable to run with the number of students the school was estimating at full capacity.”

She added: “Advice I would give to any other principals or head teachers in a similar position would be to ensure that a permanent building was identified and secured before opening.”

Despite the setback, Ms Ollerhead remained positive about what she had hoped to achieve.

“There is clearly a demand from employers for the ‘young apprenticeship’ model of education which the school provides,” she said.

“Stockport Technical School has successfully engaged with large, leading engineering employers in Stockport to secure 20 apprenticeship places.”

Although Stockport College is not a direct recruiter of 14 and 15-year-old learners, it is hoped the college will be able to continue offering similar vocational options through its links programmes with other schools.

A Stockport College spokesperson said: “Stockport College has been a sponsor of Stockport Technical School since its inception.

“We opened our doors to Stockport Technical School pupils and staff to provide access to workshops and facilities suitable for science, technology, engineering and maths.

“While it’s not in our remit to take ownership of delivering provision directly, we will work with Stockport Technical School, as we do with other schools, to offer an appropriate 14 to16 programme.”

The school is also supported by Stockport employers Man Diesel & Turbo Ltd, Jacobs Engineering, Thales Worldwide, Stepping Hill Hospital and Balluff Sensors, as well as the University of Manchester.

‘Odious’ rule to be automatically written out of frameworks

The government has agreed to the automatic scrapping of a rule that forces apprentices to re-sit qualifications they already have after fears frameworks would have to be rewritten to accommodate the change.

The five-year rule will be removed from the specification of apprenticeship standards for England (Sase), and it now appears it will be stripped from frameworks too — without them having to be re-issued.

The rule, due to be removed next month, means learners with English or maths GCSEs achieved more than five years before enrolment have to re-sit them or take equivalent qualifications.

It was thought its scrapping would only affect new frameworks written after April 6, but an FAQ document published by the Federation for Industry Sector Skills and Standards and endorsed by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) in its latest newsletter claims frameworks “do not need to be amended”.

The news has been welcomed by Ross Midgley, director of early years training provider, who had launched legal action against the rule, but he called on the government to go further.

He said: “Apparently the government lawyers have invented some magic fairy dust which can be sprinkled over existing frameworks, without the need to re-issue them, which makes the words printed in the framework take on a completely different meaning for learners who enrol after April 5.

“But in any event this does now seem to be an almost complete vindication of our judicial review. All apprentices — not just those in early years — are now free of the odious five-year rule.”

Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Stewart Segal said: “It’s essential that the SFA takes a consistent approach across all frameworks.

“There will be apprentices with an old GCSE who may need to improve their English and or maths and we’re discussing with the agency how to retain this funding.”

A BIS spokesperson said: “We are working with partners to implement the changes to the Sase from April 6.”

She added that designers of some apprenticeships, including the children and young people’s workforce (England) framework and the health and social care (England) framework would still be re-issuing them “in order to ensure that the apprentices meet both the Sase requirements and specific sector/occupation requirements”.