Sixth form college finances will come under a closer watch from the Education Funding Agency (EFA) as “the financial climate gets tougher,” the Sixth Form College Commissioner Peter Mucklow (pictured) has told principals and governors.

In a letter to sixth form colleges (pictured below right), Mr Mucklow said a “challenging” year lay ahead for the sector and that  it would therefore be facing a “greater degree of scrutiny” from the EFA.

He said: “Next year will be challenging for many colleges as the financial climate gets tougher.

“This will call for difficult decisions to be made by leaders and managers to ensure that institutions remain in good financial health for 2015/16 and beyond. It will require strong, confident challenge and support from governors on financial matters.”

He added: “Your financial plans, due by July 31, are starting to arrive. The EFA will be reviewing them more swiftly and with a greater degree of scrutiny, in line with its responsibilities outlined in Rigour and Responsiveness in Skills. I will be paying close personal attention to these.

“Many sixth form colleges are in strong financial health and have plans to ensure they remain so, or to return to that position. Where, however, you have concerns about future viability you will wish to consider and discuss with your governors different possible future structures or delivery models.”

Mr Mucklow, who started in the new post a year ago, said sixth form colleges had had “a year of improved overall inspection performance against higher standards”, and added that he had only had to intervene at one college — Yorkshire’s Prior Pursglove College after it was branded inadequate by Ofsted.

His comments come as sixth form colleges prepare for a 17.5 per cent cut to the funding rate for full-time 18-year-old learners from September. Under the plan, which is supposed to save the government £150m, colleges will get £4,000 for every 16 and 17-year-old and £3,300 for 18-year-olds.

And the sixth form college sector has long been calling for it to be offered the same VAT rebate available to schools and academies. A London Economics report went as far as to conclude that sixth form colleges were forced to spend up to 35 per cent less per student than academies.

The report, Assessing the value for money in sixth form education, found that on average, academies were able to spend an average of £1,598 more per student than sixth from colleges, due to increased government funding and subsidies.

David Igoe (pictured left), Sixth Form Colleges’ Association chief executive, told FE Week: “School, academy and college performance is a matter for the public record and we all have to live with that.

“It’s important to remember though that providers are funded differently and the recent London Economics report highlights just how large that funding gap, in terms of available resource per student, really is.  It’s a pity Mr Mucklow’s letter wasn’t able to acknowledge that salient fact.”

Mark Bramwell (pictured right), associate director of sixth form colleges for the AoC, said: “I am glad to see the sixth form college commissioner recognises the improvements these institutions have made in the past year.

“He notes that next year will be tougher as the budget cuts start to bite and difficult decisions will have to be made.

“It is important that sixth form colleges’ financial plans are strong to help them continue with the important work they do. Added scrutiny and support from the EFA will help colleges to maintain their strong position or to improve where this is necessary.

“AoC’s role will be to work with the Commissioner to discuss the information sixth form colleges may need to support governing bodies in further developing realistic financial plans.”

 

Lowestoft College principal Simon Summers (pictured) is to step down — just a fortnight after it was revealed he took a leave of absence with a report having said his grade three college was not improving fast enough.

Vice principal for curriculum and standards Phillip Belden and vice principal for corporate services Teresa Miller both also took leaves of absence, where they remain to allow a “confidential internal process” to be undertaken, a college spokesperson told FE Week.

Assistant principal Jo Pretty (pictured above right) will take on the role as interim principal at the 4,000-learner East Anglia college until the end of next academic year.

Mr Summers said: “I am proud over the past four years to have led Lowestoft College. During that time we have continued to ensure that students at the college were successful and gained the skills they needed to make a significant difference to their lives.

“I would like to thank all of the staff of Lowestoft College for all of their hard work, professionalism and comradeship during my time at the college; it has really been appreciated.

“I am sure that the skills and dedication of the college staff will ensure that Lowestoft College will get through the challenges posed by the funding and curriculum changes and will continue to deliver excellence.”

The college spokesperson declined to comment on how the confidential internal process related to the two vice principals. Mr Summers’s leave was also said to have been triggered by the process and it also remained unclear how it related to his position.

The college spokesperson said: “Mr Summers was appointed principal in July 2010 and has led Lowestoft College through a challenging time for FE.

“This period has seen a dramatic reduction in public funding, coupled with significant curriculum change. During this period, Lowestoft College has responded to these challenges.

“The campus has been significantly refurbished and now has the facilities needed to deliver quality education and training. Delivery of maritime, offshore and energy courses has expanded in the college’s quest to be a world wide centre of excellence in this field and to support this important sector of the regional economy.

“Through all of this change, Mr Summers has ensured that the students come first at Lowestoft College and that their success is celebrated.”

The change in college leadership follows an Ofsted-style review by a consultant who warned improvements at the 350-worker college, rated as requires improvement by the education watchdog in July last year, might not be taking place fast enough for it to move up to a good, or grade two, result from its next Ofsted inspection.

Richard Perkins, chair of the Lowestoft College corporation, said: “A report by an Her Majesties Inspectorate consultant employed by the college to observe improvements since our last inspection in June 2013 indicated that recommended improvements were not being made fast enough for the college to achieve its goal of good, grade two, in its next inspection.

“We are undertaking a process to address these issues and bring about the positive changes in the quality of teaching, learning, leadership and management we need to ensure the long-term future of the college.”

Dozens of high-achieving apprentices from West Nottinghamshire College Group were handed awards at a House of Lords ceremony to celebrate their efforts.

Principal Dame Asha Khemka OBE hosted the ‘Celebration of Apprenticeships’ event in the Cholmondeley Room, overlooking the River Thames, along with cross-bench peer Baroness Prashar CBE.

The 27 apprentices were handed engraved glass trophies and certificates by Skills Funding Agency director of apprenticeships Sue Husband and Liberal Democrat MP for Burnley Gordon Birtwistle, who is the government’s apprenticeship ambassador to business.

Dame Asha said: “It was a privilege to celebrate our star apprentices in the inspirational surroundings of the House of Lords and recognise their individual achievements and contribution to their workplace.

“The event was also an important opportunity for us to thank their employers for investing in new talent.”

The winners were selected from the college group’s crop of more than 10,400 apprentices in recognition of their talent, dedication and contribution to their workplace.

The event, on Wednesday (July 16), was also attended by the apprentices’ families and employers.

Ms Husband said: “This event is powerful evidence that a whole new generation is seeing apprenticeships as a route to a brighter future. The 27 apprentices are part of this skills revolution.”

Main pic above: Apprentices on the terrace of the Cholmondely Room at the
House of Lords

The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) said it was still working out the details of a move to take on members of the Institute for Learning (IfL) after the transfer was approved last night.

The IfL’s 33,500 members look set to join the ETF after the vote in favour of closure. The IfL advisory council said yes to the move, and transfer of its assets and legacy to the ETF, yesterday.

An ETF spokesperson told FE Week today that it was still working out how the transfer of IfL members would work, but added: “IfL members will become members of the ETF’s practitioner body and continue to receive access to broadly comparable continuing professional development opportunities and professional membership benefits to support them in their professional practice.”

The proposal to move to the ETF was announced at the beginning of the month and was triggered by fears the IfL did not have enough cash to keep going. It has seen huge numbers of members desert in the face of increasing membership fees in response to government funding being withdrawn.

Several IfL members expressed concern about what the change could mean for them, including Jayne Stigger, head of maths and science (HE) at North East Surrey College of Technology (Nescot), who wrote on Twitter: “Will IfL continue as before? Same staff, ideals etc? Will there be changes?”

Niamh Sweeney, Association of Teaching and Learning executive member for Cambridgeshire also tweeted about the move, posting: “Can this fit with ‘corporate membership’ @E_T_Foundation doesn’t offer individual membership?”

David Russell (pictured), ETF chief executive, said: “We know that professional status is important to IfL members. Through their association with the ETF in future, IfL members can play a key role in our organisation, in line with our mission to enhance the performance and professionalism of the education and training system.

“But the process is just beginning, following last night’s vote, and we are still at the very early stages, so there is nothing else we can say at this stage.”

Other Twitter users asked what would happen to members who were currently training towards their qualified teacher learning and skills status (QTLS) and who still needed access to IfL’s online learning space REfLECT.

A Q&A post on the IfL website said: “IfL and the ETF have made a commitment to minimise the disruption to any existing cohort on the pathway to professional formation.

“This means that you will be able to complete and share your professional formation workbook with IfL by the October 31 deadline with notification of the outcome being released by December 31, 2014.”

It also said that REfLECT and other online resources would continue to be available, although their online location could change.

The handover of IfL’s resources is expected to be complete by the autumn.

Mr Russell said: “We know last night’s decision was not taken lightly. We will work closely with IfL who have made clear that their priority is to conduct the closure thoroughly and diligently with the interest of their members at heart.

“When the IfL initially suggested this intention on July 1, the ETF started to receive phone calls and emails straight away. It was clear from these early conversations how important professional status is to the IfL members. It underpins their professional identify, informs their career planning and is integral to their effectiveness as practitioners.

“The aims of the ETF are complementary to those of the IfL, and my board and I warmly welcome this opportunity as an excellent strategic fit.  Nor is it a one-way opportunity; taking on the IfL’s legacy will help the ETF evolve positively as an organisation in the ways we would like to develop.

“We believe that teaching and training in our sector should be seen as a high status profession, its reputation flowing from high quality outcomes.  Teachers and trainers should be encouraged to exercise professional autonomy and take ownership of their own CPD, in the interests of improved teaching and learning and for the benefit of learners.

“Through their association with the ETF in future, IfL members can play a key role in our organisation, in line with our mission to enhance the performance and professionalism of the education and training system.”

There are surely less gruelling ways of spending quality father-and-son time than a bike ride the length of Great Britain.

But the opportunity to get back on the saddle and raise more than £1,000 for Oxfam proved too much for National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace) chief executive David Hughes.

The 48-year-old is spending the next fortnight, and a bit, cycling 1,250 miles north from Land’s End to John O’Groats with 16-year-old son Oscar (pictured below) — and then 120 miles back south to Inverness.

The duo plan to head off from the Cornwall starting point tomorrow morning, with Mr Hughes’s wife, Emily, 48, and daughters Evy, 18, and Matilda, 13, set to cheer the pair on from a distance.

Mr Hughes, of  Loughborough, Leicestershire, said: “Oscar recently turned 16 and finished his GCSEs and we thought it would be a nice thing to do together.”

The duo decided against following the most direct route through the centre of England and Scotland, and instead will be passing through Wales and the Scottish Isle of Arran.

“We’re taking a longer route and plan to cover around 90-miles-a-day. With regards to training, I do try to keep fairly fit generally, but usually do it through running,” said Mr Hughes.

“I’m away from home a lot through my job and it’s easier to go running wherever I am than to bring along a bike.

“However, Oscar and I cycled 300 miles in four days following the Tour de France around Yorkshire this month and made sure we went up and down all the biggest hills.

“We have probably cycled about 2,000 miles overall together overall since Christmas.”

He added: “I did a lot of cycling when I was a teenager. I used to do time trial races and long bike rides. I rode from London to Land’s End with my dad, but that was over 30 years ago.

“I know I could have done this when I was 15, 16, and 17, but I’m 48 now so it might be a bit different.”

They have already reached their £1,250 fundraising target for the cycle effort, but said they would welcome more donations.

Guests at the Niace Adult Learners’ Week awards ceremony in London on June 16 donated £270 towards the total.

Mr Hughes said: “I have been volunteering and raising money for Oxfam for more than 30 years so it was a natural choice for our charity.

“Their philosophy is to give people the tools to improve their lives, rather than just giving them food, which I have a lot of time for.”

Follow Mr Hughes and Oscar’s trip blog at davidoscarlejog.wordpress.com and  visit www.justgiving.com/Oscar-David to donate.

Pictures: (top) Niace chief executive David Hughes pictured in early July on at the summit of Buttertubs peak, in the Yorkshire Dales, which featured in stage one of the Tour de France. Inset: Mr Hughes’s son, Oscar, with his bike on Buttertubs

The return of the “concept behind” a Labour government policy on funding adult skills abandoned in 2001 amid fraud claims has been put forward by former Shadow Skills Minister Gordon Marsden.

In a contribution to the book One Nation Fizz, published yesterday (Wednesday, July 16), he said the Individual Learning Account (ILA) system of funding, where employers, government and employees paid in small amounts towards training, similar to a pension scheme, was “an idea whose time had come again”.

The ILA scheme was abandoned by the then-Labour government after just a year due to problems with implementation, including fraudulent claims by employers and providers for education and training that was never delivered. The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee later estimated that of the £290m spent on the scheme, fraud and abuse could have amounted to £97m.

However, in his article, entitled Transforming Skills and Life Chances For 2020 Britain, Mr Marsden said: “If aspects of that delivery were flawed, the ideas behind it were not, including a tripartite contribution system where businesses and individuals, including the self-employed, could be given incentives (such as matched funding) to pay in modest amounts each month.”

Mr Marsden told FE Week the proposals were part of a “new deal for adult learning and skills” which he wanted to see introduced.

“I’m not saying we should just dust the ILA policy off from 12 years ago and do it as it was then — it’s the concept behind it,” he said.

“It would differ in the sense it wouldn’t simply be a repetition of it — the technology for administering is completely differently, it could be administered locally or regionally, utilising funding that’s already going into the Leps [Local Enterprise Partnerships] for local growth and social inclusion.

“As it’s worth bearing in mind that other part of the UK have tried this and had some success and we should look at how it works in Scotland and Northern Ireland.”

Mr Marsden also said the ILA could be used to promote localism, by allowing employers or groups such as unions to decide what skills their workforce needed.

The ILA proposal bears many similarities to ideas put forward by the National Institute for Continuing Adult Education (Niace) in its manifesto, published during adult learner’s week in June.

It called for increased localism and personal skills accounts — funded by learners, employers and government.

Tom Stannard, Niace deputy chief executive, told FE Week: “We welcome serious consideration of mechanisms enabling new ownership of skills by all adults.

“We need state, employer and individual investment in learning and skills in order to meet the current and future skills needs of the economy.

“Our proposal for new Personal Skills Account would empower and support adults of working age to get the skills they need to gain decent employment, stay in work longer and be more productive while at work.

“They would have one essential feature: if individuals put money in it unlocks investment from the government and employers.

“Personal Skills Accounts would be different to ILAs, which were established in the early 2000s and stopped in part due to fraud but mainly because they were uncapped and the budget was insufficient.

“The new accounts can more easily be managed with the new mechanisms in place via the Skills Funding Agency (unique learner number, Personal Learning Record and register of approved providers).

“The lessons from the ILAs can easily be learned and managed.”

Mr Marsden, who wrote the article before the publication of the Niace manifesto, acknowledged the similarities.

“The point is all of the arguments I make in this article are ideas that have been tossed around in the adult skills landscape for four or five years,” he said.

“So what I’m trying to do is to bring them all together and say ‘look we now need to act on this, we need to build a framework structurally and financially that will enable this to happen”

He wouldn’t say whether the plans he had outlined were likely to influence the Labour manifesto before the 2015 general election, but he said his suggestions were “absolutely in line “with Labour’s skills agenda.

He said: “I’m putting this on the table, it draws on a lot of things people have already said, there’s a very string narrative of why we should be doing things from a Labour point of view.”

One Nation Fizz, published as an e-book yesterday (Wednesday, July 16), contains 14 articles on Labour policy with further contributors including former Education Select Committee member and ex-college principal Nic Dakin, whose chapter was co-written with Paul Blomfield MP and called Energising Further and Higher Eecuatio to Boost Our Nation’s Future.