The first specialist college to achieve an outstanding grade under Ofsted’s tough new inspection regime has been announced.

David Lewis College, in Cheshire, which supports students aged 14 to 25 with complex learning difficulties, scored grade ones across all fields after it was inspected by the education watchdog in March.

The Ofsted report said: “The curriculum is outstanding. Learners are placed on courses at a level appropriate to their needs and personalised according to their changing circumstances.

“Learners benefit from extensive access to learning within the community and work placements.”

Billy McInally, the college’s director of education, told FE Week: “We’re absolutely delighted, particularly as the report recognises the work of everybody.

“Staff have been given the best training possible and share good practice through joint observations, attending meetings dedicated to sharing practice and having an open door policy. Everybody helps each other to improve.”

He said the nature of the needs his learners presented offered a “significant level of challenge”, but added: “Teaching our young people is different but it’s certainly not harder than a mainstream FE college — it just requires a slightly different approach.

“You can’t be successful unless you put the young person at the centre of everything — we base our curriculum on the needs of the individual.”

The college, made up of 87 students; 15 teachers and around 70 support staff, caters for learners with complex epilepsy, autism and learning difficulties and had its last inspection in 2007, resulting in a grade two result.

The report at the time said: “Many learners make good progress in their communication skills.

“However, the approach to increasing the communication skills for learners with complex needs is not sufficiently developed.”

It added: “The tracking and monitoring of learner progress is adequate, although the college recognises it requires further development.”

However, the achievement of the grade one result came under Ofsted’s new inspection framework, introduced from September. The framework includes a reduced inspection notice period from three weeks to two days and a potential re-inspection of providers ‘requiring improvement’ within 12 to 18 months.

You can’t be successful unless you put the young person at the centre of everything”

But the college’s glowing new Ofsted report highlighted the skills, enthusiasm and high quality practice of teachers, therapists and of specialist support staff.

“Staff work very well together to provide a high quality experience for the learners. Middle management is strong and provides excellent leadership for course teams,” said the report.

“Leadership and management are outstanding because of the relentless and successful drive for continuous improvement since the last inspection.”

Mr McInally said: “A process was put in place after our last inspection and we have been working towards improving our work for a number of years.

“This is recognition of that five years’ hard work and I am particularly pleased that Ofsted recognised the positive contribution of our entire college community.

“I would like to thank them all for the contributions they make, ensuring our students receive an outstanding learning experience, one that meets their individual needs.”

He added: “There is no doubt that by working together we can guarantee that the provision we offer our young people continues to be among the very best in the entire country.”

Sir Geoff Hall (pictured) has been named interim chief executive of the FE Guild.

The former principal and chief executive of New College Nottingham and chair of the Information Authority, who was knighted for services to FE in the New Year Honours 2012, began his lecturing career in 1974.

Other previous roles include national director of the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC)/Learning and Skills Council (LSC), and director of education at Bexley London Borough.

Sir Geoff established the regional network for the FEFC and was involved in the formation of the LSC.

He will work with the guild steering group to develop a draft delivery plan for the new board, using a series of engagement events across the country next month to hear the views of sector leaders and practitioners.

He said: “I am delighted to have been appointed interim chief executive of the new guild.

“I have a strong belief that professional learning across the sector is key to our future success, and am keen to harness the talents of the sector itself.

“My priorities in these important early months for the new guild are to maintain the momentum generated by the steering group and project team, keep the sector fully involved in shaping the guild and ensure we build on successful programmes developed by Learning and Skills Improvement Service.”

David Hughes, chief executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) and independent chair of the steering group appointed to develop the new organisation, said: “This announcement signals an important milestone for the guild.

“I am personally very pleased to have Sir Geoff on board because I know that he will bring enormous experience and understanding of the issues we want to address.

“He will be a great asset as we move forward to deliver to the ambitions we all share for professional staff and organisations delivering great learning, and I look forward to working with him.”

Sir Geoff will take up the position with immediate effect and is expected to hold the role until a permanent chief executive is appointed.

Lynne Sedgmore, executive director of the 157 Group, said: “We welcome the appointment of Sir Geoff, a founder member of the 157 Group, in this critical role.

“We are fully supportive of the next phase of the guild under his experienced and able leadership and look forward to working with him to make the guild highly successful.”

Peter Roberts, chief executive of Leeds City College and chair of the 157 Group, said: “As a former college principal and leader of the FEFC, Sir Geoff has extensive experience across our sector, ideal for his new role as chief executive of the sector-led and owned guild.

“We expect to see the guild take huge steps forward under his leadership.”

The chief executive of NIACE has said some of the results of the 2012 Adult Participation in Learning Survey “paint a very worrying picture”.

The survey showed the proportion of unemployed adults learning had fallen by six percentage points from 41 to 35 per cent since last year (highlighted below), the lowest level since the survey began in 1996.

It also showed a seven per cent fall in the proportion of young people aged 17 to 24 taking part in learning.

NIACE chief executive David Hughes (pictured) said: “Obviously for a survey like this all you get is bald statistics and you have to speculate as to why.

“This could be a sign that some unemployed young people and adults are becoming hopeless about their prospects to get proper, sustainable work, and think it’s not worth getting skills because they’ll never get jobs, even with skills, that will be fulfilling, rewarding and pay them enough to live well,” he said.

“I’m not saying I know the reasons for these figures, but if you start thinking about it, you paint a very worrying picture at the very least.”

Paul Warner, director of employment and skills at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), agreed the drop in unemployed people learning was “concerning”.

“It’s why we support real flexibility within the adult skills budget for providers to offer skills training to the unemployed, despite the pressure on budgets,” he said.

“Providers across the country are making strenuous efforts to join up their skills and employability provision and it’s important that the funding system doesn’t discourage this.”

The AELP has previously expressed disappointment that traineeships would not be on offer to 19 to 24 year olds, arguing the programme could act as a stepping stone to lifelong learning.

Mr Hughes agreed there could be a benefit to extending traineeships to up to the age of 24, or even beyond.

“There are older adults, particularly in a position where they haven’t got much work experience or their job prospects are in a different sector to their previous experience, and it seems very logical to give them work experience in a sector where there are jobs,” he said.

“Used in a targeted way it could be quite powerful in helping them get motivated and to think about the skills they might need to think about getting a job in that sector.”

He added that enabling those on traineeships to receive benefits or wages would encourage them to access learning in this way.

The Association of Colleges (AoC) joined calls for traineeships to be extended to adults, but pointed out that its own survey, published in April, showed on average 82 per cent of colleges saw the number of unemployed students increase in 2011/12 and 75 per cent anticipated a further increase this year.

Julian Gravatt, AoC assistant chief executive, acknowledged the two surveys had been measuring different things, with NIACE taking account of self-supported, as well as government-funded learning.

“The fact that participation by unemployed people is down is probably a sign of the pressure they are now under to find work,” he said.

He said the AoC’s findings reflected colleges’ efforts to engage with and design programmes for the unemployed.

“Colleges are keen to do more for unemployed adults and look forward to the point where they can use traineeships for young adults to support these efforts,” he added.

Mr Hughes added the problem was not solely up to the government to solve.

He said: “We are also calling on employers to play their part in this.

“We genuinely think employers need to do more to offer and provide meaningful work experience and that’s going to be a major part of the solution.”

Graph caption: Participation in learning by employment status, 2013 – “Since 2012, there has been a substantial increase in the proportion of part-time workers who are taking part in learning (from 42% to 48%) while the proportion of unemployed adults learning has fallen from 41 to 35 per cent.”

Six “key problems” in the skills sector have been identified in a new Labour report called Talent Matters — why England needs a new approach to skills.

The interim report of the party’s skills taskforce — made up of Creative Leadership and Skills Ltd managing director Jacqui Henderson, South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership chair Dr Ann Limb and UnionLearn director Tom Wilson, among others — launched today.

Taskforce chair and Institute of Education director Professor Chris Husbands was at the launch, which took place at London’s Westminster Kingsway College.

He was joined by Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg and Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna, who said: “Our challenge is to ensure that the skills that people are getting from the non-academic route are aligned to, and keeping pace with, the changes that we see happening in business and industry.

“The world out there is changing at a pace that I don’t think any of us contemplated and one of the central recommendations in this interim report is to ensure that there is that better alignment, so that what is happening at places like this fantastic college is actually keeping pace with what is happening in the real economy and the real world.”

The 20-page report says “problems” include a damaging divide between vocational and academic education; and, low levels of employer involvement in the skills system.

Further problems it identifies are a fragmented education system; the need for a new vision for FE; lack of high quality apprenticeships; and, poor quality advice to navigate the transition between education and work.

“Although governments have often talked of the importance of skills, skills policy has in practice often been created in isolation from industrial policy, with too few connections between education and the labour market,” the report says.

It adds: “Almost every country struggles with the challenge of skills training: there are complexities in drawing together employers, training providers, schools, colleges and universities to create high quality progression pathways, and real challenges in responding to rapidly changing labour markets. We are confident that we must and can do better.”

The report was welcomed by Lynne Sedgmore, executive director of the 157 Group, who described it as “thoughtful”.

“We are pleased that the Labour Party has placed what is refers to as the ‘damaging divide between vocational and academic education’ at the heart of its thinking, as we have long argued that those who are successful in both work and life have a balance of theoretical and applied skill, and our education system should reflect this,” she said.

“Today’s report presents a vision where FE colleges, such as those represented by the 157 Group, remain central to the provision of education and training, and recognises the broad and extensive work going on in colleges to develop those in every part of society, including for young people, for those who are employed, and for those who are unemployed or in need of a career change.

“We applaud the report’s emphasis on the importance of further education for adults and for learning throughout life.”

Peter Roberts, chief executive of Leeds City College and chair of the 157 Group, said: “It is important that we concentrate energy on building and developing a system that already performs well for learners and employers.

“The focus in this report on guidance for young people to enable them to make the right decisions in their education is most welcome.

“The 157 Group looks forward to continuing to work closely with the taskforce as the ideas in this interim report are further refined.”

 

The damaging divide between vocational and academic education

“Successive governments have viewed vocational and academic education in silos, leading to a focus on the latter at the expense of the quality and status of the former.”

Low levels of employer involvement in the skills system

“Many of the problems outlined in this paper, including inadequate access to good work experience and high quality apprenticeships, the weak links between vocational qualifications and the labour market, and the mismatch between supply and demand at local level, stem from the failure to involve employers in the design and delivery of vocational training.”

A fragmented education system

“The focus on competition between schools, colleges and universities, rather than collaboration, and the lack of planned area-wide provision results in reduced opportunities for young people to study high quality vocational education and training alongside their core academic learning.”

The need for a new vision for FE

“A reinvigorated role for FE in the local economy, centred on the delivery of quality education and training to meet the needs of local industry and employers, would provide a significant boost to our skills system. To fulfil this role however, standards of teaching and learning in FE need to be improved.”

The lack of high quality apprenticeships

“Various government reviews — most recently the Richard Review — have highlighted that the apprenticeship ‘brand’ is at risk from the low standard of some apprenticeships, particularly those created in recent years. 

Poor quality advice to navigate the transition between education and work

“Too many vocational qualifications do not provide clear progression routes to work or further study … The need for quality, impartial advice and to equip young people with the tools to make the right choices throughout their education and into employment has therefore, arguably, never been greater.”