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Ofsted clashes with AoC over ‘consequence of failure’
Ofsted boss Sir Michael Wilshaw has clashed with the Association of Colleges (AoC) over the issue of failing colleges after claiming there was no “consequence for failure in the FE sector”.
Flanked by his learning and skills director, Mathew Coffey, Sir Michael told members of the education select committee that the system for failing schools was different to that faced by colleges.
“I think one of the reasons why schools are improving their performance but colleges aren’t, is that there are very clear consequences to failure and underperformance in the schools sector,” he said, having revealed plans for a new ‘excellent’ grade in leadership.
“If a school becomes inadequate and remains so, the head usually goes, something usually happens to the governing board … etc.
“We don’t sense there’s that same sense of clear consequence for failure in the FE sector and that’s where both the Department for Education and Business, Innovation and Skills have got to take action.”
Sir Michael’s claim drew a swift response from Joy Mercer, AoC’s director of policy.
“We would challenge those statements which appear to be unsupported by evidence,” she said.
“The consequences for failure in a college, for instance, are comparable to schools — governing bodies regularly hold senior management teams to account for performance.”
The Ofsted duo were giving evidence on a number of issues from Ofsted’s annual report last year that was highly critical of colleges.
“With this report I tried to make it clear that schools are getting better but not as quickly as they should do and there’s a real problem in learning and skills,” said Sir Michael.
Ofsted has itself come in for criticism for targeting poor colleges with a ‘risk-based approach,’ but took the opportunity to defend itself at yesterday’s (Wednesday, February 13) hearing.
“In learning and skills we adopt the proportionate inspection approach, and this year about a third of all our learning and skill inspections were brought forward on the basis of the risk we felt they posed to us,” said Mr Coffey.
“For colleges as part of that cohort it was more like 55 per cent. It’s right to target our resources where they’re most needed, particularly when the cohort of people studying are only studying for a relatively short period of time, one or two years, so we can’t wait for crisis point.”
But the AoC’s Ms Mercer hit back again.
“We need to remember 64 per cent of colleges are graded outstanding or good from their last inspection, but neither AoC nor its members are complacent,” she said.
“The annual report no longer represents a state-of-the-nation view, nor does it provide a reliable year-on-year comparison. For example, last year 44 per cent of college inspections were conducted on a risk assessed basis — as opposed to 34 per cent in schools — meaning that a skewed sample of colleges was inspected.”
Sir Michael Wilshaw, HM chief inspector, Ofsted
Nevertheless, Sir Michael won Ms Mercer’s approval with plans to bring school careers guidance under the inspection remit, but reiterated fears that college principals had lost focus on the quality of teaching.
“It’s really important that impartial advice is given to students on progression routes and I’m not sure that’s the case,” he said.
“In our adjustment to our inspection framework from September we will give the inspection of careers advice a priority.”
He added: “Getting principals of colleges to focus on what’s important is absolutely critical. They lost their way a bit and focussed on capital investment, extending their reach, building programmes, going abroad to attract students and so on.
“All those things are important, but equally, if not more important is what’s happening in the workshop or the classroom — as an eminent ex-principle said to me ‘they need to start worrying more about what’s happening in Deptford rather than Delhi’.”
Meanwhile, just days after an FE Week special investigation into tumbling inspection grades at London colleges, Mr Coffey revealed fears about the capital’s FE institutions failing.
“There is an urban college issue, particularly a London college issue and we have seen some decline in inspection grades in London,” he said.
Matthew Coffey, Ofsted director of learning and skills
And with a government announcement on the funding of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) next month expected to include a single pot of cash taking in the adult skills budget, Mr Coffey said he wanted to see FE representation on LEP boards.
He also expressed fears the FE sector was not ready for the raising of the participation age (RPA), and that funding problems had been “at the heart” of many college problems.
Mr Coffey said: “Given what we’ve said in the annual report about key challenges, essentially about insufficient good quality teaching, some concerns about teaching of English and maths at level two, we are concerned about the preparedness of the sector to be able to take on board what essentially will equate to another 250,000 students by 2015.”
He added: “Funding has been at the heart of many problems we’ve identified and the report does pose the question ‘is the system fit for purpose?’ Its main reference point is the financial incentives have all been wrong; they’ve led to very low level qualifications being delivered across the board to a wide number of students.
“For example alcohol awareness and personal effectiveness — because they’re funded and because it delivers the money, but what chasing this money has done, is taken the leadership’s eye off the ball of what really matters, which is teaching and learning.”
The AoC’s Ms Mercer said: “We welcome Ofsted’s recognition that a lack of stability in the system caused by colleges having to chase funding year to year has been at the root of many of the problems the report identified and that perverse funding incentives need to be addressed.”
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Government ‘accepts principle’ of Lord Heseltine’s single funding pot
The government has already “accepted the principle” of Lord Heseltine’s single funding pot idea for Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), the Tory grandee told MPs today (Tuesday, February 12).
Members of the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Committee grilled Lord Heseltine on his proposals to hand over the entire skills budget to LEPs — and he said Chancellor George Osbourne was “committed to the single pot”.
He said: “The government has accepted the principle, but as for the scale and the breadth we will have to wait for a statement around the time of the budget.
“There is the political will to deliver this within the government.
“The chancellor is committed to the single pot and I can’t think of another chancellor who took so active a role in that sort of political and economic activity.
He added: “The understanding that we’ve got to change is very widespread, held across all parties and there is thirst for the opportunity. The length of this recession has shaken many people who had views as to what should be done. We are the only economy that has our centralism.”
Lord Heseltine’s comments came just a day after publication of an FE Week report that revealed the government had launched informal talks on the single funding pot idea with the Association of Colleges (AoC) and the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP). However, both bodies have expressed opposition to Lord Heseltine’s proposals.
Martin Doel, chief executive of the AoC, said: “We want to work with LEPs but I don’t think breaking up college funding and giving it to LEPs is a helpful way to do that because it makes it uncoordinated, lacking coherence and won’t be responsive when money is tight.”
A BIS spokesperson declined to comment on government plans for LEPs, but said a statement on the issue would be made in next month’s Budget.
Lord Heseltine further told MPs today: “My report is not a revolution — it is a big switch in emphasis to involve local people in the decision-making process and to encourage them to add extra resources from largely the private sector to that which the government can afford.”
He added: “Local areas can’t get the skills. Humberside has very exciting prospects of inward investment but they know there isn’t the skills supply so it will come from somewhere else.
“It will come from Europe, it will come from Asia, it will come from wherever — but it isn’t there on the ground at the moment so they have to do something about it.
“There’s a very serious shortage of engineering skills for example, but how long does it take to train an engineer? That’s where the real anxiety is in the economies when I go out to visit — they want more control of the agenda for producing skilled people, trained people.
“The thing that impresses me is that there isn’t a dialogue, effectively, between those who create the jobs locally — whether publically or privately — about what training should take place, by whom and at in which institution.
“There is a £4bn budget at BIS that is constrained by central views and I think it would be much more likely to reflect local opportunities if the people who create local jobs played a definitive role in determining the allocation of funds.”
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Dates confirmed for Skills Show 2013
The Skills Show, the UK’s largest skills and careers event, returns to the NEC Birmingham from 14-16 November 2013 for its second year, and has announced the Edge Foundation as a new Premier sponsor to complement existing Premier sponsor City & Guilds.
The Edge Foundation is an independent education charity dedicated to raising the status of technical, practical and vocational learning and helping young people to develop the skills and expertise vital to a successful career. Working closely with The Skills Show, Edge will be looking to maximise awareness of its work through its involvement in the national event and locally delivered activities.
The Skills Show in 2012 was a resounding success, and planning is advanced for the delivery of a more impactful show later this year,”
“The Skills Show in 2012 was a resounding success, and planning is advanced for the delivery of a more impactful show later this year,” explains Ross Maloney, Chief Executive of The Skills Show. “Our partnership with The Edge Foundation strengthens our joint efforts to raise the profile of further education, skills and careers so as to ensure that people recognise and value the contribution they make to the UK economy.”
Jan Hodges, CEO of the Edge Foundation says: “We believe that ‘learning by doing’ should be valued equally with academic learning, and that all learners should experience a mix of both. The Skills Show is an excellent showcase for the vast array of skills we have here in the UK and hopefully it will provide inspiration to people of all ages and backgrounds. There are many paths to success and what we see at The Skills Show is testament to that. We are delighted to be part of such an exciting event.”
In 2012 over 70,000 people attended The Skills Show and were inspired by skills in action, as well as receiving free impartial information and advice on careers and training opportunities. More than 60 Have a Go activities gave visitors the chance to try a bite-sized taster of a range of skills, while over 50 Spotlight talks delivered by a range of real people doing real jobs provided an insight into the real career opportunities. Hosting more than 60 national skills competition finals, The Skills Show also saw more than 1,000 young people make careers advisor appointments following the show.
Independent research has revealed the significant impact that The Skills Show had on those who visited the event, and their attitudes towards vocational training and skills. “Almost two thirds of young people questioned (65%) for the FreshMinds research felt that visiting the event had improved their knowledge of vocational training,” explains Ross Maloney, “which shows that we are definitely able to challenge people’s pre-conceptions about the sector. An incredible 94% of adults and 85% of young people who attended in 2012 would recommend The Skills Show to others which clearly demonstrates the effect that engaging our target audiences has had. Most encouragingly, the young people polled at the NEC were 17% more likely to pursue vocational training in the future after visiting The Show – great news longer term for industry.”