One size does not fit all

A watchful eye on quality becomes more important as FE colleges increasingly deliver higher education, says Dr Stephen Jackson

The tectonic plates of UK higher education are shifting with students basing their study choices on changing criteria.

Providers newer to the game have been eager to compete with the university sector by offering significant benefits in terms of cost, location and flexibility. Privately-funded providers are competing fiercely to recruit students on to the specialist programmes that they can deliver at a lower cost than the traditional sector.

Meanwhile, FE colleges can provide higher education programmes that meet local demands, are competitively priced and available ‘at the end of the street’.

It is increasingly clear that one size does not fit all in this new world of student choice and provider offers.

However, we believe there should be one measure of quality assurance so that HE students, wherever and whatever they study, can be guaranteed nationally agreed academic standards and quality.

Around 12 per cent of UK higher education is delivered in FE colleges – although that percentage is expected to increase.

For more than a decade, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)  has monitored the standards and quality of college higher education — first via subject and academic reviews, then through our Integrated Quality and Enhancement Reviews (IQER). These were the first bespoke review methods for higher education delivered in FE colleges.

Around 12 per cent of UK higher education is delivered in FE colleges”

IQER taught us that colleges do a good job in delivering higher education; that what they do is broadly compatible with what universities do, although in a different way and sometimes for different reasons. And IQER has led to a maturing in the sector, a reduction in the paternalistic relationships between awarding bodies and their colleges, and an increase in a sense of parity and self-confidence.

But we have now introduced  the Review of College Higher Education (RCHE). Why? It goes back to what I said earlier about having one measure of quality assurance — a single framework — for all UK higher education.

RCHE brings us a step closer to this by applying the same criteria, expectations and judgments as our institutional reviews of universities.

We have worked with FE colleges to develop the new method and, so far, the response has been positive. It’s easy to understand why. It’s not an inspection, it uses peers to review and judge the colleges, and it can be a useful catalyst for change.

We want colleges to benefit from review by getting an external perspective on their higher education provision, the standards of the awards they offer, the quality of their learning opportunities, the quality of the information that they provide and the measures that they take to enhance what they do.

Colleges will be able to make direct comparisons between what they do and achieve, and what their colleagues in universities do and achieve.

They will work to the same guidance and the same set of expectations we provide to higher education institutions with the UK Quality Code for Higher Education. They will be able to use the action plan from the review as a planning tool.

As with IQER, we will publish the outcomes of every RCHE review, showcasing the good practice that our reviewers find in each college as well as the recommendations we ask them to action.

We are inviting FE colleges to join universities and other UK higher education institutions in subscribing to QAA, as a signal of the maturity and confidence of the college higher education part of the sector. Visit www.qaa.ac.uk/AboutUs/subscribing-institutions/Pages/Applying-to-QAA.aspx for details on how to sign-up.

Dr Stephen Jackson is  director of
reviews at the QAA

Should we look forward to ‘co-opetition’?

Sixth-form colleges must not rest on the laurels of past successes, says Mark Bramwell. First up, let’s tackle the relationship with academies… 

Sixth-form colleges are proving to be robust with most achieving high success rates and good or outstanding Ofsted grades.

And most are oversubcribed – despite the demographic drop in the number of eligible students.

But we need to critically assess future options for this success to continue.  Looking ahead, some colleges are worried about being marginalised and about their long-term viability. The prospect of a 6 per cent funding cut over the medium term and increasing competition from new providers are serious concerns. I hope to address some of these issues at next week’s AoC annual conference where we will explore strategic issues with college leaders.

First, let’s look at our successes so far, including influencing government policy.  For instance, funding rates between school sixth forms and colleges are being equalised. Sixth-form colleges’ (SFC) capital funding is now largely in line with academies. The unfair higher benchmark used in SFC inspections by Ofsted is to go in March.

There are more inequalities to face, of course. However, with the national emphasis on value for money, high standards and social mobility, SFCs should be confident of more success.

Looming on the horizon is a growing debate about the relationship between SFCs and academies.  It is clear that the Department for Education and the Office of the Schools Commissioner are enthusiastic about SFCs sponsoring academies but currently only four  have such a role.

Should SFCs respond to the new political landscape through more involvement in academies, as is the case with general further education colleges? They would have a lot to offer having left local authority control themselves in 1993 and having flourished through self management and governance – although their small leadership teams could be an obstacle.

There is a concern that one day, perhaps under a future Government, academies could be returned to the local authority fold”

And should SFCs apply for 16-19 academy status? Some benefits might follow. For example, a VAT rebate could be worth £200,000 a year, but there is no guarantee that academy status would bring this; free meals could be available to eligible students and the academy brand is at the heart of Government policy. Would 16-19 academy status move SFCs to a position of greater influence? Would it bring quality improvement funds not currently available?

There could be a downside, of course. There is a concern that one day, perhaps under a future Government, academies could be returned to the local authority fold (or some other commissioning agency).

The SFC brand is distinct, but it could be lost in a sea of 3,000 or 4,000 academies (there are currently 2,400). Would the SFC sector divide into a two or three-way split over this strategic decision?

The old call for funding was for equity across school sixth forms and colleges. Today it is about calling for equity between 11-16 funding, 16-18 funding and perhaps post-19 funding. Currently a SFC student attracts £3,900, an 11-16 pupil over £5,000 and an HE student over £8,000. With less public funding SFCs might diversify their funding streams. Many already do with adult learning, higher education, international work or work-based learning. However, the challenge is to diversify and to keep an eye on the ball of ever-growing accountability for the quality of 16-18 teaching and learning.

Finally, in challenging times, can SFCs take a leaf out of the work of other organisations and collaborate even more with each other while remaining competitors? ‘Co-opetition’ would mean more strategic alliances between SFCs, more federated models or relevant shared services options.  This could help to retain the distinctiveness of SFCs while strengthening their ability to survive and flourish in the new educational landscape.

Mark Bramwell is the AoC’s associate director of sixth-form colleges

Graham Morley, principal, South Staffordshire College

“I hated school with a passion, hated going every single day and even now don’t look back on it and say those days were the happiest of my life like a lot of people do,” says Graham Morley, Chief Executive Principal of South Staffordshire College.

Being the youngest in the year, disliking football and in the top set for everything, he never felt he fitted in at Oldfield Boys’ School in Uttoxeter. Despite his academic aptitude – particularly in maths – Morley “did one piece of homework in four years” and left school without a single qualification.

He started a carpentry course at college, but having decided he didn’t like the teacher, switched to bricklaying and found he was pretty good at it. On completing his apprenticeship, he joined the family construction business where he worked until his mid twenties, picking up higher national certificates in building and structural engineering along the way.

But despite having a close relationship with his dad, Morley couldn’t shake the feeling that he should “cut his own path in life.” A keen surfer with who was determined not to become the “and sons” in his father’s business, he took a part-time job teaching bricklaying at Stoke College.“I found I was a good teacher and I’m not embarrassed to say that,” he says.

After combining part-time teaching with construtction work for a few years, he decided to take a risk, accepting a full-time teaching contract, covering a teacher who was on long-term absence. But when his colleague returned, much earlier than anticipated  – just two days after Morley’s eldest daughter was born – he suddenly found himself out of a job.

Having made the decision to move out of the family business – and disappointed his father in process – it was a devastating blow. But despite the tough economic climate, Morley resisted the temptation to return to the company. “I knew that if I went back, it would have meant that someone else [in the company] would probably have lost their job eventually,” he says. “It sounds saintly, but it wasn’t like that. I was afraid to be trapped in the family business.”

After six months out of work, Morley landed a job at Stafford College, where he worked as a lecturer until 1989, when a brush with death changed his outlook. Having been diagnosed with a serious illness, he was given just days to live but, after a five and a half hour emergency operation, pulled through, against the odds. “Friday 13th [the date of the operation] is always quite a lucky day for me,” he says. “I wasn’t afraid of dying; in some ways it would have been a relief. But it changed me. I grew up.”

I found I was a good teacher and I’m not embarrassed to say that”

A few months later, Morley returned to work with a germ of an idea. At a time when many colleges were cutting back on construction courses (mainly because they were expensive to run) he put forward a radical plan to expand provision at the college – and landed himself the job of head of construction in the process. When his plan proved profitable for the college, he took on additional responsibilities, and in the late 1990s, moved to Stoke College as head of faculty for engineering and construction before becoming director of curriculum at South Cheshire college.

But when it was suggested that he take a secondment as vice principal at nearby Cannock Chase College, which had just had an unsatisfactory Ofsted inspection, he wasn’t keen. His own college was due an inspection any day, and he wanted to be there to lead the team through it.

After much cajoling from the then principal of Stoke College, David Collins, he reluctantly agreed to give it a go. But after six months – during which time the college improved to a ‘satisfactory’ Ofsted rating – he found Cannock had got under his skin.

When a permanent post of principal was advertised – and despite the fact the college had been earmarked for merger by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) – he applied for the job. “I loved the people and the students and I could see that I could make a difference and a contribution to the town…so I took the risk that it could all go belly up,” he says.

That was in 2005 and (having fought off the LSC’s proposed merger during his first year at the college) over the years that followed, he began exploring the idea of a strategic merger with nearby Rodbaston College and Tamworth and Lichfield Colleges. “None of them were in a bad position, financially or qualitatively, but none of them were big enough to survive in today’s world,” he says.

South Staffordshire College came into being in January 2009, after he had put his career on the line for a second time, going against “the best field in the country” Morley became principal of the newly-formed institution. He recalls: “I found that interview really difficult because, for the first time in my life, I really wanted that job, but there was a good chance that I wasn’t going to get it because I’d never run a college of that size before…but the board saw what they wanted to see, I suppose, because I got the job.”

One of the biggest challenges for all principals at the moment is dealing with changes to FE funding he says. And he is particularly concerned about changes to the adult skills budget (and in particular the introduction of FE loans) and how this will affect peoples’ ability to access education. “I understand the government is saying that they [learners] will only pay it back if they are earning more than 21k a year, but the prospect of someone taking on a loan when they are struggling to pay for food and the family and rent and stuff like that…they are not in the right place to take on a lifetime commitment.

I worry for individuals concerned and I worry for the country in a sense, as all the indicators are that skilled jobs are going to grow and the unskilled and semi-skilled jobs will decline.”

Now 57, Morley says he has no intention of retiring any time soon, but is clear he doesn’t want to become “that principal who is shuffling down the corridor when everyone wishes he wasn’t there.” He is clear that he wants to leave at the top of his game.

And for now, what continues to drive him is ensuring the very best outcomes for learners. “I believe the students should be at the heart of what we do, it’s the real secret of our success. I’ve also got a great team around me, great staff at the college where I’m at and we’re all there for one reason – we change lives. At the end of the day, I’m a bricklayer. I’m still that guy on the beach who used to surf…that’s who I am. And above all, I hope I’m human.”

It’s a personal thing

What’s your favourite book? 

Papillon by Henri Charrière

What did you want to be when you were younger?

Lorry driver

What do you do to switch off from work?

Photography

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

Neil Armstrong

What would your super power be? 

See further into the future

Critical skills for the 21st century

Colleges should be leading the way to creating entrepreneurial communities, say Andy Pellant and Lynne Sedgmore

Entrepreneurship is a key word on many people’s lips at the moment. The working world of the 21st century is one in which resilience, enterprise and personal qualities are as important as skills and knowledge; one in which coping with change is inevitable, and job and wealth creation are critical.

High unemployment and fiscal constraints mean that our society needs to foster and support more job creators than job seekers,  to invest in those with a strong sense of their ability to be entrepreneurial.

FE colleges are natural places in which this can happen. Generating successful job creators and entrepreneurs can only benefit the community and help to stimulate the economy — essential roles for all colleges.

But such important work requires a new form of leadership, one that builds on the sector’s strong capacity to deliver high quality core business skills and qualifications, but one that also has a clear vision of the future. It requires a leadership that recognises that to produce entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial ways of learning, a college must itself be entrepreneurial in all that it does.

The Gazelle Group’s Enterprising Futures publication shows how the truly entrepreneurial college can be enterprising and risk-taking – while encouraging staff to behave similarly.

Gazelle was set up with the intention of achieving an identifiable group of enterprising colleges within five years. But already it is reaching into the whole sector, as well as internationally.

A college must itself be entrepreneurial in all that it does”

The Association of Colleges’ conference next week will host the launch of the Gazelle Entrepreneurial College Leadership Programme, supported in its development by the 157 Group and the Learning and Skills Improvement Service.

This programme, which  will pilot its first groups in February and March next year, will be challenging, disruptive and supportive — and of course, highly entrepreneurial in its design and learning processes.

Drawing on a powerful partnership with Babson College and Babson Global,  the Gazelle leadership programme will offer a powerful way to unlock untapped potential and ambition, introducing participants to designing and implementing an entrepreneurial college.

It will signpost the way to redefining colleges as a ‘whole community learning resource’, and as a space in which entrepreneurial activity is not only nurtured but in which it can flourish.

A critical element of the learning experience will be access to the Gazelle entrepreneurs — well-known figures from the business world who have a commitment to entrepreneurial learning within further education.

We look forward to sharing more details about it at an AoC conference workshop, letting you find out how all principals and professionals within FE colleges can access this powerful developmental opportunity.

Andy Pellant, is associate director of the Gazelle Group; Lynne Sedgmore is
director of 157 Group

Looking forward to the Richard Review

David Way is interviewed by Chris Henwood in the mobile newsroom on the top floor of the Hyatt Birmingham

Employers should be given greater ownership of the apprenticeship system, according to National Apprenticeship Service chief executive David Way.

He spoke to FE Week at the Association of Colleges conference, in Birmingham, where he offered a cautious prediction of the forthcoming Richard Review.

“I have some ideas about what I’d like to see in the review, but it’s important not to just take it in isolation,” said Mr Way.

“It’s possible to discern the main trends likely to be coming out of all these reviews, and one of these is a sense of questioning how we can ensure employers have greater ownership of the system.”

The Richard Review was launched by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills just before the summer.

It was tasked with taking a medium to long-term look at the future of apprenticeships in England, identifying best practice and ensuring future apprenticeships meet the needs of the changing economy, and ensuring apprenticeships deliver the qualifications and skills employers need to reach world class benchmarks.

Its author, entrepreneur and former Dragons’ Den star, Doug Richard said he expected it to be published by the end of the month.

“I’ve put a lot of effort into increasing the type, the calibre and the depth of employer involvement and that’s a clear message of the review,” he exclusively told FE Week this month.

It follows reviews into the same subject by the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee and jeweller Jason Holt.

He spoke to FE Week at the Skills Show this month, where he said: “I have spoken and Doug Richard had read my review – he was even testing me on it.

“I think, or hope, he may have looked at it and Professor Alison Wolf’s and looked to build on them.”

Mr Holt also said he was on a panel that was looking to put in place the careers guidance boost recommendations of his own review.

“I’m on the Holt Review implementation team that meets every quarter,” he said.

“We’ve already met once and we’re there to hold the government’s toes to the fire in terms of getting the things done that it said it would.

“I really push the review on that team otherwise what’s the point.

He added: “It’s really refreshing for the government to have set up this team to make sure my review doesn’t fall by the wayside. That, at least, should be celebrated.

“I was disappointed around the schools agenda and their promotion of apprenticeships.

“I wanted to see inspired head teachers who look beyond funding agendas applauded.

The other point was about connections between business and schools and their local communities.

“In Switzerland they give schoolchildren weekly advice and information on careers from the age of 11 to 16. They hear from all trades — banking, engineering and so on.

“They end up with a real sense of the world of work. It just makes you question whether we are doing enough.”

FE Week’s glitzy auction in aid of HKF

An FE Week charity auction night held in the grand setting of Birmingham’s Grade II-listed Council House raised at least £5,500 for the Helena Kennedy Foundation.

More than 100 guests attended the event on Tuesday, November 20, including National Institute of Adult Continuing Education chief executive David Hughes and Learning and Skills Improvement Service chair Dame Ruth Silver.

Principals and staff from providers such as Solihull College, Milton Keynes College and East Kent College were also there and enjoyed table-to-table entertainment from 11-year-old yo-yo trickster David Braden Holmes and psychological magician Mark Cairns.

From left. Lynne Sedgmore, 157 Group, is presented with a HKF ambassador’s bowl by Ann Limb, HKF

Among the top auction earners were a sports car experience day that went for £200, dinner for two at the House of Lords with Neil Kinnock for £240 and an iPad at £370.

And more than £1,200 of the night’s takings came from the sale of £5 raffle strips with prizes on offer including a night at an Edinburgh hotel and a tour of Premier League football club Newcastle United’s St James’s Park stadium plus dinner.

The night, which was supported by NCFE and Tribal, takes FE Week’s fund-raising for the charity to at least £15,500 in just over a year”

The evening was kicked off by FE Week director of operations Shane Mann before charity chair Dr Ann Limb OBE introduced the night’s star guest, Athens 2004 Paralympics wheelchair basketball bronze medallist Ade Adepitan MBE.

The 39-year-old, who anchored Channel Four’s coverage of this year’s Paralympics with Clare Balding, is a patron of the foundation, which hands out cash to disadvantaged students to help them go on to higher education.

He gave a speech on how his life had been affected by childhood polio and said: “Everybody needs a little help in their lives, some more than others.

From left: Graham Towse, Grimsby Institute Group (GIG), Julie Moore, GIG, Ade Adepitan, Ellen Thinessen GIG and Amanda Rudolph, GIG. Mr Towse paid £500 for a paralympic T-shirt signed by Mr Adepitan

“Two of the most powerful things in the world are sport and education, and I’m here because I benefited from both.”

Ade was presented with an ambassador’s bowl to mark his dedication to the fund, before a second bowl was given to 157 Group executive director Lynne Sedgmore.

“All I want to say is thank you to all involved in this event and also the Helena Kennedy Foundation – it epitomises what further education is all about, and that’s transforming lives,” she said.

Julie Nugent, Birmingham Met College, with David Hughes, NIACE, who won a bottle of whisky signed by Ed Miliband MP in the raffle

The night, which was supported by NCFE and Tribal, takes FE Week’s fund-raising for the charity to at least £15,500 in just over a year.

Nick Linford, FE Week editor, said: “It was so great to see a host of high-profile FE figures come along and support us and, more importantly, the Helena Kennedy Foundation.

“To have raised such a huge amount of money in the space of just over a year – and for such a worthy cause – was beyond my wildest dreams.

“All I can say is a huge ‘thank you’ to all those involved who really helped to make it a night to remember.”

From left: Sarah Linford shows off the floral display, created by Maureen Palmer and students from Solihull College

Employer ownership criticised as ‘top-slicing’

An FE leader blasted new training incentives for businesses worth £150m as “top slicing” funds from the adult skills budget.

Maggie Galliers, president of the Association of Colleges (AoC), was speaking at this year’s annual AoC conference where FE Minister Matthew Hancock announced the cash pot for businesses to help “build a skilled workforce”.

During his speech at Birmingham’s ICC Mr Hancock said businesses across the country could bid for a share of the funds to create the training schemes they needed to “grow their companies”. The fund is the second round of the Employer Ownership Pilot (EOP) which is already giving nearly £70 million to companies including Nissan, Whitbread and GE Aviation, with projects ranging from extending skills training to local suppliers, to doubling the number of female apprentices.

“For Britain to compete we need as a nation to deliver the skills employers need,” said Mr Hancock.

“This is a unique opportunity for companies across all industries to secure their futures by addressing their skills needs now.

“I would encourage businesses – large and small – to be ambitious and innovative in their vision for how the fund can help them grow, from creating new apprenticeship programmes to setting up specialist training academies.
Ms Galliers said AoC were fully supportive of their underlying purpose of “unlocking even greater investment” by employers in training.

But she reacted saying: “But, and I am afraid there is a ‘but’, these pilots are funded by top slicing from the adult skills budget. And this is not the only initiative vying for our money.

“The emerging demands around Local Enterprise Partnerships and City Deals could mean that as a sector we have less flexibility and less resource and spend too much of our time chasing funding pots.”

Government investment in EOP for rounds one and two now totals £250 million.

The other 34 successful round one projects were announced in September. These included Nissan’s programme to bridge the skills gap for more than 3,600 technical staff, new recruits and supply chain workers involved in producing new models and working with evolving technologies.

David Way, chief executive of the National Apprenticeship Service, supported the scheme.

He said: “While I am delighted to see many more employers offering apprenticeships every week, we welcome this important employer-led approach. This will help to achieve our ambition to see accelerated growth and higher quality standards for apprenticeships.

“The Employer Ownership Pilot will encourage a fresh and creative approach to stimulating employers to offer more opportunities to young people. This initiative will enable even more employers to collaborate and lead to the further expansion of apprenticeships. This is vital for ensuring employers of all sizes and in vital growth sectors invest in and benefit from apprenticeships.

“We look forward to working closely with UKCES, BIS and all of our employers in developing and delivering high quality apprenticeships.”

The round two prospectus is now available online at www.ukces.org.uk/employerownership and the deadline for bids is February 28, 2013.

Functional skills funding to double

The FE Minister has pledged to double the amount of money available for adult English and maths skills branding it a “scandal”many Britons “couldn’t read or add up properly”

Matthew Hancock (pictured) made the announcement welcomed by FE leaders during a speech at AoC’s annual conference in Birmingham.

“And there is one area where Britain should lead the world, but where sinfully we have allowed ourselves to fall behind,” Mr Hancock told the packed main hall at the ICC.

“Here in these islands, we invented the English language that now dominates the globe. It is the global language: of trade, of culture, of diplomacy, and of the arts. And our history is littered with many of the advances in mathematics too.

“Yet too many of our young people cannot read or write, or add up properly,” he said.

“This is a scandal and it must change.”

He said to “show the value” the government attached to English and maths he was “doubling the amount we pay for adult English and Maths functional skills, and for English and Maths within an apprenticeship.”

But the Skills Funding Agency declined to tell FE Week when the rate increase would become available nor where funding would come from to afford the rate increase.

A spokesperson said: “We are implementing some rate increases for English and maths qualifications. This is in advance of the introduction of the new funding system in 2013/14. Further details on this will be available on our website later this week.”

The National Institute for Adults Continuing Education (NIACE) “warmly” welcomed Mr Hancock’s news.

Carol Taylor, director of development and research, said the organisation had called for recognition that all adults “need to be able to read and write to a functional level” to play a full-part in their family, in work and society.

“Over 3000 people took part in NIACE maths challenges at the recent Skills Show, and many asked for advice on how to improve their English and maths,” she said.

“One woman was able to do entry level English at college but unable to do maths as the college was not able to offer her a class.”

“We will continue to work with colleges and providers to help them develop functional skills for all learners, regardless of their age or the stage of their learning.”

The minister also set out his intention to consult on rigorous 16-19 vocational qualifications, to help ensure minimum levels of performance were applied equally to college and school sixth forms.

The 157 Group, an organisation that represents 27 FE colleges, supported this.

Marilyn Hawkins, group chair, said: “We are pleased these announcements acknowledge the need to ensure high-quality pathways are available for all learners. They reflect our view that colleges provide a vital element in the learning of 14 to 24-year-olds of all abilities.”

Lynne Sedgmore, executive director of the 157 Group, added, “We welcome the minister’s reaffirmed commitment to levelling the quality playing field between schools and colleges, something for which we have long argued.”

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UPDATE: On Friday 23 November the Skills Funding Agency published a document which said the rate increase would apply for this year (2012/13) – click here to download the document.

Using figures from this document, the table below describes the actual increase for 2012/13, which is in fact more than double the current rate.