College course goes green with energy

A North East college has become one of the first winners to share a £1m pot of government cash aimed at boosting energy efficiency skills.

Gateshead College’s £75,000 contract will see it train dozens of people between now and the end of the year to become newly-qualified Green Deal energy assessors.

Paul Gough, commercial operations manager at the college (above), said: “The contract win is a major coup for us and fits within our green employability agenda.

“We already have a track record in energy assessment training so we were able to demonstrate sector knowledge, clear expertise and success in the sector to secure the Green Deal work.”

Green Deal launches later this year and aims to renovate millions of draughty, energy-inefficient properties.

However, no one will be able to participate in the scheme without their property having been assessed.

The government wants to have 1,000 newly-qualified assessors in place by the end of 2012.

DIY skills in store for Homebase students

Home is where the art is for staff at a well-known DIY chain who achieved City and Guilds qualifications in painting and decorating.

Fifteen customer service advisers from Homebase stores across the West Midlands, including Sutton Coldfield, Oldbury, Solihull, Leamington Spa and Worcester, gained their level one certificates at Walsall College’s construction department.

Working with MidKent College, the Midland college developed a bespoke five-day programme to meet Homebase’s needs.

The training was designed to help retail staff increase their product knowledge and enable them to give better advice to customers.

Paul Armstrong, trainee team leader at Homebase Oldbury, said: “The course at has given me some great tips-of-the-trade to pass on to customers.

“Having completed a mix of practical and classroom-based exercises, I feel more confident about advising customers on products and techniques that will help them achieve professional results.”

Barry Hill, construction curriculum manager at the college, added: “We are looking at developing courses with Homebase shaped on this successful format to help staff in other areas of DIY.”

Hairdresser duo ahead of the competition

Two Midland college students have been getting ahead of the competition in regional WorldSkills Competitions.

Burton and South Derbyshire College (BSDC) Hairdressing students snipped their way to success, scooping second and fourth place in the recent regional heats.

Harriet Bowring, 17, and Luize Rotberga, 20, got through in the intermediate level of the WorldSkills competition showing off a number of skills, including creating a cut and a colour.

They were among just 16 of 200 applicants to be selected to battle it out in the regional competition.

Both students will now compete against the best in the national final of the WorldSkills UK competition at The NEC Birmingham from November 14 to 17.

Students earn their leadership spurs

Premier League outfit Tottenham Hotspur have teamed up with a London college to develop students’ leadership skills.

The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London welcomed Leadership through Sport founder David Pinchin to speak to 15 recruits on the subject.

The exclusive programme, run at the college in association with Spurs and the sport charity, is designed to help young people become leaders in business, sports or community action.

The students, who were all picked from the college’s accounting academy, took part in a rigorous selection process to assess their leadership and business skills.

Each candidate took part in a series of interviews, as well as activities leading and coaching young footballers.

Tracey Kiangebi, one of the students taking part, said: “My long-term goal is to work in management, but I want to make sure that I have the full range of skills especially being able to support and develop staff and a team.”

Paul Head, principal, said: “We are delighted to be working with such a top flight premier league club, which also has an excellent reputation for meaningful community outreach and involvement.”

Is the De Vere case a one-off, asks Marsden

The Skills Funding Agency and the National Apprenticeship Service have no idea how many providers are running introductory apprenticeships for groups of students who are all out of work, FE Week can reveal.

The De Vere Academy of Hospitality is the only known provider with permission to run access to apprenticeship courses in which 100 per cent of the learners are unemployed.

The permission, from the agency and the apprenticeship service, allowed the academy to bypass funding rules for 2012/13. These state: “Providers must not recruit more than 10 per cent of their apprenticeship starts on to the access to apprenticeship pathway without the prior agreement of their agency relationship manager.”

But the agency and the apprenticeship service both said they could not tell FE Week how many  other providers had been granted the same permission – or who they were.

We need clarity from BIS whether the De Vere case is a one-off or if it is occurring elsewhere”

They were also unable to list any providers allowed to run the course, billed as a pathway to full apprenticeship, with more than 10 per cent of students unemployed.

“We are currently still reviewing the emerging information and local response on what is a very new programme,” said an apprenticeship service spokesperson.

“This includes the collation and collection of central data and reporting. The data will be available after the end of November.”

The question over who — apart from De Vere — has permission for all access to apprenticeship learners to be unemployed is a key concern of  shadow FE minister Gordon Marsden.

“The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and its agencies need to be transparent over issues such as this; there is no point putting in place rules and then giving no indication whether they are being followed or not,” said the Labour MP.

“We need clarity from BIS whether the De Vere case is a one-off or if it is occurring elsewhere. If that is indeed the case, then the new FE minister needs to explain clearly why this apparent breach of agency guidance is taking place.”

A request for details on which providers run access to apprenticeships with unemployment rates of more than 10 per cent was put to the agency by FE Week under the Freedom of Information Act last month.

It said it “did searches and can advise that we do not hold the information requested”, before passing the query on to the apprenticeship service.

A spokesperson for the service said that it did not hold the information either.

“We have also confirmed that De Vere has an agreement to undertake a hospitality-based access programme which the majority of learners are expected to use as a gateway to an employed apprenticeship,” said the spokesperson.

The De Vere Academy  advertised two access to apprenticeship course on its website earlier this year. Both were to last seven weeks and included two or three “work trials”.

However, funding rules say that learners on these courses should spend most of their time “in a substantive work placement” with the same number of hours “as expected for those on a full apprenticeship”.

The De Vere Group has defended its programme saying that it had achieved “outstanding” success rates and was helping to address youth unemployment.

The SFA allocated £9,679,626 to the De Vere Group, known as the Alternative Hotel Group, for the 2011/12 academic year, according to government figures. It included more than £8 million for apprentices aged 16 to 18.

New minister says he’s ‘learning and listening’

New further education minister Matthew Hancock has told for the first time of his “exciting agenda” for change when he spoke exclusively to FE Week.

The joint Parliamentary Under Secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills also took time out from his first ministerial visit to insist colleges would be given more freedom to meet the needs of students and employers.

“It [FE] is something I’ve cared about for a long time and it’s a real privilege to be asked to be responsible for it in government,” he said during a tour of Birmingham’s landmark £66m Bournville College.

“There are lots of areas where we can do more and go further.

“An exciting agenda of giving colleges more freedom to deliver what students and employers need was set out by my predecessor [John Hayes] and I’m keen to continue.”

Mr Hancock said that he hoped to learn more about FE on trips, such as his visit on September 20 to the 4.2-acre campus site and former home of car manufacturer Rover.

“You can only find out what’s really going on by visiting,” he said.

“Only then can you know what changes announced in Whitehall are really doing, so I’m learning and I’m listening and I’m asking lots of questions.”

He added: “I’ve trying to make sure that I know exactly how the system works and figure out how it can work better.”

But Mr Hancock said one of his most important early tasks would be to investigate the findings of the Richard Review.

“Doug Richard is going to publish his review into FE and apprenticeships soon . . . I’m looking forward to hearing what he’s got to say,” said Mr Hancock.

“But I’m keen to continue the strategy that was articulated and set out by my predecessor.

“I certainly want to do all I can to ensure that the focus is on the skills that employers need, and on being passionate about the esteem and the opportunity that FE presents.”

And the minister said he was thrilled to be get the FE job.

“I did one A-Level in an FE college many years ago and it’s good to be back,” he said.

“I was delighted, of course. You don’t know what you’ll be asked to do, if you’ll be asked to do something or what you’ll be asked to do, but I was thrilled, not least because of my personal experience of FE and because I know how vital skills are to people across the country and to the future of our nation.”

Mr Hancock had earlier quizzed Birmingham students on their own FE experiences, telling them he wanted to hear how it worked from their perspective and find out what they felt could be improved.

“I’m two weeks into the job in charge of FE policy and promotion,” he told students.

“I went to school and an FE college as well — West Cheshire College, in Chester — and now I’ve ended up in charge of the whole thing.

“I want to hear how it works for you [students], to answer any questions you’ve got and find out what you think can be improved and what you’re hoping to get out of it.”

He added: “Two weeks seems like a long time ago. I’ve been learning a lot and I’ve been trying to make sure I know exactly how the system works and figure out how it can work better.

“One of the things I’ve been told today is that, given more flexibility, the college can provide better and ensure it meets the needs of employers and that’s something I will definitely go away and look at.”

He heard how students felt more could be done to present them with all the post-school options. Some also told the minister there wasn’t enough awareness of apprenticeships and other alternatives to university.

“I agree very strongly with that,” said Mr Hancock. “The options open to you both at 16 and 18 need to be explained much more clearly.

“There’s a new duty on schools to provide impartial careers advice and we have to make sure they honour that and that the advice is impartial.

“One of the things I have to do is ensure that happens. We have to ensure they provide good advice and impartial advice. It’s easy enough to pass a law but you’ve got to ensure that happens.”

Picture above from left: From left: Antonia Zawlocki, Katie Harris, principal Norman Cave, FE Minister Matthew Hancock, deputy principal Brendan Hartland, Amy Colton and David Semonella. Picture taken by Jamie Cooper for FE Week

Lounge marks EMFEC’s 100 years in FE

An East Midlands charity’s 100 years of support in the further education sector has been marked with the opening of a plush Centenary Lounge.

Nearly 50 years of service were represented as staff and chief executives, old and new, enjoyed a celebratory afternoon tea at East Midlands Further Education Council’s (EMFEC) Nottingham headquarters.

A raffle was also held at the event to raise funds for EMFEC’s nominated charity, the Helena Kennedy Foundation, which supports young people to progress from further to higher education.

Current chief Paul Eeles said: “It’s great that so many people from our past could be at the event. The organisation’s strength has been its dedicated staff and ability to change over the past hundred years.”

The charity was established in 1912 as an examining and qualifications body and is now also the regional body for the Association of Colleges.

Ofqual consults on ESOL

Regulations that govern foreign learners of English could be scrapped.

Ofqual is considering three options for the future of ESOL (English for speakers of other languages), including the withdrawal of existing regulations for ESOL Skills for Life and ESOL for Work qualifications. Other suggestions are for a new qualification called ESOL for Life in the UK or simply a revision of current rules.

An Ofqual spokesperson said: “New regulations will make ESOL more robust and fit for the purposes for which they are now used.

“For example, we propose that qualifications used for immigration-related purposes should be 100 per cent externally assessed and include identity checks of each student at each assessment, while other types of ESOL qualifications could use more flexible approaches to assessment.

“Our proposals are designed to secure the standards of the whole ESOL suite of qualifications and promote public confidence in them.”

The proposals were welcomed by Chris Taylor, ESOL programme manager at the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE). “This review presents an important opportunity, not only to revise and update the existing regulations, but also to redevelop and make them more relevant.

“One of the consultation principles is to promote public confidence in them. This was identified as an area for further research in the NIACE-led ESOL Inquiry in 2006 and it remains a matter of concern.

“ESOL qualifications need to be recognised by employers – as well as education and training providers – if they are to have any value and if they are to help support learners progress into further study or to open up new careers for them.”

She said NIACE would welcome a new language qualification at level three that had “currency for academic and professional progression”.

Ofqual plans three consultation events — in Belfast, Leeds and London — in November. Email reform@ofqual.gov.uk for further details or to register for these events.

The Welsh Government is expected to be seeking feedback on the proposals in Wales.

Comments on the proposals should be emailed to consultations@ofqual.gov.uk by the deadline of December 3.

Proposal one:

Introduce general conditions of recognition for a new qualification called ESOL for life in the UK. Ofqual: “We propose introducing regulations for a new qualification called ESOL for life in the UK which must meet specific rules including 100 per cent external assessment and the verification of the identity of those being assessed. These new rules should allow awarding organisations to demonstrate more clearly that their ESOL qualifications meet Home Office requirements.”

Proposal two:

Introduce revised general conditions of recognition for ESOL International qualifications, based on existing regulations. Ofqual: “This proposal introduces 100 per cent external assessment for ESOL international qualifications, whereas the existing rules allow up to 25 per cent internal assessment in limited circumstances.”

Proposal three:

Withdraw existing regulations for ESOL Skills for Life and ESOL for Work qualifications. Ofqual: “We propose to withdraw the additional rules applied to ESOL Skills for Life and ESOL for Work qualifications. Awarding organisations could develop these qualifications to meet their centres’ needs and these qualifications would still need to comply with our general conditions of recognition.”

Japanese students on cloud nine over airline course at Bournemouth and Poole College

Seven jet-setting students have been in Bournemouth this summer learning the skills of airline cabin crew.

After three weeks’ intensive training at Bournemouth and Poole College’s Lansdowne campus, and working on British Airways’ cabin simulators, they were due fly home to Osaka, in Japan.

All seven hope one day to be soaring across the world using the skills they honed in Bournemouth to serve long-haul passengers.

The college claims to have developed a global reputation for training cabin crew, having forged strong links with Japanese colleges.

Student Shoko Koga said: “We had a wonderful time and learned so much.

“The college staff made us feel so welcome. We fell in love with Bournemouth and it’s lovely climate. Maybe one day we will be serving Bournemouth people on long-haul flights to our own country.”