Creating space for CPD that makes a difference

Nobody stays at the level of expert teacher or trainer without continuing appropriate and focused professional development throughout their working lives. Teachers and trainers in further education (FE) and skills need to keep a record of their continuing professional development (CPD) and declare the number of hours spent every year and the type of development undertaken to their employer and to their professional body, the Institute for Learning (IfL).

Every year, IfL carries out a random in-depth sample to identify effective practice in CPD and shares the findings with the sector. Our latest review, which covered the year to October 31, adopted a collaborative, discursive strategy to facilitate discussions on the reviewing, sharing and impact of CPD. IfL members representing all parts of the sector took part in 33 regional and local focus group meetings around the country.

It is interesting to see how closely IfL members’ preferred teaching and learning strategies mirror the findings of research into effective education for adults and young learners. John Hattie, who has conducted extensive research over the past 15 years, stresses the need for professional communities: “space for teachers to interpret the evidence about their effect on each student …”

This was borne out by the findings of our review: that directed CPD is not necessarily effective and more space is needed for self-directed and collaborative development opportunities.

IfL members were very clear about the type of CPD that does not work: top-down, prescriptive and generic training sessions and events.

The culture and management practices in a college or provider can promote or hamper professional learning that leads to excellent teaching and training practice.

This was the subject of a seminar we hosted with the 157 Group and the Institute of Education (IoE) for FE leaders and practitioners to discuss the leadership and creation of “expansive learning environments” to maximise professional learning and excellence in the FE sector.

We talked about self-directed and collaborative professional development that is integrated into normal working routines leading to the most meaningful impact on teaching practice, and agreed that provider organisations need to create more expansive learning environments for their teachers and trainers.

Lorna Unwin, professor of vocational education at the IoE, spoke of the central importance of leading learning in workplaces. She argued that expansive learning is creative and dynamic and constantly evolving, not confined by artificial workplace boundaries. Workplace learning cannot be expansive or restrictive on its own; it sits within the wider organisational context and is the product of the organisational structures and cultures of which it is part.

A key characteristic of an expansive learning environment is the belief that people at all levels across the organisation possess valuable skills and knowledge and have the capacity to learn, and that learning leads to more effective performance.

We heard how Birmingham Metropolitan College is establishing professional development centres on each campus, where teachers can reflect on and share their professional practice.

It has also set aside every Wednesday afternoon for collaborative professional development, and teachers drive the priorities for using this free space to create powerful team and cross team professional development.

IfL is working with other sector agencies, including the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), JISC and others, to ensure that teachers and trainers in FE and skills have access to CPD that helps them stay up to date in teaching methods and technological innovations, for the benefit of their learners.

While many employers over manage and structure CPD for teachers and trainers, others are showing how expansive learning environments enable highly effective development, which leads to brilliant teaching practice and better outcomes for learners.

 Dr Jean Kelly, Director of Professional Development at Institute for Learning

 

Are UK apprenticeships facing an identity crisis?

Apprenticeships have long been regarded as a useful way to grow young talent with a mix of on-the-job training and traditional classroom learning.

But as the UK apprenticeship programme becomes more extensive to cover a wider subject matter, the flagship youth training scheme is now facing something of an identity crisis with business owners in certain sectors voicing concern at the effectiveness of some of the shorter training schemes.

This was the warning made by the Forum at the recent Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Committee’s inquiry into apprenticeships at the House of Commons.

In its submission to the official inquiry, the Forum argued central government could and should be more effective in overcoming the lack of clarity over information about apprenticeships, but said it entirely agreed with the scheme’s expansion.

Shorter apprenticeship courses have recently come under fire from UK business owners, particularly those in traditional industries such as manufacturing and engineering, where the argument has been made that such courses do not provide the same value as the longer schemes they run – despite evidence of their popularity among more service-orientated sectors including retail.

It is, of course, important that shorter apprenticeships are more than simply glorified training schemes which cost businesses a substantial amount of cash, but provide very little in substance for students. There should also be care taken against diluting courses so they fall below industry standards.

Providing these schemes are accredited, shown to address real skills needs, and are well regarded, even as ‘entry level’ apprenticeships, they should rightly be valued, protected and promoted.

There should be more awareness of the differences between intense, four-year apprenticeships and shorter schemes, with greater clarity about their applicability to businesses in different industries. There should also be more centralised information about where to source information, funding and the types of courses being offered.

With resources scarce for small firms there is a need for better information and greater, more detailed feedback on the effectiveness of courses to ensure quality control is delivered. This could be closer interaction between training providers and local businesses – this is something long championed by the Forum.

It’s not all bad news though for apprenticeships, with progress made by the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS), particularly its commitment to advertise a firm’s apprenticeship position within one month.

NAS have also pledged to place an apprentice within three months, and remove any health and safety requirements that go beyond national standards.

This type of red tape is something the Forum says has traditionally turned a lot of firms off from subscribing to apprenticeship schemes.

Earlier this year, the Forum marked National Apprenticeship Week by urging the government to simplify the entire apprenticeship system in order to make them more business-friendly and appealing to industry leaders.

It said training courses such as apprenticeships need to be seen as more worthy by industry, and urged decision-makers to incentivise small businesses to take on young people and reward those that do; to work more closely with employers on delivering training provision in terms of local need; and to simplify other aspects of these types of training schemes.

The Forum also suggested closer co-operation between business and education providers to allow a more tailored approach to local skill needs.

A more proactive approach in reaching out to businesses would better shape the schemes being offered, and training providers must work with small businesses to better understand the needs of the local community and create courses which reflect the job opportunities in the labour market.

Robert Downes, Policy Advisor for
Forum of Private Business

Gazelle biting off more than they can chew?

It’s obvious why the latest group to seek to ‘transform’ FE (mere ‘change’ is so last century) should want to call itself the ‘Gazelle Group’. Gazelles are slim and pretty; the group’s supporters even claim that they are agile, though I’ve never seen one climb a tree. They are fleet of foot, tread lightly on the earth, and are always alert.

This conveniently ignores the fact that in the great scheme of things the main role of gazelles is to help turn grass into hyenas. They fill the same niche between herb and hunter that the lemming does in colder climates, and though ‘the lemming league’ would have less of a ring to it, it’s no less appropriate. Lemmings are arguably more agile but, like gazelles, are first and foremost prey.

The antelopes, however, do have one feature that resonates with FE: they engage in ‘pronking’. For those not familiar with the term it means that when danger approaches, instead of running away they repeatedly leap stiff legged into the air.

Spending a lot of energy going nowhere does not seem a wise move but the aim apparently is to say to the predator ‘Look at me. I’m tough. Eat someone else’. There is always a lot of pronking in the FE sector.

The aim of the Gazelle Group is to promote enterprise. The underpinning rationale is that young people can no longer rely on being employed by large organisations and instead need to prepare themselves to create their own future. They need to show initiative, creativity and entrepreneurial skills. They need to be good at networking and on occasion prepared to take risks. They need, in the vernacular, to ‘look out for themselves’.

To a large extent this is wise and not particularly novel advice. Those who show initiative have always done better than those who wait for things to be handed to them on a plate. Those who are excited by a challenge have always done better than those who are fearful of change. Imagination and creativity are important alongside technical skills.

Spending a lot of energy going nowhere does not seem a wise move but the aim apparently is to say to the predator ‘Look at me. I’m tough. Eat someone else’. There is always a lot of pronking in the FE sector.”

Furthermore it is good to stress that learning in colleges should be active, should engage and excite students through project work and give opportunities for team working. Just repeating classes in English and maths, important as they are, is not going to motivate many.
There are, however, serious dangers if the idea of entrepreneurship is taken to extremes, as so many ideas are these days. Here are the top three.

First, the reality is that very few young people will become self-employed, particularly in the early stages of their careers. The proportion of the workforce that is self-employed is small, and even that number is inflated by those who pretend not to be employees for tax purposes, as well as those odd jobbing to pad out a pension. Suggesting to young people that they can all be the next Richard Branson risks setting up thousands to fail.

Secondly, the idea that advanced economies are characterised by heroic individual entrepreneurs is a romantic myth. As Ha-Joon Chang, author of “20 things they don’t tell you about capitalism” convincingly shows, many developing countries have enterprising individuals in abundance and it does them no good at all. Economic performance is primarily driven by complex and sophisticated systems of finance, stable institutional frameworks and the rule of law.

Most importantly, however, a focus on entrepreneurship risks transferring responsibility for unemployment from failed institutional arrangements to the young people themselves. They can be made to believe that they are out of work, not because of misguided economic policy, but because they are not enterprising enough. This, of course, will suit the predators in our system who offer interns the ‘opportunity’ to work for nothing and see the answer to poverty as ‘getting on your bike’. FE ought to offer a more sophisticated narrative.

Mick Fletcher is a Further
Education Consultant

Brian Lightman, general secretary, ASCL

Brian Lightman never had any political ambitions. In fact, if someone had told him he would end up as the head of a trade union, he’d probably have laughed, he says.

Now in his second year as general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), he regularly rubs shoulders with policy makers, union officials and government types and couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Lightman came to the role in 2010, with 30 years teaching experience and two headships under his belt.

Educated at the Westminster City School (a selective boys’ school in London) and Southampton University, he developed an interest in teaching after spending his gap year working in a residential special school.

But when he qualified as a languages teacher in 1979, perceptions of the teaching profession were at an all-time low.

He recalls: “People said to me things like, ‘Why don’t you get a better job? You’ve got a degree, you could go and do something better than teaching.’ That actually bolstered my resolve. I’ve always believed – and I still believe – that teaching is such an important job that it needs people, good graduates who are committed to doing it.”

What inspired him to go into the profession – and still drives him now – is his passion for giving young people the best opportunities in life. “I like working with young people – I think they are tremendously energetic and funny,” he says.

“Over the years, I have seen children who have faced incredible challenges in their personal lives and their domestic circumstances and yet have managed to achieve great things. That gives you a tremendous sense of achievement…”

And while there was no “great career plan,” Lightman worked his way through the ranks, becoming a head teacher at just 39.

His involvement with the ASCL (then known as the School Heads Association) came almost by chance, when he was invited to stand in for a member of the national council for a few months.

He went on to be a local branch secretary, national council treasurer, ASCL president for Wales and vice president for England, which he did for three years.

Had it not been for that period, when he was effectively shadowing the general secretary at the time John Dunford, who he says was a “fantastic mentor”, taking on the big job could have been daunting.

But he admits he couldn’t have stepped into the role at a more difficult time – less than six months after the coalition government came to power and with the threat of a pension dispute over government plans to scrap the final salary scheme and raise the retirement age just around the corner. It was the closest the ASCL has ever come to industrial action, says Lightman.

I never have any difficulty getting access to almost anybody, from the most senior officials, ministers, secretary of state, chief inspector, I mean, all these sorts of people…”

“I am very pleased that we were able to avoid it and move on to be able to bring the pensions dispute to some sort of conclusion,” he says. “But it has been very frustrating and I still think that the changes the government are going to impose, regardless of what anybody says, are potentially very detrimental to the well-being of our service.”

While he has never worked in further education, as a headteacher, Lightman worked closely with local FE and sixth form colleges.

He thinks the biggest challenge facing the sector at the moment is dealing with cuts, particularly entitlement to funding , which covers the cost of pastoral care, tutorials and extracurricular activities for 16- to 19-year-olds and the education maintenance allowance (EMA).

The replacement bursary fund for the EMA does not stretch far enough, he says, recalling a recent visit to a sixth form college in a rural area, where some students were having to travel a considerable distance to get into college each day.

“They [staff] were really fearful that some of the students…would not be able to carry on coming in because the bursary didn’t cover all their travel costs,” he says.

And while he is pleased that some colleges are trying to make up the shortfall – in some cases offering free bus passes or meal subsidies – they shouldn’t have to do this as a “marketing tool” to get students to enrol on courses, he says.

Lightman is also concerned by Ofsted’s growing interest in FE, particularly plans to downgrade colleges or training providers that get two grade 3 inspections to ‘inadequate.’

“If you compare FE with schools, they have certainly had more autonomy and more freedom to genuinely set their own vision, shape their own destiny, and be quite entrepreneurial.

“I think they have been a little bit less threatened by the sort of pressure that schools have had from Ofsted,” he says.

But he would hate to see colleges getting the same kind of heavy-handed treatment from Ofsted schools have become accustomed to. “If we are serious about improving our education service, then really we need to be able to have a professional dialogue with regulators and inspectors…an open dialogue which says, ‘Look, this is going well but this is not going so well and we would like to try x, y, z to improve it. Do you think we’re right or can you help us?’”

Also worrying him is the government’s new National Careers Service, due to be rolled out next month, which will give schools and colleges responsibility for providing independent careers advice and guidance for their students.

But with the launch just weeks away, the DfE is yet to produce statutory guidance for schools that explains how they might go about this.

The ASCL is pushing hard for face-to-face advice to be included in the guidance, but Lightman’s fear – shared with many in the sector – is that many young people will end up sitting in front of computer screens, instead of qualified, experienced advisers.

Since he took on the role of general secretary, Lightman’s life has changed, almost beyond recognition.

And while he jokes that he has a few more grey hairs than he did 18 months ago, he relishes the opportunity to influence and access some of the most prominent people in the world of education.

“I never have any difficulty getting access to almost anybody, from the most senior officials, ministers, secretary of state, chief inspector, I mean, all these sorts of people…whether or not we agree on things, it’s very important,” he says.

But living out of a suitcase has taken some getting used to.

While he has a flat in Leicester, where the ASCL is based, most weeks he is travelling around the country to attend meetings and conferences, which can be tiring.

And the buffet lunches and canapés have also taken their toll – so much so, he reveals, he is currently on a diet.

Now 56, Lightman says he has every intention of working until he is 65, but says he can’t see himself going onto a “substantive, full-time job” after his current role.

Graduate retirement is better, he says. But he is clear on one thing. “I won’t go on for a day longer than I feel I am doing a good job because I don’t think that would be a service to anybody.

“When I or anybody else begins to notice that I am running out of steam, that will be the time to go.”

Principal supports no-notice inspections

The principal of a college which underwent the first no-notice inspection in FE has praised the piloted scheme.

Richard Atkins, the principal at Exeter College, believes the proposed style puts less pressure on staff compared to the current three week build up.

However, he believes that “serious consideration” needs to be given to employer responsive provision.

His comments come after Exeter College became the first to be assessed by Ofsted in a pilot of no-notice inspections.

The college said they were graded ‘outstanding’; the best inspection profile of a college so far this academic year.

Meanwhile, inspectors graded teaching and learning as outstanding for the first time in an FE college in the last two years.

The pilot was revealed by the regulator’s national director of learning and skills Matthew Coffey last week in his first comment piece for FE Week.

Mr Atkins told FE Week: “Our staff found the three week build up raises the temperature and makes the college less like a normal college. However, the inspectors saw Exeter College on a normal week. They simply had to take us as they found us.”

He added: “However, there needs to be serious consideration about how they monitor employer responsive provision.

“If it’s two miles down the road, we can make an appointment, but if it’s 100 or 200 miles away, then it needs consideration.”

Having asked to be involved in framework pilots last summer, Mr Atkins was eventually told the inspection could be between March and May. However, he was under strict instructions not to tell college staff.

Mr Atkins said: “Last summer when I knew there was likely to be a new framework, I suggested the college could be used in a pilot – not knowing there could be something coming called no-notice inspections.”

He added: “I received a call at 9.10am saying ‘I’m on the way and I’ll be at the college at 10am’. It was a very rigorous inspection. We were a bit nervous, but we’re delighted with the outcome, particularly for teaching and learning, which has been a bit difficult to achieve over the last couple of years.”

As well as teaching and learning, the college was graded ‘outstanding’ for student outcomes and for leadership and management.

Mr Atkins said: “This is an important national accolade for the staff and students of Exeter and the Heart of Devon and we are very proud the college has been tested under such stringent conditions as the first no-notice inspection in the country.”

A spokesperson for Ofsted said the inspection result would not be formerly published as it took place as part of a pilot.

However, it will be used to inform the consultation process.

Ofsted’s consultation, ‘A good education for all’, will close on May 3.

SFA auditors assigned to A4e

Auditors at the Skills Funding Agency have been assigned to help A4e carry out a review of some of its government contracts.

The internal audit, led by law firm White & Case LLP, will investigate all contracts A4e has with the Agency.

According to 2011/12 allocations data on the Agency’s website, A4e has contracts totalling more than £16 million with them.

The audit also follows news that A4e has been selected by the Agency as a preferred bidder for two prison education contracts – in London and East of England.

A4e has been in the public eye over the last month following allegations of fraud. Its owner, Emma Harrison, stepped down from the firm and her position as ‘families tsar’ for David Cameron last month.

A statement from the Agency read: “The Agency takes allegations of financial irregularity very seriously.

“The Agency, as part of their standard processes, continues to receive assurances from A4e to ensure that public funding is being used and protected appropriately both for current contracting arrangements or any future contracts.”

It also added: “The Agency has decided that Agency auditors will work alongside A4e’s auditors to complete this exercise and provide additional assurance to the Agency that contracts are being delivered in accordance with our requirements.

“In the current context the Skills Funding Agency is vigilant and continues to monitor the situation very closely.”

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which pays millions of pounds to A4e to deliver work programme contracts, has launched its own investigation.

A spokesperson for the DWP said: “We have made it absolutely clear to A4e that we take this matter very seriously, and that if at any point during the audit or thereafter we find evidence of systemic fraud in DWP’s contracts with A4e we will not hesitate to immediately terminate our commercial relationship.”

The A4e board said: “The Board has made consistently clear in all previous statements that we take any allegations of fraudulent or otherwise illegal activity extremely seriously. There is absolutely no place for this type of misconduct at A4e.

“We obviously acknowledge concerns raised by DWP and we welcome and will cooperate fully with their planned investigations.”

The preferred bidders for prison education were revealed by the Agency last week. It comes after an “open and competitive procurement process” by the Agency with the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) to re-procure Offender Learning and Skills Services (OLASS) from August 1.

As well as A4e, preferred bidders include Milton Keynes College (East Midlands and South Central), Manchester College (North-East and North-West, and Yorkshire and Humber) and Weston College (South-West). Preferred bidders for Kent and Suffolk are yet to be decided.

The Agency expect to finalise contractual agreements by early summer.

“During the next stage, we will work with preferred bidders to ensure that the information provided during the procurement process remains valid and that their organisations are able to meet all the requirements of the service, prior to concluding the procurement,” said the Agency statement

Once contracts are signed, the Agency will apply “robust contract management processes” which will enable “continued assurance” public funding is used and protected appropriately.

The Agency are prioritising “quality of provision” and “local responsiveness” by giving offenders basic English and maths and support to help them back into employment once released.

Unemployment not free for all

Confusion reigns over who should pay fees

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) say colleges are not allowed to fully-fund unemployed learners seeking work unless they are on state benefits.

The guidance contradicts earlier advice, as reported in FE Week.

A member of a popular college email forum has shared an exchange with Nick Chomyk, funding policy development and learner eligibility manager at the SFA (see end of article).

Mr Chomyk describes how his previous advice has now changed, and the original funding requirements “need to be followed.”

Yet in September, Mr Chomyk had said to the forum member: “The individual does not have to be in receipt of a benefit, just unemployed and needs help to get back into work.”

The advice from September was in line with policy updates communicated to SFA staff, the Association of Colleges (AoC) and the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) in August 2011, which said any unemployed learner could be fully-funded provided they are looking for work.

Having sought clarification I was surprised to be told the rules have been changed yet again,”

The advice said: “It is recognised that this discretion is mainly for those in direct receipt of a state benefit, but could also apply to other individuals who are unemployed and need skills training to help them enter work.”

It later added: “Unemployed status and the need for skills training to help them enter work would be confirmed by the individual in the form of a self-declaration to the college or training organisation.”

FE Week has asked the SFA why the September advice has changed.

A statement from the SFA said: “The Agency’s policy on the funding of unemployed learners has been consistent throughout 2011/12 and is clearly set out in our funding documents, which are communicated to providers.”

The college email forum member says the guidance around fee remission “has been very unclear.”

“Having sought clarification I was surprised to be told the rules have been changed yet again,” they said.

“Colleges and training providers will naturally be very confused as to who should and should not be charged fees, and whether existing learners are no longer eligible for full funding”.

The AoC say they expect the SFA to clarify the guidance later this year.

Julian Gravatt, AoC assistant chief executive, said: “There was some confusion in the summer of last year when guidance was published but then swiftly altered a few short weeks later.

“We understand there are plans at the SFA to clarify these rules and hopefully make them easier to understand for everyone as early as this year.”

He added: “For colleges, fees are a difficult issue and we are keen to provide support where we can.

“However there are times when fees are unavoidable.

“BIS and the  SFA should be aware of occasions when charges must be applied for additional services, or to incentivise deadline meeting, which is normal in procedure as a way to encourage appropriate behaviour.”

Email exchange:

From: Nick Chomyk (SFA)
Sent: 02 February 2012 08:58
To: Forum member
Subject: RE: Funding Eligibility

Hi forum member

No. The rules in the Funding Requirements will need to be followed. However, where you have accepted learners on the basis of the advice below we will accept starts up to the end of December 2011. If you have had any starts based on the information below since then please let me know and I will advise.

Nick Chomyk
Funding Systems Manager

From: Forum member
Sent: 02 February 2012 08:31
To: Nick Chomyk  (SFA)
Subject: FW: Funding Eligibility

Hi Nick

Does the information you provided below still stand?

From: Nick Chomyk (SFA)
Sent: 02 September 2011 09:28
To: Forum member
Subject: RE: Funding Eligibility

The individual does not have to be in receipt of a benefit, just unemployed and needs help to get back into work.
The Funding guidance will be updated in October.

Nick Chomyk
Funding Systems Manager

 

Lambeth College leaves 157 Group following inspection

A college will not renew membership to the 157 Group amid reports of an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted inspection.

Lambeth College, in London, revealed on Wednesday that it will no longer be part of the group as it planned to “focus on improving” its performance.

A spokesperson for the college said: “We will not be renewing our membership of the 157 Group as we are focussing on improving our performance internally.

“However we are grateful for the continuing support of all the members.”

A report in the Streatham Guardian the following day suggests the improvements relate to the college’s most recent inspection – with the newspaper claiming the college was given an ‘inadequate’ overall rating.

We have the greatest respect for Lambeth College and its work. We fully understand that Lambeth College’s top priority in the near future is to focus on improving its performance.”

According to the newspaper, the college was judged to be failing in three out of six areas, including management and leadership, outcome for learners and capacity to improve. It was also given ‘satisfactory’ ratings for quality and diversity and quality of provision, and ‘good’ for safeguarding procedures.

The inspection report is due to be published at the end of the month and a spokesperson for the college said it was unable to comment until that time.

The newspaper also reports the college’s new principal, Mark Silverman, said he was “looking forward” to taking the institution on a “positive journey of improvements”, but dismissed accusations it was failing.

Mr Silverman took up his new appointment at the end of February after a career spanning almost 20 years in the sector.

When he joined Lambeth College, he said: “I am looking forward to working with staff, learners, employers, governors and our many partners to ensure that the college achieves its full potential and becomes a truly outstanding provider of education, training and skills.”

Lynne Sedgmore CBE, executive director of the 157 Group, said the organisation, which according to their website “represents large and successful colleges”, has been advised that Lambeth College would not be renewing its membership.

She said: “We have the greatest respect for Lambeth College and its work. We fully understand that Lambeth College’s top priority in the near future is to focus on improving its performance.

“We are keen to support the college in whatever way we can, reflecting our aim to promote development and improvement in the sector as a whole.”

She added: “We wish the college’s new principal, Mark Silverman, and his senior leadership team, teachers, support staff and governing body, every success.”

Although the 157 Group lost one member last week, they have gained another in Liverpool Community College, one of the largest further education colleges in England.

It strengthens the group’s ties in Merseyside and the North-West.

Mrs Sedgmore said: “Having established an excellent reputation for its strong community focus over the years, the college is working closely with employers to help students develop the skills that local businesses need, and increase the city’s prosperity.”

Elaine Bowker, principal at Liverpool Community College, said: “We look forward to being able to contribute to the 157 Group’s national voice on further education policy; its efforts to improve the reputation of further education colleges; and its work to raise awareness of the extensive choice of vocational, academic and degree-level qualifications offered.”

 

Youth unemployment up again

Statistics revealed this morning show that youth unemployment has risen for another quarter.

According to the  Office for National Statistics (ONS), in the three months to January 2012 there were 1.04 million unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds, up 16,000 from the three months to October 2011.

The unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds was 22.5 per cent in the three months to January 2012, up 0.4 percentage points from the three months to October 2011.

Excluding people in full-time education, there were 731,000 unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds in the three months to January 2012, up 1,000 from the three months to October 2011.

The ONS also say that there were 3.60 million 16 to 24-years-olds in employment, down 32,000 from the three months to October 2011.

There were 2.66 million economically inactive 16 to 24-year-olds, while the ONS say most of those were in full-time education. This figure is up 6,000 on the three months to October 2011.