First notice of concern issued over ‘significant deficit’

A Kent college has become the first provider to get a government warning that could lead to the withdrawal of Skills Funding Agency cash, FE Week can reveal.

Financial worries were said to be behind an agency official notice of concern, issued to K College in August. The college was allocated £11.7m for the 2012/13 academic year

The notice of concern is the first step in a three-stage SFA risk management process, introduced following the government’s New Chances, New Challenges review.

It is issued to colleges that “fall below standards in relation to financial health, financial control, Ofsted judgment or minimum levels of performance”. SFA funding is withdrawn at stage three, although it is understood improvement measures have already been agreed.

An FE Week Freedom of Information request has revealed K College is the first and only provider to have been handed the official notice.

It comes as college staff plan industrial action in protest at proposals to axe almost 150 jobs.

The college is working with the SFA and bankers to agree a long term arrangement to establish financial security”

Principal Bill Fearon said: “The college deficit for 2011/12 is a significant factor in the SFA’s view.”

He refused to go into detail about the college’s financial situation, but conceded that the notice was justified.

“It’s fair and reasonable . . . we’re working with the SFA to resolve the situation,” he said.

“The SFA is looking to be supportive under the circumstances that we find ourselves in.”

In an e-mail to staff seen by the Folkestone Herald, Mr Fearon said accounts showed an “operating deficit (recurrent) of £11m”, which was “clearly substantial” and would involve “an increase in required savings in staffing and non-pay”.

A spokesperson from K college said: “There is going to be a budget deficit from last year, the second year of merger, of c £11m, and, through a development plan, we will return to a balanced budget within two years. The college is working with the SFA and bankers to agree a long term arrangement to establish financial security.”

Staff action was expected to take place on October 8, in a move backed by 93 per cent of University and College Union (UCU) members at the college. The UCU said more than 1,000 people were at risk of redundancy.

Adam Lincoln, UCU regional support official, said: “Strike action is never entered into lightly, but the overwhelming mandate from members at K College demonstrates how determined they are to fight these ill-conceived and unjustified proposals.

“Staff from all five sites will gather ahead of the afternoon governors’ meeting to make it absolutely clear that they oppose unnecessary job cuts, which would see 200 staff leaving the college in one calendar year.”

Nick Childs, National Union of Teachers regional officer, added: “Teachers enter the profession to help children and young people and are not prepared to stand aside as their education is put at risk by short-sighted and ill-conceived cutbacks.”

The threat of industrial action follows the loss of 50 jobs two months ago. In a letter to staff at five college campuses, Mr Fearon said the losses followed funding cuts and falling student numbers.

Bill Fearon, principal of K College. Picture courtesy of the Folkestone Herald

FE comparison website leaves users ‘confused’

An independent review has branded the government’s £30m FE Choices website “bland” and “ambiguous”.

The site, which compares the performance of providers, was criticised by unions in June when it was discovered that only 6,230 people had looked at it since its launch six months earlier. The Taxpayer’s Alliance said the site was “pointless”.

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) called in London-based consultants Bunnyfoot in March. Its  review said testers were left scratching their heads over figures that “didn’t add up” and confusing statistics about what learners went on to do after their courses.

It’s bland, it doesn’t look like it’s trying to appeal to younger people/students,”

“Participants displayed confusion when reading and analysing the data shown. Many said that it ‘didn’t add up’ and were unsure how percentages were arrived at,” said the report.

One site user told Bunnyfoot: “The percentages on their own don’t mean anything, there needs to be more.”

The consultancy firm recommended that more information on the figures was needed, such as whether a percentage was “very good”.

But the SFA said “judgmental text” would not be used. “There has been a long-standing policy decision, agreed by the sector, that the SFA will not give judgments (grades, comments, etc) on scores achieved by providers,” said a spokesperson.

Users similarly misinterpreted the site’s purpose. “Most expected to see information relating to courses as well as general provider information,” said the report.

The site’s appearance was also criticised. “It’s bland, it doesn’t look like it’s trying to appeal to younger people/students,” said one tester.

Bunnyfoot recommended more colour and graphs to show figures. The SFA said improvements would start early next year.

Overall, the consultancy firm said FE Choices was well received. “In terms of usability, participants were seen to navigate and interact with the site easily. The ability to search for this type of information and compare organisations was liked and said to be useful,” the report said.

It is understood that delegates at an Association of Colleges conference in September questioned the similarity of FE Choices and Ofsted’s Learner View website, which draws together the opinion of students to rate providers.

However, the SFA pointed to differences between the two sites. A spokesperson said: “The Ofsted website focuses on learner feedback and Ofsted inspections.

“The agency believes that the combined effect of this information and the agency’s FE Choices website will further strengthen the breadth of information available to help the consumer make better, more informed choices.”

Next Step fails to hit the mark in London

A survey on a countrywide government careers advice service uncovered varying levels of satisfaction and methods of delivery.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) ordered the study into the Next Step service — the National Careers Service since April — to see how it was performing on telephone advice. It also looked at the face-to-face advice provided regionally by prime contractors.

The report, by IFF Research and published last month, said face-to-face satisfaction ratings, “while still very positive, were consistently lower than average in London”.

Clearly the National Careers Service needs to consider the extent to which variation is acceptable and potentially reflecting local needs”

It added: “Assessing how the service is being delivered across the capital, and how well this meets the needs of its customers, should be considered.”

The report also highlighted regional differences in the number of face-to-face meetings and variations in the use of skills checklists and action plans.

“Clearly the National Careers Service needs to consider the extent to which variation is acceptable and potentially reflecting local needs, compared against a more uniform service being delivered nationwide,” it said.

Mark Ravenhall, director of policy and impact at the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), said that the findings raised two important points.

He said: “First, the regional variations in a national service are interesting. Is this indicative of regional responsiveness, or is it due to different delivery outcomes by separate prime contractors?

“Second, NIACE has worked with the National Careers Service, Next Step and successor agencies — in particular on Adult Learners’ Week — and we, like them, value longitudinal studies that look at quality of outcomes as well as the quality of processes.

“It’s vital that adult learners get the best service that works for them.”

The National Careers Service does around 52,000 face-to-face interviews a-month. It also fields around 23,500 telephone queries on top of handling a number of emails.

The report, based on more than 11,000 interviews, was largely positive.

“Customers rate the service highly,” the report said. “As many as 93 per cent agree the service was good and 84 per cent were very satisfied…compared with 6 per cent dissatisfied.”

It recommended moving “face-to-face customers to the less resource-intensive telephone advice service after their initial session”.

The report was welcomed at BIS. “This survey demonstrates the Next Step service played a valuable role in helping people choose their career path, and progress in learning and work,” said a spokesperson.

“The National Careers Service is now building on that success, providing young people and adults with access to authoritative information on careers, skills and the labour market and professional advice on how to use it.

“We will use these results to drive up performance and improve the customer experience.”

Empowering learners through new legislation

The Education Act 2011 has been widely heralded as a positive move for the FE sector, providing colleges with significant new freedoms to develop and deliver more learner-focused services.

But, like any new legislation, the Act has brought with it a range of new challenges. Elizabeth Delaney, associate at business law firm DWF, looks at how to make the most of the Act’s new freedoms.

Greater autonomy
With the government seeking to put FE and sixth-form colleges on a similar footing to charities operating within the independent / private sector, the Act has reduced the financial restrictions and controls faced by FE institutions. This financial autonomy will allow colleges to be more creative in how they initiate new training schemes to meet the needs of employers and learners. Direct central government oversight will also be reduced, allowing colleges to dedicate more time and resources to supporting learners.

By exempting high performing colleges from routine Ofsted inspections, for example, the Act will allow teachers to focus on the needs of their students, rather than on meeting targets.
Constitutional reform. The Act will allow colleges to change their constitutional structures and governance procedures. They now have the right to modify and replace their constitutional instruments and articles without seeking permission.

This will allow them to introduce more flexible structures and develop more effective ways of working. They can dissolve and move to more flexible legal forms if considered appropriate. This is a major step, and will allow FE institutions to look at adopting innovative business structures – such as social enterprise models or joint venture companies – or to develop strategic alliances with other educational institutions so that they can share best practice.

A bright future
The changes have been introduced to create a more transparent marketplace in which colleges are accountable directly to their stakeholders – their learners and local community – rather than central government. This will be reinforced by the introduction of student funding streams which are easier to access, and to find out about.

Stakeholder engagement will take on a new level of importance as colleges strive to use their increased powers to develop new and better services. As recent Department of Business, Innovation and Skills draft regulation has made clear, the government intends for stakeholder consultation to be a central element in implementing structural and / or constitutional changes.

The government’s ultimate ambition is that the changes to FE will help to support a virtuous circle, where colleges compete to attract learners by developing more innovative services and delivery methods that meet local demand and improve quality. This, in turn, is expected to create a more diverse sector.

Getting on board
The immediate impact of the Act will differ between institutions. Some colleges will feel that their existing structures do not prevent them from achieving their objectives, while others may feel that they can deliver better results if they implement a radically new business model. However, before coming to any conclusions on which path to take, decision-makers – governors or chief executives – need to review their institution’s existing constitutional documents and consider whether or not they provide the flexibility needed to deliver the college’s strategic objectives.

It is important not to go through the upheaval of changing legal form purely because of the apparent attractiveness of alternative models; in many cases colleges may well be able to achieve their aims through much more subtle methods. Partnerships are likely to become a more important aspect of the FE sector as accountability is devolved to local stakeholders. Colleges may find that the most effective way to support their learners and wider community is to work with a local academy, university or employer.

An interview with Matthew Hancock, the new Minister for Skills

The new Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Skills (left) came in for his first sector grilling today when FE Week was invited to his office at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). Among the issues raised in a tough Q&A session were the FE minister’s change in job title from Minister of State to Parliamentary Under Secretary, and the division of his post between BIS and the Department for Education (DfE).

Here’s a taster of what readers can expect from the Matthew Hancock interview in the next edition of FE Week.

Every minister has a different approach to their job. What are the key differences or similarities in your approach and that of your predecessor, John Hayes?

John Hayes and I are good friends and we go back a long way.

I hope to learn a lot from the way he did the job. But there are quite a lot of similarities.

He and I are both passionate about FE and apprenticeships and I want to move in the broad direction that he set out.

Is it significant that FE is now represented by a Parliamentary Under Secretary rather than the more Minister of State post? And will you be able to pack as much punch as John Hayes?

That’s my plan. But John has big shoes to fill.

But no, the new job title is not significant.

The job was expanded to include responsibility for all post-16 funding outside of universities.

So it includes sixth forms and sixth form colleges to make sure that in the 16-19 funding area we look across the whole piece and don’t treat FE as separate to schools.

The responsibilities are wider and it’s my first ministerial post so it would be extremely unusual for that to be a Minister of State post.

What proportion of your time will be taken up with DFE-related issues and can you be an effective minister in the dual role?

Yes — and it’s vital to make that work.

FE is funded both from DfE and BIS so for the last few years there’s been a twin responsibility for the person sitting in my seat and I’m working very hard to make sure my role works.

I don’t see my time as split between the two departments — I see all of my time as spent on issues that cover both departments.

For instance, the apprenticeship unit is shared between the two departments and my private office is one team that moves between the departments, talking to both.

I’m very clear that I have one job that happens to have funding from two departments.

How familiar have you become in the short space of time you’ve been in the post with FE and the role it plays?

I’ve been listening and learning and getting out to colleges.

I’ve been meeting people from across the sector and also meeting businesses — people who are taking on apprentices and people who have training needs.

As well as being an economist, I come from a small business background. My family’s business invented an online post code finder and they still run that business today.

I grew up in that environment and seeing how, especially in IT, classic academic subjects don’t teach you what you need to be an IT professional.

What would you say to criticism that one A Level at an FE college doesn’t give you enough of an insight into the sector to be running it?

It gives me more of an insight than having no A Levels.

That’s why I’m spending time visiting colleges and other providers, talking to stakeholders.

I’m in listening and learning mode and I’m all ears to advice from all quarters to make sure I get the full picture.

The other thing is the fact I went to an FE college does give me a feel for the sector, but of course that was a long time ago and I need a feel for what’s happening on the ground now in order to be able to make decisions in the months and years ahead.

Picture: Matthew Hancock MP (left) in his office, reading the lastest edition of FE Week with the editor Nick Linford

We must look outward

International partnerships are vital to bring out the best in FE, says Amarjit Basi, Principal of New College Nottingham, in a comment on a recent speech by the chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw

Sir Michael’s advice that colleges should “worry more about Deptford not Delhi” have provoked a diverse range of views. As an FE college that is sponsoring a new venture in Delhi, it inspires us to explain how international partnerships enable us to link to our community diaspora, and to extend educational opportunity to our students.

Like Delhi, Nottingham is young, ambitious, innovative and cosmopolitan. Once famous for lace and other manufacturing, it is now 84 per cent service-based, re-creating itself around the international knowledge. And some of
Nottingham’s fastest growing and most successful small businesses come from our Indian community.

Delhi, the largest commercial centre in northern India, has economic growth of about 11 per cent a year. Like Nottingham, it has a strong dependency on the service sector, and a shared recognition that advanced
manufacturing, clean technologies and entrepreneurship underpin further and sustainable future growth.

Report after report from major research organisations, such as the OECD, the McKinsey Institute, the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), focus on the changing profile of international research and development (R&D), education, training and learning. The WEF, for example, expect that within five years, about 30 per cent of multinational companies will locate more than a quarter of their R&D in emerging economies.

As China, India and Brazil flex their R&D muscles, and innovative approaches to learning gather pace, such as mobile learning technologies and new Internet strategies, not being involved in international vocational developments risks cutting off the flow of ideas from some of the most dynamic economies in the world.

It is these economies that in 20 years will be recognised as setting the standard for educational innovation and R&D. According to a report from McKinsey, India and China alone are expected to swell the global graduate workforce by a net 184 million over the next two decades, providing two-thirds of the world’s increase in science and engineering graduates – with India, in particular, likely to produce a surplus of high-skill workers.

So we must look outward. International initiatives need to bring the best of educational practice within reach of each college’s local community, and enhance their capacity to deliver high quality outcomes for their learners and communities.

Indeed, current and planned reforms of our educational system stress that for too long we have been inward-looking, and that standards that do not take account of international benchmarks sell our young people short.

The IPPR report ‘Oceans of Innovation: The Atlantic, the Pacific, Global Leadership and the Future of Education’ (2012) offers a way forward. It argues that the pace of worldwide innovation is now such that in the future ‘everyone has to think like an entrepreneur’. This crucially links trends in worldwide R&D and the accompanying innovation spin-offs with the need for entrepreneurial learning.

We must seek out the best educational practice across the world, with a conscious strategy of cross-fertilisation of ideas and innovation. The race to the top for our students depends upon academic and vocational excellence, but will be differentiated by those individuals, communities and economies that demonstrate entrepreneurial mindsets. Only through this will our students benefit from the best ideas from across the world, and be supported to compete in the world market for skilled labour.

Curiosity, creativity and connectivity are king in a world where innovation and enterprise have become watchwords for economic success.

As a founding member of the Gazelle Colleges Group, we are committed to playing a pivotal role connecting to global labour markets and innovation networks. In our case, this means working in partnership with local employers and entrepreneurs – many with global presence (Experian, Alliance Boots, Speedo, Rolls-Royce and Capital One) – to support our students to realise their personal aspirations and to prosper when they emerge into a global labour market.

We are planning to open a vocational centre in Delhi to support the much-needed development of intermediate and higher level vocational and technical skills in India’s rapidly growing construction and service economy. It will also allow us to improve teaching, learning and training in Nottingham and to better prepare learners for the global marketplace.

We must actively interact with and measure ourselves against the rest of the world to enable this nation’s students to win ‘the race to the top’. In this way, we believe that we will enhance our students’ transition to meaningful employment, support business growth and contribute to community well-being.

The race to the top is as critical in Deptford as it is in Delhi.

Students race to motoring qualification

The race is on for Norfolk students to get under the bonnet of a Formula Ford racing car on a new course run with Shawn Taylor Racing.

City College Norwich got the racing car for students on its motorsport vehicle maintenance and repair course to tinker with under the guidance of the expert racetrack firm.

Eighteen students are on the one-year course that will give them practical experience of maintaining and repairing cars for optimum racing performance.

All of the students will work towards the Institute of the Motor Industry level two extended diploma in the subject that could lead to a career as an automotive technician.

Corrienne Peasgood, principal at City College Norwich, said: “We have excellent teachers and facilities for our general motor vehicle courses and it was a logical extension to offer this exciting new course in motorsport vehicle maintenance and repair.”

Shawn Taylor, from Shawn Taylor Racing, said: “As a former student of the college, my race team and I are very excited to be working in partnership with City College.”

Arts student ready for X Factor boot camp

Simon Cowell will be casting his eye over a former London college student whose band has made it through to the X Factor boot camp.

Luke White, who studied performing arts at Barking and Dagenham College, and his Times Red bandmates Scott Ritchie and Staz Hair wowed show judges with a rendition of Amy Winehouse hit Rehab.

The Romford 25-year-old, who achieved a distinction in his BTec first diploma in performing arts, spent three years in a

Take That tribute band, before starting his own three-piece. Luke, who was was keeping tight-lipped about how far the band get in the hit ITV show, said: “I made some great friends at college and spent every day doing what I love.”

A college spokesperson said: “All of the team here is hoping that these Essex boys go all the way to the final.”

Westminster gig for student five-piece

Five young musicians will rock the House of Commons when they perform for Speaker John Bercow in November.

Stoneway – made up of Ste Fisher, Alex Roberts, Sarah Ash, Daniel Smith and Merryn Dowson from Warrington’s Priestley College – won the opportunity in a national competition promoting intellectual property rights and live music.

“We were absolutely ecstatic when we found out we had won because so many other tracks had been sent in,” said 16-year-old Merryn, who is studying A level music.

Stoneway – who can regularly be seen performing in pubs around Runcorn and Warrington – sent their track to Weaver Vale MP Graham Evans who chose them to represent his constituency.

“I’m absolutely thrilled for Stoneway, who as well as being excellent young musicians have been wonderful ambassadors for their college and for the local community,” he said.