More than half of ‘margin’ student places – with tuition fees of less than £7,500 – have been handed to further education (FE) colleges.

A total of 20,000 places have been divided by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) between 190 universities and colleges.

However, 9,643 places have been distributed between 35 higher education institutions (HEIs), with 10,354 places between 155 FE colleges. It comes after a bidding process which began in October when HEFCE published its approach to implementing the control on the number of full-time students universities and colleges can recruit for 2012-13.

Ministers announced plans for “core and margin” places in a White Paper last year, months after MPs voted to raise tuition fees in England to a maximum of £9,000 per year.

A statement from HEFCE said: “The core and margin process was introduced by the government with the aim of increasing student choice and supporting a more diverse higher education sector.”

Bids were assessed on “criteria of quality, demand and cost” and only those with average fees of £7,500 or less were eligible.

HEFCE received bids from 203 institutions for 36,000 places. Direct funding will be given to 65 FE colleges they did not fund in 2011-12.

These include Hartpury College and Newham College of Further Education, which secured 352 and 294 places respectively.

However, Nick Davy, HE policy manager at the Association of Colleges, said some universities had withdrawn places from the sector.

He said: “The quality of college bids through the core and margin system has led to an allocation of around 10,500 additional full time student numbers for the sector – an increase of 25 per cent on present numbers.

“However, this figure is brought down substantially by the practice of universities withdrawing indirect student numbers from the sector.”

The AoC’s latest research, from December, shows more than 26 per cent of colleges indirectly funded by HEIs are experiencing a cut of 10 per cent of places or more.

Also, 14 per cent of those colleges have been informed by a partner HEI that they intend to withdraw all entrant student numbers from 2012.

Mr Davy added: “AoC estimates that the growth in entrant numbers actually is nearer to seven per cent, a long way from the government’s intention to significantly support degree level growth in the college sector.

“The core and margin system is thus a complicated step in promoting growth in degree level courses charging below £6,000 a year.

“AoC would argue that there needs to be a considerable increase in margin places to achieve the government aim of creating a more cost effective and accessible HE sector.

The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) has released the application forms and guidance document for the Employer Ownership of Skills pilot.

The tender documents, released last Tuesday, outline how businesses can bid for up to £250 million of direct government funding over the next two years.

The first round of provision, worth £50 million, will pay for projects which deliver skills development and vocational training, such as apprenticeships, from August 2012 to the end of July 2014.

Skills minister John Hayes said: “The government recognises that it is businesses themselves that are best placed to judge what skills they need to grow.

“That is why we are stepping back and empowering companies by giving them direct access to funding and the freedom to create training programmes, including apprenticeships that directly address skills gaps.

“I encourage firms to seize this opportunity to bring us innovative and powerful ideas that will help their businesses to grow and create a more prosperous economy.”

The guidance document published by UKCES asks employers to explain the “package” of activities which they hope to offer, but does not suggest which skills should be developed.

“It is an opportunity for employers to propose where and how Government and employers can co-invest most intelligently,” the guidance document states.

Successful bids from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) will receive a minimum investment of £250,000 from the government.

For larger firms with the manpower spare to go through this process it might not be a problem, but for smaller firms which don’t have that luxury this looks like a minefield they will want to avoid.”

Large employers and enterprises, or those bidding as part of a consortium, will receive at least £1 million in comparison.

The guidance document states that bids should have a particular emphasis on “ensuring a substantial and meaningful learning experience” for young people aged 16 to 18.

It later adds that proposals should include apprenticeships as a ‘core element’ alongside additional recruitment schemes such as work experience.

The application form, also published today, says submissions will need to demonstrate how the additional training will be designed and led by employers, as well as how it addresses the skills needs of an industry, sector, supply chain or locality.

The form also says bids will need to show how the proposed project will “contribute to the long term growth or performance” of employers which are involved.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) say the application process appears to be “a particularly long winded process”.

An FPB spokesperson said: “Employers are already drowning under mountains of paperwork so more complicated form filling on this scale will no doubt turn off many employers.

“This is also a bidding process – so no guarantee of success at the end – this is unlikely to make it look any more attractive.

“For larger firms with the manpower spare to go through this process it might not be a problem, but for smaller firms which don’t have that luxury this looks like a minefield they will want to avoid.”

The guidance document says employers will need to show that their proposal will provide additional activity and development, rather than training which would have occurred regardless.

The document adds that funding will also need to provide a “step change” in the size, quality and relevance of vocational training and skills progression.

John Walker, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said: “The FSB fully supports the concept of employer ownership of skills, but we do have some reservations about how the needs and interests of small and micro businesses will be served in the current prospectus – the promotional document inviting companies to put in a bid.

“The short time between the release of the prospectus and the deadline for submissions will make it difficult for small businesses to get together and develop innovative proposals.

“The need for a single employer to sign and lead the bid, rather than a group of employers, will probably mean that small businesses will probably have to participate alongside much larger companies who will drive the agenda.”

The pilot cannot be used to fund the development of skills which will only benefit one specific employer, or company-specific training such as induction processes.

Other training excluded from the first round of bidding includes driving lessons and piloting skills, as well as one off training sessions designed to meet employers’ legal requirements, such as first aid, food safety or health and safety.

The Employer Ownership of Skills pilot is also not designed to fund learning or further training delivered through higher education.

Bids for the first round of funding need to be submitted by April 26, 2012.

(The application forms for the pilot can be downloaded here and here.)
(The guidance document can be downloaded here.)

The general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU) is pledging to put more resources on the frontline after securing a landslide re-election.

Sally Hunt retained the post after defeating her only opponent Mark Campbell by a margin of 6,835 votes. She won 73 per cent of votes cast.

The huge margin of victory is more than five times greater than when Sally was elected as UCU’s first general secretary in 2007, when she won by 1,346 votes, although she faced more opponents during that campaign.

Despite her massive majority, Sally, in her first interview since her re-election last week, said: “On a personal level, it was a relief,” before adding: “It’s not something you ever get used to.”

One of the key themes of Sally’s manifesto was to expand UCU’s employment and legal resources, so members can get “even faster advice and representation”, while also increasing the amount of union staff working in support of negotiators.

A ballot for which, Sally says, will be sent out next week.

To do this, she intends to reduce UCU’s national executive committee from its current membership of 70 to “no more than 40” in the future.

She said: “Improving support for members and branches in the current climate is not an optional extra, it is essential to protect our people wherever they work.

“I stood on a platform of improving services for members and supporting branches, campaigning on what matters and giving members more say in the union’s decisions.

“Achieving this will mean making difficult choices, such as reducing the size of our national executive committee, to that of other unions in order to put more resources on the front line.”

Another key theme of her manifesto was for UCU’s membership to have a “greater participation” in union activities.

Sally wants members to have a “direct say” in what UCU does and cites the recent ad-hoc ballots, on issues such as membership to the Institute for Learning (IfL), as an example for how they can build on this in the future.

She said: “Any union that wants to function, and function well, has to have a way of encouraging its members to engage in key decisions.”

However, despite the plea for greater involvement in key decisions, the election itself saw just a 12.8 per cent turnout.

Sally said: “I wasn’t surprised (by the turnout).

“I would have liked it to be larger, but I wrote to members four times by e-mail and every member got the option to see the manifesto.”

Another priority for Sally will be the sale of Britannia House, in North London.

As previously reported by FE Week, the building was proposed for sale at an estimated price of £12 million after the merger of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) and the Association of University Teachers (AUT) to form the UCU in June 2006.

However with the building unsold, concerns have been raised about the union’s ability to pay of its debts, while UCU insists it is “unwise” to gauge what the financial situation is with the union until the sale has been completed.

Sally said: “It’s coming along at the speed of a snail, but it’s coming along. It’ll take as long as it takes.

“It’s been frustrating, but I can’t make the market move any faster than it is.”

The results for UCU vice-president and other elected officials are to be available this week.