Ofsted reforms ‘the most sensible’ way forward, Oliver tells MPs

Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver and chair Christine Gilbert were grilled by MPs on Parliament’s education committee today ahead of next month’s rollout of new-style inspections and report cards.

Here’s what we learned.

Consultation response was ‘transparent’

Liberal Democrat MP Caroline Voaden pressed Oliver on Ofsted’s refusal to publish a breakdown of the 6,500 consultation responses it received regarding new “report card” inspections.

Unions have criticised the decision to provide only a narrative summary as “deeply problematic”.

Voaden cited findings from the “alternative big consultation” – a smaller carbon copy of the consultation, run by a group of former HMIs – which found just one in 10 people viewed Ofsted’s proposals as an improvement on the current framework.

She described this as “a pretty damning verdict” and asked if Ofsted chose not to publish its own consultation responses, because it received similar findings.

Oliver rejected this, saying: “I think we have published openly and transparently the views that were expressed to us.

“We set out really clearly the negativity that we heard against what we proposed to consult on.”

He added the finalised framework “has changed in so many ways” since consultation.

Requests for a “granular breakdown”, he said, reflected a “fundamental misunderstanding of what a consultation is”, adding that “it’s not a plebiscite or a vote”.

Union tensions a ‘concern’

Oliver said the fact the new inspection framework has failed to win confidence of teaching unions “does concern me”, but going forward he “takes confidence” from the response of “those who’ve actually experienced an inspection” under the new framework “as opposed to those who are theoretically looking at the toolkits”.

“Those in the test visits, all of the challenges that they raised, which allowed us to refine our approach for the final consultation, have come forward and said, you know, this feels better,” the chief inspector added.

But he was not able to say whether Ofsted will publish its analysis of pilot inspections that are currently underway.

Today, the Association of School and College Leaders shelved plans to ask leaders to quit as Ofsted inspectors but has now vowed to “explore legal action” against the reforms.

Headteachers’ union NAHT has already filed a legal challenge against Ofsted’s reforms in the high court. 

Ofsted complaints go ‘further than almost all regulators’

Gilbert, who published a damning review into Ofsted’s response to Perry’s death before becoming chair, said progress has been made by the inspectorate.

She described Ofsted’s new complaints processes as “much more human” and “far better” than it used to be. “The terrible tales I heard when I was doing the review … that does not happen now, you can talk to a person.”

But she said looking at making the process independent from Ofsted is “really key”.

“I’ll look at the options for… greater independence in the process, and we’ll come back to that hopefully by about February, March time.”

Oliver said he feels Ofsted “go[es] as far and if not further than almost all of the regulators in this country, with dealing with complaints.” 

“But do I think we can go further? I think we can.” He welcomed the “experience” and “challenge” Gilbert will bring.

Board ‘will be looking at ourselves’

Gilbert’s 2024 review of Ofsted found the role of its board “appear[ed] curiously limited”, and called for it to be strengthened.

Having now been at its helm for around six weeks, she assured the education committee the Ofsted board “won’t be taking reports, nodding, and saying ‘well done’”. “We will be looking ourselves at…engaging with the sector.”

Meanwhile Oliver said the new framework “removes the ‘gotcha’ moment” from inspections and “will allow complaints to surface during the inspection rather than at the end” when “they’re allowed to fester”.

Inspectors will “talk to the provider and explain what they’re seeing” as they go, rather than revealing a grade at the end of day two.

More details on inspector ‘matching’ process

Oliver also gave insight into Ofsted’s plans to match inspectors with settings they have had experience in.

He said Ofsted had “undertaken what they are confident saying is the largest data set on civil servants, to match their experience and expertise”. He said this comprises “two million sets of data” on HMIs.

He added Ofsted now specified settings when advertising for HMI.

“Each region has looked at its strengths and deficits of experience and it’s advertising to fill that pool. We’re on it,” he said.

MPs also cited the independent wellbeing impact assessment recently commissioned by Ofsted, which found the new framework “does not reduce the pressure on leaders…and is likely to increase stress and workload”.

Asked whether this means Ofsted “has failed” in its bid to reduce pressure on leaders, Oliver said Ofsted has “made very significant changes” to the framework in light of the report.

“I can’t make inspection entirely stress free, any more than exams or tests can be stress free, but I am doing all that I can to make them manageable, constructive and, above all, useful to leaders.”

He added: “We’ve tried to find the most sensible way throughout all of this, and I think the new report card does that. It has an at a glance grade, it has the narrative which the trade unions have pushed for, it has the data, it has the context – it has all of those in the round.”

Oliver ‘corrects the record slightly’ on Caversham inspector

An inquest in December 2023 ruled that Ofsted “contributed” to headteacher Ruth Perry’s suicide. Coroner Heidi Connor said the conduct of the inspection was among the “most important areas of concern”, with some elements of it “rude and intimidating”.

Oliver today backtracked on an assertion he made at a previous committee hearing in January, when he said there was “no suggestion” inspectors involved in the fateful inspection at Caversham Primary School, where Perry was headteacher, “did a bad job or did anything wrong whatsoever”.

He thanked the committee this morning for the “opportunity…to try and correct that record slightly”.

Oliver accepted that “clearly” the coroner found “concerns about the way the conduct” of that inspection took place.

The individual inspector has also “reflected” on their conduct and the coroner’s findings while Ofsted is taking responsibility for “all of its actions”.

The chief inspector later dismissed claims that the inspector has been “promoted”, adding that they were taken out of their role and has been given “a different role and different challenge”.

DWP’s skills takeover won’t impact inspection

The recent announcement that control of adult skills policy will move from the Department for Education to the Department for Work and Pensions is unlikely to have any impact on inspections.

Oliver told MPs today: “At this stage, I don’t anticipate any significant change to our inspection activity resulting from responsibility moving from some policy areas to DWP, I think we’ll manage it carefully.

“We’ve long history. If you think about inspection of prison education, young offenders, we work really closely with the Ministry of Justice. We’re well used to doing this. I think it will be fine.”

ITPs show ‘greatest variance in quality’

Having an inspection toolkit that is “unique to FE” and report cards that grade up to 16 inspection areas will help hold the sector’s independent training providers (ITPs) to account, Oliver said.

Committee chair Helen Hayes said she had recently heard “horror story” reports from a union of an apprenticeship training provider with “unqualified staff” who were using YouTube as a teaching guide and lacked basic safety training.

Oliver responded that while some ITPs have “got some fantastic quality” their inspections also show the “greatest variance” in provider quality.

Speaking about the framework more generally, he said taking away the overall effectiveness grade gives “nuance and complexity” that will help the government “deliver on our ambition to provide the skills needed for an improved economy going forward”.

The chief inspector argued that while the number of areas is large, inspections of colleges are “some of the biggest” Ofsted carries out, stretching over a fortnight with 20 to 30 inspectors.

ASCL drops Ofsted inspector threat – but mulls legal action

The Association of School and College Leaders has shelved plans to ask leaders to quit as Ofsted inspectors, but has now vowed to “explore legal action” against the reforms.

The union said in June it was considering the “unprecedented step” of asking its members to step down as Ofsted inspectors unless the watchdog delays roll-out of new inspections and ditches plans for five grades.

ASCL has said today its council has decided not to go ahead with the plan “at this stage … to allow time to gather evidence over the impact of the framework in practice during both pilot and routine inspections”.

But the union said it has now “resolved to explore options for taking legal action” over the potential impact of new report card inspections.

When asked what action this could mean, a union spokesperson said they will be speaking to headteachers’ union the NAHT “about their legal action as part of the process of exploring the options”.

NAHT has already filed a legal challenge against the Ofsted reforms in the high court. This was updated following the publication of an independent review of the wellbeing impact of the proposals.

In the report, Sinead Mc Brearty, chief executive of the charity Education Support, warned new Ofsted report cards will create more anxiety for leaders with already “concerningly high” stress levels.

The leadership of the NAHT headteachers’ union is also considering whether to ballot members for industrial action over Ofsted reforms.

During an emergency online meeting last month, almost 2,000 NAHT members were asked if they would support exploring industrial options. Eighty-nine per cent voted yes.

‘We don’t take this step lightly’

Pepe Di’Iasio (pictured), ASCL’s general secretary, said: “We don’t take the step of exploring legal action lightly, but our members are gravely concerned about the stress and pressure likely to be generated by the new inspection system with its five-point grading scale applied over multiple evaluation areas.

“As feedback to the independent wellbeing impact assessment commissioned by Ofsted put it so succinctly, this will result in ‘many more ways to fail.’”

While he said the plans are a “recipe for chaos”, Di’Iasio added the union is “trying to be as reasonable as possible, and have decided to hold off from encouraging members who are Ofsted inspectors to withdraw their services for the time being while we gather evidence about the impact of the new system as inspections are rolled out.

“But we will be monitoring this closely and that option remains firmly on the table.”

An Ofsted spokesperson said: “We welcome ASCL’s sensible decision not to ask members who work for us as inspectors to withdraw their services. 

“We have had really positive feedback from our pilots and we’re confident that our new-look inspections will be well-received when they begin in November.”

‘Devastating’ prison education cuts will fuel reoffending, warns chief inspector

Reoffending is likely to get worse due to cuts of up to 50 per cent to prison education services, the chief inspector of prisons has warned.

Charlie Taylor said today that “devastating” real-terms cuts of at least 20 per cent to prison education services in most jails are likely to worsen already “appallingly high” reoffending rates.

Prison governors are facing severe reductions under new prison education contracts, which started on October 1, resulting in teaching staff redundancies and courses being shut down.

Taylor issued the warning on funding today alongside a report on work and training in adult prisons, which highlighted long-running concerns about “atrocious” attendance of 67 per cent on courses, a lack of training places, and demoralised teaching staff.

Ministry of Justice (MoJ) officials have told the chief inspector that the funding reductions at each prison are at least 20 per cent, FE Week understands.

The higher reports of cuts of up to 50 per cent are understood to have been reported to Taylor by individual prison governors.

Writing in today’s report, ‘just passing time’, the chief inspector said the prison service is failing to protect the public by making prisoners less likely to reoffend.

He added: “With two-thirds of prisoners not in work or training six months after release, there is little doubt that many have left jail and returned to criminality, causing mayhem in their communities and creating more victims of crime.

“Too many prisoners are spending their time in jail lying on their beds watching daytime television, often under the influence of drugs.

“Until leaders in the prison service take the provision of high-quality education and training more seriously, it is hard to see how appallingly high reoffending rates can be reduced.”

The chief inspector’s report found only a “small number” of prisons currently offer high-quality training, with few offering “meaningful qualifications” or progression opportunities.

Many can’t provide the full-time activity spaces for their population due to a lack of workshop space or instructors, resulting in “large proportions” of prisoners locked in their cells during the day.

Overall, Ofsted judged 26 of the 38 prisons inspected in 2024-25 as ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’ for education, skills and work activities.

It comes as prison education providers across the country start contracts worth up to £1.5 billion after a delayed two-year procurement process.

Lord Timpson, minister for prisons, probation and reducing reoffending, said: “I welcome this report and the challenges it brings. We inherited a crisis, and it is our job to not just sort the problem, but to create a justice system that is both sustainable and does its job of reducing reoffending.

“I have been involved in employing prisoners for over 20 years, and can confirm that we need prisons that work in giving offenders the tools they need, so when they are out of prison, they stay out.

“We have already done a lot to improve our prisons, but given the scale of the crisis we inherited, there is clearly an awful lot more that still needs to be done.”

A MoJ spokesperson said prison governors were told what their education and training budgets would be from this month to March 2027 in April this year.

University and College Union head of further education Paul Bridge said: “This latest report into the parlous state of prison education is another savage indictment of the failure of the MoJ’s stewardship of prison education.

“We welcome the positive comments made about the essential role of our members in delivering front-line prison education, but this is not the full picture. 

“The latest prison education service contract will further compound the failings highlighted in the report, rather than address them.”

Courses in functional English and maths, IT, hospitality and catering have all been cut, Bridge added.

Lasting progress depends on a connected, durable skills system

The value of technical education and apprenticeships has long been under-appreciated.  Is this about to change?  

It was hugely encouraging to hear the prime minister setting out a target for higher education and apprenticeship take-up during his speech at the Labour Party conference. 

This feels to be a very significant step in levelling perceptions of the relative worth of academic and work-focused education pathways and hopefully it will become a clarion call that genuinely rebalances Tony Blair’s announcement of his ambition for 50 per cent of young people to enter higher education during a Labour Party conference speech in September 1999.

This became the flagship education policy of his government and was framed as part of a broader effort to modernise Britain’s economy and expand opportunity – and failing to recognise the critical importance of vocational and technical qualifications as a driver for prosperity and growth. 

If followed through, the prime minister’s announcement has the potential to impact as deeply and have the same longevity – and it needs to.  

Words into action

For now, it needs to be backed up with early and strong commitments to invest and make improvements; making immediate adjustments to the reporting and regulatory regimes for schools and colleges would be a good start.  Whilst there are significant levels of ‘change fatigue’ in the skills system, there could be plenty of opportunities within the substantive and far-reaching announcements expected in the coming weeks. 

There is often cynicism about the benefits of adjustments to departmental responsibilities.  Whilst clearly a hastily made decision, the recent movement of adult education and apprenticeships to DWP has much potential as it strengthens the skills-to-work dynamic.  

The changes have been welcomed by the awarding sector, and it is a genuine opportunity to create an agile, responsive and future-facing technical and vocational education system that powers more growth and opportunity.  But we must guard against the temptation for ‘quick fixes’ and short-term outcomes focused that simply move young people into work.  We must also hold onto the positive progress of recent years in raising standards and improving quality.  

It will be important that we are not seduced into thinking that we can meet the needs of the economy by focusing exclusively on a single area or level of achievement. 

Means and ends

Skills is a system, and we must address the industrial strategy priority sectors, as well as the more populous entry routes into work, if we are to ensure that the NEET totals do not spiral higher and for our system to be progressive and incentivising – a concept to which the attainment of qualifications is a significant contributor.    

It seems inevitable that the curriculum and assessment review will result in more focus on level 3 qualifications and assessment.  But we will not get at the NEET challenge if we do not similarly focus on all aspects of the offers at levels 1 and 2. We must support the movement through work as well as doing more to support younger learners into work.  

This is where the post-16 strategy ought to help and bring bolder thinking about how we approach the needs of those who are in work and those coming into work.  And for the latter, we must not lose sight of how important behaviours and essential cross-cutting skills are to competence.  If we make the assessment of behaviours in apprenticeships effectively a bye, this will be a retrograde step and amount to lost learning from the frameworks era.  

A cogent plan for the assessment of behaviours must not be lost amongst the reforms to apprenticeship assessment. 

Collaboration calling

It is unrealistic to expect the post-16 education and skills strategy white paper and the curriculum and assessment review to get to this level of detail.  

Moreover, an overarching and longer-term vision and clearly laid-out ambitions, supported by appropriate levels of funding, are overdue and should bring sought after certainty, transparency as well as, eventually, stability.  

It will be good to see the detail, even where there are differences of opinion.  But if we are to fashion the best-fit solutions that work for all components of the skills and FE system, we do need to have more opportunity for the expertise of all those involved in delivery to contribute their ideas.  

Getting there will also require a genuine and positive commitment to discussion from all, as well as time.  The skills eco-system is delicate, but we shouldn’t undervalue the contribution of those organisations who support the delivery.  

The learning from recent policy developments is that, where this is underestimated, key stakeholders get left behind and important details get overlooked, causing problems and rolling-delays.  

It is important that implementation is sensibly paced so that key stakeholders can balance their resources, to ensure that the benefits of change and improvement can be delivered by all those who have a stake in creating a truly world-class, technical and vocational education system.

The independence brought by awarding organisation members is trusted and valued both in the UK and internationally, and notably by employers.  Awarding organisations play a key role in ensuring the quality of delivery and assurance that standards are valid and reliable.  

When informed and empowered, awarding organisations move with precision and skill to translate policy into delivery in an environment that is established, regulated and understood by all.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 510

Fliss Miller

Director of Skills and Employment, East Midlands Combined County Authority

Start date: September 2025

Previous Job: Director of Skills, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority

Interesting fact: Fliss loves all things vintage with a special interest in pre 1940s’ Christmas decorations, and can often be found in charity shops and antiques fayres trying to find treasures of yesteryear

Sam Callear

Chief Executive Officer, GTA England

Start date: September 2025

Previous Job: Chief Operating Officer, GTA England

Interesting fact: Sam is a keen (yet novice) CrossFit participant. With 6am classes most mornings, he is now able to do pull ups

Principals scratch their heads over new improvement teams

Some sector leaders are sceptical about Labour’s plans for raising standards, arguing the FE Commissioner and existing support networks are sufficient.

FE leaders have warned that new “regional improvement teams” for colleges risk duplicating oversight already performed by the FE Commissioner (FEC).

Sir Keir Starmer pledged “higher standards in every college” in his Labour Party conference speech last week, promising to make further education “a defining mission”.

Downing Street has trailed policies expected in a white paper on post-16 education and skills, including “new regional improvement teams” (RITs) that will “support college improvement, including how they meet skills needs of their communities, and empower high-performing leaders to support others – driving attendance and standards”.

A new model of regional improvement teams, similar to the regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) teams launched for schools earlier this year, pairs experienced leaders with schools that have received consecutive poor Ofsted results.

College leaders have questioned whether the move is necessary, since similar support is already available from the FEC and national leaders of further education.

Darren Hankey, principal of Hartlepool College of Further Education, said the announcement has led some in the sector to “scratch their heads’.

He added: “I don’t know of a college principal who, regardless of their college’s Ofsted judgment, doesn’t want his or her college to improve and get better.

“I think there are fewer than 10 per cent of FE colleges with a less than ‘good’ Ofsted outcome, and those who do need a bit of support to improve do so via the FE Commissioner’s team, which has arguably been a force for good for the sector over the last decade.

“All in all, it begs the question, what is the problem this move is trying to solve?”

Practitioner expertise

FE Commissioner Shelagh Legrave told FE Week her team of deputies and advisers will continue to bring practitioner expertise to all colleges.

FE Week understands that the FE Commissioner and “place-based teams” of civil servants have been developing a system to understand the key risks for the sector and which colleges are most vulnerable, which will inform how RITs work.

A DfE spokesperson said they were unable to comment when asked for further details behind the prime minister’s announcement, such as when RITs will be launched, how colleges could be targeted, or how they would fit into existing support.

Further detail will be provided in the soon-to-be-published white paper, they confirmed.

All RISE

Funded by £20 million this year, RISE teams carry out “mandatory and targeted intervention” in schools that are defined as “stuck” after receiving a ‘requires improvement’ at their most recent inspection and graded below ‘good’ at their previous one.

Under Ofsted’s incoming five-point scale for grades, officials will class schools as stuck if they are graded ‘needs attention’ in leadership and governance and previously graded below ‘good’.

RISE teams – made up of civil servants, school leaders and experts who are paid up to £600 per day – agree an improvement plan based on the school’s performance and Ofsted’s concerns.

DfE recruited 65 RISE advisors earlier this year. Most have recent experience in academy trusts, while some are from councils or maintained schools.

RISE teams also offer a universal service available to all schools seeking help with driving up attainment and attendance.

The government has also confirmed that, following a consultation on school accountability reform, it will broaden the scope of RISE teams to engage with schools that have “low or concerning” attainment levels.

Apart from plans to commission support from other trusts, councils and federations, specific examples of improvement actions are yet to be shared publicly.

Jo Higgins, chief executive of Dudley Academies Trust, which is waiting to offer support to other schools through RISE, said actions included in an improvement plan could include training teachers, teaching assistants and leaders to deliver and monitor the quality of a new curriculum.

Other support could include implementing a new behaviour management system, she added.

Speaking to FE Week’s sister title Schools Week earlier this year, Sheffield headteacher and RISE team member Paul Haigh said devising action plans will be collaborative, rather than a “wham, bam, thank you ma’am”.

Schools Week has identified 639 schools that fall under the DfE’s ‘stuck’ definition and, according to figures published last month, 396 have entered the intervention programme.

Few colleges in scope

The 213 colleges in scope represent a tiny number against more than 22,000 state-funded schools that the DfE funds and oversees.

Only two of those colleges appear to trigger the same ‘stuck’ Ofsted grade as schools, although DfE is yet to confirm whether it will apply the same intervention trigger to the college sector.

Neither of the two colleges with consecutive ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted grades are in FE intervention.

One of the colleges that falls under the schools’ definition of ‘stuck’ due to two consecutive ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted grades, New College Swindon, said it already receives “incredibly helpful” peer support from other colleges.

Deputy principal for curriculum and quality, Lynne Plested said: “Through the FE Commissioner’s active support team, we are already proactively working with Exeter College as our allocated partner, and other colleges to help us refine where our focus is needed. For example, we have worked with Exeter to specifically improve our A-level and ESOL provision, as well as our personal development models and data reporting.”

Just 9 of England’s 213 colleges have a live notice to improve, triggering FE Commissioner intervention due to poor education quality and/or financial health.

Karen Redhead, who led Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College out of financial intervention in 2023, said: “Like the majority of new announcements, the devil is in the detail.

“The majority of colleges are already rated as ‘good’ under the old Ofsted framework, so we need to be sure that something actually needs fixing before committing scarce public funds to it.”

Support lines open

Currently, college oversight is carried out by DfE civil servants known as ‘place-based teams’, who also manage day-to-day relations with college leaders.

According to the DfE’s current ‘college oversight: support and intervention’ policy, these teams monitor performance areas such as education quality and finance, as well as estates strategy.

When colleges are placed under formal intervention, the place-based teams, which are grouped into three regions for the whole of England, initiate intervention actions and monitor recovery. Meanwhile, the FE Commissioner’s team is dispatched to assess the college’s problems, recommend and then monitor changes.

The FE Commissioner also offers colleges an ‘active support’ service, including informal conversations, “health checks”, leadership mentoring, curriculum efficiency and options appraisals for restructuring.

There is also a group of ten national leaders of further education who have a “strong track record” of improvement from ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ colleges that can be deployed to mentor or direct support struggling leaders.

Redhead added: “We need to be clear about how [regional improvement teams] would sit alongside existing forms of intervention.

“Having experienced intervention inside out, I believe that it is far more likely to be effective if it is supportive, motivational and energising for those on the receiving end.”

Weston freed of ‘traumatic’ NTI – but finance probe continues

Weston College is now free of the financial intervention triggered a year ago when multi-million pound payments to ex-principal Sir Paul Phillips were exposed.

A separate probe, by the government’s counter fraud team, continues.

The south west college’s financial notice to improve (NTI) was officially closed this week following its latest visit from the FE Commissioner in the summer.

College leaders proved they have strengthened governance and audit procedures, and remuneration processes for senior staff.

Principal Pat Jones, appointed in July 2024, said the saga has been “traumatic for colleagues” and moving out of intervention is a “significant step in the journey of putting this behind us”.

However, the Department for Education told FE Week its investigation into “other aspects” of the college’s historical finances is ongoing.

Weston College was placed in intervention last May after fraud investigators found governance failures around the disclosure of financial information including high pay packages to Phillips after his retirement.

DfE sent auditors from BDO to examine “other aspects” of financial controls at the college. 

College leaders said they have “fully cooperated” with BDO during its probe and Jones said its focus was related to “past issues dating back to a period concluding in summer 2023”.

‘This has been traumatic for colleagues’

In 2023 FE Week revealed that Weston College’s governing board had created a “presidential” role for Phillips ahead of his retirement.

The revelations triggered a government probe, causing board chair Andrew Leighton-Price to step down and FE Commissioner adviser Tim Jackson taking the helm as interim chair. Jackson remains in post.

FE Commissioner Shelagh Legrave’s long-awaited report earlier this year detailed how £2.5 million was paid to Phillips and kept off the books over a six-year period through a combination of bonuses, allowances and benefits, including a £909,000 retention payment.

Legrave also revealed the board circumvented standard payroll procedures to directly pay Phillips and provided partial information to external auditors.

Legrave made 13 recommendations to the college, including putting in a “formal” scheme of delegation for the board or committees to approve senior pay approval and banning the remuneration committee chair being the same individual as the board chair.

“Significant” changes were approved by the board after the FEC’s visit in June 2024 to strengthen governance, improve oversight and due diligence. 

Jones said she was “thrilled” and called the NTI closure a “significant step” to putting the scandal behind the college under a new executive leadership team and governing body.

“Competent, transparent and strong governance is the best assurance for any public institution (colleges or other) in avoiding anything like this in future,” she said.

“We hope that all colleges use the lessons of our past to validate their own governance arrangements and organisational controls.”

Jones added: “On behalf of all within the college, I extend my sincere gratitude to our valued stakeholders, partners, and wider community for their unwavering support during this period.”

Revealed: DfE’s special payments to providers after funding blunder

The Department for Education quietly spent almost £3 million on first-of-their-kind compensation payments to dozens of training providers after a botched apprenticeship funding band decision.

Forty-four providers of the heavy vehicle technician apprenticeship received one-off payments totaling £2.76 million. Officials issued “exceptional retrospective payments” after the department admitted it had underfunded the programme for years.

Documents released to FE Week under freedom of information laws reveal that Remit Training received the lion’s share, nearly £1 million, followed by Skillnet, which was awarded £383,000. The SMB Group received £136,000.

The 41 other providers each received between £3,000 and £99,000.

Experts believe the DfE has set a precedent for more campaigns from providers in other sectors to receive similar special payments where they can prove funding band decisions were flawed and have not covered delivery costs.

Who was at fault?

The HGV technician standard was originally funded at £18,000, but the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), now Skills England, controversially reduced that rate to £15,000 in 2019 – a cut it later admitted was based on “inaccurate” information.

FE Week has received conflicting explanations for the error. 

Sources close to government blamed training providers who submitted evidence which missed off consumables that should have been deemed eligible costs, and didn’t include end-point assessment costs, which therefore supported a lower funding band.

Providers blame IfATE for allegedly not involving the trailblazer group in any quality assurance of the data and rejecting initial appeals.

The funding band was finally reviewed and increased to £20,000 in 2023. However, many providers said the damage had already been done, with several warning that the programme had become financially unviable.

Skills shortages are now hitting industry. The Road Haulage Association (RHA) told FE Week there were around 100 colleges and independent training providers delivering the HGV technician apprenticeship a decade ago – but the current count has been decimated to 34 partly due to the funding band debacle.

In a statement to FE Week, the DfE said it believed the sector “would have been better served by a funding band of £17,000” between 2019 and 2023, and so made backdated payments to protect “current and future provision of HGV technician apprenticeships, a critical industry being significantly impacted by skills shortages”.

Payments were made to cover the shortfall for learners who started before the 2023 funding uplift, with the money distributed across multiple financial years “for the duration of these apprenticeships”.

There were 4,287 starts on the HGV technician standard between 2019 and 2023, according to government statistics.

Pressure from sector campaign

The exceptional payments follow years of pressure from training providers and employer groups, which have repeatedly highlighted the chronic underfunding of heavy vehicle apprenticeship delivery, arguing it has been catastrophic and led to providers absorbing losses, placing strain on cash flow and staffing, or walking away altogether.

FE Week understands former transport secretary Mark Harper even wrote to then education secretary Gillian Keegan in 2023 demanding a funding band uplift.

It is not clear why the DfE opted to hand out exceptional payments to HGV technician providers as well as increasing the funding band.

DfE would only say this was an “exceptional case”.

Click to enlarge

Remit Training has started around 2,200 apprentices on the course since 2019 – almost triple the number of the next biggest provider.

CEO Sue Pittock, who also sits on the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) board, said: “Remit was pleased that DfE could see the funding needed to change and was able to support all providers who deliver HGV provision with exceptional payments.

“It was challenging during the period when the funding was £15,000. HGV training is vital to keeping the country’s supply chain moving; without trucks being able to transport goods safely, there would be a significant issue.”

Eugene Lowry, managing director at Skillnet, said the exceptional payments were an “incredible” win.

He explained that providers were forced to act quickly when contacted by the DfE about the decision. “The DfE managed to contact me while I was on holiday to say, ‘we’ve sent you a letter, you need to sign it and get it back to us in the next 24 hours’. And they’re not known for speediness,” Lowery told FE Week.

He said the underfunded period “got stretchy” for Skillnet’s business considering the expensive equipment needed to offer the apprenticeship, such as cars and trucks, all of which need faults created for apprentices to fix. 

“These trucks and cars are not designed to be broken so their lifetime as a resource is not long,” Lowry added. “It requires more investment from training providers like ourselves to have the resources available to allow the apprentices to do their training and assessment.”

SMB Group, which merged with Loughborough College this year after running into financial difficulty, said: “It is pleasing to see that DfE rectified underpayments.”

A precedent for others?

Sector leaders say the DfE’s decision to effectively backdate funding represents a major policy shift – and could open the door for similar claims for other apprenticeship standards that have been underfunded due to flawed funding band reviews.

Ben Rowland, AELP CEO, said:“It’s right that the DfE has corrected this funding band error and compensated affected providers, but it also underlines just how carefully Skills England must tread as they review apprenticeship standards.”

He added that this “episode” also shows “why independent training providers must have access to capital investment to expand capacity, and why future reviews must be careful not to undermine delivery”.

Another source questioned the fairness of the exceptional payments, and why a similar special deal has not been done for apprenticeships in, for example, adult care which were underfunded for years and received its own “exceptional” funding band increase in 2023.

They said: “It seems unfair and inappropriate that providers delivering one lorry standard, with funding increased by a third, received compensatory payments, while providers delivering the level 2 in adult care, with the same percentage increase, received nothing and were probably in far more financially challenging circumstances.”

Getting the funding band back together

HGV technician apprenticeship providers argue that the increase to a £20,000 funding band is still not sufficient to meet costs.

The standard is also in the process of being revised, according to the RHA’s skills policy lead Sally Gilson, to include zero emission vehicles for the first time which will ramp up costs of delivery even further.

Electric HGVs can cost up to half a million pounds, Gilson said.

She said the HGV technician funding band needs to rise to the maximum level on offer from government of £27,000.

Gilson told FE Week the industry has been on a real “slow burn skills shortage” partly because of the funding fiasco on the three-year apprenticeship. 

The sector has gone from having one technician for every 25 vehicles to one for every 32 in recent years, which leads to delays and heightens the prospect of employers cutting corners on maintenance checks to get their vehicles road safe.

“We’ve also got an aging workforce. We desperately need to bring in young people,” Gilson said.

LSEC reveals civic rebrand

A London group of colleges and schools has rebranded with a name that reflects its “strong civic mission”.

London and South East Education Group, which houses London South East Colleges and London South East Academies Trust, is now known as Elevare Civic Education Group.

Leaders of Elevare, which is Latin for “raise”, said the change “captures our commitment to raising aspirations” and “emphasises our role as an anchor institution”.

London South East Colleges and London South East Academies Trust will retain their identities under the new group, alongside the charity LASER Education Foundation. The names of the group’s eight college campuses and 16 mainstream, special and alternative provision schools will also not change.

The group collectively teaches about 16,000 pupils and learners and employs over 1,600 staff.

Group chief executive Sam Parrett said the rebrand to Elevare Civic Education Group “signals the next stage of our journey”. 

“Elevare – meaning to elevate or uplift – captures our commitment to raising aspirations and creating opportunities for learners in our schools and college, and in our wider communities.

“The addition of Civic emphasises our role as an anchor institution. We collaborate with our partners to create lasting social impact, generating community wealth and driving social mobility for all.”

The launch of the new name coincides with the release of a report from the group’s charity, LASER Education Foundation, which analyses insight from over 3,000 school and college learners on growing up in south east London.

The report, Three Thousand Voices: Growing up in South East London, identified groups of learners more likely to experience barriers in education and life. For example, while 82 per cent of young people said they lived with people who make them feel loved, that figure dropped to 54 per cent for looked-after children and 55 per cent for learners who do not identify as male or female.

College learners’ worries about their futures were related to fears of not passing GCSE resits or not achieving the qualifications needed for their chosen careers. 

Writing for FE Week, report co-author Vivienne Avery, group director of policy and research at Elevare Civic Education Group, said behind the findings “lies a picture of a generation growing up amid labour-market instability and rising costs of living, trying to make choices in a world that feels unpredictable.”