NAO’s verdict on adult apprenticeships

Funding rates are unreliable

The funding rates used to pay training providers for delivering an apprenticeship are not based on robust information, according to the NAO.

The NAO says the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and NAS have set tariffs without “reliable evidence” to support estimated training costs.

The ‘Adult Apprenticeships’ report states: “The Agency and the Service currently set tariffs without sufficiently robust information on the cost of provision.

“This may mean that some frameworks have become more financially attractive to offer than others.”

The NAO say both the SFA and NAS are unable to judge the extent to which providers may be generating significant profits or losses as a result of inaccurate rates.

Skewed funding rates on individual frameworks have led to some employers not paying the expected contributions towards training providers’ costs.

The report adds: “Employers pay apprentices’ wages and deliver on-the-job training, but some are not paying the expected contributions towards training providers’ costs.

“Employers are required to contribute towards the cost of adult apprenticeships, and the funding rates paid to providers assume employers contribute at least half of the training costs, either in cash or ‘in kind’.

“However, evidence suggests that some employers do not pay the required contributions.”

£1.2bn – Programme cost in 2010‑11, including £451 million for adults

Simon Waugh, chief executive of the NAS, says the government is devoted to raising quality in the programme and driving out poor performance.

“We are working with the Skills Funding Agency and other partners to raise the bar on quality, recognise excellence, and drive out poor performance; reducing unnecessary red-tape and bureaucracy for those who engage with the Apprenticeship programme,” Mr Waugh said.

The NAO report references a survey, conducted in 2009, which found that 43 per cent of providers choose not to collect fees from employers.

“With full contributions from employers, government funding could deliver more or higher quality apprenticeships for the same cost,” the report states.

Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: “It [BIS] needs to target resources more effectively; confirm the training provided is in addition to what would have been provided without public support; and make sure that the funding system is informed by robust information on the cost of delivery.”

 

Adult apprenticeships are good value for money

Adult apprenticeships offer good value for money, but the government needs to focus its resources on industries which offer the best economic returns, a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) claims.

The independent body says the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) needs to “set its sights higher” on the apprenticeship programme, despite exceeding all previous expansion targets.

Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: “The apprenticeships programme has been providing a good return for public spending.

“Nevertheless, the Department should set its sights higher in order to get better value from the £0.5 billion and rising now spent on adult apprenticeships each year.”

The apprenticeship programme has increased by 140 per cent during the last five years, of which 68 per cent were learners aged 25 or above.

Previous recruitment targets set by government were smashed, at least in part, by the 182,100 new adult apprenticeship starts in 2010/11.

David Hughes, chief executive of NIACE, described the increase in adult apprenticeships as “great news”.

He said: “NIACE is pleased that the NAO confirms BIS’ view of there being a public value of adult apprenticeships and endorses their prioritisation.”

Julian Gravatt, assistant chief executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC), added: “This is a balanced report from the NAO, which confirms that apprenticeships are valuable for young adults, that the expansion in adult apprenticeships has been well managed, but that action is needed in a number of areas.”

However, the NAO report also criticises BIS and the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) for not targeting the higher level qualifications, frameworks or age groups which will have the biggest impact on the economy.

The report states: “The Department needs robust evidence to identify which qualifications are having most impact and where the additionality delivered against public funding is greatest.

“The Department should use this information to decide where to target its resources. It has recently announced its intention to do so, though has yet to publish details.”

More than 80 per cent of the expansion between 2006/07 and 2010/11 was covered by 10 apprenticeship occupations, with health and social care, customer service and retail coming out on top.

John Hayes MP, minister of state for further education, skills and lifelong learning, said: “The report rightly identifies a need to prioritise investment where returns are greatest, and that is what the government is doing.

“We will continue to drive improvement by developing new higher level apprenticeships, giving training providers more freedom to meet the needs of local businesses, reducing bureaucracy and making financial incentives available to small firms hiring their first apprentices.”

 

The unknown level of ‘dead-weight’

The value of adult apprenticeships is being exposed to significant dead-weight, according to the NAO.

The NAO says “optimistic” figures produced by BIS assume all of the training delivered by apprenticeships would not have occurred without public support.

The criticism follows statistics by BIS, reported in March 2011, which estimate that adult apprenticeships deliver a return of roughly £28 for every £1 of public spending.

The NAO says the programme produces a return closer to £18 when considering all levels of an apprenticeship.

The NAO report states: “The difference between our figures and those of the Department reflects the sensitivity of the calculations to the underlying assumptions, in particular our respective assessments of the available evidence on the potential wider impact of the training on the productivity of the workforce.”

Skills minister John Hayes said he was pleased with the NAO estimates.

53,110 starts – in customer service – most popular apprenticeship subject, 2010/11

“I am delighted that the NAO has recognised the progress we have made and that they identify the extraordinary economic benefits of apprenticeships,” Mr Hayes said.

“Few, if any, other government programmes produce anything like the return of £18 for every £1 spent let alone the still greater return that our economists estimate.”

The NAO says BIS has failed to assess the level of additionality (the extent to which public funding results in training that would “not otherwise have occurred) being delivered by the apprenticeship programme.

The report states: “The Department assumes that, for economic returns to apprenticeships, all public funding achieves additionality, but lacks data to support this; therefore any reduction in additionality would result in an equivalent reduction in the economic returns.”

The NAO says BIS has an evaluation in progress which will help them to measure the additionality of the apprenticeship programme, with results available in early 2012.

 

One in five adult apprenticeships under six months

A growing number of adult apprenticeships are being delivered in under half a year, the NAO has revealed.

The report says 34,600 apprenticeships were delivered by providers in less than six months in 2010/11, making up nearly a fifth of completions for learners aged 25 and above.

A further 6,200 (three per cent of adult completions) were found to be less than three months long.

The NAO says the rapid expansion of the apprenticeship programme “presents risks that need to be managed.”

“In four of the top ten fastest-expanding subjects around a quarter or more apprentices completed in six months or less (2010/11),” the report states.

“In one of the fastest-growing subjects, IT and telecoms professionals, over two-thirds (68 per cent) completed in under six months.”

The NAO say SFA and NAS are currently investigating 87 providers thought to be delivering ‘short duration’ apprenticeships and have said they will be checking to see if providers are complying with their contractual obligations, and will close down provision if necessary.

Simon Waugh, chief executive of NAS, said: “We will continue to strive to ensure that Apprenticeships represent the best value for money for the investment made in them by government and by employers.”

Flexibility and ‘black box’ at top of AELP ‘In-Tray’

In the seemingly ever-changing landscape of further education, providers are forced to adapt at a rapid rate of knots.

With that in mind, and in the wake of a number of challenges to the sector and a raft of new policy announcements, AELP put together a weighty agenda for its annual ‘In-Tray’ conference, in Leeds.

It focused on five themes; youth unemployment, apprenticeships, employability, funding simplification and delivery.

However, it was discussions around flexibility and ‘the black box’ approach which caught the imagination.

It was a theme set from the outset, particularly by AELP chief executive Graham Hoyle, in his opening address when discussing the single Adult Skills Budget, which was opened up to providers on August 1 last year.

He said: “You have a single flexible budget, some of you don’t believe it, some of you don’t know how to use it, and some of you are scared about using it. I’m told by the SFA that 128 providers out of about 1,000 use it.

“That’s a darn good figure from a standing start against something which we never thought would happen.”

Stewart Segal, director at Aegis, later described “a change of culture” in the sector.

He said: “There is more flexibility. The move this year to a move flexible contract was a massive move forward.

“Some of you have taken part in that new flexibility and delivering new things, others are very good at what you do and sticking to it and that’s absolutely right. You should be choosing what’s good for you.”

Mr Segal, meanwhile, also added: “There are flexibilities in the new contract that we are uncomfortable about.

“There will be lots of times when the rules are unclear.

“We need to be brave and take hold of those opportunities and deliver a programme that’s right for you, that’s right for the employers and right for the learners and justify it when it comes to it.”

Mr Hoyle also called for more freedom, in the form of ‘the black box’ approach similar to the one used by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in its flagship Work Programme.

He said: “There’s two big things we are asking for, and I think I almost heard a yes to one of them, we are basically saying we want a DWP type ‘black box’ to design a bespoke offer for often difficult young people.

“I think we really want to check it out because if it really is the case, I’m not disbelieving you, but we need to look again and grasp if we have got that freedom, so I’m hoping that’s a tick in that box.

“The other one, and I won’t go into today as we don’t have time, is we’re still concerned and it’s a policy led thing, not a funding led thing, that we still believe that the whole of foundation learning should be not just giving them extra qualification, but actually focusing on getting them (the learner) into work as a positively funded outcome and we are not there yet.”

The approach was also referred to by Olly Newton, head of raising participation unit at the Department for Education (DfE) in his speech.

Following which, Mr Hoyle said: “The words I picked up on were ‘black box’. We’ve not heard that from DfE before, but we have from DWP. That’s music to our ears. We want to unpack and look inside that black box.”

In reply, Mr Newton said: “The black box we are talking about is similar to what we are talking about with the Work Programme.

“We will put out information on the first phase in the next few weeks.”

Meanwhile, a question from the audience floor asked about flexibilities in foundation learning.

It sparked an encouraging response from Kevin Street, head of funding development at the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA).

He said: “Whatever a learner needs when they come through that door, deliver it, put the learner first, think about progression first and then think about how you are going to fund it.

Anybody who wants to come to me in the coffee break and say ‘I want to do that for our foundation learners but I can’t fund it’, I’ll go back tomorrow and I’ll fix it”

“If you get any hassle from our auditors for doing that then we will personally take them on, because that’s the intention of the programme and the intention of the funding methodology.”

He added: “Anybody who wants to come to me in the coffee break and say ‘I want to do that for our foundation learners but I can’t fund it’, I’ll go back tomorrow and I’ll fix it.”

Nick Chomyk, funding policy development manager at the Skills Funding Agency, spoke about the work currently ongoing to simplify the funding system.

He said: “We have people out there who don’t understand how it works.

“After three years of the existing system, there are still people struggling and we need to make it more transparent.”

He added: “Every single qualification will be given a rate. When you simplify things you do end up with rough justice.

“Complexity gives you precision, but it’s getting the balance between the two because we don’t want rough justice.”

However, Mr Street also spoke out about a “poor” response to the 16-19 funding review consultation from independent providers.

He said: “It was single numbers. That indicates you are not particularly engaged with this consultation, you haven’t seen the issues around it. The AELP did respond – an extremely good response.

“So we have to assume that the AELP represent your views because the response was so low. Today, I really want to get you back engaged with that so you can recognise that it’s important to you.”

Mr Segal conceded that the response to the 16-19 consultation “was not a good signal”, adding: “The AELP response was very strong and lots of people supported it and thought that was all that needed

“So we need to be careful that it’s not seen to be a low response because we are not interested.”

However, Mr Hoyle asked Mr Street not to worry about the lack of responses from independent providers.

He said: “We pushed those out twice, before they came back to you to 600 members. A lot of members join to get behind AELP. So please don’t worry about the apparent lack of response, they have done it through ours.”

While flexibilities formed an important part of the debate at the conference, discussions also took place on a range of other subjects.

Michelle Manson, managing director at Best Ltd, asked about the government’s recent announcements on wage incentives.

She said: “Wage incentives for the Work Programme, which are available to employers, but can an employer access the apprenticeship incentive as well? We don’t want these initiatives competing against each other.

“A Work Programme customer should be able to access an apprenticeship programme and will an employer, if not allowed to access both of the incentives, will they choose one over another

“We certainly don’t want to disadvantage any youngsters on the Work Programme from taking an apprenticeship.”

Mr Newton replied, saying the issue has been raised by a number of organisations.

He added: “There hasn’t been a final decision made yet.

“But I know it’s at the top of the agenda in terms of discussions DWP and Treasury colleagues are having

“Clearly we need to get the balance right to in the right outcomes without double funding.”

 

The definiton of ‘black box’ funding

The term ‘black box’ has been adopted by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to describe the funding approach implemented in the Work Programme.

The definition of ‘black box’ is a system which judges results, in this case employment outcomes, without any knowledge of its internal workings.

In the Work Programme, training providers are paid by government agencies based on the number of learners which find a job; it doesn’t what training programme or framework has been delivered, provided the end results are the same.

A Work Programme report, published by the DWP in June 2011, states: “Rather than asking providers to make one-size-fits-all services work for a wide range of participants with varying needs, government is providing freedom for providers to personalise support for the individual in a way that fits the local labour market.

“This is sometimes referred to as a ‘black box’ commissioning approach.”

 

Graham Hoyle, on getting flexible

It was one of the buzz words from the conference, but what exactly does flexibility mean to independent providers?

Speaking to FE Week, Graham Hoyle, chief executive of the AELP, said it is something to be embraced by the sector.

He said: “One of the big things that has come out of the conference is the scope for our members to embrace the flexibility offered to them.

“We have a government philosophy through the Skills Funding Agency saying, ‘you go out with your marketplace with you stakeholders, your communities, find out what you need and do it’.

“The AELP message is embrace this offer of flexibility and there’s real scope for you to really do what your customers want.”

However, Mr Hoyle admitted not all providers would be happy to give up their business plans in favour of flexibility.

He said: “There’s also an interesting side to it that for many of our members their core business has been apprenticeships.

“They are good at it so they have not got an awful lot of inclination to move out of it but it appears to be a high government priority just now.

“So, on the other hand it’s absolutely right that some providers say, ‘that’s fine but we are good at this and we will do more of it, I’m sticking to apprenticeships’ and that cannot be a wrong answer.

“In fact, if everybody took the flexibility route and they did less apprenticeships, I have a feeling there would be some political repercussions.

“So at the moment we’re saying more of our members could do more for unemployed as well as working with apprenticeships.”

However, Mr Hoyle also warned that some members are “holding themselves back”.

He said: “They are fearful of doing something and someone down the track six months later saying, ‘sorry you’re not doing that, we’re taking your funding back’.

“So there’s a tension there and we have to get confidence through the system and say ‘be bold’.

“I think independent providers more of them ought to explore broadening portfolios, but not criticising top class apprenticeship providers that are producing the kind of figures we have seen this week with 96 per cent achievement, employer and learner satisfaction rates sky high.”

Vocational quals counted out

Concern has been raised at the government’s expulsion of thousands of qualifications from school league tables.

While stating that its members would welcome the strengthening of vocational education, the Association of Colleges (AoC) believes it should not be allowed to result in less 14 to 15 year-olds being exposed to vocational qualifications.

It comes after the education secretary, Michael Gove, announced that the number of vocational qualifications that will count towards a school’s GCSE performance in league tables is being cut from 3,000 to 70.

Just 125 vocational qualifications will be included from 2014 and only 70 will count towards the main performance measure – the percentage of pupils getting five A* to Cs at GCSE, including English and maths. The other 55 will count in the tables, but will not contribute towards the main measure.

It is an attempt to stop schools encouraging youngsters to take qualifications that boost league table position, but do not help prospects, and follows recommendations made in a report by Professor Alison Wolf last year.

An AoC spokesperson said: “Colleges will welcome the implicit endorsement that provision of vocational education needs to be strengthened to ensure that high standards are maintained in all types of institutions, including schools, in order to ensure the delivery of high quality vocational provision that our young people need in order to secure satisfying and fulfilling future employment.”

Currently, there are 63,000 14 to 15-year-olds enrolled in a college; with 3,500 full-time and 59,000 part-time.

The AoC spokesperson added: “Evidence has shown that colleges are best-equipped to deliver high quality vocational education and we believe that all 14-year-olds should have the opportunity to attend their local college.

“Colleges were pleased with the Wolf Report’s support for colleges looking to enrol more 14-year-olds onto full-time courses.

“Alison Wolf was insistent as to the value of high quality vocational provision for young people.

“Whilst the announcement confirms that commitment, we would be concerned if it resulted in fewer young people who would benefit from an early exposure to vocational learning having that opportunity.

“Ultimately, we believe that colleges should take centre stage in the delivery of vocational education and become hubs of vocational excellence, using their expertise and resources to support provision in their locality.

“And we are in discussion with the Department for Education to make this intention a reality.”

The Department for Education said some of the qualifications still to be included are subject to future review and schools will remain free to offer any other qualification accredited and approved for study by 14- to 16-year-olds.

Young apprenticeships fall as adults nearly double

The rise in adult apprenticeships has continued to accelerate in the first three months of the new academic year, while the number of starts aged between 16 and 18 has dropped, new data has shown.

Provisional figures, published by the Data Service in the Statistical First Release (SFR) last week, show that the number of new apprentices aged 25 and above has risen to 53,300 in the first quarter of 2011/12, up from 27,600 in the same period last year.

Gordon Marsden, shadow minister for further education, skills and regional growth, says the figures show a disregard for the widening gap in apprenticeship volumes.

“Officials disregarded the imbalance of post-25 and said never mind the quality, fill the width,” Mr Marsden said.

“You can’t turn these things around overnight and they‘ve recognised now that they do need to do more of the 16 to 24.”

A spokesperson at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) says it is “not possible” to compare the provisional figures with data from 2010/11.

“Provisional data for the first quarter of the 2011/12 academic year (August 2011 to October 2011) provide an early view of performance and will change as further data returns are received from further education colleges and providers,” the spokesperson said.

“Quarterly figures for 2011/12 will be updated throughout the year and will be finalised in the January 2013 Statistical First Release. It is not possible, therefore, to directly compare provisional data for the first quarter of the 2011/12 academic year with data from earlier academic years.”

The growing number of adult apprenticeships, shown to be up by 93 per cent in the SFR provisional figures, follow four consecutive quarter increases in 2010/11.

Tess Lanning, research fellow at the IPPR, says the rise in adult apprentices reflects an “increasingly broad definition” of what counts as an apprenticeship
“Over the past decade apprenticeships have become increasingly less likely to offer a route into skilled employment for young people,” she said.

“Instead, the biggest increases have been for adult apprentices, most of which are existing employees, many in low-paid jobs.”

The number of apprenticeship starts aged 16 to 18 dropped by three per cent in the first quarter of 2011/12, down to 53,700, according to provisional statistics in the SFR.

The figures follow record levels of youth unemployment, which has now reached 1.04 million for young people aged 16 to 24, announced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last month.

“What these figures show is that the government was too slow to respond to the crisis in youth unemployment by adjusting the priorities,” Mr Marsden said.

“They were too slow in picking them up and even when they did so, the pick-up in those 16 to 18 and 19 to 24 areas, although it has increased, has not increased anywhere near enough in volume to match the huge increase in post 25.”

A BIS spokesperson said the government would be doing all it could to help young people get back into work.

“The private sector is playing an important role: creating over half a million jobs in the past year – the highest in the G7 countries – and we are in turn supporting business by cutting corporation tax to make the UK the most competitive tax system in the G20 and making an unprecedented investment in apprenticeships,” the spokesperson said.

“It is vital that we do all we can to help young people without work get back into employment with good long term career prospects.”

The total number of new apprenticeships starts hit 457,200 in 2010/11, up 14,500 from provisional figures published in October last year.

Employability qualifications are just the job

Increasing unemployment is fuelling a sharp rise in demand for short employability qualifications, figures obtained by FE Week reveal.

Statistics from three major awarding bodies – Edexcel, City and Guilds and NCFE – report significant increases in registrations for courses which aim to improve CVs, improve interview techniques and aid application writing.
Although aiming to help get people into work, the qualifications, in some cases, only see little more than a third enter employment.

Despite this, the reason behind the surge in people registering for the qualifications is blamed, by the bodies, on rising unemployment rates.

However, it could also be down to the opening up of the single Adult Skills Budget from August last year, which means training providers who previously offered apprenticeships or workplace learning are now able to deliver outside the workplace.

Figures from Pearson, owned by Edexcel, from the start of September to the end of November in 2010 and 2011, show registrations of their Workskills qualification by training providers rose from 1,951 to 27,878 – an increase of some 1,428 per cent.

However, during the same time period, numbers for non-training providers – schools and colleges – have slightly decreased from 87,753 to 87,244.

The total for both provider types is 115,122 in 2011 – an increase of 25,418 when compared to the total of 89,704 in 2010.

A Pearson spokesperson said: “More than ever, individuals wishing to progress in the workplace, in education and in training, need to demonstrate flexible and wide-ranging skills.”

Further analysis shows the increase is due to the introduction of a ‘Designed for Apprentices’ model of the qualification, accounting for 24,909 of 2011’s figures. The qualification was not available the previous year.

A spokesperson for Pearson confirmed that there are no apprenticeship frameworks that mandate a Workskills qualification, adding: “As far as we understand it, providers are taking this in addition to their apprenticeships – even though it’s not funded – as it helps learners with the apprenticeship programme.

“As there is no additional funding for this, we took the decision to provide free registration for the WorkSkills qualifications as part of the BTEC Apprenticeship package when registering on full frameworks.”

Fellow awarding body City & Guilds (C&G) has also revealed an increase in registration numbers for their Employability and Personal Development qualification.

In the same time period, figures have risen from 15,160 to 24,872, but they were unable to split the figure by provider type.

A spokesperson for the organisation said: “This increase can probably be attributed to the sharp rise in UK unemployment figures recorded over the same period.”

The spokesperson added: “With high levels of unemployment, people are focusing on developing the skills needed to find work. The qualifications help learners develop employability skills that employers require, helping them be more attractive in a competitive job market or progress into education.”

NCFE, due to “commercial sensitivity” were unable to provide specific details, but have revealed that registrations for their eight employability qualifications have risen by 396 per cent during the past 12 months.

A spokesperson for NCFE said: “The growth is understandable when you consider the emphasis now being placed on the government to ensure young people are prepared for work and rapid growth in unemployment figures.

“These particular qualifications are popular as they provide core skills needed to help people gain employment and get their first step onto the career ladder.”

The Skills Funding Agency said greater access to the Adult Skills Budget was “intended to simplify the funding system” and increase opportunity for learners.

A spokesperson said: “This means that training organisations that have previously been restricted to workplace learning can also deliver provision geared to meet needs of individuals, including helping unemployed people into work.”

The Agency also said that colleges and providers are “free to make their own decisions about the mix and balance” of their provision, including the specific qualifications they deliver, when asked about the budget’s use.

Among those offering employability skills is RTT Group, which delivers the full-time qualification over two weeks at 10 sites across England.

Nick Barton, director of operations employability at the provider, said: “We will expect to see 7,500 to 9000 clients from Jobcentre Plus, Work Programme and Work Choice from across the country by the end of this academic year.

“That could easily increase by 25 to 50 per cent if we could fund it.

“The numbers are more than double than we saw last year through Response to Redundancy and Routes into Work.”

When asked about job progression, Mr Barton added: “We can’t offer 100 per cent of the learners employment.

“We offer 100 per cent of learners in our Sector Based Work Academy programmes that we run with Jobcentre Plus, a guaranteed interview and work experience.

“Our job entry rate is better than many Welfare to Work providers and, depending on where we are delivering in the country, we expect it to be over 38 per cent and for our Work Programme customers, over 50 per cent.”

More than 14m learner accounts unused

Less than 0.01 per cent of more than 14 million learning accounts have been accessed directly by learners, figures obtained by FE Week reveal.

The statistics, released in a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), show only 800 learners have accessed their Personal Learning Record (PLR), out of 14,166,906 Unique Learner Numbers (ULN) which have been created to give them access.

The PLR is managed by the Learning Records Service (LRS), a team of 17 staff within the SFA which enables the sharing of learner and achievement data across the education and skills sector.

The provision and maintenance of the ULN, which the FoI response says cost £7.2 million to implement, is also one of the services delivered by the LRS.

the total number of learners that have accessed their record directly to date is 800.”

It was first piloted back in 2006, before being rolled out in 2008, with access for the first learner to the LRS in January 2009.

However, the SFA, in the FoI document, say access to the accounts by learners will increase when they are promoted actively.

It reads: “It is not possible to quantify all the interactions on behalf of a learner.

“However, 1.76 million individual learner records have been accessed and updated.

“Many of these transactions will have been triggered to support a learner such as enabling a claim for public funding of learning.

“Direct access for learners to their records has not been actively promoted and the total number of learners that have accessed their record directly to date is 800.

“We expect this figure to rise significantly with the roll out of easier ways for learners to access their record online and promotion of routes, such as via Lifelong Learning Accounts in England.”

Denise Gledhill, head of funding and learner records at Wakefield College, said there seems to be a “general lack of awareness” about the LRS.

She added: “As a college, we incorporate standard information about the LRS within the Learning Agreement at enrolment, as required.

“Only two learners, from around 8,000 learners enrolled so far this year, have contacted my team this academic year, to request their ULN.”

Although admitting it is difficult to quantify time and money invested in LRS, Mrs Gledhill said that on average, one member of staff spends 20 per cent of the week investigating ULNs – which includes matches, duplicates and serious errors.

She also said: “We are not opposed to the principle of ULNs and the Personal Learning Record, but as a college we are currently seeing no benefit from the LRS.”

It is not the first time concerns have been raised about ULNs and Personal Learning Records – as its use by awarding bodies has previously been questioned.

Little more than a year ago, the Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB) raised members’ issues on the system over lack of control and responsibility for errors.

At the time, FAB’s chief executive Jill Lanning also said that exam boards were “nervous” over the prospect of confidential data being shared.

Meanwhile, in November, at an information authority meeting, the group “expressed concern that they have to put a lot of time and effort” into ULNs, but they said awarding bodies “do not seem to have bought” into them.

Mrs Lanning, speaking to FE Week, said: “We are still discussing details with the LRS about moving forward.

“Some awarding bodies are signed up to it, with some only for a trial period, but some are still biding their time to decide.”

The LRS provides services to more than 7,600 organisations, including schools, FE providers, higher education institutions, careers services and awarding organisations.

Since the introduction of the LRS, it is estimated the UK education sector has benefited from £56.9 million of avoided costs, while total salary costs including for all LRS staff were £847,722.54 for 2010/11 and £463,395.15 for 2009/10.

The increase is explained by the “recruitment of a permanent team following completion of the programme” that set up the service.

However, the SFA was unable to comment further at the time of going to press.

Apprenticeship success rates highest ever

Apprenticeship success rates have risen for the fourth consecutive year across all age groups, according to new government data.

The statistical first release (SFR), published by the Data Service last week, shows a 2.6 percentage point increase in apprenticeships at all age groups and skill levels.

The completion rate of all 16 to 18 apprenticeships rose to 74 per cent in 2010/11, up from 72.4 per cent for the previous twelve months.

John Hayes MP, minister of state for further education, skills and lifelong learning, said: “Clarity of policy, strength of commitment and certainty of purpose has delivered record numbers of apprenticeship starts, outstanding success rates and growth across all sectors.”

The SFR also revealed an 83.2 per cent completion rate for 16-18 higher apprenticeships, rising to 84.8 per cent for learners aged 19 and above.

“Thousands of higher apprenticeships will open up new pathways to excellence for the brightest and best learners,” Mr Hayes said.

“A zero tolerance approach to unnecessary red tape, and new financial incentives for small firms will enable more employers to offer gold standard training to match and beat our international competitors.”

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) says the statistics prove the apprenticeship programme is in “rude health”.

Graham Hoyle, chief executive of AELP, said: “The latest official statistics show that right across the board, apprenticeships are playing a key role in lifting skill levels in the UK workforce and giving thousands of young people a successful start to their careers in manufacturing and service sectors. ”

Total completions for 16 to 24 year-olds hit more than 160,000 in 2010/11, up by 16.8 per cent on the previous year.

Mr Hoyle added: “Amidst all the doom and gloom surrounding the economic outlook, employers and providers deserve major credit for significantly increasing the number of apprenticeship places and for offering quality training when they have to contend with higher costs on their businesses.”

The SFR data also showed an increase in the success rates for advanced level apprenticeships, with an average completion rate of 78.6 per cent across all age groups in 2010/11.

Intermediate level apprenticeships had a similar increase, with a success rate of 72.2 per cent for apprentices aged 16 to 18 and 78 per cent for those aged 19 and above.

Ross Varnam, apprentice and silver medallist, WorldSkills

Like most youngsters, Ross Varnam was unsure about what to do after his GCSEs. Aged 16 and with 11 A to Cs behind him, his options were wide open.

He had enjoyed his time at Longslade Community College, in Leicester, but would A levels be the right move for him?

As is so often the case, Ross could turn to the wise words of his father Mitch – a former apprentice at British Gas, who is now a fireman.

“I’d done okay at school so there were options for me to stay and do my A levels and then go to university.

“But, for me, I wasn’t sure if that was what I wanted to do.

“My dad advised me and said ‘go out and learn a trade and learn a skill because you can still go to university afterwards’. I knew if I did it I’d always have that trade and no-one could take that from me.”

With an interest in motoring, Ross had already completed work experience at his local body shop, Parkers Accident Repair Centre. So it seems logical that this would be his immediate point of call.

He said: “I’d done two weeks experience when I was 14 at the body shop and volunteered during the summer to get a bit more work experience.

“When I decided I wanted to finish and leave school I went back to the body shop and asked if they wanted to give me a job and put me through an apprenticeship. It was a great opportunity.”

I stopped drinking for a year which is hard when your mates are going out and having a great time”

Within days of concluding his school days, Ross was into the big wide world of work, before enrolling on an apprenticeship. Over the next three years, he would undertake the Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 NVQ in autobody repair, working four-days-a-week at the body shop with one-day-a-week at Leicester College.

“It’s a great mix of learning new skills, working and going to college with a group of people all doing the same thing,” he enthused.

“I enjoyed learning new skills and going to the body shop and showing them what I learned.

“The way you are trained keeps changing, so I was bringing new skills in and showing them how to do things.

“I got a bit of stick being the young lad, but they treated me very well.”

Although it was “brilliant” to finish his final programme, Ross, then aged 19, was hungry to learn. After a chat with his accommodating boss at the body shop, it was at that point Ross’ journey to WorldSkills London 2011 began.

He said: “The second I finished and left college, I missed it.

“I didn’t feel like I’d finished. I wanted to keep learning. So I spoke to my boss and he put me forward for the Young Panel Technician of the Year award.”

After competing regionally and nationally, Ross made the final six. Despite missing out on the title, he was scouted as one of three competitors to try out for the squad being put together to comprise Team UK at WorldSkills.

“It was fantastic,” said Ross, before adding: “It was disappointing that I hadn’t won but the fact it opened up the opportunity to other competitions was great.”

Ross was selected as part of Team UK in November last year and started “intensive training” to get to the required standard, while also working at the body shop. It meant he had little time for socialising – and he gave up drinking alcohol for a year to concentrate on the competition – dubbed the ‘skills Olympics’.

“It was such a relief to get into the team. I’d put so much training and hard work into it. I learned so much about the competition – I just wanted to compete on the World stage.

“My employer was really supportive. It was tough but it meant so much.

“I stopped drinking for a year which is hard when your mates are going out and having a great time.

“I stopped Thai boxing too, because they didn’t want me to break any bones.”

When competition day finally came around in October last year for WorldSkills London 2011, held at the vast ExCeL in London Docklands, Ross came face-to-face for the first time with his task ahead – a damaged Honda Jazz.

It was the same task for 16 other competitors, whose vehicles had dents to “within millimetres” of one another, with five modules to complete in four days.

And although he was nervous, Ross played his part in Team UK’s best ever WorldSkills performance by winning the silver medal.

“It was physically and mentally draining. As much as it was tiring, I loved being in that competition and going out there and doing my best.

“At the closing ceremony, I’d reached that point where I was thinking I’d done by absolute best and I’d done it. I didn’t know the result until on the night, but when I found out I’d got the silver medal I was over the moon.”

It was proud moment for Ross – and also for his family, who attended the closing ceremony, held at the O2 Arena, with t-shirts emblazoned with his name. He admits it was “a bit embarrassing” but “at least they were supportive”.

He added: “My dad was emotional because he knew how hard I’d worked. He was really proud of me.

“He couldn’t watch me during the competition because he found it too hard. He was pacing up and down the aisle.”

As well as leaving his own personal legacy on Team UK by securing his silver medal, Ross’ performance also helped secure an opportunity -of-a-lifetime. In the aftermath of WorldSkills London 2011, Ross – now aged 21 – was approached by a firm in Australia which owns 17 garages Down Under. Later this week, he will fly out for a 12-month tour of the nation to ply his trade and learn new skills – and experience life on the opposite side of the World.

He said: “When you finish WorldSkills you hit a wall. It’s a big event and you focus on it and then you think ‘what next?’

“Fortunately, I’ve been offered a post in Australia for 12 months as a working holiday. I can work two months at different garages and travel around the country.

“It’s a great opportunity,” he said, adding: “I’ll be on my own. I’m really excited, but nervous as well, but there will be lots of people like me out there.

“I felt bad for my employer that I’ll be leaving them. But he was good about it. He could see that it’s a fantastic opportunity.”

Although proud, it’s fair to say Ross’ mother, Lynn, who works in adult education at her son’s former school, will miss him the most.

“My mums upset that she won’t see me – but I’ve set up a Skype account to keep in touch.”

 

Hayes launches independent review into professionalism of FE workforce

The Skills Minister has launched an independent review into the professionalism of the further education (FE) and skills workforce today.

John Hayes MP has confirmed the review will be chaired by Lord Lingfield, alongside an expert panel led by David Sherlock CBE, former head of the Adult Learning Inspectorate.

“As we reform the further education sector to ensure it is fit for the 21st century, it is right that we also work to raise the status of FE professionals,” Mr Hayes said.

“We want to give the best support to those who teach in the sector.”He added: “I am delighted to announce that the respected educationalist, Lord Lingfield, has accepted my invitation to lead this important work.”

The independent  review, which will take evidence from the FE sector starting this week, is expected to report in the spring.

The terms of reference include reviewing the current arrangements used to facilitate professionalism in the FE sector, as well as proposing how they can be changed or improved.

The terms also include the following ‘key tasks’:

* Review progress made with professionalising the FE and Skills workforce following the introduction the reforms stemming from ‘Equipping Our Teachers for the Future’;

* Investigate if lessons can be learnt from the way professional status is facilitated and regulated in other sectors;

* Examine the appropriateness and effectiveness of the current regulations;

* Examine the role, functions, benefits for members and governance of the Institute for Learning as the sector’s professional membership body, its regulatory functions and how effectively it is facilitating the achievement of a professionalised workforce, and, where relevant, the contribution of other partner bodies;

* Consider what is the fairest, most efficient and appropriate way of meeting the costs of facilitating a professionalised FE and Skills workforce;

* Make recommendations for any changes and improvements required to enable continued progress in raising the professional standards and status of the FE and Skills workforce, to support continuing professional development, and to engage and give confidence to all key stakeholders.

Other  members of the panel include Dawn Ward OBE, Principal of Burton and South Derbyshire College  and Dan Wright, Chief Executive of First4Skills.