‘Worry’ over 12 per cent fall in FE adults

Concerns have been raised over the decline in total adult FE participation at a time when the numbers of adult apprenticeships are surging.

Government data for 2010/11 shows the number of learners aged 19 and over in government funded FE and skills provision is 3,129,200; an 11.6 per cent drop from 3,540,500 the previous year.

Total participation in Adult Safeguarded Learning (ASL) is also down 10 per cent from 762,400 to 685,800.

In 2009/10, 99 per cent of participants in ASL were aged 19 or over, so NIACE say that this decrease represents “a significant drop” in the number of adult learners.

At the same time, and what also has been well documented, is the dramatic increase in 19+ apprenticeship starts, from 162,900 in 2009/10 to 314,400 in 2010/11; a jump of some 93 per cent.

Although not surprised, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) is concerned.

David Hughes, chief executive of NIACE, said it can be difficult to say why there has been a drop, before adding: “There are a number of big concerns with participation numbers dropping.

“We are worrying about who is learning and, by definition, who also isn’t learning. Are some people missing?

“Are people learning the right things and getting the right support to benefit them in their lives? That’s really critical. Also, is what’s being offered what people want? Will the quality suffer?”

However, Mr Hughes added: “This hasn’t really surprised us. It’s very clear this year that participation had slowed. Maybe we’re seeing a reverse of gains we’ve had in previous years.”

A drop in ASL participation is expected, say NIACE, in tough economic times, as it is the part of the system most “heavily reliant on fee income” and numbers will decrease as “disposable income is squeezed”.

He added: “The danger is we lose them in the recession, which will be a shame and won’t put us in the right position when the economy picks up again. Skills,  learning and development have to be at the heart of that.”

As budgets are squeezed, NIACE say it is “crucial to ensure any drive to increase numbers does not lead to a compromise on quality”.

They also say the expansion in apprenticeships has raised questions around whether shorter frameworks can deliver the rigorous learning experience the apprenticeship brand is associated.

Mr Hughes said: “There’s less money and more is being directed at things that cost more. Apprenticeships cost more than NVQs, but that’s not a bad thing because the return is higher.

“But the balance is something that concerns us.”

He added: “Apprenticeship investment is based on average prices. So if it’s right for some, then clearly it’s wrong for others.

“Also, if the length of stay is shorter then you have to think if the right amount of money is being paid.

“A 12-week course doesn’t need as much as a longer course.”

NIACE also say a relevant curriculum offer is important, but information, advice and guidance is also key to ensuring learners are getting the right help to access and succeed in learning.

Mr Hughes said: “The new National Careers Service will be a vital information resource for those seeking to enter or advance in learning and it must be accessible and impartial if we are to see participation levels meaningfully increased.”

Apprenticeships need to be explained more clearly to learners, says MP

Apprenticeships and vocational training need to be explained more clearly to learners, according to Simon Hughes MP.

The deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats said the number of vocational qualifications needed to be simplified into a “menu” of options that is clearer for both parents and young people.

Mr Hughes told FE Week at the ICG Conference: “What is the best set of offers to make in terms of apprenticeship options?

“Is it going to be a conventional three or four year apprenticeship, where you’re splitting your time between the work and getting back to day release colleges, or is it going to be a much more intensive one year apprenticeship for a certain set of skills?

“We need a real menu which describes the options.”

Mr Hughes also said that learners needed to understand the qualifications associated with each apprenticeship, and then be able to make an educated decision about whether or not it’s worthwhile.

“I feel that youngsters are often misled into thinking this is going to be  good for me,
this is going to be valid, and sometimes they’re just Mickey Mouse non qualifications,” Mr Hughes said.

“We need to make sure we just try and give honest assessments, because otherwise we get schools who are going to be asked to present their destination statistics – and they will not be nearly as keen if what they send people onto are things that in UCAS points terms, don’t count for anything.”

FE Week discovered in September that some learners are being forced to turn down apprenticeships, or have their families risk losing vital benefits payments.

Some families could lose their child benefit and child tax credits if a young person starts an apprenticeship on £2.60 an hour,  the national apprentice minimum wage.

Commenting on the issue, Mr Hughes said: “There needs to be a menu of prices for parents too, so that they know the implications for them, and the implications of the system.

“It needs to be done in a way that’s centrally available, and I think it should be done independently of government.”

Mr Hughes also said he thought colleges and schools will become better at providing information about vocational courses in the future.

“There is a potential opportunity that because people are fearful of the whole university fees ‘hoo-ha’, there’s actually going to be more effort about communicating into schools,” Mr Hughes said.

“I think there will be a much more effective communication into schools and colleges. It’s in the government’s interest that it should be, so they need to coordinate them and other people getting their act together to give the information very simply, very directly, and starting early.”

 

‘Trust’ is key for new college freedoms

As the saying goes, all good relationships are built on trust – and it seems that motto can be extended to the world of further education (FE).

The link to the old adage was made during the Association of Colleges (AoC) Annual Conference and Exhibition 2011 on Tuesday, when more powers due to be handed to colleges were discussed.

Lord Hill of Oareford, parliamentary secretary of state for schools at the Department for Education, said: “We want a system based more on trust, with institutions having more autonomy to exercise their own professional judgements.”

He then outlined how education reform, set out in the Education Bill, which completed its journey through Parliament on Monday, will apply post-16.

Lord Hill said: “We are keen that ministers and officials take a step back as much as possible and trust the profession more.

“So, we are legislating to give colleges more freedom. More freedom to borrow and invest for example.

“Thanks to our Education Bill you won’t have to go cap in hand to the chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency or the LA or the secretary of state to borrow even the smallest amount of money.”

He also pointed to “scrapping power of a government body to appoint up to two members of the college Governing Body” and giving colleges the ability to amend their Instruments and Articles as steps to make them “freer”.

Lord Hill also discussed enrolment and the plans to directly take on students aged 14-16, as “colleges have expert teachers and facilities to offer high quality vocational options” with a core curriculum.

However, the finer details of this, Lord Hill said, need to be discussed with the AoC and their sibling, the Sixth Form Colleges Forum.

The Lord went on, saying: “Giving institutions greater autonomy needs to be matched with greater accountability.

“The current accountability system does not yet apply equally across the different types of 16-19 education.

“We want a system driven by and rewards success in getting young people into skilled work and higher education, not driven by financial incentives.”

To do this, the DfE plans to put in measures to show student progress, reform performance tables to reflect achievement, and exempt outstanding colleges and providers from Ofsted inspections.

Finally, Lord Hill discussed the buzz word of the moment; simplification.

He described the current funding system as “complicated”and talked of the need to make it “clearer, more transparent and easier to understand by all” which is why, Lord Hill says, they launched the 16-19 funding formula review in October.

The consultation ends on January 4, 2012. He said: “It is vital that we get this right so I would urge you to contribute to the consultation.”

NCG and Northumberland College merger collapses

Plans for a merger between the  NCG (formerly Newcastle College Group) and Northumberland College have collapsed.

The Northumberland College Corporation met last night and agreed to “rescind” the decision it made on the July 13 to merge with NCG, which offered an investment of £25 million over the next four years.

However, Northumberland College Corporation’s said the merger proposal “had materially changed and a merger with NCG no longer represented the best solution” for students, staff, stakeholders and the community.

They also say they received a letter from John Hayes, the minister for further education, skills and lifelong learning, on Tuesday and the “views he expressed also formed a major part of the decision” made by the Corporation.

Northumberland College Corporation’s board will now consider other alternative options to secure the future of the college.

Chris Todd, principal of Northumberland College said: “I firmly believe that the Corporation have the interests of  learners and the local community at heart.

“This decision will allow the college to move forward positively, creating a solution that will better meet the needs of students, staff, stakeholders and the local community.

“Students, staff and stakeholders did not want this merger to happen.

“The Corporation have listened to these concerns and have made the right choice in the interests of Northumberland.”

Dame Jackie Fisher, chief executive of NCG, said “We are disappointed Northumberland College has rejected our merger proposal.

“We remain committed to supporting learners in the North East and we are considering an alternative strategy to give learners in the County the opportunity to gain new skills in an up-to-date, clean, pleasant and safe environment.”

NCG’s investment plans included updating Northumberland College’s Ashington site and a new campus at Cramlington.

They also planned to replace the agricultural training facilities at Kirkley Hall and create modern job-focused teaching facilities on a real working farm.

Dame Fisher said: “NCG made a generous merger offer to Northumberland College. The Governors of Northumberland decided to reject our offer. We cannot comment on their reasons for doing so.”

However, Mr Todd added: “Northumberland College has a strong business plan going forward and we have demonstrated substantial improvement over the last twelve months.

“This upward trend will continue and I fully expect the college to emerge from this process fighting fit and ready for the challenges that the future will undoubtedly bring.

“Northumberland College is no longer in a desperate situation. The college is stronger than ever, both financially, but also in terms of the quality of its provision.

“Moving forward, the Corporation are keen to build on the firm platform that has been established, creating a progressive college rooted at the heart of the local
community.”

AELP backs goverment plans to slash red-tape and give small firms cash boost

Government plans to cut red-tape and encourage small firms to take on more apprentices has been backed by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP).

Graham Hoyle OBE, chief executive of the AELP, said: “We believe that today’s announcements represent a good response to the feedback that AELP members have been offering on what would persuade more businesses to sign up to the programme.”

The Government has said they will offer employers with 50 members of staff or less an incentive payment of up to £1,500 in order to take on a young apprentice aged 16 to 24.

Mr Hoyle added: “It is also important that we expand the capacity of preparatory training programmes to enable more young people who left school with few or no qualifications to embark on a full apprenticeship.”

AELP has also clarified their position on apprenticeships for older and existing employees.

The Association says they have sent a pre-Aututmn Statement submission to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Treasury, which points out that apprenticeships have never been “exclusively for the benefit of young people as a form of job creation.”

The comment follows the announcement that there is now more than a million young people not in employment.

The AELP submission says: “The apprenticeship brand must not be damagingly stretched by making it a programme for the non-employed or NEETs who are still too far away from meeting the often demanding selection criteria quite properly laid down by employers.”

New apprentice incentive for smaller businesses

Smaller businesses are to be given cash incentives to take on apprentices under new plans announced by Business Secretary Vince Cable.

As part of the government’s plan for growth, Mr Cable has announced action to make it easier for companies to take on apprentices.

He told businesses in London today the government would slash the red tape and “guarantee” quality of apprenticeships.

Mr Cable outlined four measures, including the offer of up to £1,500 to employers with less than 50 employees if they take on a young apprentice aged 16 to 24. It will support up to 20,000 new apprenticeships in 2012/13.

He also said processes will be simplified to make it quicker for employers to take on an apprentice, including streamlining health and safety requirements .

The third measure is a “renewed focus on targeting the programme where apprenticeships deliver greatest value”.

Apprenticeship providers, Mr Cable announced, will also be required to offer training in English and maths up to the standard of a good GCSE (level 2) for all  apprenticeships.

Mr Cable said: “The apprenticeships programme is a success story, with record numbers of learners starting an apprenticeship this year.

“But I have listened to employers, and will go further to ensure investment is targeted where impact is greatest, delivering the specific skills businesses need to drive growth.”

He added: “Apprenticeships are proven to boost the life chances of young people, and are a sound investment in our future competitiveness.

“So when times are tough, it’s right that we provide additional support to help the smallest firms meet training costs.

“We’ll cut no corners on quality. Apprenticeships will remain the gold standard for excellence in vocational training – but where red tape serves no purpose, we’ll strip it away.”

FE minister John Hayes said: “By continuing to drive up standards and reaching out to small businesses, we’ll create a culture in which values, drives and rewards vocational excellence and fuels economic and social progress.”

Youth unemployment exceeds one million

The record rate for youth unemployment is now above the one million mark.

Details released this morning by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the jobless figure for 16 to 24 year olds rose by 67,000 over the quarter to reach 1.02 million.

The ONS said: “The unemployment rate for people aged from 16 to 24 increased by 1.7 percentage points over the quarter to reach 21.9 per cent of the economically active population for that age group.

“The number of unemployed people aged from 16 to  24 increased by 67,000 over the quarter to reach 1.02 million; this figure includes 286,000 people in full-time education who were looking for part-time work.

“The unemployment level and rate for people aged from 16 to 24 are the highest since directly comparable records began in 1992.”

Click here for the ONS report

Apprenticeships for learners aged over 25 should be scrapped, says IPPR

Apprenticeships should be restricted to learners under the age of 25, according to researchers from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) in a new book launched today.

Proposals include increasing the funding for pre-apprenticeship training by applying an age limit to all apprenticeship starts.

Tess Lanning, a research fellow at IPPR and Tony Dolphin, IPPR’s senior economist argue that while training adults is important, it’s damaging to call it an apprenticeship.

“Increasing the number of apprenticeships that are offered to people aged 25 and over has diluted the important role that they should play in socialising young people and preparing them for the world of work,” The report states.

“Adult apprenticeships cannot exist by definition and the government should limit them to young people. Apprenticeships should not be just another form of on-the-job training; they should be something special, easing the transition of young people into work through a mix of on-the-job specific training and more general off-the-job learning.

“People who have already been in the labour market for a number of years require other types of training. There is a case for the government to create a stronger adult skills system that supports people to cope with economic change, but apprenticeships are not the appropriate vehicle.”

The pair add that pre-apprenticeship training should be used to help young people who are unemployed and “lack even the most basic skills required by employers” to get onto an apprenticeship scheme.

“The apprenticeship ‘brand’ should be reserved for young people developing the skills they need to flourish in the labour market.

“We are sceptical about the quality of some apprenticeships offered to older workers and believe they offer a poor return to the government, compared to helping young people prepare for an apprenticeship.”

‘Rethinking apprenticeships’ was launched by John Hayes, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning at the AoC Annual Conference and Exhibition in Birmingham.

Mr Hayes has written a chapter in the book outlining new government priorities that will ensure apprenticeships are ‘no longer to be seen as the poor relation of academic study’.

The Minister states that training in new areas such as advanced engineering, information technology and the creative industries will help re-establish apprenticeships as the ‘primary form’ of practical training.

The report also says that level 2 apprenticeships need to be clearly branded as an ‘intermediate’ qualification to learners in order to encourage them to progress to higher levels.

“I want many more apprenticeships to be at higher levels, up to degree level and even above. The government has announced a higher apprenticeship fund, worth £25m, which will support up to 10,000 more advanced and higher apprenticeships,” Mr Hayes said.

Mr Hayes also said FE colleges are the ‘great unheralded triumph’ of the education system, and would be given even greater freedoms by the coalition.

“We are replacing the costly regime of centralisation with genuine devolution of power within the system.

“The government’s primary role is to create a framework that helps individuals and their employers to get the learning they want or need.

“An indispensable part of achieving this goal is removing the barriers in the way of learning providers’ efforts to respond to what their customers are demanding.”

Other contributors include Martin Doel, Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC), who published the book in partnership with the IPPR.

Mr Doel said apprenticeships should take influence from the German ‘meister’ model and teach young people generall skills, as well as English and maths at FE colleges.

“Particularly for young people, an apprenticeship’s value in the labour market lies as much in its teaching of general skills as its occupational training,” Mr Doel said.

“There is a good case for a strong core offer, delivered in partnership with colleges, for young people, not just those under 19 but perhaps up to the age of 25.

“Those aged under 19 should certainly enjoy time off-the-job for learning equivalent to that in Germany, so they can learn not just English and maths but also the generic skills that will stand them in good stead in an economy where adaptability scores highly.”

Mr Doel added that learners aged 25 and above need a completely different apprenticeship model in order to become a ‘meister’, or a highly skilled craftsman or woman.

“Apprentices aged 27 may have been working for a decade, and have gained many of the personal, learning and thinking skills that are so essential in the SASE framework.

“They may want, not just level 3 courses, but highly advanced level 4 and 5 apprenticeships where they either learn the skills needed to become a manager or to become what the Germans would call a meister.”

Mr Doel added that a qualification equivalent to the meister currently does not exist.

“It is something akin to the master craftsman diploma that we should seek to incorporate within our apprenticeship programme, recognising it as an alternative to the management route,” Mr Doel said.

Students honoured at annual Helena Kennedy Foundation awards ceremony

Students who excelled in exceptional circumstances were recognised at the glamorous Helena Kennedy Foundation (HKF) Awards.

More than a dozen learners were invited to the House of Lords to receive their certificate from Baroness Kennedy QC, president of HKF. Each year, HKF invites further education and sixth form colleges and adult education centres across the UK to nominate up to five learners for an award.

Set up in 1998, the awards are aimed at providing support to students from the sector who have overcome significant obstacles, both financial and personal, to complete their further education. Baroness Kennedy said: “It’s only right and proper that we should all be in the most important building in our nation – because we’re celebrating you. We’re celebrating the success that you have achieved already, and wishing you well in the next step of your academic career.”

We’re celebrating the success that you have achieved already, and wishing you well in the next step of your academic career”

She added: “It’s wonderful to see so many more women, people from ethnic minorities, and people from all sorts of backgrounds entering into all sorts of walks of life, and it’s all been because of educational opportunities. We’re giving them (awards) to you because of the courage you have shown, the sheer grit of saying ‘I’m going to do this’, and you’ve done it.”

Sam Parker, a former award winner in 2008, gave an emotional speech explaining how he had been supported through both further and higher education. Mr Parker said: “I had a lot of negative experiences at school. Unfortunately I left with only a couple of low grade GCSEs.”

Sam developed a number of mental health issues in late adolescence, but had the courage to refer himself to a local mental health team. A therapist said he should return to education and despite some resistance, Sam went on to complete his maths and English GCSEs, as well as an Access to HE course.

Sam later won an Adult Learners’ Week Award and the London region award for Access to HE. He received a gold scholarship from the HKF and went on to gain a first class honours degree at university, despite dealing with the death of a relative in his second year and a job interview during his final year – both on the same day as his final exams.

It’s wonderful to see so many more women, people from ethnic minorities, and people from all sorts of backgrounds entering into all sorts of walks of life, and it’s all been because of educational opportunities.”

Mr Parker said: “I’m really grateful to the Foundation for all the help over the past 3 years, because it’s not just financial, it’s practical, personal (support).
“Congratulations to all this year’s award winners, and thanks again for all your (HKF’s) help.”