Start the car I know a whoopee spot, where the gin is cold but the piano’s hot. It’s just a noisy hall where there’s a nightly brawl…
New College Nottingham (ncn) Level 3 Musical Theatre and Dance students performed All that Fosse – a selection of ensemble pieces from musical theatre shows and films, originally choreographed by dance legend Bob Fosse – for their end of year production in this month.
Songs included All that Jazz from the smash hit Chicago and Big Spender from Sweet Charity.
At first sight the HE White Paper looks like good news for FE providers of HE. It speaks warmly of their distinctive contribution to higher education, highlights them in its strategy for diversifying the range of providers and recognises the difficulties they face in competing with universities when the latter still validate their degrees and franchise their funding. A closer look however suggests that while the government proposals certainly promise a tough time for some universities that doesn’t automatically mean a rosy future for FE colleges.
The White Paper is primarily about creating a competitive market based on the firmly held but largely un-evidenced view that competition will raise standards. It proposes to do so in three ways; relaxing controls on student numbers; introducing new providers; and providing more information to students. Each offers opportunities for colleges but also threats.
The arrangements for relaxing student number controls are elegant. Some 20,000 first year places will be cut pro rata from all HE providers. At the same time students with grades AAB or better will be ‘off-quota’. This means that high status universities will not face a cut at all. They will be able to grow or indeed optimise numbers by increasing the proportion of high grade applicants they take, transferring the problem to lower status institutions.
The 20,000 places will be distributed competitively between courses where the fees are less than £7,500. The rules of the competition are not clear, though price will probably play a part. While some colleges will benefit, it seems probable that the government will fix things to ensure that some new ‘for-profit’ providers get an economic slice of the action, so there may not be that much growth to go around.
while the government proposals certainly promise a tough time for some universities that doesn’t automatically mean a rosy future for FE colleges.”
A lot will depend on how lower status universities respond. The theory is that those that persist in charging fees above their station in life will see their numbers progressively shrink; and this may encourage them to cut prices. To the extent that they do the opportunity for colleges is diminished. There may however be interesting prospects for collaborative work; an average fee of £7,500 would allow an HEI to collect £9,000 for a third year after two years in an FE college paid at £6,750.
The White Paper clearly recognises the difficulty that colleges face competing with universities when they rely on them for validation. It is strangely reluctant however to spell out the obvious answer – make it much easier for colleges with a decent track record to award their own degrees. It seems that the government is much happier to see degrees awarded by commercial enterprises or even dodgy foreign institutions than humble FE colleges. While this will help competition it will come at a price: the lucrative business awarding bodies have built up in schools and FE will now extend even further.
Finally the White Paper doesn’t quite reject the proposal in the Browne Review to control overall numbers by setting a minimum tariff for eligibility for public support. The danger is that such an approach would discriminate against FE by not counting non traditional qualifications. The government has agreed not to adopt it ‘wholesale’ and what that means is anybody’s guess.
Mick Fletcher is the Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Education
One thousand school children from 60 schools gathered at Newquay Cornwall Airport this week to race electric cars that the pupils designed and built from scratch.
The annual South West Regional Heat of the Greenpower schools electric car races, organised by Cornwall College, is the culmination of months of hard work from primary and secondary schools across the region.
Greenpower is a competition which aims to spark an interest in engineering by allowing children to design and build electric cars, finding their own sponsors, resources and support they need to make their designs reality. The project incorporates maths, engineering, physics, design, marketing, team building, technology, problem solving & communication, and following its proven success in these areas, many schools now incorporate Greenpower into their curriculum.
Archie Miller (pictured), age 12 from Penair School in Truro, said:
“It’s been really good fun, a great atmosphere. It was great to race against so many other teams. I’ve enjoyed doing the project as you have something like this to aim for at the end.”
Winners go on to the national finals at Goodwood later this year.
Chichester College is calling all young entrepreneurs to “Pitch for a Place” at their new Peter Jones Enterprise Academy.
The event will take place on 4th July at 4:30pm, and the college is encouraging young people from all over Sussex to ‘come and present’ their potential business ideas to a panel.
If you think you know someone who could be the next Peter Jones, Sir Richard Branson, Jacqueline Gold or Lord Sugar, tell them not to miss this opportunity to launch their business. Contact Helen Manuel, Admissions Advisor: helen.manuel@chichester.ac.uk or call 01243 786 321 ext 2333.
Visit www.chichester.ac.uk for more details.
A society for apprentices with a NUS discount card for members has been launched to boost the status of skills-based training.
The Apprentice Society and its membership card are being billed as a skills-based equivalent to the National Union of Students and its NUS Extra card.
Skills minister John Hayes, Robert Halfon MP and apprentice Andy Huckle launched the card at a reception at the House of Commons.
Mr Hayes said the apprentice card would tackle a perceived gap in prestige between academic and skills-based qualifications.
“When you cease to be an undergraduate, you have a chance to become a post-graduate. When you finish your apprenticeship, you’re an ex-apprentice. “I want to further that. Let’s have a vocational route as rigorous, as robust, as recognised and as seductive as the path that Robert and I trod,” he said.
Andy, who is studying with Harlow College said; “I was working with a small business in Harlow making aircraft labels. I saw Robert’s advert for an apprentice in the local newspaper and thought I would go for it.
“I’d started A-levels, but I was 17 years old, just out of school, and I didn’t have a lot of dedication or commitment. I preferred to have a job with a salary, but I didn’t see any prospects in the job I was in. “I’ve always loved politics, but I’d never thought of working at the House of Commons.
Andy finishes his apprenticeship in one month’s time when he sits the last of six exams in his bid to gain an NVQ level three qualification in business administration.
Jobs are getting thinner on the ground in FE as colleges across the country are making redundancies. Yet, no matter what sector you work in there is a limitless amount of generic information out there on how to further or even protect your career.
The obvious advice can often be overlooked but it’s often the best place to start. Look at your job role and ensure you cover every aspect of your post to the best of your ability; once this has been achieved you can begin to focus on the areas you are most interested in and prove to your boss that you have the ability to expand your responsibilities. In most situations you need to actively increase your workload in order to highlight your ambitions to your colleagues. This not only demonstrates your skills but it shows your commitment towards the role.
In order to further your career look at the resources available to you; more often than not training courses are on your doorstep. In many other careers trying to persuade an employer that a new course will enhance your skills is a long drawn out process but you are working in an environment where research and training is the main aim! Talk to your HR manager and discuss what opportunities are available to you; this will not only enhance your CV but give you the chance to develop in an area you are most passionate about.
Working in further education will open your eyes to a vast range of jobs; whether you want to advance your career in administration, project management or teaching the opportunities are there. Within this environment you will quickly start to relate to the ambitious atmosphere and motivation becomes second nature.
Talk to your HR manager and discuss what opportunities are available to you”
During the recession many part-time and contract employees found their jobs at risk. This is unfortunate because due to the competitive nature of this work many candidates found themselves in these roles and struggled to land a more permanent role.
This can be a positive position to be in though; you have access to the same resources and benefits as well as the flexibility to train part-time or in some instances work overtime to really prove your commitment.
Lee Biggins is Managing Director of CV-Library
For the past ten years I have been working for a private training company offering apprenticeships. Previous to this, I spent 14 years in an FE College leaving after reaching the dizzy heights of Director of Studies.
Transferring a college based quality system to work based training has been an interesting experience. We have achieved this without the overly bureaucratic layers associated with college committees and the tiers of administration. It has grown a successful group of individuals who were rewarded with a Grade 1 status which is still in place to this date.
To my mind, quality is integral to the successful delivery of training and education and has been central to my mission. Quality has grown the reputation of the company on a local level, enabled repeat business and loyalty from employers who value the service provided. It has enabled us to offer a wider provision to our existing employer base through Train to Gain whilst still delivering high success rates and satisfied learners.
We have worked hard to dispel early criticisms of NVQs being a tick based exercise into a valued part of employee continued professional development. Our philosophy has always been to encourage learner ownership and, with trained assessor staff, encourage an atmosphere of self reflection and improvement.
I am proud of what we have achieved but in today’s climate there is no room for complacency. The big boys are moving in – our loyal employers are being courted by national companies promising to deliver an Apprenticeship framework in 4 months without employer contribution against our traditional 12 month delivery before we even ask for money.
As Darwin would say, in a period of change, “adapt or perish”; the niche we have created in a small rural backwater is at risk of no longer being viable to command an SFA contract in its own right. Fortunately, we have escaped the Minimum Contract Level (MCL) hurdle for this year but nervously await the next one with some trepidation.
I am proud of what we have achieved but in today’s climate there is no room for complacency.”
The Apprenticeship Act has put the framework as a central pillar for economic recovery and rightly so, stipulating the expectations of a framework. This can only be good for quality if guided learning hours are prescriptive and employers are asked to show their commitment through paid off-the-job contribution to the qualification. This should guarantee the quality but the real truth is that for many providers funding will be a key driver.
And so we move into a new era of performance management where decisions about which learners we work with will be down to a financial formula. Assessors have targets, marketing have targets and there is monthly reconciliation to ensure that all learners funding is maximised to generate income. The pressure will be on us to deliver more for less.
In 1991, I remember my old Principal addressing our staff group by saying that we were being asked to provide “more for less and with even higher quality”. It is a mantra that I have met all my teaching profession. It would be a sad service to our sector if those common words get shortened to “more for less”, quality sitting it out on the bench until such a time as the inspector calls.
Philip Broomhead is Director of Learning and Quality at Riverside Training
The Government’s apprenticeship recruitment target of 203,200 for the financial year to March 2011 was exceeded by 54,000, John Hayes, Minister for FE, announced last week.
Particularly striking has been the volume of those apprentices aged 25 and over who started in the first three quarters of this academic year (August 2010 to April 2011). Provisional data published by the BIS Data Service shows that these starts have increased by 234 per cent to 121,100. So far this year 37 per cent of all starts have been for the 25+ age group (17 per cent for the same period last year). Further analysis of the published figures shows that 33,750 starts (up from 9,810 last year) are for people aged 45-59 (now 10 per cent of all starts, up from 4 per cent last year), and 2,930 aged 60+ (400 last year).
Gordon Marsden MP, Shadow Minister for FE and skills told FE Week; “These figures show the largest increase coming in the post 25 category – most dramatically in 35-59. This must raise questions of how much that increase is simply transfers from Train to Gain, or people already in employment.”
Professor Alison Wolf, an advisor to Government on 14-19 vocational learning told FE Week: “Providers have been saying for some time that, if they are going to make their apprenticeship targets fast, it will be by targeting adults. The recent figures bear this out, which is bad news for youth unemployment.”
Marsden agrees, he said: “What we do know is that the modest increase in the 16-18 cohort won’t be enough to address the deepening crisis around youth unemployment.
“What’s more, if these numbers have been swelled through transfers from Train to Gain, could they also be subject to the same deadweight questions that Train to Gain attracted?”
The employment sectors seeing the greatest number of additional apprenticeship starts, according to the BIS Data Service, have occurred in framework areas that might not be considered ‘traditional’ apprenticeship, such as retail. For more on this see the Morrisons story.
The Guardian has since reported on the issue and you can see our update here.
Morrisons boasts that it is the UK’s biggest provider of apprenticeships, although in reality the funding is claimed from the Skills Funding Agency by the independent training provider Elmfield Training Ltd.
In the context of a national record number of apprentices (see page 1), what stands out is the rapid increase in adults aged 25 and over participating in their programme.
Figures obtained by FE Week from the Skills Funding Agency, and confirmed as correct by Elmfield Training Ltd, show that so far in 2010/11 there have been nearly 18,000 apprenticeship starts in Level 2 Retail. Incredibly, not only does this make up for 15 per cent of all 25+ apprentice starts in England so far in 2010/11, but this was from a standing start as no Morrisons apprentices over the age of 25 were started in the previous year (see figures below).
Julian Bailey, Head of Media Relations at Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc, said: “We think apprenticeships are important for new and existing staff as a way of developing and enhancing skills and work very closely with Elmfield Training in all aspects of apprenticeships”
Simon Shaw from Elmfield Training Ltd said: “Morrisons is the largest employer we work with, and supports the government’s skills and employability agendas in multiple ways, including 16-18 year olds, 19-24 NEETs and adults in local communities without prior qualifications.”
As reported in the last edition of FE Week Elmfield saw their total apprenticeship funding allocation increase in 2010/11 by £21m (to over £40m) at quarter two (quarter three figures have yet to be released by the Skills Funding Agency) and enjoyed pre-tax profits last year of £12.3m on a £33.8m turnover.
The Skills Funding Agency has also confirmed that whilst Elmfield has been planning Morrisons apprenticeship programmes to take just over a year, in fact the average actual duration has been just 28 weeks.
At the time of going to press neither Morrisons nor Elmfield Training Ltd were able to say whether a cash employer contribution was being exchanged.
Elmfield Training Ltd has yet to be inspected as a lead provider by Ofsted.
