Race on to crown top apprentices and trainers

The search is now on to find the country’s top apprenticeship and training champions.

For the first time, the National Training Awards and National Apprenticeship Awards have joined forces and entries are now open to compete to be named ‘the best of the best’ on a regional and national level.

Both awards are run by the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS).

John Hayes, further education, skills and lifelong learning minister, said: “Skills are vital because they encourage ambition and enterprise and help drive economic growth and social renewal.

“These joint Awards offer a great platform for young people and employers to gain recognition not just for excelling in their chosen field, but for playing a leading part in that vital process.”

The National Training Awards is seeking entries from organisations that have delivered outstanding training programmes.

At the same time, the National Apprenticeship Awards is looking for the country’s most outstanding apprenticeship employers and apprentices.

For the second year running the very best employer category entries will also have the additional bonus of featuring in the prestigious annual Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers list.

Joe Price (20, pictured above competing at WorldSkills London), who works for Shropshire based construction firm J R Slee Building & Joinery Contractors Ltd, was delighted to be crowned Advanced Apprentice of the Year at last year’s Awards.

He said: “My Apprenticeship has been one of the best things I have ever done.  It has given me the opportunity to pursue a worthwhile career in a field I love and I have achieved so much is such a short space of time.

“Winning the award was a real honour and is a reflection of the high quality training and support I received from my college, work mates and employer.”

This year the Award winners will have the honour of celebrating their success together at Europe’s largest skills and careers event; The Skills Show – at the NEC Birmingham on November 14.

The show, which is set to become an annual event, is designed to shine the spotlight on education and skills.  It is part of a new era for skills which includes improved quality Apprenticeships and recognition of the vital importance of skills in this country.

David Way, chief executive of NAS, said: “The National Apprenticeship Awards and National Training Awards recognise the crucial role skills play in helping individuals develop fulfilling careers, driving competitiveness and fuelling economic growth.

“Entering is a real opportunity for employers and individuals to gain the recognition they richly deserve for building the national skills base, and sharing centre stage at such a prestigious event will be a fitting tribute.”

To find out more about how to enter both the National Apprenticeship Awards and/or the National Training Awards visit apprenticeships.org.uk/awards.

Entries close on Friday May 25.

Government could remove obligation for teachers to register with IfL

Teachers will no longer have the statutory obligation to register with the Institute for Learning (IfL) under plans revealed today by the government.

The news follows the release of recommendations in the interim report of the independent review of professionalism in the further education and skills sector, which was chaired by Lord Lingfield.

As a result of the recommendations, the government will “set in motion a formal process of consultation” with the “view” to taking away the obligation for teachers to sign up to the membership body, which has been a regulation since 2007 and is in place until September 2012.

The government will work with sector bodies, the IfL and other organisations directly affected by the review’s recommendations, before making a more detailed statement on its response and plans for implementation.

Minister for further education, skills and lifelong learning John Hayes said: “Moving away from an approach that enforces professionalism through regulation, to one that gives colleges and providers the freedom to decide how best to achieve high standards of teaching and learning is consistent with our policy of giving colleges freedom and power.

“It is also important that we empower staff to take responsibility for their own professional development – supported where they choose by voluntary professional body membership.”

A final report, which will consider professionalism more widely, will report in the summer.

The main recommendations from the interim report are:

  • Continued phasing out of state grant funding to the IfL, with support for professionalism among FE staff to be provided by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) from September 2012
  • The last increment of transitional funding for the IfL should be used to refund part of the second year of fees paid by FE staff
  • Revocation of The Further Education Teachers’ Continuing Professional Development and Registration, England Regulations and The Further Education Teachers’ Qualifications, England, Regulations, replaced with largely discretionary advice to employers on appropriate qualifications for staff and continuous professional development
  • Simplification of and re-naming the in-service teaching qualifications
  • An appropriate government body should take on responsibility for keeping a register of staff who have been found guilty of gross misconduct by the authorities, so that they may be excluded from future employment in the FE sector.

Mr Hayes said: “With the benefit of this interim report, we can take the necessary steps to ensuring further education professionals are at the forefront of teaching excellence.”

The IfL, meanwhile, has confirmed it will again operate as a voluntary, professional membership organisation.

Toni Fazaeli, IfL’s chief executive, said: “IfL has done everything asked of it in terms of the regulations, and more: registering teachers and trainers; supporting teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD); conferring the professional licensed practitioner status of Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS); and undertaking additional research and development to support professionalism in the sector.

“The review’s report makes the mistake of conflating IfL with the regulations and in condemning the latter criticises IfL as if it were responsible for them. This is not the case. Governments make regulations and are responsible for ensuring that they are enforced.”

Sue Crowley, IfL’s elected chair, added: “Despite my grave concerns about the recommendation that initial teacher training should be optional, I am optimistic about the future of the teaching and training profession in further education and skills.

“This optimism is born of witnessing the expertise, deep professional commitment and resilience that teachers and trainers demonstrate in their practice, week-in, week-out, for the benefit of millions of young and adult learners.”

The University and College Union (UCU), which has campaigned against fees for membership to the IfL, has welcomed the news.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “We are pleased that the panel has recognised compulsory membership of the IfL is a bad move. We are also delighted that the relatively small number of people who did pay the fee will now be reimbursed.

“Boycotting the IfL was not a decision UCU members took lightly, but to be effective as a professional body it must enjoy the confidence of the majority of practitioners.

“Today’s recommendations are a vindication of the members’ boycott and we look forward to playing a full part in the review of professionalism in further education.”

MP accuses Elmfield Training of ‘rip off’

The boss of Elmfield Training Ltd has been accused by an MP of a “rip off” over his firm’s high profit margins which have been generated by the public purse.

Ged Syddall, founder and chief executive officer of Elmfield Training Ltd, was joined by Norman Pickavance, HR Directer at Morrisons, to give evidence to the MPs on Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Committee at the Houses of Parliament this morning, and confirmed he received 95 per cent of a £3 million dividend for their 2009/10 financial year.

The news came during the fourth evidence session of the committee, which is leading an inquiry into apprenticeships.

When asked about how much of the £12.3 million pre-tax profits made by Elmfield Training Ltd was government money, Mr Syddall said: “It was all government money.”

Committee chair Adrian Bailey MP said that the profit figure amounted to a 36 per cent margin for the academic year.

The reasons behind the margin, Mr Syddall said, were due to “natural efficiencies” of dealing with large employers.

Quite frankly that much money made out of the business of your kind is a rip-off.”

Mr Syddall, although unable to provide a profit figure for Elmfield Training in 2010/11, said that this year’s margin would be “13.8 per cent” and explained that the decreasing margin was down to a reduction in rates.

He said: “We get paid 25 per cent less now than we did in 2009/10,” before Mr Bailey added: “But you’re still making 13.8 per cent (margin).”

The head of the provider, which claims to be the “fastest growing vocational training provider in the UK”, was also questioned about his pay and dividends.

He said: “Over last four years we’ve declared one dividend which was £3 million, which equated to about 15 per cent of distributable profits.”

Mr Syddall added: “I set this business up from nothing and now we have 750 people. The other thing we have done over the last three years, 40 per cent of post-tax profits have gone into social impact programmes, which helped thousands of young people back into employment.

“From every £1 I’ve taken out in the last three or four years, I’ve put £2 back to helping other people who have not been as lucky as me.”

He then confirmed that £75,000 is his basic salary.

Select committee member Brian Binley MP, who has set up two companies, said: “We have never got anywhere near the profit levels you are talking about.

“Quite frankly that much money made out of the business of your kind is a rip-off.”

He also added: “I do not see when you’re a large employer of people that you can make that sort of money.”

Mr Syddall said: “The year we are talking about that profit level was made was 2009/10. We didn’t set the rates.”

However, Mr Binley jumped in to ask: “So you overcharged?” before Mr Syddall said: “No we didn’t set the rates, so the rates were standardised.”

Again, Mr Binley asked: “You were overpaid?”

I set SkillsFirst up because I thought there was a gap in the market.”

This time, Mr Syddall said: “Or the state paid too much money, because it didn’t recognise that there are efficiencies in this kind of delivery model.

“Again, I don’t think there are many businesses out there who have put £6.5 million of its own money over the last three years supporting programmes that have helped thousands of people.”

Mr Binley said: “That’s great, but there aren’t many apprenticeships out there making the sort of bottom line that you’re making.

“You can understand why people are suspicious though, can’t you?”

The focus of the session shifted to Skillsfirst Awards, an awarding body set up by Mr Syddall, and if it represented a conflict of interests.

He said: “It is no different for instance than City & Guilds and City & Guilds for Business, who deliver Asda. It is no different than EdExcel and Pearson in Practice.”

Mr Syddall said that he was “encouraged to broaden the awarding body market by the government” before adding: “I set SkillsFirst up because I thought there was a gap in the market.

“That is now a very successful awarding body. It deals with 30 organisations, including ourselves.

“There are no rules from Ofqual to say we can’t do it. There is very robust and rigorous conflicts of interest policies that we adhere to.”

Mr Syddall also confirmed that the Skills Funding Agency doubled its contract with Elmfield Training to £40m half way through 2010/11 due to the volume they were delivering, rather than the time period they were operating to.

The topic moved to Elmfield Training’s satisfactory Ofsted grade, which Mr Syddall defended, but it was not long until the conversation moved back to the subject of the provider’s dividends.

Mr Binley said: “I really do want to make sure that the taxpayer is getting real value for money.”

The MP told the session that as well as the profit and the profit margin, a total of £6.5 million went into taxation and dividend, before asking where it went.

Mr Syddall confirmed the dividend was £3 million after tax, and that there are four shareholders in Elmfield Training Ltd, but that he holds 95 per cent of shares.

Mr Binley: “I think it’s right and proper to get that as evidence because it does give us an idea of whether the taxpayer is getting value for money.

“I understand your side of it, but I think there’s a doubt in terms of the amount of money that you made in that year.”

Mr Bailey, towards the end of the session, asked about the financial situation of Skillsfirst Awards.

Mr Syddall confirmed that, as shown in their last published accounts, the firm made a loss.

However, for the following year, he said: “About a couple of million turnover but I’m not sure on profits. About £1 million.”

He then confirmed that he was the only shareholder of the firm.

A4e must be exluded from prison education contracts, say UCU

The University and College Union (UCU) say allowing A4e to deliver new prison education contracts will bring offender learning into ‘disrepute’.

The union will be writing to John Hayes MP, minister of state for further education, skills and lifelong learning, to recomend that the welfare-to-work provider be removed as the government’s preferred bidder.

The response follows fresh revelations, as reported today in The Independent, that A4e was aware of potential fraud and malpractice.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the UCU, said: ‘It seems farcical, especially in light of these new damaging revelations, that A4e is still the government’s preferred bidder to run £30m prison education services in London and the east of England.

“A4e must be excluded immediately or offender learning risks being brought into disrepute.”

“For the sake of learners and staff, ministers simply cannot afford to delay any further,” Sally Hunt added.

“They must intervene immediately to ensure the contracts are re-tendered.”

Union members who work in prison education will meet today to discuss the investigation into A4e.

UCU say they expect members to back the call for A4e to be excluded from delivering any new contracts.

Related articles:

SFA auditors assigned to A4e
A4e included in preferred prison education bidder list
Families tsar to step down amid fraud allegations

FE Week mini-mascot (Edition 24)

Follow the adventures of FE Week’s biggest and smallest fan!

Mostly this week I have been pointing out the typos in FE Week!”

And also you can follow our FE Week mini-mascot on Twitter @daniellinford

AoC survey finds schools providing ‘poor, limited or no access’ to vocational options

Schools with sixth forms are restricting pupils’ access to information about alternative education options, according to a new study.

The survey, conducted by the Association of Colleges (AoC), shows half of schools which have their own sixth forms are providing GCSE pupils with “poor, limited or no access” to information about courses available in their local FE or sixth form colleges.

However, Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said the report only shows one side of the story and believes schools and colleges should be working with each other.

Nevertheless, the AoC study is being presented to the Department for Education as a benchmarking analysis of advice and guidance in schools.

It comes after the AoC and the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) last week called on Ofsted to grade careers guidance as part of their inspections.

The study also found:

  • Schools without sixth forms were much more open to providing pupils with access to information than those with sixth forms.
  • Where schools were providing pupils with limited access to information, the most regular problems were: restricting pupils’ access to college liaison officers, refusing to distribute prospectuses and barring pupils from attending college ‘taster’ events.

The study will be repeated later this year, say the AoC, to assess whether the new duty on schools to secure independent advice and guidance, as set out in the 2011 Education Act, improves the range of information given to pupils.

Joy Mercer, director of education policy at the AoC, said: “We can see from this initial study that there is a long way to go to ensure all pupils have access to information about the post-GCSE options available to them, including apprenticeships and other vocational options.

“In giving young people access to the widest possible range of information about their post-16 choices we make sure the right students are on the right courses, improve success rates, help tackle youth unemployment, minimise the number of sixth form drop-outs and save the taxpayer money.

There’s never been a more important time for young people to have access to high quality, impartial guidance.”

“So we welcome the new duty on schools to provide impartial and informed careers advice, but we’re putting a marker in the sand now.

“We will see whether the situation improves later in the year after the guidance which accompanies the new Education Act comes into force.”

However, Mr Lightman was disappointed to find that schools had not been consulted when the survey was conducted.

He said: “It only shows one side.

“Schools will have a perspective and many schools are trying very hard to find the right level of impartiality and work well with their local colleges.”

Mr Lightman also revealed the ASCL is currently working with the AoC on a “guidance document” for school and college leaders which will “highlight the best practice” for both parties. The document is due to be published in mid-April.

He said: “There’s never been a more important time for young people to have access to high quality, impartial guidance.

“It’s very important that both schools and colleges work together in the interests of young people. Where things aren’t working well, we think the solution is for the schools and the colleges to work together to find the best way to work with this.”

He added: “The new requirement will not make it easy for schools. There are still many uncertainties about what will be available.”

New College Swindon principal Graham Taylor said his college is “generally barred from presenting to and interviewing pupils” at some schools and academies with their own sixth forms because they are seen as “a major threat” in their area.

He said: “This is unfair on students, who should have the freedom of choice to move on at 16.

“Making an informed choice implies freedom of access and information. This is simply not the case in many parts of the country.

“We would welcome any government intervention which would help the learner obtain the information, advice and guidance they need about all available options.

“If Ministers are keen on competition they should encourage a level-playing field.”

Gordon Marsden MP, the shadow minister for FE, described the survey as “a wake-up call to government, emphasising how much more the  Department for Education has to do to make IAG a reality for all students post-11” in any setting.

He said: “It’s crucial for personal fulfilment, economic growth and successful access to apprenticeships that more young people have proper vocational pathways available to them.

“The failure of ministers to put dedicated funding into support will inevitably blight the impact of the new All-Age Careers Service about to be introduced.

“The government needs to listen urgently to the warnings of career professionals and those who teach secondary students in all settings and give both encouragement and proper funding to them in the new careers set-up.”

WW II veteran visits Chesterfield College

World War II veteran Frank Stone, who was based in the very camp where the infamous Great Escape took place, visited Chesterfield College to pass on his experiences to today’s younger generation.

Hundreds of students from the college’s sport and public services directorate were glued to Frank’s presentation, which included him passing round actual objects from the Great Escape itself including a compass fashioned from melted vinyl records. At only 18 years of age himself when he was shot down on just his second bombing mission in 1940, Frank ended up in the infamous Sagan Stalagluft III and was billeted in a hut from which one of the three tunnels, Tom, Dick and Harry, were dug from.

Frank said: “It’s important to pass on my experiences to the younger generation so they know exactly what happened at camps such as Stalagluft III.”

Tim Binns, curriculum manager for public services at the college added: “Frank’s talks were amazing, the students were completely gobsmacked by the remarkable achievements made at Stalagluft III against all the odds.”

Doncaster College student streaks ahead

A hairdressing student at Doncaster College has opened her own salon.

Clair Neal is the proud owner of Refresh Hair Salon in Dunscroft and she has taken on five members of staff; four of whom are ex-students.

Pat Meadows, assistant principal external partnerships and employer engagement at the college officially opened the salon last month.

Clair began on a NVQ level 1 hairdressing course in 2009 and has progressed to Level 3.

While on Level 2, she picked up a student of the year award for her outstanding dedication, supporting her classmates and charity work.

She took advice from the Doncaster Chamber of Commerce on opening her own business and made a business plan and followed it through.

Her husband, Richard, worked really hard in helping Clair to get the salon ready in time, so Clair took the opportunity, at the opening, to thank him and renew her vows by proposing to him, 19 years after they first tied the knot.

Plague tale retold by Sheffield College students

The devastating impact of the plague on the Derbyshire village of Eyam has been retold by Sheffield College drama students.

Thirteen learners, mainly first years, performed Eyam the musical at Norton College’s drama theatre earlier this month.

The plague was brought to Eyam in 1665 when a travelling tailor brought a parcel of cloth from London. It contained fleas that caused the plague.

Led by the rector William Mompesson, the village decided to cut itself off from the outside world. The self-imposed quarantine ensured the plague did not spread.

Jo Beadle, drama lecturer, said: “We’ve created a musical based on the true story of what happened in Eyam. Three quarters of villagers died.”

She added: “Students have to learn, rehearse and perform this play within a week – an exciting assignment unique to our foundation degree course.

“It’s a major challenge but it helps them to understand the deadlines often experienced professionally.”