‘Neet’ young people hits record second quarter high

The number of 18 to 24 year-olds currently not in employment, education or training (Neet) has shot up to 18.4% in England.

The figure, taken from April to June of this year, is the highest second quarter recorded by the Department of Education since 2006.

Almost a million young people (979,000) aged between 16 and 24 are considered Neet in the latest Labour Force Survey.

This figure is set to increase even further in the next few months when many school, college and university courses finish.

Despite these increases the numher of Neet young people aged 16 to 18 fell throughout the second quarter.

This is partly because of the government’s continued efforts to keep young people in education or training.

Conversely the number of 19 to 24-year-olds considered Neet has reached a high of 19.1%.

These findings join the recent figures from the Office for National Statistics, which show that youth unemployment for 16 to 24-year olds has risen from 20% to 20.2% in the three months leading up to June.

Adult education ‘campaigner-in-chief’ hands over the helm at NIACE

It is an honour to be able to pay tribute to Alan Tuckett, who retired from the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education on Wednesday after serving 23 years as its Chief Executive after an inspiring career in our sector.

Professor Tuckett’s journey in adult education began in the mid-70s as a lecturer in Brighton where, after a decision by the Leader of the Council to abolish spending on informal learning, our sector’s campaigner-in-chief fought his first of many battles to defend public spending in adult learning.

But it was in 1988, after serving as one of FE’s youngest Principal’s, when Alan took to the helm of NIACE, where Alan would embark on a mission which would see him, and his organisation, become the epicentre for campaigning for the right to learning for millions of adults across the country.

Over the years, Alan’s passion and dedication has been one of the few constants in further education tallying up a series of impressive wins. Not least amongst these creating Adult Learners’ Week, which puts the spotlight on adult learners, teachers and providers to showcase and celebrate the lifechanging power adult education can wield – now in its 20th year.

It is clear that few in education have left a legacy more laudable, more important or more powerful than the one Alan Tuckett leaves behind this week.”

Under Alan’s stewardship, NIACE has become the authoritative voice in Parliament, and elsewhere, on adult education and particularly the unindulged area of informal learning. It is in no small part down to Alan’s leadership at NIACE that has meant that when budgets across the public sector faced unprecedented cuts in spending, that the Adult Safeguarded Learning budget maintained its budget of £210million; ensuring the vast opportunities that learning provides to millions of adults will continue. More recently, Alan was central to the campaign which last week led to the policy u-turn allowing all ESOL learners seeking work full fee remission regardless of benefits status.

Today, David Hughes, formally Provider Services Director at the Skills Funding Agency , takes over at NIACE while Alan says he plans to, “practise more of what I preach – engaging in learning as a teacher and student, and to step back from organiser to supporter of NIACE’s work.” But what is our loss is the International Council for Adult Education’s gain, where Alan was elected to serve as President until 2015; the first European to hold this office.

They say the most powerful thing you can do as a leader is leave a legacy. It is clear that few in education have left a legacy more laudable, more important or more powerful than the one Alan Tuckett leaves behind this week. For this Alan, you are hereby inducted into the FE Week Hall of Fame and, for us, a #FEhero.

Shane Chowen was until recently the Vice President of FE at the NUS and is now an FE Consultant

The SFA’s qualified accounts, colleges and red tape

Over the summer the annual accounts of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) were published (click here). If anyone was interested in them, they would have read that these accounts were qualified by the SFA’s auditors – the National Audit Office. While generally in life qualifications are something to be sought, qualified accounts are a bad (and unusual) thing.

The National Audit Office judged in its qualified audit opinion: “the financial statements do not give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Skills Funding Agency and its subsidiaries as at 31 March 2011”

The auditors believed that financial reporting standards required that the SFA should have “consolidated” the accounts of further education colleges as “subsidiaries” into the agency’s own accounts because the SFA has control over colleges. (That control is in the form of the borrowing consents which otherwise independent corporation have to seek.)

The SFA declined to do this given the practical challenges of incorporating the accounts of every FE college for the year to 31 March 2011 – a task further complicated by colleges accounting to the 31 July each year on the basis of a different set of reporting standards.

Does any of this matter? Not too much in itself – but it does highlight a wider issue and a potential threat.

In his report on Internal Control, Geoff Russell, as SFA’s chief executive’s noted how the accounting treatment of colleges poses an “unexpected risk” threatening “to contradict the Government’s simplification and cost reduction policy”. This arises both from international financial reporting standards and from last October’s designation of colleges as public sector bodies by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In terms of cost-benefit analysis, there is no benefit to colleges from such a return to balance the cost.”

While Geoff Russell does not spell it out, what that means in practice is that in the future FE colleges might be asked to provide the information necessary for the SFA to consolidate all those figures into its own accounts. This would mean a Spring return in addition to the Finance Record and the Financial Plan returns. Inevitably there is a compliance cost for colleges as well as a resource required at the SFA where presumably a shrinking staff could be doing something more useful than chasing accounts and crunching numbers. In terms of cost-benefit analysis, there is no benefit to colleges from such a return to balance the cost.

Similar issues are posed for Sixth Form Colleges although the ONS classification treated them as local government bodies as, until the Education Bill becomes law, councils grant borrowing consent. That difference meant that the Young People’s Learning Agency avoided the embarrassment of qualified accounts (click here).

The DfE and BIS are promising to deal with these issues but the promised “freedoms” may not be enough to remove threat of some more new red tape.

Bob Deed is a financial consultant in the college sector tweeting as @deedconsulting

U-turn on ESOL funding clarified by the Skills Funding Agency

The Skills Funding Agency has confirmed that all unemployed learners, including those on ESOL courses, who are both on an income related benefit and seeking work will continue to be fully funded in 2011/ 2012.

In response to a request from the AoC for greater clarity, the SFA said: “The Agency has received a number of requests for clarification following the announcement of increased flexibility for state benefit claimants, who are unemployed and need skills training to help them enter work.

“The Agency confirms that ALL learners in this group will be eligible for full funding, at the discretion of the provider. This provides the flexibility for the same range of learning aims available to those in receipt of Job Seeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Work Related Activity Group), including ESOL.”

FE Week is currently seeking further clarification with regards to the exact eligible benefits and whether dependants of those on said benefits will continue to be fully funded.

Fish and chips go bigger and batter at Bournemouth & Poole College

Young apprentice chefs from Bournemouth & Poole College cooked up a colossal fish 6ft long and 2ft wide on Wednesday.

The team had 24 hours to prepare the dish along with some 3ft long chips and a giant plant pot holding mushy peas.

The fish was created at the college by joining 45 pieces of coley together with a special edible glue, before it was then battered and fried in a giant industrial fryer.

The team, led by apprentice chef manager Barry Dawson and colleague Gary Kilminster, were competing in a TV show called “The Monster Munchies” presented by Matt Dawson and set to be broadcast later this year.

It’s been said that the college team has been plotting how to produce the colossal fish and chip dish for weeks.

Holidaymakers, shoppers and Dorset locals were able to try the super sized meal in Bournemouth Square – complete with classic condiments such as salt, vinegar and ketchup.

Previous episodes of “The Monster Munchies” has produced pork pies the size of a small car, Welsh Rarebit in the shape of Wales and giant cream teas.

Unreachable targets put the Work Programme at risk of collapse

Almost every organisation involved in delivering the Work Programme is at risk of having their contract terminated because of unachievable performance targets set by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The Social Market Foundation (SMF), a think tank which came up with the idea for the Work Programme, said that the entire scheme could fail unless there is an urgent rethink of the performance criteria.

An analysis by the SMF uses new data from the Labour’s back to work programme, the Flexible New Deal (FND), to forecast the probable performances of organisations involved in the scheme.

The analysis, which looked at the Government’s mininmum performance levels for putting adult jobseekers back into the work, found that over 90% of Work Programme providers will be at risk of having their contracts terminated by DWP after year three of the programme.

“The future of this vital employment scheme hangs in the balance,” said Ian Mulheirn, Director of the SMF. “The programme aims to get some of the hardest to reach people off benefits and into work, but past performance shows that providers will be unable to meet the criteria required of them by the DWP.

“The Government has warned that it will terminate the contracts of providers who cannot deliver these minimum levels, but has set these minimum levels almost impossibly high. This threatens to create huge instability in the programme.”

The Work Programme will put approximately one in four adult clients on Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) into work, a rate significantly lower than the DWP’s expectations for minimum performance.

This under-performance means that funding per jobseeker will be significantly less than anticipated, thereby threatening the financial viability of providers.

Other findings showed that providers will undershoot Government predictions for what would happen if there was no welfare to work scheme at all.

This would have potentially dire consequences for the back to work scheme, which aims to help 2.4 million people who are currently in long term unemployment.

‘Apprenticeships need to be marketed better’ say training providers

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) says that not enough employers understand the financial benefits of apprenticeships.

The body wants the government’s National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) to create a new marketing campaign that emphasises why businesses cannot afford to not invest in apprenticeships.

Paul Warner, AELP’s director of employment and skills, said: “To help meet demand from young people, we want to see a renewed marketing push by the government’s National Apprenticeship Service to target the thousands of employers who have never employed an apprentice and explain why it makes sound business sense for them to do so.”

The association, which represents the training organisations that produce 75% of apprentices in England, is urging NAS to work with providers and persuade more businesses that apprenticeships are an important investment for the future.

AELP says that with one in five young people unable to find work at the moment, the current situation is limiting the number of students that are being offered places once they leave school.

Paul Warner added: “2011 has undoubtedly been a challenging year for training providers in trying to encourage employers to take on more young people as apprentices.

“Therefore we have to be careful not to raise unrealistic expectations among young people who are receiving their GCSE results this week that an apprenticeship place is automatically there for them if they want it.”

AELP has welcomed the government’s investment in apprenticeships, but is concerned with the latest figures that show starts for people over 25 (121,000 in the first 9 months of 2010/2011) outstripping those between 16-18 (102,900) and 19-24 (102,800).

The association added that the Work Programme’s chances of success, which were criticised earlier this week by the Social Market Foundation, would be boosted if the currently separate welfare-to-work agenda and the apprenticeship-focused skills agenda were merged into a single system of provision.

They concluded that sustainable employment in Britain could only be achieved by producing joined-up policy similar to those being rolled out by AELP members.

 

FE Week visits South Thames College for A Level results day

Thousands of students across the country picked up their A Level results yesterday by visiting their sixth form or college.

FE Week went to South Thames College on the big day in order to speak to some of the learners and staff about their achievements.

Merton 6th Form at South Thames College has announced record levels of success this year, with overall pass rates staying consistently high at 97%. High grades (A-C) in particular increased to 72%, up from 63% the previous year.

Robert Hobbs, Head of A Levels at the College said: “We are very pleased with the continued success of our A Level students. This excellent set of results, at a time of ever increasing competition for university places, will ensure our students can go to their university of choice.”

FE Week spoke to a range of students about their grades, how they reacted to them and what they plan to do next.

Ofsted calls for government review on post-16 arrangements

Young people with learning difficulties and disabilities are not receiving adequate support as they progress to further education, according to an Ofsted report published today.

The report, called ‘Progression post-16 for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities’, found that the opportunities for young people to learn beyond school varies dramatically across the country.

Ofsted is recommending that the Department for Education, alongside the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) review the arrangements for transition from school to the post-16 sector, as well as consider the introduction of national programmes for extended workplace learning.

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Miriam Rosen, said: “Decisions about the best kind of provision for individuals should be based on their individual needs. Young people need to be provided with meaningful programmes that enable them to progress to apprenticeships, employment, greater independence, further learning or community engagements.”

Ofsted concludes that there is insufficient provision available for learners with the highest level of need, and that the current placement system causes unfair and inconsistent support for other learners with similar needs.

The most effective provision, such as social enterprises and internships supported by job coaches, were found to be incapable of funding under the current foundation learning arrangements.

Ofsted inspectors visited 32 different colleges and learning providers in order to evaluate the arrangements for transition from school and the opportunities that were offered to learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

They found that many providers of post-16 learning were concerned that the design of foundation learning, introduced in September 2010, offers too few practical and real work opportunities.

The discrete foundation programmes that were reviewed by Ofsted failed to enable learners to progress to open or supported employment, independent living or community engagement.

The most effective provision, such as social enterprises and internships supported by job coaches, were found to be incapable of funding under the current foundation learning arrangements.

Ofsted also concluded that the learning difficulty assessments provided by local authorities were ineffective for moving learners to post-16 provision.

The research uncovered that education providers received learning difficulties assessments for only a third of eligible students.

These assessments were not always on time or completed to an adequate standard, thereby making it difficult to plan support.

In many of the examples seen by Ofsted inspectors, the criteria used for placement decisions were not always clear, local options were not thoroughly explored and the recommendations were not always based on an objective assessment of need.

All of the post-16 providers did however have their own systems to provide learners with an initial assessment.

These procedures were freestanding though and were not integrated with local authorities’ arrangements for learning difficulty assessments.