College’s traineeship learners worked illegal hours, DfE audit finds

Hundreds of young adults on security and rail traineeships were made to work illegal hours, a government investigation into a college subcontracting debacle has found.

Strode College is currently negotiating a “substantial” clawback with the Department for Education after an extended audit identified breaches of two funding rules. The issue threatens to drop the college’s financial health from ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate’.

The investigation spans the three academic years between 2019/20 to 2021/22 when the college received around £7.5 million and subcontracted it out to other training providers to deliver traineeships.

Principal John Revill, who discovered the blunder on the first day of the job when he joined in June 2022, described it as a “technical breach” which occurred due to weak subcontracting oversight processes in place under the former leadership.

He is clear that this wasn’t intentional fraud, all learners were real, and the majority had good outcomes that led to employment.

Katy Quinn was principal of Strode College between 2017 and 2022, before she left to lead the newly merged City of Portsmouth College. Quinn and Portsmouth College did not respond to requests for comment from FE Week.

Revill said he is currently weighing up whether to take action against the training providers the college subcontracted to, including by demanding they repay the funding they received. The providers remain unnamed at this stage.

Traineeships were introduced in 2013 as a flagship pre-employability programme but were scrapped this year as a standalone qualification amid years of low starts. The course involves pre-employment training and unpaid work placements from six weeks to one year for eligible 16 to 24-year-olds.

Under government rules, all elements of the programme, including work placement, are subject to a maximum of 35 hours activity each week to “meet the requirements of state benefit rules”.

Revill told FE Week a “good chunk” of the college’s traineeship learners were working up to 50 hours a week in the security and rail industries.

“They were doing consecutive days without a break and working over Christmas,” he said.

Revill said the government’s investigation also found rail traineeship learners working on unofficial railway lines, which is against funding rules. The learners were working on steam and recreational lines, for example, but because they were not official British Rail (Network Rail) lines they were deemed ineligible, the principal explained.

In his first week in the job Revill put a stop to subcontracting at the college, and five senior leaders who were involved in traineeship provision at a decision-making level have now left the organisation. A new chair is also in place, as well as a vice chair.

He said: “This was a technical breach of the rules, which should have been spotted. But I’m struggling to see where that would have been picked up with the processes that were in place at the time.

“Within traineeships, it’s a binary funding system, so if you breach any elements of it, you lose the entire funding, which is where it can rack up to be quite significant clawback.”

Revill said the learners the college works with are mostly “extremely disadvantaged young people in London”, some of whom are ex-offenders, ex-gang members and rehabilitating drug users. He claimed that 75 per cent of the traineeship learners moved into permanent employment in 2021/22, which is a “fantastic thing”.

“This is why it’s a technical breach, my mitigation is that we’ve met policy intent.”

The government published a financial notice to improve for Strode College last month after discovering the misuse of funding, which also explains why the college is yet to publish accounts for 2021/22.

Its financial statements for 2020/21 show the college recorded 1,264 students undertaking traineeships, a big increase from 467 the year prior.

According to those accounts, the college had ‘outstanding’ financial health after it returned a cash operating surplus of £1.58 million.

Strode College is now due a visit from the FE Commissioner’s team.

Revill said it is “too early to say” just how badly the clawback will impact the college. “We’re financially robust, we have money in the bank, but if the debt is a significant debt, then that would be a different conversation,” he warned.

He added that the fiasco “is a distraction and it really is business as usual for the college”.

Ex-college principal banned from education

The principal of the first college to be put in administration has agreed to never work in the education sector again, FE Week can reveal.

In what is thought to be a sector first, Paul Hannan (pictured right) will be fined £250,000 if he breaches the ban which has been imposed following a three-year investigation by BDO, the liquidators for both Hadlow and West Kent and Ashford Colleges.

However, a secret deal has been struck between his deputy Mark Lumsdon-Taylor (pictured left) and BDO that keeps the details of his “undertaking” under wraps. Lumsdon-Taylor, who appears to have already agreed to pay £5,000, will be forced to pay further compensation if he breaches this confidential agreement, and on that basis the liquidators have withdrawn all claims against him in full.

Both leaders of the Hadlow Group resigned in 2019 after applying for emergency funding from the government to keep the colleges open, as Hadlow had run up £40 million in debts, while WKAC owed over £100 million.

The college entered the new education administration process later that year and were moved into liquidation in August 2022. Top Department for Education civil servants previously revealed how the process has cost the taxpayer around £60 million, with a “gut-wrenching” £6 million spent on administrators’ fees alone.

Hundreds of staff lost their jobs and thousands of students had to be moved to other colleges.

The government’s Insolvency Service has been investigating the conduct of the former leaders of the Hadlow Group since the catastrophe unfolded, but it concluded last year that “no further action” should be taken.

However, liquidators BDO have also been investigating the former directors and came to a different outcome.

A recently published creditors’ report states that the joint liquidators “undertook detailed investigations for over three years and intimated claims against Mr Paul Hannan in a letter before action”.

Hannan “disputed liability regarding the claims” and a “full and final settlement was reached on commercially acceptable grounds without any admission of specific liability”.

The settlement required an undisclosed “nominal initial payment”, which was received by the liquidators.

A “further payment of £250,000 in the event of breach of Mr Hannan’s personal undertaking not to take a position in the education sector as a trustee, director, governor, principal, manager, consultant and/or employee,” the report added.

It means that while Hannan has not received an outright directors’ ban from the Insolvency Service, he has been barred from working for another college.

FE Week could not reach Hannan for comment.

‘It’s right that those responsible are held to account’

Lumsdon-Taylor “strenuously disputed all liability”, according to the same BDO report, which revealed his settlement required an initial nominal payment of £5,000.

Lumsdon-Taylor has also “given an undertaking to the joint liquidators” but this is “subject to confidentiality provisions between the parties”.

In the event of a breach, Lumsdon-Taylor will “pay compensation and on that basis the joint liquidators have withdrawn all the claims in full”, the report said.

Responding to the report, a representative for Lumsdon-Taylor told FE Week: “The Hadlow College compulsory liquidation notice confirms that the joint liquidators have withdrawn all claims against Mark J Lumsdon-Taylor unequivocally and in full. This reconfirms our position that there was no case to answer for any ‘claims’ reported or otherwise stated. This matter is concluded.”

Lumsdon-Taylor refused to share any details about the undertaking he has agreed with the liquidators.

The Hadlow and West Kent insolvencies were the first carried out under the laws passed in 2017 which created a special administration regime for colleges.

Julian Gravatt, deputy chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said he is “fairly sure” that this is the first case in which liquidators have “agreed restrictions with former college employees”.

Gravatt said the insolvencies were “exceptional cases in a sector where leaders have an impressive track record of professionalism and skills at leading and managing complex organisations with great probity and integrity”.

“Where things go seriously wrong, it’s right that there are investigations and that those with responsibility are held to account for their actions,” he added.

The liquidators’ fees are different to the £6 million charges paid during the education administration process. BDO’s report reveals the joint liquidators have also racked up remuneration costs of more than £200,000 between August 2022 and August 2023, at an average rate of £175 per hour.

Significantly reduced hourly rates have however been agreed for this work between BDO and DfE. For example, standard charge out rates for a BDO partner ranges between £869 to £994 per hour, discounted to £320 for DfE, and for the £1,304 per hour rate for the BDO tax department has been discounted to £221 per hour.

The process and costs could drag on for years, with the creditors’ report revealing they may need to wait until 2026 for the college’s land at Court Lane to be sold. This is due to a “pre-emption agreement” which currently requires the land to be offered to a third party before it can be sold on the open market.

BDO said it could not provide any further detail than what is already included in its report.

‘Risk averse’ colleges avoid skills bootcamps

Complex funding models, administrative burdens, and a risk averse attitude have kept most colleges away from skills bootcamps, an FE Week investigation has found.

Data shared exclusively with this publication shows that 68 per cent of England’s FE colleges have not dipped into the flagship government programme, despite their close links with local employers arguably making them an ideal fit.

Of that 68 per cent, just 17 per cent plan to launch skills bootcamps by 2025.

The government is dishing out around £600 million to fund the programmes, designed to quickly get people into employment in skills shortage areas, both nationally and in mayoral combined authorities between 2020 and 2025. There were over 16,000 bootcamps starts in 2021-22, which rose to over 40,000 in 2022-23.

Most bootcamps are run by independent training providers. It mirrors the situation in apprenticeships where colleges deliver less than a fifth of starts annually despite repeated ministers urging them to stop letting private providers “nick your lunch” in this space since 2015.

Teresa Frith, senior skills policy manager at the Association of Colleges, which conducted the survey of members on their bootcamps involvement, told FE Week the Department for Education has showed “an eagerness for an expansion of the programme across all provider types”.

However, a different financial model, high administrative burden and scheduling uncertainties all make the policy less inviting to colleges, with many calling on the government to shake up the system.

Frith said colleges are “not risk takers” and “don’t tend to jump in with both feet” when new government programmes are rolled out.

“They’re closer to the public purse, in comparison to commercially minded organisations, and are reticent to take the same level of risk as other organisations,” she told FE Week.

“They’re looking at risk versus need for community rather than risk versus profit. If you’re looking at it from that perspective, then it’s quite a risky programme to bring it in as its brand new.”

The courses run for up to 16 weeks and are free to unemployed people, or where employed, their employer would pay a 30 per cent cash contribution.  

They are designed to offer flexible training for adults in careers in areas of national skills shortage, such as construction, manufacturing and digital. The bootcamps, based around levels 3 to 5, are also supposed to guarantee an interview with an employer.

College bosses said that while the flexibility of bootcamps can be an advantage, their design is very different to the traditional courses colleges run – many of which last for years and have a strict funding schedule.

Though Coventry College does deliver bootcamps and is set to increase its range, Gemma Knott, its vice principal for business growth, engagement and partnerships, said they are “very difficult to plan” around standard college courses.

“Traditionally, colleges’ curriculum planning process can be quite protracted and they run on a 12-month curriculum planning process,” she said – while staff are often hired to teach all year round.

When different programmes come around, finding in-demand teachers for short programmes can be trickier. On top of that, the funding is much more “reactive”, meaning that it also does not fit the general funding approach of colleges.

For Knott, that whole process is made much easier if colleges set up a standalone commercial company to deal with bootcamps.

Providers can bid for bootcamps funding through central government, or through mayoral combined authorities. The trouble is that the different contracting authorities have different contracting processes.

Emma Taylor, director of business development and major projects at Suffolk New College, argued tendering skills bootcamps to colleges via combined authorities or local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) is a better way to go – rather than tendering directly from the government.

But she also pointed to the funding model of skills bootcamps as a barrier to colleges.

Bootcamp funding is paid in three instalments: after learners have completed the first week or two of their training, after they have completed their skills bootcamp and have been offered an interview, and after they have got an outcome from their bootcamp and got a job.

That third payment can be paid up to six months after the end of the bootcamp, and is 30 per cent of the whole package.

A college leader who did not wish to be named argued that proves it is “a risk”.

“You have to put all that resource in, but what happens if there is a change with the employer, and suddenly they no longer need that staff and you invested all this money. You could be left quite exposed.”

Knott, from Coventry College, also pointed to a lack of funding to cover travel costs and DBS checks, for instance. The lack of support for those costs means that colleges often need to dip into their own pockets. Funds to cover that, she argued, could also boost uptake among colleges.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We encourage colleges to engage with local areas to prepare for skills bootcamps delivery, and we’re engaging with colleges to learn from and enhance their involvement in skills bootcamps delivery.”

Half of colleges set to strike abandon action

At least half of all the colleges braced for a three-day strike next week have reached pay deals with their staff to stop the action.

Of the 30 colleges which had strikes scheduled for three days,15 called off the strikes by the end of play today (see list below).

Staff at the remaining 15 colleges will strike from Tuesday November 14 to Thursday November 16 – which comes just after the GCSE resit series but during the Association of Colleges annual conference.

The University and College Union would not disclose the agreed paid packages at the colleges, but said that they had agreed packages of at least 6.5 per cent – which is equal to the pay uplift recommendation made by the AoC in September.

When it first announced the national strike, the UCU said it had already settled disputes at 15 additional colleges after staff got offered pay rises of up to 8.5 per cent.

The UCU initially balloted 89 colleges for strike action this term, and 14 voted at the time to settle their disputes. Ballots at 43 colleges meanwhile failed to hit the 50 per cent turnout threshold required by law.

Meanwhile, responding to the strikes, Virginia Barrett, principal at Farnborough College of Technology, said she was “befuddled by this national slur on the college’s reputation”.

In an open letter to college staff, she said Farnborough College had made “significant efforts to reward staff above annual inflationary rates and above national recommendations from AoC’s negotiations with UCU”. In 2022/23, she claimed that the college had increased pay by 10 per cent, above the national inflation rate of 9.07 per cent.

She also said it had paid an “exceptional bonus” after it retained its outstanding Ofsted rating, and to support staff through the cost-of-living crisis. On top of that she said it was “amongst few colleges” to introduce the real living wage in 2021/22. Staff at the college are set to strike next week.

Last month, Jo Grady, general secretary at the UCU – who is running for reelection – called on all other colleges to “make staff a meaningful offer”.

“Any that refuse will be hit with strike action,” she said.

‘Non-evaluators’ downgraded AEB tender score, LCG claim

An adult education budget procurement bid from a major group of training providers was “unlawfully” downgraded by mysterious “non-evaluators”, it has been alleged.

New court documents filed by Learning Curve Group (LCG) and seven of its subsidiary training companies bring new allegations to light in their battle for damages and a re-run of the government’s latest £75 million AEB tender.

This latest twist comes as LCG this week refiled its claims against the Education and Skills Funding Agency following sight of voluntary disclosure material from the agency.

Learning Curve Group launched its High Court legal challenge in August. They were one of several high-profile providers not to secure a contract in the ESFA’s latest national adult education budget procurement. 

The case rests on a row over Learning Curve’s Q1B1 submission – a template for bidders’ mobilisation and delivery plan which the DfE said should have included forecasts for training courses and learner numbers. A strict two-page limit was in place on the template, and bidders needed to score of at least 75 (good) to be considered.

Learner volume forecasts were also required in a separate volumes template. 

Under the procurement guidance, technical questions like Q1B1 are marked by two individual evaluators. Their scores are then reviewed by a moderator who brings the two evaluators together to agree on “consensus scores” for each question. 

Department for Education lawyers argued that Learning Curve’s providers did not list the number of forecasted learners for each course, so they received a score of 50 for Q1B1, the DfE said.

Learning Curve claimed its response satisfied the criteria for a higher score and now say voluntary disclosure documents show the Agency’s procurement evaluators scored their Q1B1 submission as ‘very good’ – a score of 100.

LCG’s new claim suggests that not only did they score above the required threshold to be considered for a contract, but the final score they were awarded was actually determined by “non-evaluators,” therefore not following the consensus process, published criteria or evaluator guidance.

“The voluntary disclosure shows that the scores awarded to the claimants’ [LCG et al] responses to Q1B1 were not determined by the evaluators … The non-evaluators did not apply the published award criteria or the Defendant’s [ESFA’s] evaluator guidance,” an amended particulars of claim reads.

The voluntary disclosure documents also allege that the ESFA evaluated Q1B1 responses from different bidders “on an inconsistent and unequal basis.”

Defence documents filed by DfE lawyers last month denied LCG’s claim that a “reasonably well-informed and normally diligent tenderer” would evaluate Q1B1 alongside the volumes template, indicating that evaluators would not cross-reference between the two.

Following voluntary disclosure, LCG now alleges they’ve seen some cases where agency evaluators did factor in the volumes template.

“The voluntary disclosure shows that the defendant [ESFA] evaluate different bidders’ responses to Q1B1 on an inconsistent and unequal basis … the voluntary disclosure shows in evaluating some bidders’ responses the defendant did have regard to the volumes template,” LCG’s revised claim states.

LCG was not the only training provider to challenge their unsuccessful procurement outcome. 

Last month FE Week reported that Portland Training was awarded a £2.5 million AEB contract following an appeal.

A further defence from the DfE is expected next month.

Revealed: Colleges scoop £165m local skills improvement fund

Forty colleges will receive a slice of the government’s £165 million local skills improvement fund. 

Grants ranging from £2.4 million to £10 million have been announced to fund new facilities and the development of new courses to meet skills needs identified in new local skills improvement plans (LSIP).

Bids were headed up by a lead college, but had to be supported by other local providers and have the endorsement of the employer representative body, in most cases a chamber of commerce. 

The fund is split across two financial years; £80 million was made available for this financial year, split equally between revenue and capital. In 2024-25, £85 million is for capital only.

Bidding opened in May after first being proposed in the FE white paper in January 2021.

DfE approved the largest chunk of funding for Solihull College and University Centre and 19 neighbouring colleges, IoTs and universities. Backed by Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, £10.3 million has been awarded to address local skills needs in engineering and manufacturing, green construction and digital. 

Wigan and Leigh College and 18 Greater Manchester delivery partners won £8.5 million for projects boosting local skills provision in construction, digital, health and social care, engineering and manufacturing and green skills.

The green skills agenda features across the winning projects. 

For example, MidKent College in Kent will use some of its £5 million to build a new training facility for courses teaching retrofit energy efficiency measures, and renewable and sustainable energy solutions.

The new courses will cover a range of areas including thermal imaging, aerial survey and mapping and will utilise virtual reality capabilities to develop simulated engineering challenges, construction processes and techniques, supporting people to gain the skills needed to launch green careers. 

Simon Cook, principal and chief executive at MidKent College said: “We’re thrilled that construction and building services businesses across Kent & Medway will benefit from this investment in retrofit technology and training.

“We know from our conversations with employers that growing skills for sustainable construction practices and improving the energy efficiency of existing housing stock are priorities for the sector here in the Southeast.”

“We’re incredibly proud that this new facility will work seamlessly with our Home Energy Centre and Sustainable Construction Skills Factory at the heart of our Maidstone campus, and alongside our own efforts to make the campus carbon neutral by 2030.”

Secretary of state for education Gillian Keegan said: “This investment is about boosting local industries, building people’s skills and ultimately future-proofing our economy and the career prospects of the next generation.”

She added: “Our local skills projects will bring together regional organisations, businesses and education providers to respond to the specific needs of employers, building an increasingly skilled workforce and growing local economies.”

Here’s the full funding list:

Winners of the £165 million local skills improvement fund

Lead applicantFunding approvedArea
East Durham College£3,637,178North East
Northumberland College (City of Sunderland College)£2,500,000North of Tyne
Darlington College£2,498,970Tees Valley
Cheshire College South & West£2,500,000Cheshire and Warrington
Lakes College£2,499,989Cumbria
Wigan & Leigh College£8,488,967Greater Manchester
Myerscough College£4,450,145Lancashire
The City of Liverpool College£4,585,513Liverpool City Region
Bishop Burton College£2,499,999Hull and East Yorkshire
Barnsley College£4,257,817South Yorkshire
Calderdale College£6,978,048West Yorkshire
York College£2,500,000York and North Yorkshire
Nottingham College£6,604,099D2N2 (Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire)
TEC Partnership£3,547,293Greater Lincolnshire
Leicester College£3,067,331Leicester and Leicestershire
Milton Keynes College£5,208,930South-East Midlands
Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group£3,231,734Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire
Telford College£2,489,864The Marches
Solihull College and University Centre£10,304,523West Midlands
Kidderminster College (NCG)£2,451,994Worcestershire
Cambridge Regional College£2,498,880Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Harlow College£5,557,549Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock
West Herts College Group£3,106,962Hertfordshire
Suffolk New College£4,754,381New Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk)
New City College£6,734,535Central London Forward
London South East Colleges£6,540,771Local London
South Thames Colleges Group£1,205,140 
*The funding for this area is not finalised and is subject to change		South London Partnership
Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge College£4,775,102West London Alliance
Chichester College Group£4,548,009Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, West Sussex
Buckinghamshire College Group£2,457,409Buckinghamshire
Sparsholt College Hampshire£5,984,907Enterprise M3 LEP (including all of Surrey)
MidKent College£5,012,704Kent and Medway
Activate Learning£2,490,813Oxfordshire
Fareham College£2,416,479Solent
Activate Learning£2,495,195Thames Valley Berkshire
Truro and Penwith College£2,500,000Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
Bournemouth & Poole College£2,500,000Dorset
South Gloucestershire and Stroud College£2,500,000G First (Gloucestershire)
Bridgwater & Taunton College £5,061,145Heart of the South-West
Wiltshire College & Univesity Centre£2,500,000Swindon and Wiltshire
West of England Institute of Technology £2,981,196West of England and North Somerset

College principal confirmed as permanent Social Mobility Commission chair

College principal Alun Francis has been appointed as the permanent chair of the government’s Social Mobility Commission.

Francis, who leads Blackpool and the Fylde College, was named deputy chair of the commission in October 2021 and stepped in as interim chair at the start of this year after Britain’s so-called “strictest headteacher” Katharine Birbalsingh from Michaela Community School in London quit.

Alun Francis: ‘I believe FE can really contribute to social mobility’

Francis has been a notable figure in FE, having led Oldham College as principal since 2010, and then moving to head up Blackpool and the Fylde College this year.

He was also made an OBE in the Queen’s New Year 2021 Honours for his services to education.

The Social Mobility Commission is an advisory non-departmental body, sponsored by the Cabinet Office’s Equality Hub, which seeks to “create a country where the circumstances of someone’s birth do not determine their outcomes in life,” according to its website.

The role of chair pays £350 per day and its holder is required to work up to six days a month.

Francis’s appointment was approved minister for women and equalities Kemi Badenoch after a hearing conducted by the women and equalities select committee.

College principal to succeed Birbalsingh as social mobility chair

“I am pleased that Alun has now had his position confirmed and can continue with his important work as chair of the commission,” Badenoch said.

“The experience, knowledge and expertise he has gained through his work in education, as well as in the positions he has held at the Social Mobility Commission, will be vital to his work at the SMC as a champion of social mobility across the UK.”

Resham Kotecha and Rob Wilson will now serve as deputy chair on an interim job share basis.

Both Kotecha and Wilson have been working as commissioners at the non-departmental body since September 2022.

Kotecha is currently global head of policy at the Open Data Institute and is on the Government’s Smart Data Council. Wilson is a former MP and is chair of national wheelchair sports charity WheelPower.

Lee Owston to become Ofsted national director for education

Lee Owston has been named as the next national director for education at Ofsted.

The current deputy director for schools and education will take over when Chris Russell retires at the end of the year.

FE Week reported in September that Russell would retire after 17 years at Ofsted, and two in the national director role.

Owston, who has worked at the watchdog since 2013, temporarily served as national director of education for “several months” earlier this year, Ofsted said.

Since joining the inspectorate as an HMI, he has taken on several roles in the organisation, including as deputy director of schools inspection improvement.

Owston previously worked in senior leadership positions in schools and was a senior adviser for early education and primary schools for a local authority.

He was also a regional director for now defunct education programme The National Strategies, where he contributed to publications on English, phonics and assessment.

Chief inspector Amanda Spielman congratulated Owston, adding that: “I know that this will be a smooth transition given his extensive experience.  

“I also want to thank Chris Russell for his substantial contributions in his time at Ofsted, as national director, education, in his leadership of the post-lockdown inspection restart programme, as a regional director and as an inspector.”

The move comes at a time of upheaval for Ofsted, with Spielman also set to leave at the end of the year.

Sir Martyn Oliver has been confirmed as her successor.

We must move from availability to accessibility to end period inequality

Women and girls, including those who may not identify as female but as transgender or non-binary, are on average missing 20 days of education over the course of their college years due to their periods. The equivalent of four academic weeks, this is actually worse than before period equality schemes were put in force.

Our newest piece of research on the subject – the latest instalment in the longest-running research into educational absenteeism and periods in the UK – reveals that the key challenge is no longer one of availability but of access.

It’s without debate that significant progress has been made in making menstrual products more accessible by funding free access to them. In England alone, 99 per cent of secondary schools have ordered their quota of products since the scheme began. But our new statistics highlight issues getting products to girls and keeping girls in lessons. 

The reasons for this vary – but a compelling argument can be made that it’s because over half of students (54 per cent) did not find period products freely available in washrooms and a further one in ten did not know if they were available. We need to close this gap between providing colleges with all the products they need and getting them into the hands of the learners who need them.

As providers of these products to colleges, we know from our own data that they have more than enough for their girls. DfE data also shows that colleges are ordering the products. However, the products might not be reaching learners because they are not easily accessible. Well-meaning teams may not realise that limiting access to products effectively stigmatises learners who are forced to ask for them.

We know that in many settings products are being locked away in cupboards. We also know that many girls are too embarrassed to ask for them. This is where we need to take action, ensuring everyone can access the products they need when they need them.

Limiting access to products effectively stigmatises learners

More than half of girls surveyed (52 per cent) are still taking time off college due to their monthly cycle. Worryingly, the number of students who say they are likely to miss college over the next year due to their periods has soared to more than half (52 per cent).

To avoid any disruption to learning caused by periods, it is key to the success of this initiative for girls to be able to access products exactly when and where they need them in a stigma-free way. But beyond that, the most important thing we can do to make a tangible difference is to have open conversations and actively promote the period equality schemes that are available in colleges across the country.

It’s simply not enough to blame absenteeism figures on access to products alone. All of us including educators need more education, support and information about periods. That menstruation is still a hidden and unspoken reality for so many is leading to more and more girls to stay away from the classroom. An inclusive ethos demands that we do better for them.

To support this, we have recently launched a podcast, The Blobcast: Free the Period. It comes with resources for educators to give everyone more knowledge about their periods and to instigate open and honest conversations around menstruation. More than that, it tackles these issues in a light-hearted way – an important part of reducing stigma, normalising these conversations and thereby tackling the ongoing taboos around periods. 

I am incredibly proud of our work to highlight the issues faced by millions of girls. We remain as passionate and committed as ever to work with governments, local and  educators to deploy the necessary measures to ensure that period inequality becomes a thing of the past.

Women and girls cannow access free period products that will ensure their education is uninterrupted. Together, it’s on us to ensure they do. And that’s as much about education as it is about availability.