Safe to speak, ready to act: SaferSpace targets harassment and misconduct in education 

SaferSpace is a new digital reporting and governance platform launching across the education sector to meet today’s safeguarding and compliance demands. First developed in 2024 and refined in partnership with EducationScape, it’s built to support institutions in meeting the requirements of Ofsted, the Office for Students (OfS), the Prevent Duty, and Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE). SaferSpace brings everything together in one secure, accessible system – helping providers protect their communities and prove they’re doing it right. 

A safer, smarter way to report 

At its core, SaferSpace is a simple but powerful concept: an intuitive, secure platform where learners and staff can report concerns in confidence. Whether it’s bullying, discrimination, abuse, harassment or any other behaviour that compromises safety or dignity, SaferSpace ensures that no issue is left unheard. 

This is particularly vital when it comes to sexual harassment, which remains one of the most persistently underreported issues in education. A 2021 national review by Ofsted found that nearly 90% of girls in some secondary schools had experienced misogynistic language or unwanted sexual attention. In higher education, studies show that almost one in three female students report being subjected to inappropriate sexual behaviour during their studies – with many never disclosing it due to fear, shame, or a belief that nothing will be done. Staff are not exempt from these risks either, often facing similar barriers to speaking out. 

Apprentices, who navigate both the classroom and the workplace, are especially vulnerable. A Department for Education report revealed that many apprentices are not adequately informed about their rights or how to raise concerns – leading to harmful experiences being internalised and ignored. 

Too often, sexual harassment is allowed to persist in the shadows – not because institutions don’t care, but because they lack the tools, processes or confidence to respond effectively. Evidence shows that reports are frequently missed, mishandled or deprioritised, leaving individuals unsupported and behaviour unchallenged. 

SaferSpace removes these barriers. It offers a trusted, confidential route to report concerns – including anonymously – while providing clarity around what will happen next. By supporting early intervention, structured follow-up and consistent, transparent action, it allows institutions to take harm seriously and act decisively. It allows colleges, universities and training providers to demonstrate a culture of zero tolerance – not just in policy, but in day-to-day practice. 

Built for compliance and culture change 

Navigating the regulatory landscape can be complex. SaferSpace is designed to support FE and HE institutions in meeting their obligations, and going beyond them, across three key areas: 

  • Ofsted: Safeguarding remains a core focus of inspection. SaferSpace supports compliance by capturing detailed records, ensuring robust follow-up, and providing governance dashboards that demonstrate a proactive safeguarding culture. 
  • Office for Students (OfS): The OfS expects providers to prevent and address harassment and misconduct while strengthening the student voice. SaferSpace gives institutions a clear mechanism to show they are listening, acting, and continually improving. 
  • Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE): This statutory guidance sets out the legal duties for schools, colleges and providers to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people. SaferSpace supports compliance with KCSIE by providing a clear, confidential and accessible way for learners and staff to report concerns. It enables designated safeguarding leads (DSLs) to record, triage and manage disclosures in line with best practice, ensuring that no issue is missed, and that appropriate action is taken every time. 
  • Prevent Duty: Colleges and universities are expected to protect individuals from radicalisation and extremist influence. SaferSpace supports this by enabling early, confidential reporting of concerns, with clear pathways for triage and appropriate referral. 

By combining practical functionality with policy alignment, SaferSpace helps institutions not only meet their obligations, but build credibility and trust with inspectors, stakeholders and, most importantly, their communities. 

Developed by experts, informed by experience 

SaferSpace has been developed with input from safeguarding professionals, HR leads, legal experts, and individuals with lived experience of harassment and discrimination. The result is a platform that works across the full spectrum of educational settings and is sensitive to the realities of those most at risk. 

Its intuitive design ensures ease of use for both those raising concerns and those responsible for managing them. Reports are triaged securely and confidentially, aligned with internal safeguarding and HR policies, and tracked from submission to resolution, all in one place. SaferSpace also features a built-in chatbot aligned to the Equality Act, allowing staff and students to check whether their experience may constitute a breach of equality law or relate to one of the nine protected characteristics. This provides users with clarity and confidence, especially when dealing with complex or sensitive issues. 

Whether submitted anonymously or not, every report is taken seriously, enabling institutions to respond consistently and supportively. 

Oversight and accountability at every level 

For governors, senior leaders, designated safeguarding leads, safeguarding and HR teams, SaferSpace acts as a central hub for governance. Real-time dashboards provide a clear view of reporting activity, trends across campuses, case progress, and response times. 

This level of visibility helps institutions identify emerging issues, allocate support effectively, and demonstrate compliance with internal policies and external frameworks. In large or multi-campus institutes, where information can become siloed or inconsistent, SaferSpace offers a reliable, secure system of record. 

The impact: a culture of safety and trust 

SaferSpace supports the creation of environments where staff and learners alike are free from harm, harassment and intimidation, whether physical, psychological or digital. It sends a clear message: speaking up is supported, taken seriously, and leads to meaningful action. 

This is about more than safeguarding. It’s about establishing a baseline of safety and mutual respect, one where everyone knows inappropriate behaviour will be addressed, not ignored. 

By embedding SaferSpace into institutional culture, education providers can move from reactive to proactive, from firefighting issues to preventing them. 

Set the standard: join the first wave of SaferSpace adopters 

SaferSpace is launching across the education sector, with several early adopters preparing to roll out the platform in advance of the new academic year. Further education colleges, sixth forms, training providers and higher education institutions are all being invited to lead the way in transforming how safety, safeguarding and reporting are managed within their organisations. 

With growing scrutiny from regulators such as Ofsted, the Office for Students, and the statutory requirements under the Prevent Duty, both FE and HE institutions are expected to show that they can identify and respond to concerns quickly, fairly and consistently. SaferSpace is built to meet these expectations head-on, offering a unified platform that enables individuals to speak up, and equips institutions to take informed, accountable action. 

For universities, the platform supports evolving sector-wide efforts to address harassment, misconduct and wellbeing. For colleges and training providers, it offers a clear, centralised system for meeting inspection criteria, strengthening governance, and protecting both learners and staff. In every setting, it helps education providers demonstrate a culture where safety is embedded, not assumed, and where accountability and care go hand in hand. 

By adopting SaferSpace, institutions can demonstrate sector leadership, set a new benchmark for compliance and transparency, and take proactive steps toward creating environments where everyone can learn and work free from harm. 

Learn more 

SaferSpace is now open for demo bookings and early implementation planning. To find out more, visit www.saferspace.io, or speak directly with our team. 

Because every member of your community deserves to feel safe. And every institution deserves the tools to make that possible. 

Immigration white paper: What it means for FE and skills

Ministers are set to significantly increase the tax rate on the Immigration Skills Charge and enforce stricter English speaking rules on migrants, it was announced today.

A new levy is also on the cards for higher education providers’ income from international students with funds raised “to be reinvested into the higher education and skills system”.

The proposals were laid out in a government white paper that aims to “restore control” over the immigration system.

Prime minister Keir Starmer claimed this morning that his government “will end the chronic underinvestment in domestic skills that has hindered economic growth” to reduce reliance on migrant workers.

The white paper pointed out that England’s economy has been “distorted by perverse incentives to import workers rather than invest in our own skills”, going on to name sectors like engineering where “apprenticeships have almost halved while visas doubled”.

It added: “At a time when skills matter more than ever to the economy and people’s employment prospects, there has been a long-term lack of coordination or investment to deliver the skills and capabilities our economy needs. Alongside this, training by employers has fallen, and investment in adult education has been cut.”

The words come as the Department for Education plans to cut its adult skills fund budget by about 3.7 per cent in 2025-26.

Here are the key policies from today’s white paper that impact the skills sector:

Immigration Skills Charge to rise by 32%

The government will increase the tax employers have to pay to bring in workers from abroad by nearly a third.

The Home Office brought in the immigration skills charge (ISC) in April 2017 to “incentivise” the training of British workers and income raised would be directed towards programmes that “address skills gaps” in the UK workforce.

Receipts from the charge have exponentially grown every year and have brought in a more than £1.5 billion of funding.

The white paper said that the ISC has not been increased or “subject to a comprehensive policy review since its introduction”.

Labour therefore said it would therefore increase the tax by 32 per cent for the first time, to bring ISC rates in line with inflation.

Small businesses or charities will now have to pay £480, up from £364 for the first 12 months of hiring a migrant, and then £240 (originally £182) extra every additional six months.

Medium to large “sponsors” will now pay in £1,320 for the first year, up from £1,000, and £660 for the subsequent six months, up from £500.

“The immigration system must be linked to skills and training requirements here in the UK, so that no industry is allowed to rely solely on immigration to fill its skills shortages,” the paper said.

The white paper added that ISC funding will be used at the upcoming spending review to “support skills funding for priority sectors” that will upskill UK workers and “reduce reliance on migration in the medium term”.

A previous FE Week investigation found the government could not specify how it was meeting its pledge to reinvest the income from the tax into the upskilling programme.

It is not clear when the new ISC charging rate will come into force.

Stricter rules for language proficiency

People wanting to move to the UK will be required to speak a better level of English under new rules outlined in the white paper.

The new requirements will require skilled workers and dependants to have higher language levels if they wish to apply for a visa or settle in the country.

According to the whitepaper, cross government work will make it “easier” for people needing additional help to access classes, but those wishing to extend their stay in the country must also show “improvements over time”.

There was however no mention of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teaching in the white paper.

It said: “Those who wish to build their lives in the UK need to learn to speak and understand English so they can integrate into life in this country by getting a job or improving their prospects at work, accessing and making good use of local services, becoming part of community life and contributing to society.”

Currently, skilled workers must have a B1, or ‘intermediate’, level of English to gain a visa. This requirement will be increased to B2, or’ upper-intermediate’ – the fourth of six levels used to measure a person’s language skills.

For the first time all adult dependants of workers and students will need to show level A1, the most basic level of proficiency, if they want to stay in the UK.

Anyone wishing to extend their visa must show they have progressed to A2, the second level, or to B2 if they wish to settle permanently.

Citing 2021 census data, the government argues good language skills are linked to people being in full time and higher skilled worked. 

The paper argues that 70 per cent of people with proficient English were employer or self-employed, compared to 50 per cent for those who couldn’t speak the language well or at all.

Communication is “essential” to performing civic duties as well as social connections, while lack of communication skills risks isolation and “poor integration”, the paper adds.

International student levy

Higher education providers could be made to pay a new international student levy to “share the benefits” of the estimated £20.65 billion generated by overseas students for UK universities.

The white paper said there has been a “rapid increase” in sponsored study visas at lower-ranked education institutions, driven by a “rapid increase in international students applying for master’s degrees in the UK”. UK visas for universities globally ranked between 601 and 1,200 increased by 49 per cent between 2021 and 2023; whilst visas for top 100 universities fell by 7 per cent over the same period, according to the document.

Meanwhile, the “stay rate of migrants” – the proportion who choose to, and have legally been able to, remain in the UK over the long-term – has shot up. More than half of students arriving in 2020 still held leave after three years, the highest level on record, the white paper said.

There is little detail on who will pay the proposed levy and how much it will raise. Funds from the proposed levy, which will be set out in more detail in the Autumn budget later this year, will be “reinvested into the higher education and skills system.”

This comes alongside stronger rules for institutions sponsoring student visas in a bid to “prevent misuse”.

Thresholds that sponsoring institutions need to meet around course enrolment and completion rates will increase.

Known as the Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA), providers currently have to evidence a 90 per cent course enrolment rate and 85 per cent course completion rate. Those thresholds will rise to 95 per cent and 90 per cent respectively.

“It is clear the current thresholds are too lenient and have left the route open to abuse and exploitation,” the white paper said.

Sponsors will also be publicly rated along a new red, amber, green system according to their BCA compliance.

Failure to comply with at least one BCA measure can result in a provider’s sponsorship license being revoked.

Mandatory workforce strategies

The white paper added little to Labour’s general election manifesto pledge to require sectors with high levels of foreign workers to produce domestic workforce strategies.

A new quango, the Labour Market Evidence Group (LME Group), linked to Skills England, will set out which sectors will be required to produce such plans. Health and social care and construction are the only two sectors currently flagged.

Employers in in-scope sectors will be “expected to comply” with the workforce strategies, which the white paper states will set out “steps to be taken on skills, training, and broader conditions” to reduce reliance on overseas workers by training up domestic workers.

We don’t know who will take the lead on developing these plans, when they will come into force, or how they will link to the government’s skills reforms, such as the growth and skills levy and adult skills fund.

Who cares?

Overseas recruitment for social care visas will end in 2028.

The system has been open to abuse and worker exploitation, according to the white paper, with employers failing to do enough to train UK workers.

Concerns over poor pay and conditions in the sector are set to be tackled by new “fair pay agreements”, but the white paper falls short of detailing any new skills or training interventions.

An FE Week investigation last year found hundreds of training providers had abandoned offering apprenticeships in adult care, and some specialist providers had even gone bust.

Historically low funding rates for the apprenticeships were in part to blame, but chronic workforce shortages, low pay and high staff turnover also made the programmes unviable.

Alongside, skilled worker visas will be reserved for degree-level and higher-earning occupations.

Since 2020, skilled worker visas were available in certain occupations with skills requirements at level 3, or A-level standard. It was level 6 (degree-level) before that.

The government said the number of visas has nearly doubled since the threshold was lowered, with a “far higher proportion of lower-skilled workers”.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 496

Jenny Pelling

Director of Skills and Strategy, Kaplan UK

Start date: May 2025

Previous Job: Director of Apprenticeship Delivery and Diversity, Kaplan UK

Interesting fact: Jenny is a member of the Academy of Cheese, and enjoys cold water swimming and surfing (to offset some of the cheese)

Zohayb Mohammed

Deputy CEO, South Essex Colleges Group

Start date: April 2025

Previous Job: Chief Financial Officer, South Essex Colleges Group

Interesting fact: Zohayb designed and built his own home and became qualified in several skilled trades along the way — a fitting project for someone who simply likes building things that last

Mayors spending on youth to Get Britain Working

Young people who risk becoming NEET will be the focus of Get Britain Working cash handed to mayors this year. 

Alongside its employment white paper published last year, the government gave £240 million in “place-based trailblazer” funding to several regional mayors, the Welsh government and local NHS boards, to test ways of reducing economic inactivity. 

Most regions have now published plans to tackle the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), and on helping adults with health issues or caring responsibilities into work. 

Among the measures are improved tracking for teenagers up to 19, so regional officials have a clearer picture of where their young people end up. 

Youth (16-24) NEET numbers have topped 980,000, according to the Office for National Statistics’ latest estimates. The government also wants to rein in welfare spending, which is forecast to grow from £313 billion to £373 billion by 2030, and plans to cut health and disability benefits for young people alongside its ‘youth guarantee’ to “remove any potential disincentive to work”. 

Laura-Jane Rawlings, chief executive officer of Youth Employment UK, said mayoral staff were “working hard” to pilot new approaches. 

But she added all face significant time and resource pressures to begin delivering this year, due to the government’s one-year timeline for funding. 

Meanwhile, officials at West Yorkshire Combined Authority warned there was “considerable” risk that some initiatives “will not be delivered” by the March 2026 funding cliff edge. 

Here are some of the key initiatives: 

Tracking destinations 

Three regional mayors plan to spend cash on “enhanced destination tracking” systems for 17 to 19 year olds to gather extra intelligence on their “activities and destinations”. 

Historically, local authorities were responsible for tracking young people’s destinations up to age 19, but in 2016 this was relaxed to the academic year they turned 18. 

Liverpool City Region said the rule change meant local focus on young people’s outcomes had suffered after the age of 17. 

It said the authority will develop “enhanced” tracking of 17 year olds, which will extend to a “targeted proportion” of 18 year olds, and it will explore the tracking of care leavers up to age 21. 

The West of England has set aside £510,000 for a similar “tracker system” and “NEET indicator data rollout”. 

Subsidised work 

The idea of Kickstart-style paid work placement schemes has proved popular, with five mayors seeking to introduce local versions. 

Kickstart was a £1.1 billion government scheme launched during the pandemic that offered around 163,000 subsidised work placements for young people receiving universal credit from 2020 to 2022. 

Liverpool City Region is offering employers £3,000 “incentives” to recruit selected 18 to 24 year  olds, while Tees Valley will fund 620 work placements and “taster sessions”. 

In the East Midlands young people will be offered “flexible learning and work placements”, especially those from “disadvantaged backgrounds or who face health challenges”. 

West Yorkshire will use £4 million to fund up to 400 placements and “wraparound support” for young people with the aim of securing permanent employment. 

West Midlands Combined Authority told FE Week it will test “slightly different” work experience models across its region. One model is its Path2Apprenticeships programme, which offers paid training and work experience to people aged 19 to 29.  

Tailored help 

Most mayors are creating dedicated teams to provide services. 

This includes mental health specialists, pre-apprenticeship courses and programmes for people from disadvantaged areas. 

South Yorkshire’s Pathways to Work programme will provide £10 million for the county’s local authorities and £8 million for the NHS to help up to 3,000 people secure jobs. It is building a “triage” system that promises to make it “quicker and easier” to connect people with employment, health and skills support. 

Targeting employers 

Employers will also be encouraged to offer job opportunities to young people. “Coordinated” engagement is being rolled out by some mayors, including in the East Midlands. 

York and North Yorkshire will offer advice, toolkits and support to help businesses develop “inclusive and healthy” workplaces, while West of England has budgeted £425,000 for “coordinated employer engagement”. 

Listen to the youth 

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is the only combined authority planning a “youth forum” that will place “young voices at the centre” of its plans. 

The forum will “offer young people a platform” to guide the programme, identify barriers to employment and ensure the combined authority’s programme is “youth friendly”. 

Support for care leavers 

A collaboration of 12 London boroughs will run a scheme focused solely on moving care leavers aged from 17 to 25 into employment, education or training. 

The programme will “build an evidence base” about what works to improve outcomes for care leavers, who face “significant social and economic disadvantage,” including a lack of formal qualifications and living in unstable housing.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “We are determined that no young person gets left behind as we drive up growth and opportunity in every corner of the country through our Plan for Change. 

“Our trailblazers will identify those most at risk of falling out of education or employment as we ensure every young person is given the opportunity to earn or learn through our Youth Guarantee.”

Labour won’t release brake on car mechanic lecturer plan

A drive to turn mechanics into FE teachers has stalled due to government reluctance to provide funding, bosses have claimed. 

The “FE lecturer reservist” trial aims to recruit mechanics and engineers to retrain as teachers so they can teach alongside their industry jobs.

The pilot scheme’s developers, including the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) and Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), hoped to kickstart it in the West Midlands before last year’s general election after winning support from Tory skills minister Luke Hall.

But since Labour came into power, the programme’s creators told FE Week that officials had gone cold on their plan for a pilot that would now cover the whole of the Midlands.

Benjamin Silverstone, skills policy and workforce transformation lead at WMG, said it was proving “very difficult” to get a full-scale pilot off the ground without cross-departmental government “buy-in” – despite skills minister Jacqui Smith being told about the plan in a meeting last month.

He confirmed providers and employers were interested in signing up and the Department for Education “philosophically” liked it, but said it needed financial support from the DfE, Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions to provide training with a long-lasting impact.

“We know what would have happened,” Silverstone said. “These companies would have volunteered, and then the government probably would turn around and go, ‘if they’re going to volunteer anyway, then why should we put any money into it?’”

The plea for cash comes amid public funding cuts, including in education, that are impacting adult skills budgets and led to the axing of the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) careers programme.

But the DfE is desperate for more FE teachers amid the current recruitment crisis. This was underscored last week by a National Audit Office report that found the DfE was unlikely to meet its 6,500-recruitment school and college teacher target. It also estimated between 8,400 and 12,400 FE teachers were needed by 2028/29.

The FE lecturer reservist initiative proposed to reimburse participants up to £400 per day to cover the difference between their substantive salary and the rate paid by the provider. Small- and medium-sized enterprise employers could also claim £500 per month when their reservist employee was teaching.

Silverstone could not confirm how much was needed to get the pilot going. 

Meanwhile, West Midlands Combined Authority has fully funded an eight-week “Aspiring Teachers” scheme, run by Dudley College of Technology, which mirrors the reservist scheme.

The college-accredited course covers an introduction to pedagogy, managing behaviour, professional conduct and supporting SEND learners.

Eighteen people have so far completed the programme, and the college has 10 learners in its current cohort.

“To date we have worked with adults from a number of technical areas including electrical engineering and construction and have hopes to expand this further in the new academic year,” said Diana Martin, CEO and principal of Dudley College of Technology.

The DfE was approached for comment.

Gatsby careers rules apply to ITPs from September

Independent training providers will be expected to follow the government’s Gatsby Benchmarks for the first time from September.

Private providers that train 16 to 18 year olds will be “strongly encouraged” to offer learners “meaningful” workplace experiences, provide “encounters” with employers and create a board-approved “stable, structured” careers programme.

The Gatsby Foundation first developed eight benchmarks in 2014 to set standards for careers advice and guidance in education. The government initially adopted the benchmarks for secondary schools before expanding its framework to colleges in 2018.

An extension to ITPs was announced on Thursday after the Gatsby Charitable Foundation reported last year that “growing numbers” of independent providers were using the benchmarks.

While the benchmarks are statutory for schools, they are voluntary for colleges and ITPs.

John Yarham, interim CEO of The Careers & Enterprise Company, told FE Week: “ITPs with learners up to the age of 18 (or 25 if they have an education, health and care plan) are included to ensure that all young people have access to a high-quality careers offer, regardless of which type of institution they are learning in.”

Ben Rowland, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said: “The decision to formally include independent training providers in the updated guidance is a very positive step. With strong employer links, our members are well placed to support careers education that is embedded in real-world employment settings.

“Many ITPs are already delivering the eight Gatsby Benchmarks in practice, so we welcome this as an opportunity to bring greater clarity and extend the sharing of best practice further.”

The Department for Education encouraged ITPs and colleges to self-report their progress against the benchmarks each term.

It also encouraged ITPs to hold the matrix standard, a Department for Education-owned national quality standard that helps providers to assess and measure their advice services. Colleges in receipt of adult skills funding are already mandated to hold the matrix standard.

Beefed-up benchmarks

The Careers & Enterprise Company confirmed slight changes to each of the eight benchmarks.

Benchmark 1: A stable careers programme

Colleges and ITPs should now have a board-approved “stable, structured” careers programme with a trained careers leader. The benchmark previously only called for an “identified and appropriately trained person”.

The careers programme should also detail how parents and carers will be engaged.

Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information

This benchmark now asks providers to incorporate up-to-date labour market information during each study programme.

It was updated to specify that young SEND learners may require different or additional information.

Benchmark 3: Addressing the needs of each young person

FE providers are advised to integrate careers advice from secondary schools and keep records of learners’ participation.

“Records should begin to be kept from the first point of contact or from the point of transition,” the guidance says.

Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

Colleges and ITPs are recommended to provide every learner throughout their programme of study with “opportunities to experience how knowledge and skills developed in their subjects” help people get their foot in the door of a wide range of occupations.

Benchmark 5: Encounters with employers and employees

The guidance says colleges and ITPs should arrange at least two meaningful encounters with an employer, with at least one delivered through their curriculum area.

It also says the encounters should be with employers of “different sizes and specialisms”.

The updated benchmark includes learners’ “own part-time employment where it exists” but should not replace the need for other meaningful encounters.

Benchmark 6: Experiences of workplaces

The new guidance also states that college and ITP learners should have had “at least one further meaningful experience” in a workplace by age 18.

The DfE defined a meaningful experience to mean having a “clear purpose”, appropriate learning outcomes, and involve “extensive” two-way interactions with staff and learners.

Benchmark 7: Encounters with further and higher education

This benchmark has updated terminology to include ITPs to “better reflect the education and training landscape”, now explicitly referencing technical education.

It now specifies that children under the age of 16 should have meaningful encounters with providers including sixth forms, colleges, universities and ITPs.

“ITPs are now listed as a provider type that all young people should encounter because they are an important education and training option for many young people,” the Gatsby report said.

Benchmark 8: Personal guidance

School sixth forms, colleges and ITPs have also been encouraged to provide personal guidance meetings to learners by the age of 18, which entail either an internal or external meeting with a careers adviser.

Disbelief at Phillipson’s 21-and-under fudge for level 7 apprenticeships

Bridget Phillipson has been accused of “political posturing” with a “daft” concession on level 7 apprenticeships that exempts a tiny number of 16 to 21 year olds from having their funding axed.

In a leaked letter to Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden last month, seen by FE Week, Phillipson said she hoped retaining level 7 funding for under-21s would mean “colleagues” could drop their opposition to her original plans to remove the funding from all master’s level apprenticeships.

But experts hit out at the “ridiculous” move, which they predict will still lead to a widespread wipeout of level 7 apprenticeships, with public services such as the NHS and councils braced to bear the brunt.

The government only publishes data on apprenticeship starts in three age groups: under-19s, 19 to 24 year olds, and 25-plus.

FE Week analysis for the most recent full academic year, 2023-24, shows of 23,860 level 7 starts, of which 468, or 2 per cent, were for under-19s, while 7,995, or 34 per cent, were people aged 19 to 24.

Most providers and universities that spoke to FE Week this week said less than 10 per cent of their annual level 7 starts are for those aged 21 or under.

The Department for Education refused to provide a full age breakdown.

Mandy Crawford-Lee, chief executive of the University Vocational Awards Council described the 16 to 21 age restriction as “ridiculous… daft and somewhat disingenuous”, adding that the decision “is driven by political posturing and positioning” (click here to read full op-ed).

The backlash comes during a difficult week for Phillipson, who again appeared in multiple news reports over the weekend as being tipped for demotion in an upcoming reshuffle.

Shadow skills minister Neil O’Brien said: “Abolishing level 7 across the board, with a tiny exception for young people, will be a disaster. It will blow a hole in the NHS long-term plan which relies on this route for advanced nurses. It will hit other public services and local government and it will shut down a vital route into the professions for less well-off people who don’t have the money to fund their own professional qualifications.

“The letter leaked to FE Week shows, unbelievably, that other departments are doing more to defend education than the Department for Education is. This will be a shameful legacy for Phillipson.”

Fears for future of level 6 follow level 7 precedent

The education secretary’s letter revealed she sought clearance from the Cabinet Office on March 3 “on the decision to remove public funding from all level 7 apprenticeships, with no exemptions”.

FE Week understands that multiple government departments objected and forced Phillipson into a rethink.

The 21-and-under age limit, which chimes with the government’s youth guarantee, “aligns with our opportunity mission and our intention to rebalance the apprenticeship programme to support more young people at the start of their career”, the letter said.

It added that “while not giving employers everything they seek”, this “important concession… demonstrates that government has listened to business”.

Former Conservative skills minister Robert Halfon said the exemption was a “baby step in the right direction” but added this was “not a level-headed way of doing things”, and advised the education secretary to make concessions for different sectors instead of age.

He told FE Week he also feared “overreach” from the precedent that will be set when level 7 apprenticeships are moved outside the scope of levy funding, as this could pave the way for axing level 6 apprenticeships, which would be “absolutely disastrous”.

Accountants and solicitors least affected

Apprenticeships least affected by the new age cap are the accountant and solicitor standards.

FE Week analysis shows that the “accountancy or taxation professional”, which has become the most popular level 7 apprenticeship standard with 9,204 starts in 2023-24 and attracts a £14,000 funding band, had 3 per cent of participants under 19, while 68 per cent were aged 19 to 24.

FE Week understands the proportion of level 7 accountancy starts for those aged 21 or under varies for providers from 10 to 25 per cent.

Maggie McGhee, executive director, strategy and governance at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) said she was “concerned that changing the funding rules to restrict funding to learners 21 and under would create perverse incentives for employers to change recruitment patterns”.

Alan Vallance, chief executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), said his organisation “supports the idea of an age concession” but that the range of 16 to 21 “may not be appropriate”.

“Our position remains that an age exemption of 18-25 would be an effective compromise that supports the government’s wider objective for economic growth,” he said. 

Elsewhere, the solicitor apprenticeship, which attracts the maximum funding band of £27,000, had 1,352 starts in 2023-24. Of those, 10 per cent were under 19 while 45 per cent were aged 20 to 24.

Meanwhile, 0.4 per cent of the 1,589 starts on the level 7 advanced clinical practitioner apprenticeship used mainly by the NHS were for those aged under 25. The district nurse standard had 2 per cent of 94 starts at 24 or below.

The senior leader level 7 apprenticeship, which the Chartered Management Institute claims is largely taken by professionals in the NHS, education and civil service, has less than 1 per cent of starts for those aged under 25.

Other popular level 7 apprenticeships likely to become unviable to due to a 21 age limit include senior people professional, digital and technology solutions specialist, chartered town planner, artificial intelligence (AI) and architects.

Vanessa Wilson, University Alliance CEO, said: “If what is being reported comes to fruition, then the decision is bordering on the ridiculous. Limiting funding for the highest level of apprenticeship to an age group that typically hasn’t even finished level 6 education, most of whom wouldn’t even qualify for level 7, is hardly a concession.

“This would have serious knock-on effects, especially for vital employers like the NHS, local authorities and education, who don’t have access to additional budget to fund these qualifications outside of the apprenticeship levy.”

Former special adviser to skills ministers Tom Richmond pointed out that, considering the vast majority of level 7 apprentices are university graduates, sparing 16 to 21 year olds from the proposed cuts will “not do much to soften the impact on employers and providers”.

Experts also flagged that defunding the majority of level 7s is counterintuitive to the government’s industrial strategy, including ministers’ focus on advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and clean energy.

Mis-sold pathways and unviable cohorts

Dan Lally, deputy chief operating officer at Sheffield Hallam University, described the age limit as “somewhat of a non-announcement because it really doesn’t move the needle” considering the small numbers of 21-and-under level 7 apprentices.

He said the policy “pulls the drawbridge” on the concept of apprenticeship standards being designed to provide a linear pathway for students to work their way up. 

“We may have people in the system now who have always planned on progressing, and this policy just takes that opportunity away from them. So you have got to think, have we mis-sold to young people?” Lally said.

He added that universities need cohorts of at least 20 students to be viable – a number most are unlikely to be able to achieve with just 16 to 21 year olds.

Other large level 7 providers, like Kaplan and Cranfield University, agreed that the age exemption will have “little impact”.

The University of Sunderland added that even if it did attract apprentices for these programmes in the 16 to 21 age group, it is “highly unlikely there would be sufficient to enable the cohort to be viable both financially and in terms of the other academic and pastoral support required”.

Employers and providers also criticised the DfE for not communicating the concession with the sector, and for failing to say when any defunding would kick in.

The DfE declined to comment.

Apprenticeship training time cut for teachers to line up with school year 

The government will cut the length of postgraduate teaching apprenticeships from 12 to nine months to bring them in line with the school year. 

It comes as analysis shows interest in the route continues to increase, with recruitment already a third higher in the first half of this academic year compared with the same period last year.  

The postgraduate teaching apprenticeship is a one-year course for graduates and leads to both a level 6 qualification and qualified teacher status. It is different from the four-year teaching degree apprenticeship for non-graduates currently being piloted. 

But its 12-month minimum length causes a headache for schools. Apprentices gain QTS after nine months, meaning some drop out of the apprenticeship part of the training. If this happens, the government claws back funding.  

Analysis shows about 85 per cent of participants complete the year. 

The route has become increasingly popular as schools seek ways to spend money paid into the apprenticeship levy and trainees seek a way of earning while they learn. 

FE Week analysis found there were 1,702 starts on the postgraduate apprenticeship between August 2024 and January this year, up 33 per cent from 1,283 in the same period the year before. 

Unlike other routes, apprentices don’t always start training in September. In 2023-24, more than 400 starts were registered between February and July. 

Figures from the Department for Education also show that last year about 2,800 eligible applicants were “unable to secure a place on a coveted course”. 

Ministers hope that by changing the course’s duration, more schools and providers will take on apprentices. 

Sir Andrew Carter is chief executive of the South Farnham Educational Trust, which hires dozens of apprentices every year and was involved in the route’s design. 

He said the 12-month rule “added a great sense of jeopardy” to hiring apprentices, and his trust had wanted a change “for a very long time”. 

Carter said more schools would now hire apprentices, which was an “opportunity for the DfE and others, all of us in the business” to convince sceptical leaders of the benefits of the course. 

The DfE insisted courses would still offer “the same high-quality content, but at a reduced length, with trainees gaining qualified teacher status after they have completed the programme, going on to build successful careers in teaching”.   

Catherine McKinnell, the schools minister, said bringing teaching apprenticeships in line with the school year was “not only logical, it will open the doors for more and more people to become brilliant teachers”. 

AoC strips Weston of governance award following Phillips scandal

Weston College has been stripped of an “excellence in governance” award by the Association of Colleges following the FE Commissioner’s damning findings last month.

The Association of Colleges Charitable Trust, which runs the annual Beacon Awards, has also launched an “independent review” – led by a recent president of the membership body – to examine the “process and judgments” that led to the granting of the award in 2022-23.

It is the first time the AoC has rescinded an award in its 30-year history.

The action forms part of a potential series of sanctions against Weston College and former principal Sir Paul Phillips, who has recently left the Prisoners’ Education Trust, while another award organiser deliberates withdrawing a further gong.

FE Commissioner Shelagh Legrave’s report into the Somerset college, published April 8, revealed £2.5 million of concealed payments made to Phillips between 2017 and 2023.

It found some governors did not know the extent of Phillips’ pay package and that regular payroll procedures were “bypassed” to make direct payments.

The Department for Education has an ongoing investigation into the college’s financial controls.

The news sparked a backlash on social media, with multiple FE sector leaders calling on the AoC to strip the college of its governance award.

Pressure built last week when satirical news magazine Private Eye pointed out the “embarrassing” situation.

‘A really positive, public step’

Mark White, AoC’s trust chair, said: “The AoC Charitable Trust has commissioned an independent review of the process and judgements that led to the granting of the Beacon Award for excellence in governance to Weston College in 2022.

“The review is intended to ensure that the approach taken in granting awards is as robust and rigorous as possible.

“As part of this process, the trust has asked Weston College to return the Beacon Award and I am pleased to say that the new board agree that is the right course of action.”

Former AoC president Corrienne Peasgood has been appointed to lead the review. Peasgood took up the presidential role in October 2022, six months before Weston College was announced as winner of the governance award.

A spokesperson for Weston College said: “Significant changes have been made to governance membership, structures and procedures at the college in line with recommendations made by the FE Commissioner.

“Nevertheless, considering findings in relation to the actions of some members of the previous governing body, the new board can see the benefit for the AoC Charitable Trust in reviewing procedures in relation to the granting of the AoC award for excellence in governance in 2022. It is important that awards processes are as robust as they can be.

“Weston College is very proud of the many other awards achieved through the efforts of our excellent staff teams whose achievements have rightly been recognised and celebrated through multiple AoC Beacon Awards in recent years, as well as awards from many other authorities.”

The AoC has now set out five “areas of focus” to ensure good college governance in light of the Weston revelations. These include: compliance with the AoC’s governance code, governing body oversight of principal/CEO performance, the conduct of the remuneration committee, payroll arrangements and transparency of college financial statements.

David Hughes, AoC chief executive, said: “Today’s announcement is a really positive, public step showing how the college is moving on.

“However, it is really important that, as a sector, we learn some crucial lessons from this and college chairs, board members and executives make sure that in their governance arrangements, they maintain a clear focus on the five key areas we have highlighted.”

Further action to come?

The Pearson National Teaching Awards told FE Week it was “reviewing” Phillips’ “lifetime achievement” gold award, handed out in 2020, in light of the FE Commissioner’s report.

Elsewhere, Phillips was removed as a director of the Prisoners’ Education Trust last week.

Chief executive Jon Collins confirmed to FE Week that Phillips resigned as a trustee but did not provide the reasons for his resignation.

Phillips was halfway through a second term on the trustee board of the PET.

PICTURE: Weston College being presented with their AoC Beacon Award