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RAAC: 1 college named as DfE finally publishes list of affected schools

One further education college is among the list of over 100 education settings forced to close buildings because of the RAAC crumbly concrete crisis.

Petroc, based in Devon, has partially shut its site in Barnstaple which includes classrooms as well as a library, a hall and offices.

But all of its near-10,000 students remain in face-to-face education and have not had the start to their term delayed. The college has set aside £300,000 to make its site safe.

The government today finally published a list of 147 education settings currently affected by the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) as of August 30.

Of those, 20 are educating pupils with a mixture of face-to-face and remote lessons, while 19 had to delay the start of term and four switched fully to remote learning.

The government had previously said 156 schools were affected, but nine unnamed schools are now listed as “RAAC not present”.

Petroc is the only further education college listed. FE Week is however aware of at least one other college, Trafford College Group, which has identified RAAC and restricted access to one of its colleges.

The DfE has said it will update the list in the next two weeks.

The DfE’s full list of affected schools and colleges (as of August 30)

Abbey Lane Primary School	Sheffield	All pupils in face-to-face education
All Saints C of E Primary School	Manchester	All pupils in face-to-face education
Altrincham College	Trafford	All pupils in face-to-face education
Anglo European School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Ark Boulton Academy	Birmingham	Start of Term Delayed
Arthur Bugler Primary School	Thurrock	Start of Term Delayed
Aston Manor Academy	Birmingham	Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements
Barnes Farm Junior School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Batley Girls High School	Kirklees	All pupils in face-to-face education
Baynards Primary School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Beehive Lane Community Primary School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Bentfield Primary School and Nursery	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Birchington Church of England Primary School	Kent	All pupils in face-to-face education
Bishop Douglass School Finchley	Barnet	All pupils in face-to-face education
Bispham Endowed Church of England Primary School	Blackpool	All pupils in face-to-face education
Brandhall Primary School	Sandwell	All pupils in face-to-face education
Broomfield Primary School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Buckhurst Hill Community Primary School	Essex	Start of Term Delayed
Canon Slade School	Bolton	All pupils in face-to-face education
Carmel College	Darlington	All pupils in face-to-face education
Cherry Tree Academy	Essex	Start of Term Delayed
Chipping Ongar Primary School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Clacton County High School	Essex	Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements
Claydon High School	Suffolk	Start of Term Delayed
Cleeve Park School	Bexley	All pupils in face-to-face education
Cockermouth School	Cumberland	All pupils in face-to-face education
Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School	Lambeth	All pupils in face-to-face education
Cranbourne	Hampshire	All pupils in face-to-face education
Danetree Primary School	Surrey	All pupils in face-to-face education
Denbigh School	Milton Keynes	All pupils in face-to-face education
Donnington Wood Infant School and Nursery Centre	Telford and Wrekin	All pupils in face-to-face education
East Bergholt High School	Suffolk	Start of Term Delayed
East Tilbury Primary School	Thurrock	All pupils in face-to-face education
Elmstead Primary School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Eversley Primary School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Ferryhill School	County Durham	Start of Term Delayed
Godinton Primary School	Kent	All pupils in face-to-face education
Great Leighs Primary School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Great Tey Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Harlowbury Primary School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Harwich and Dovercourt High School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Hatfield Heath Primary School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Hatfield Peverel St Andrew’s Junior School	Essex	Start of Term Delayed
Henham and Ugley Primary and Nursery School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Hillhouse CofE Primary School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Hockley Primary School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Holcombe Grammar School	Medway	All pupils in face-to-face education
Holy Trinity Catholic Voluntary Academy	Nottinghamshire	All pupils in face-to-face education
Holy Trinity CofE Primary School, Eight Ash Green and Aldham	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Hornsey School for Girls	Haringey	Start of Term Delayed
Hounsdown School	Hampshire	All pupils in face-to-face education
Jerounds Primary Academy	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Joyce Frankland Academy, Newport	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Katherine Semar Infant School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Katherine Semar Junior School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Katherines Primary Academy and Nursery	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
King Ethelbert School	Kent	All pupils in face-to-face education
Kingsdown School	Southend-on-Sea	Start of Term Delayed
Lambourne Primary School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Langney Primary Academy	East Sussex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Lubbins Park Primary Academy	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Markyate Village School and Nursery	Hertfordshire	All pupils in face-to-face education
Mayflower Primary School	Leicester	All pupils in face-to-face education
Mersea Island School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Mistley Norman Church of England Primary School	Essex	All pupils in face-to-face education
Myatt Garden Primary School	Lewisham	All pupils in face-to-face education
Northampton International Academy	West Northamptonshire	All pupils in face-to-face education
Our Lady’s Catholic High School	Lancashire	Start of Term Delayed
Outwoods Primary School	Warwickshire	Start of Term Delayed
Palmarsh Primary School	Kent	All pupils in face-to-face education
Park View School	Haringey	All pupils in face-to-face education
Parks Primary School	Leicester	All pupils in face-to-face education
Petroc	Devon	All pupils in face-to-face education
Pippins School	Slough	All pupils in face-to-face education
All pupils in face-to-face education	Birmingham	All pupils in face-to-face education

Keir Starmer appoints new shadow skills minister

Seema Malhotra has replaced Toby Perkins as the shadow minister for skills.

Malhotra joins the shadow education team under the shadow secretary of state for education, Bridget Phillipson, who kept her job in Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet reshuffle yesterday.

Perkins has been moved to Labour’s shadow Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) team.

“I’m honoured to have been appointed @UKLabour’s new shadow minister for skills. I can’t wait to get to work with [Bridget Phillipson] and the rest of the shadow education team to deliver on our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity at every stage,” Malhotra posted on X.

Nine shadow front bench appointments were announced this evening, including Catherine McKinnell who returns to the shadow education team as shadow schools minister.

Malhotra has been the Labour and Co-op MP for Feltham and Heston in West London for 12 years and was previously the shadow minister for business and consumers.

Labour pledges to widen the apprenticeship levy

Before entering parliament, Malhotra was a child safety adviser in the video game and film industries. Her official biography also points to strategy and IT roles at Accenture and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

The shadow skills brief is Malhotra’s sixth shadow front bench role, with previous jobs shadowing the Home Office, as shadow chief secretary to the Treasury and shadow employment minister.

Malhotra also chairs the all-party parliamentary groups for Entrepreneurship, mortgage prisoners and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Outside of parliament she is president of the Fabian Women’s Network and is a former chair of the Fabian Society.

She replaces Toby Perkins who has shadowed the skills brief since April 2020. The MP for Chesterfield has fronted Labour’s skills policies, like replacing the apprenticeship levy and introducing Skills England, and committed a future Labour government to ringfence spending on SME apprenticeships.

EuroSkills 2023: WorldSkills UK alumni leads opening ceremony rousing speeches

A WorldSkills UK alumni told this year’s EuroSkills competitors that their skills “keep the world moving” at a lavish opening ceremony earlier this evening.

Dan McCabe, who was part of Team UK at WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 in 3D Digital Game Art, told the 600 European competitors in the audience that making it to EuroSkills Gdansk in Poland was the “real privilege”.

McCabe, who is now a European representative of the WorldSkills Champions Trust, also told competitors that participating in EuroSkills was not just about winning, but about promoting excellence in skills that “keep the world moving”.

“If you only focus on winning, I’m afraid you’ve missed the whole point of this event,” he said.

“We are promoting excellence, your excellence. Showing the skills keep our world moving and that you are the people with the skills that can do that.”

He wished competitors to relish the experience as it will be something “your fellow competitors will only truly understand and it’s a bond that you will form a family over.”

McCabe won gold medals at the 2015 WorldSkills UK National Finals and EuroSkills Gothenburg 2016. But his participation in Abu Dhabi “jump-started” his career as a game developer and led to working with Formula One.

Dan McCabe giving an encouraging speech to competitors

Well wishes for Team UK have already poured out from skills sector leaders and including from skills minister Robert Halfon, who was not in attendance for the ceremony.

Representatives from 32 European countries attended the opening ceremony of the eighth EuroSkills competition finals.

Nearly 600 competitors joined technical experts, delegates, and supporters at the Polsat Plus Arena in the city of Gdańsk to observe the spectacle.

Officially opening the competition was Teija Ripattila, chair of the board of WorldSkills Europe, and Prof. Paweł Poszytek, WorldSkills Poland official delegate and general director of the Foundation for the Development of the Education System (FRSE).

“Helping young people to develop their skills with the goal of achieving the world-class standard of professional excellence underpins everything we do at WorldSkills Europe – all because we believe that skills change worlds,” said Ripattila.

‘We are promoting your excellence’

The opening ceremony marks the start of a three-day intensive competition in 42 different skills, ranging from robot systems integration to fashion, which will see competitors tested to new heights.

Before the speeches, spectators enjoyed entertainment including live artistic sand painting by Tetiana Galitsyna, artistic light painting by Tony Dream and a live DJ set with music producer DJ Gromee.

A parade of nations took place shortly after followed by competitor and expert oaths.

Competitions will officially commence tomorrow morning at the arena and the Amber Expo Hall in Gdańsk and conclude on Friday evening.

The closing ceremony will take place on Saturday evening where the results will be announced, and medals presented to the winning competitors.

Follow the FE Week twitter feed (@FEWeek) for live coverage of the ceremony and competition and send good luck messages to the team using the hashtag #TeamUK.

FE Week is the official media partner for Team UK and WorldSkills UK.

Sir Martyn Oliver sets out his priorities for the Ofsted top job

Sir Martyn Oliver has pledged to undertake a “big listen” and wants to let senior inspectors work in schools and other education providers if he becomes Ofsted chief inspector.

But the Outwood Grange Academies Trust boss has warned that “the last thing the system needs right now … is a revolution”.

Oliver was confirmed as the government’s preferred candidate for the job back in July. If approved, he will begin his initial five-year term on January 1.

It comes against a backdrop of widespread calls for reform of the watchdog, following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.

During a pre-appointment hearing led by parliament’s education committee this morning, Oliver summarised his three main ambitions for the role.

“First up is to go through a big listen,” he told MPs, adding in the past Ofsted had faced accusations of being “combative or cold”.

“We need to be empathetic to the challenges that the system is facing. We need to listen to all of the services that Ofsted inspects.”

‘I’ve walked the walk’

He added that his prior experience gave him the empathy needed for the role.

“I think my skillset is that I’ve worked in the most difficult schools, the worst attaining schools, the worst progress schools, some of the worst buildings, some of the greatest challenges in pupil number … schools that no-one wants,” he said.

“So people will know that I’ve got the experience, I’ve walked the walk…There is a series of expertise and experience that I can bring to the system and say, ‘I know what it’s like to do this. I can talk to you with empathy’.”

His second priority is to ensure Ofsted inspections are conducted “by the system”.

“So that’s getting more leaders … I want to make a direct plea to all of the professional bodies, to the trade unions, to the headteachers and leaders in all of the services … and say, how can we involve you in far greater aspect as the Ofsted inspectors and His Majesty’s Inspectors in the future?” he said.

He also suggested Ofsted could find a way to manage “conflicts of interest” to allow HMIs to work in “part time” in other organisations. Currently HMIs are full-time inspectors.

Oliver said some trusts are advertising for former HMIs and “that means often we’re losing all of this talent. Is there a way in which – many institutions are having to look at flexible working – does Ofsted need to embrace that? I think all of these things can be tackled and answered”.

Switch to ‘holistic’ reporting

A third aim, which Oliver said he was “perhaps the most keen on” was to “look holistically” at how disadvantaged children were supported by all services in each local authority area.

“I was delighted that in the pandemic … One of the things which did change is that at last this seeming divide between multi-academy trusts and local authorities really broke down. The information was just flowing one to the other,” he told the committee.

“I think we’ve got to build upon that now and say we need to get all agents, all actors working for all of the children, especially the most vulnerable, so I want to report in a different way as well as give you the sectional headings against those services as they are right now.”

Oliver’s appointment, if ratified, will come at a time of heightened scrutiny for the inspectorate.

In June, months after anger and debate had been levelled at Ofsted for the way in which it conducts inspections, it announced a raft of changes.

This included a committed to review its complaints procedure following a consultation with the sector, which Oliver said he was “delighted” about.

“I’d be really interested to see the outcomes of that consultation…and [if appointed] how then I can take that forward.”

‘Interested in views about single-word judgments’

The announced changes have been criticised by the sector as not going far enough, including the decision to keep single-word judgments in place for inspections.

Oliver said he thought “parents do like the ability to describe their school simply”.

But he added that he was interested in views from parents and children about “how much faith” they “put upon the single-word judgment” as well as alternative ways of reporting outcomes.

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t have that one word, I’m asking what will you do [without it].”

OGAT – which runs 35 schools – is one of the country’s most successful turnaround trusts.

Oliver, who started teaching in 1996, is also a national leader of education and helped found the National Institute of Teaching.

The education committee will now decide whether to give his appointment their backing, but the government can appoint him either way.

National AEB contract allocations revealed

The contract values of the 55 training providers that came out on top in the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s latest adult education budget procurement have been revealed.

From a total pot of £75 million, 15 providers were awarded almost the maximum individual amount of £2.5 million, including Realise Learning and Employment Ltd, The Skills Network and Let Me Play Ltd.

Three of those 15 big winners – Prevista Ltd, Aspire Sporting Academy Ltd, and Pathway First Ltd – are judged ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted. A further two – The Construction Skills People Ltd and Twin Training International Limited – have only had an early monitoring visit.

The lowest value contract awarded was to Logistics Skills & Consultancy Ltd, which received £236,580.

ESFA officials were delayed in commencing the contracts due a legal challenge launched by the Learning Curve Group, which imposed an “automatic suspension” in August. Learning Curve Group, which is attempting to get the procurement re-run through the courts after missing out on a contract in the competition, has since given permission for the suspension to be lifted.

Learning Curve Group is one of several high-profile providers to have their bid for a national AEB contract rejected, alongside Babington and Skills Training UK, the latter of which has since gone bust.

The 54 winners in the tender represents a further reduction in the number of training providers with national AEB contracts.

The agency reduced the number of AEB contractors from 208 to 88 when it last procured in 2021.

Of the 2021 winners, just 20 have won contracts again this time around.

FE Week analysis shows that eight of the 54 winners are judged as ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted, half of whom were inspected this year. Meanwhile, four of the contractors have not yet been inspected by the watchdog at all.

The contracts will run for an initial 12-month period covering the 2023/24 academic year, with options to extend further by up to three 12-month periods.

[UPDATE: The original version of this article listed 54 contract awards, as announced by the DfE here. But days after publication, the DfE published a separate Contracts Finder page for another contract award for TLG Business Services, taking the total number of AEB tender winners up to 55. The DfE claimed: “Publication on contracts finder takes place after signing of the contracts by both parties. The difference in timing is as a result of the automatic suspension.”]

What training providers need from Ofsted’s next chief inspector

When the new chief inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, takes up the reins in the autumn, he will know that it has been a challenging year for Ofsted, and it is not only in schools where the question of it being fit for purpose has been raised.

The complaints about Ofsted’s approach may not have been so loud in the skills sector and in this respect, the inspectorate’s leadership has for several years shown a welcome propensity to listen carefully to what providers have to say. For example, providers are currently being consulted on the complaints system with the aim of it being made faster and more transparent while the introduction a shadow nominee is a positive step forward.

Even independent training provider nominees waiting for the dreaded call are entitled to annual leave and Ofsted now offers providers the opportunity to notify the inspectorate of ‘blackout dates’ when a call won’t come. Hopefully, the tales of abandoning the sun lounger just after a holiday has begun will become something of the past!

For apprenticeship providers, the involvement of employers in inspections adds to the potential stress and the intensity of inspection, with so much at stake, drives a level of pressure that benefits no one.

At the Fellowship of Inspection Nominees (FIN), we maintain close relationships with our provider members in their programme delivery to continuously improve quality, strengthening the nominee in preparation for inspection, during and post inspection. Moreover, these members recognise that continuous improvement doesn’t end after the inspection is over even if it has resulted in at least a good grade.

FIN analyses all published inspection reports in-depth to identify patterns and trends and it collects feedback from members about their experiences first-hand.

If Ofsted’s genuine aim is to raise standards and improve lives, surely a closer look needs to be taken regarding the process, the stress short notice creates for apprenticeship providers making arrangements with employers and apprentices, such as checking availability or navigating shifts, bearing in mind that smaller providers are still on two days’ notice.

Consistency wanted

Assuming Ofsted inspects and makes judgments against the set criteria of the Education Inspection Framework (EIF), then consistency is the biggest issue faced by providers.

Some inspection teams are well-organised, open-minded, fair and supportive. While they don’t give advice, they do impact positively on the provider taking the time and care to fully understand the provision. This is particularly valued by providers with complex provision being inspected by generalists who do not have specialist knowledge but are interested in finding out from learners, employers and provider staff about the specialisms.

By contrast, sadly, there is too much feedback from providers that talk about poorly managed inspections. Providers can be asked for significant changes to schedules putting the provider under extreme pressure to rearrange employer visits which can be discourteous to employers – with little or no consideration to the damage this can do to professional relationships.

An inspection team can arrive with a blinkered view, too inflexible to consider or understand a sector in which they lack experience and therefore default to generic questioning about functional skills or safeguarding, leaving learners and/or apprentices demoralised by the lack of interest or knowledge of the sector.

Scope of inspection

More recently a new worrying trend has emerged: in some cases, rare but still worrying, is the emphasis some inspection teams put on providers beyond the EIF and funding.

Is it really fair to judge providers’ quality of delivery for something they are not actually funded to deliver? For example, apprenticeship providers are being asked about how they organise and evidence their learners’ involvement in charity work.

Revisiting the EIF for apprenticeships could also look at the appropriateness of gauging physical health and active lifestyles in learners’ personal development and how far an employer provider should promote career choices outside of their own organisation.

Whether Ofsted is fit for purpose is subjective and depends on one’s stance on the issues surrounding further education, assessment, and regulatory frameworks. But it is important to periodically evaluate the effectiveness and role of Ofsted in the system.

So when the new chief inspector attends his confirmation hearing in Parliament tomorrow, he should have a clear view of the inspectorate’s purpose. This includes considering the impact its current processes have on training providers. Is this the impact it wants? is it pleased and proud of its standards and is there a consistent and fair approach nationally?

RAAC: No colleges forced to delay start of term, says AoC

No colleges have delayed the start of term due to dangerous “crumbly” concrete, their membership body has said as the RAAC crisis engulfs schools.

Julian Gravatt, deputy chief executive of the Association of Colleges, also said there had been no “significant building closures” for colleges related to concerns around reinforced aerated autoclaved concrete (RAAC), although he is “certain” there will be a few cases where college buildings contain it.

It comes days after the government ordered 104 schools in England to stay closed for the beginning of term, as their buildings are at risk of collapse due to RAAC. It is understood officials learned over the summer of cases where buildings with RAAC collapsed, despite not showing any signs of deterioration.

The concrete was widely used as a lighter alternative to standard concrete between the 1950s and 1980s, but studies have since found the material can become destabilised after installation.

The government has come under heavy criticism for its handling of the presence of RAAC, a problem it has known about for years.

Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, said today that 1,500 schools are yet to complete checks to see if RAAC is in their buildings, meaning the number of schools at risk could be even higher than previously thought.

She committed to publishing a list of the schools and other education providers which have been ordered to close this week.

Gravatt said so far there are “no cases where this has required a significant [general FE college] building closure or a delay to the start of term”, though he admitted the AoC is “certain” RAAC will be present in some cases.

“It can be quite hard to locate RAAC in a building because it is sometimes hidden by cladding but colleges have a good track record in managing their buildings.” He said more than 90 per cent of all colleges had returned RAAC questionnaires to the government this year.

FE Week is aware of at least three colleges where RAAC was found and had to be remediated this year. Some of those were forced to partially close buildings due to the level of risk of collapse, although it is not clear whether those buildings have now been opened.

In an extraordinary intervention this morning, former permanent secretary of the Department for Education Jonathan Slater claimed the government prioritised new free schools over pupil safety and that prime minister Rishi Sunak slashed school rebuilding funding despite knowing about the dangers of RAAC.

Slater said his department had found between 300 and 400 schools had to be rebuilt each year, and that it had put together a plan to double the number of rebuilds to 200 at the 2021 spending review.

However, the government then went ahead with a rebuilding programme of just 50 schools a year, when Sunak was chancellor. Sunak has since denied that was the case.

Also earlier today the education secretary accused others of having “sat on their arse” over the RAAC crisis in schools, and expressed frustration at a lack of gratitude that she had been doing a “f***ing good job”.

Gillian Keegan was still on microphone when she made the comments shortly after an interview with ITV News, which has since circulated the clip on social media.

With the cameras still running, Keegan asked her interviewer: “Does anyone ever say, you know what, you’ve done a f***ing good job because everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothing? No signs of that? No?”

In a subsequent interview, Keegan said she “wasn’t really talking about anyone in particular”, and apologised for using “choice” language.

Ofsted ‘outstanding’ hat-trick for Premier League apprenticeship provider

The training provider in charge of Premier League football club academies has scored its third successive ‘outstanding’ Ofsted result.

Inspectors lauded the Football Association Premier League Limited for its “ambitious and well-structured curriculum” in a July inspection, which was published today.

The provider delivers the level 3 sporting excellence professional apprenticeship at all 20 Premier League teams and six further clubs that were recently relegated to the English Football League. At the time of the inspection, it was delivering apprenticeships to 266 academy football players between the ages of 16 and 18.

David Rainford, the Premier League’s head of education and academy player care “welcomed” the report, and said the league is “committed to elite player development and personal growth, supporting young people to be the best version of themselves both on and off the pitch”.

A ‘clear mission’

Ofsted praised the provider for its “logical […] ambitious and well-structured curriculum”, while also focusing on its “outstanding” staff development programme. The provider scored ‘outstanding’ ratings across the board, resulting in its third overall ‘outstanding’ rating in a row since 2010.

Inspectors said leaders and staff at the individual clubs and Premier League itself have a “clear mission to help apprentices develop the knowledge skills and behaviours they need to succeed in their everyday lives and to pursue their football careers”.

“Staff know apprentices very well and understand the challenges that they face on their journey to becoming professional footballers, as many staff have been through the academy system themselves,” the Ofsted report added.

Due to that, a “high number” of apprentices get a professional contract when they finish their apprenticeship and end their studies as “mature young adults, ready and highly motivated for the next steps in their career”.

‘Outstanding programme’

Inspectors also noted a focus on curriculum improvement, adding that leaders take “effective steps” to reassess the study programmes.

For instance, they have worked with a national charity to place a greater emphasis on the mental well-being of apprentices.

The provider has also developed an “outstanding programme of staff development” to make sure teaching and training is at a high quality.

That means apprentices “thrive in calm, purposeful and highly disciplined environments” and “consistently” live up to high expectations of them at work.

‘A very strong culture of safeguarding’

Coaches at the provider “thoroughly assess” their learners’ progress during the apprenticeships by using videos of first-team players, which Ofsted said “rapidly develops” their training awareness.

Inspectors also praised the “very strong culture of safeguarding” at all the academies, through annual external checks on their safeguarding strategies.

Apprentices are further exposed to “a rich and comprehensive personal development and life-skills curriculum” including social media, financial management and consent.

National college strike ballot opens

Over two-thirds of college teachers could quit the sector over the next year if their pay does not improve, a survey has suggested as a nationwide college strike ballot opens.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) will today begin to vote on whether to take industrial action across 89 colleges. The ballot will close on October 10.

The UCU, along with four other education unions, earlier this year asked for a pay increase of over 15 per cent due to inflation, a national workload agreement and binding national pay negotiations.

A survey of over 2,000 college workers, published today, revealed that almost all (96 per cent) said their income either does not cover their costs of living or only just about covers their cost of living.

Almost four in five respondents (79 per cent) said their financial situation is having an impact on their mental health, while more than two thirds (69 per cent) said they could leave the sector if pay does not improve.

Last year, the Association of Colleges recommended that colleges give staff a 2.5 per cent pay increase despite union demands for a 10 per cent uplift. The AoC has so far refused to make a pay offer recommendation for 2023/24.

In July the government announced that it will pump nearly an additional £500 million into colleges over the next two years to help fund pay rises. But the new funding will be added through the 16 to 19 funding formula, meaning colleges with larger 19+ student populations won’t get as much.

Allocations to reveal exactly how much extra funding colleges will each receive are yet to be published.

AoC chief executive David Hughes said it was “disappointing” to see UCU going ahead with ballots on pay “shortly before our mutually-agreed formal, meeting date to negotiate on the annual pay award”.

“We delayed making a recommendation earlier this year because we did not want to let government off the hook on funding. That clearly worked, with extra investment announced in July by the education secretary,” he added.

“As we clearly explained to UCU and the other unions, we cannot make a pay recommendation until colleges are clear about how much extra funding they will receive. Government is aiming to provide that clarity for colleges in the next couple of weeks.”

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said today’s survey findings “lay bare why our members will be voting in huge numbers to take strike action”.

She added: “College staff are the beating heart of our communities and transform the life chances of hundreds of thousands of students every year. But they are struggling to survive and pay is so low it is harming their mental health.”

The colleges being balloted are:

1. Abingdon and Witney College

2. Activate Learning

3. Askham Bryan College

4. Bath College

5. Bishop Auckland College

6. Blackburn College

7. Blackpool & The Fylde College

8. Bolton College

9. Bournemouth & Poole College

10. Bridgwater and Taunton College

11. Brockenhurst College

12. Brooklands College

13. Burnley College

14. Burton and South Derbyshire College

15. Bury College

16. Calderdale College

17. Cambridge Regional College (Camre)

18. Capital City College Group

19. Chelmsford College

20. Cheshire College South & West

21. Chesterfield College

22. Chichester College Group

23. City College Plymouth

24. City of Bristol College

25. City of Liverpool College

26. City of Wolverhampton College

27. Colchester Institute

28. College of West Anglia

29. Craven College

30. Croydon College

31. Darlington College

32. Derby College

33. DN Colleges Group

34. Dudley College

35. Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College

36. East Coast College

37. East Durham College

38. East Sussex College Group

39. Exeter College

40. Farnborough College of Technology

41. Furness College

42. Gloucestershire College

43. Heart of Worcestershire College

44. Heart of Yorkshire Education Group

45. Hugh Baird College

46. Isle of Wight College

47. Lambeth College

48. Leeds College of Building

49. Leicester College

50. Loughborough College

51. Middlesbrough College

52. MidKent College

53. Milton Keynes College Group

54. Myerscough College

55. Nelson & Colne College Group

56. New City College

57. New College Durham

58. New College Swindon

59. Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group

60. North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College

61. Northampton College

62. Nottingham College

63. Oaklands College

64. Orbital South Colleges

65. Petroc

66. Plumpton College

67. Runshaw College

68. SK College Group

69. South & City College Birmingham and Bournville College of FE

70. South Devon College

71. South Essex College

72. South Gloucestershire and Stroud College

73. South Thames College Group

74. Sparsholt College

75. Stoke-on-Trent College

76. Strode College

77. Suffolk New College

78. Tameside College

79. TEC Partnership

80. Truro & Penwith College

81. Walsall college

82. Warrington & Vale Royal College

83. Weston College

84. Weymouth College

85. Wigan & Leigh College

86. Wiltshire College

87. Windsor Forest Colleges Group

88. Wirral Metropolitan College

89. Yeovil College