Mark Botha, CEO, Knovia Group

Rugby-loving boss of Knovia Group Mark Botha has big plans for care, early years and dental training after learning to seize opportunities and take risks

‘Discover the limits of the possible by going beyond them into the impossible’, reads a slogan on the picture looming behind Mark Botha of a man skiing off a mountain peak.

The bravado-enthused image adorning his home office seems appropriate for a man who leads a training provider specialising in some of the riskiest apprenticeship markets out there – care and early years – with their notoriously low margins and achievement rates.

And Knovia Group, made up of Paragon Skills (specialising in care and education), Shaping Lives (early years) and Tempdent (dental), has just taken a sizeable risk by buying up another provider, Babington, after it hit financial turmoil and became embroiled in a historic subcontracting investigation.

But Botha is a man who has never been afraid to take risks. After starting his career in South Africa, he went on to live in England, then Dubai, before returning to England 10 years ago to take the helm at Paragon Skills.

‘Gregarious and confident’

Aside from his boldness, Botha has an unwaveringly cheerful demeanour. As he goes through his life story, there is not a moment of it that he does not describe as having “thoroughly enjoyed”.

Botha grew up in Zimbabwe playing rugby, a game that suits his six-foot-five frame and strong risk appetite. In his late teens, his family moved to South Africa for “better opportunities” at an “economically challenging time”. He was paid (though “not a lot”) to play rugby at county level for Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal).

He was inspired by the example set by his mum, who was a national sales manager for a hotel chain, to study sales, marketing and business management at college. His first professional job involved selling health club memberships on a commission-only basis.

His boss noticed his “gregarious and confident” persona, and he was soon promoted to regional sales manager.

Mark Botha

England-bound

But by the age of 25, Botha was “struggling to get to the next level up” in his career. After getting married, he and his wife decided to move to England in search of opportunities.

Botha’s grandparents were both British, and he felt a “cultural familiarity” with Brits having grown up watching the comedies Fawlty Towers and Mr Bean.

The couple brought their beloved Staffordshire bull terriers along with them, but this made it tougher for Botha to find work in those first few months when the dogs were in quarantine.

“Our immediate priority was to be near the kennels, so we could go visit them. It was pretty disruptive for them and us,” he explains.

Botha occupied himself by working for a distant cousin’s removals business and playing rugby for Newbury. He found the break from high-pressure sales “pretty cathartic”.

Commercial mindset

He returned to corporate life in 2002 as south London sales manager for Fitness First, then the world’s largest privately owned health club chain. When the company launched a specialist women’s-only brand of clubs, Botha became its national sales manager.

He was then made sales and marketing director of an operator of local authority-owned leisure facilities, Leisure Connection, exposing him to the slower-paced world of the British public sector. The facilities they ran for councils tended to employ staff on long tenures who lacked a commercial mindset. Botha was tasked with shifting the culture and set about showing colleagues that “profit isn’t a bad word”.

“It was quite a quick turnaround – success breeds success,” he says.

Botha then joined Premier Global, a health and fitness company that at the time owned the awarding organisation Active IQ, where he was promoted from sales to chief operating officer.

He learned that whereas in the commercial world, “your only stakeholder really is your customer,” in the compliance-dominated world of awarding organisations, other stakeholders, including Ofqual, had to be responded to.

Mark Botha and compatriots in Dubai

Creating fruit salads

A unique opportunity then arose for Botha to return to Fitness First. Although its brand was then struggling in the UK – “squeezed out” by low-cost 24-hour gyms – in Dubai, Landmark Group had just bought franchise rights to expand the brand across the Gulf. Botha moved to Dubai with his wife and five-year-old son Kai to lead its sales and operations.

Over the next five years, the group opened 50 health clubs in the region. Botha took regular trips across the Middle East, and to India and South Africa to recruit new talent.

On one trip to India he interviewed around 500 people in three days, asking them to leave their families for the prospective roles but without being able to tell them which country he might send them to. He found it “fascinating how resilient people are, and willing to take a leap of faith”.

The health clubs were a “fruit salad of cultures”, although not all cultures gelled well.

It was also a “challenge”ensuring that newcomers, particularly party-loving South Africans and Australians, were aware of the Gulf countries’ strict laws.

Running the Dubai marathon

Going ‘home’

After four years in Dubai, Botha and his family returned to England so he could take the helm at Paragon Skills. The provider had been established in 1998 and bought by Sovereign Capital Partners, a UK private equity “buy and build” specialist, 10 years later.

Botha was brought in to “set the tone and direction” for a turnaround. Paragon had just been downgraded by Ofsted from grade two to three and was struggling to embrace the online age by moving away from a paper-based portfolio system.

But Botha found his tutors “pushing back” against moving online, claiming their learners were against the idea. “It turns out it was mostly our tutors who were probably a bit afraid of change,” he says.

Less is more

Before Covid, Paragon’s provision extended to 100 programmes ranging from automotive to hairdressing and boatbuilding, all split into north and south regional teams.

Post-pandemic, there was a period of soul-searching about the company’s direction, and Botha’s team decided to shed its reputation as generalists. “We wanted to be the experts,” he says.

So they “stripped right back” to 40 programmes (since pared down to 19) and moved to a sector-based model around care, professional services, early years and education pathways.

Botha says the move has helped his company engage more employers and not harmed growth.

But it is striking that the sectors Paragon has chosen to specialise in also have the slimmest profit margins and some of the greatest recruitment and retention challenges. The level two adult social care apprenticeship is its fastest-growing.

Although “there are sexier sectors we could be in”, they are “on a mission” now, “without a doubt”, he says.

“There are probably no more important jobs to train people for than looking after the elderly and the young.”

With Fitness First colleagues in Dubai

Shaping lives

In 2023, Knovia Group was formed by Sovereign Capital Partners after it bought dental training company Tempdent – tapping into another sector with a social purpose and dire workforce shortages.

Last month, Knovia took over Babington, one of its competitors in the professional services space. Babington recently reported financial losses and is currently being investigated by the Department for Education over subcontracting irregularities.

Botha had considered making another acquisition, this time in early years, but the company decided instead to build up and rebrand its existing early years provision into ‘Shaping Lives’.

“I anchored in on the name, because that’s exactly what we’re doing,” he says. With the expansion of free childcare provision from 15 to 30 hours a week and the national focus on improving school readiness, Botha says that early years is his company’s “focus for this year, without a doubt”.

Making up headlines

Botha steered Paragon to grade two Ofsted results in 2017 and 2023, but is aiming higher.

The “internal joke” at Paragon, he explains, is to imagine what they would want the headline to read if, following a visit from Ofsted a year from today, the inspection result makes it onto FE Week’s front page.

They have settled on “Paragon Skills delivers outstanding teaching and learning to every learner every time”, which I tease Botha sounds like rather too lofty a goal to ever achieve.

“But what’s the alternative?” he responds. “If I don’t set that as the ambition, I’ll end up with mediocre teaching to some of the learners some of the time.”

Botha’s staff seem to have put their faith in the business.

Staff satisfaction scores range between 92 and 94 per cent and the average tutor tenure is 3.7 years which Botha says is “very good for our sector”.

In order to retain tutors, for the second year running Botha is providing those employed for at least the previous six months with a “loyalty bonus” of £500 in August, and “hopefully another at Christmas”.

This replaces a pay rise, which he would “love to give my teams… but we are not well funded”. But the bonus is “something tangible that they can see in their paycheck, rather than a salary rise that they just don’t notice”.

Botha is a great believer in “positive energy”, which was integral to his past career in the fitness industry. That means employing people who “wake up in the morning happy”. “I don’t want to surround myself with people that just suck the life out of me,” he says.

On top of ‘energy’, another key Knovia corporate value is having an ‘edge’. To that end, they are piloting AI marking tools with software developer Bud.

So far the project has provided “incredible feedback”. The tutors buy into using AI “if it frees up their time for teaching and developing… rather than making them feel like they’re out of work”.

Sizing up

Botha’s mission is for Knovia to be “number one in size and quality” in its respective sectors. In dental, it is already number one “by quite a long way”, and in adult social care, “we oscillate between first and second”.

Although Botha expresses discontent over how recent announcements to relax functional skills requirements for adult apprentices came with “no warning” to the sector, he feels “very fortunate” that most of Paragon’s adult learners are sticking with their functional skills programmes regardless, and no tutors are losing their jobs.

Shorter apprenticeship durations present an “opportunity” in adult social care, with “lots we could concentrate on to get them through those programmes in eight months”.

The company’s apprentices have not had to endure long waits for end-point assessments in recent times, which he puts down to its “pretty accurate” profiling of apprentices six months in advance and “good working relationships” with EPAOs so they “know what’s coming down the line”.

Overseas aspirations

The only “bottleneck” happens in July when “stress levels get higher”. But creating shorter apprenticeships of eight or nine months “would help with that”, Botha says.

As well as expanding Knovia’s footprint in newly devolved regions, Botha would like to gain a foothold in the devolved nations, and perhaps further afield too.

He confesses to missing the “international side” of his time in Dubai.

He believes that education products “with an English badge on” are generally “really well received” abroad, and shorter, more flexible apprenticeship programmes could be more easily exportable.

Botha is feeling “really optimistic” about the future.

He concludes: “We’re so lucky to work in the sector we work in – what is there to be sad about?”

Colleges’ share of £50m pay rise cash revealed

Over 200 colleges will each receive a share of £50 million next month towards staff pay rises.

The one-off post-16 grant formed part of chancellor Rachel Reeves’ autumn budget funding package for colleges last October, worth £300 million in total. 

Ministers announced in January around £50 million would be made available to further education and sixth form colleges to cover the final four months of the 2024-25 academic year. 

The remaining £250 million will go towards a 3.78 per cent increase to the 16-19 funding rate in 2025-26. 

Details released today show grants worth £51.5 million have been awarded to 210 further education and sixth form colleges.

The Department for Education has again chosen to use colleges’ 16-19 funding as a baseline to calculate the grants, putting colleges with larger apprenticeships or 19+ student cohorts at a disadvantage. 

Guidance states each grant was calculated by adding a 3.55 per cent uplift to each college’s 16-19 total programme funding for 2024-25. 

Grants ranged from just over £1 million for NCG, England’s largest college group, to a modest £459.56 for Richmond and Hillcroft Adult and Community College. See the full list here.

DfE “expects” to pay the grants in June. 

Ministers offered the cash days after FE Week revealed the Sixth Form Colleges Association agreed to drop its judicial review claim against the DfE over last summer’s college teacher pay snub.

The promise of in-year funding led to the SFCA upping its pay recommendation from 2 per cent to 3.5 per cent for September 2024 to March 2025, increasing to 5.5 per cent from April 2025 to July 2025, covering the period of the grant. 

This comes as college teaching union University and College Union, itself embroiled in industrial unrest among its own staff, prepares for its national congress later this month with multiple college branches calling for a national teacher strike over pay. 

Negotiations for next year’s pay award are ongoing between the joint forum of FE staff unions and the Association of Colleges. Demands include a 10 pay rise, binding pay recommendations and reduced class sizes and teaching hours.

Click here to see how much each college will receive.

Teaching digital skills is vital given the risks teenagers face

In today’s tech-driven world, digital skills are just as important as knowing your ABCs and 123s.

Consider booking a GP appointment, registering to vote, researching information for an assignment or just communicating with teachers and peers – all these tasks now require a certain level of digital competence. Even leisure activities, like gaming and social media, demand an understanding of online safety, privacy settings and responsible digital interactions.

Those who struggle to access or use online platforms risk missing out on educational opportunities, jobs and essential services.

Moreover, a lack of efficiency in performing these tasks can be equally, if not more, problematic. Beyond simple functionality, the risks associated with an unsafe or uninformed digital presence are high. Mismanaging privacy settings, engaging with harmful content or falling victim to scams can have long-term consequences.

Despite all this, digital skills are still not treated as a core competency in education. While reading, writing and numeracy remain pillars of the school curriculum, digital literacy remains overlooked in many cases, leaving a gap in essential life skills.

Consequences of the digital divide

NCFE’s recent No One Left Offline report demonstrates the urgent need to treat digital knowledge as a core skill, right alongside English and maths. One in five respondents did not have the essential digital skills needed to fully engage with today’s digital world. The detail is revealing.

Typically, older people are assumed to be the ones lacking in digital skills. However, the report discovered 50 per cent of under-19s did not have the basic digital skills required to navigate modern life, compared to just 25 per cent of those aged over 60.

Almost half of under-19 respondents were not working at a basic level when it came to “being safe and responsible online”.

This is a major concern in an era where cyberbullying, misinformation and online exploitation are prevalent. Without the ability to critically assess online interactions and protect their personal information, young people are at risk of identity theft, online harassment and scams.

The Netflix show Adolescence highlighted the dangers of social media in graphic detail, sparking a nationwide debate.

Inadequate digital communication skills also cause problems. Many young people struggle with professional email etiquette, navigating online job applications and using digital collaboration tools – all of which are now crucial for both education and employment.

Without these abilities, they risk missing out on job opportunities and struggle to adapt to modern workplaces, where digital communication is often the primary mode of interaction.

And as digital banking and e-commerce become the norm, an inability to recognise secure payment gateways, protect personal banking information or detect fraudulent schemes can have devastating financial consequences, with around £11.4 billion being lost to scams in 2024 alone.

What can we do?

So why are we not providing young people in education with these essential digital skills?

If we insist on the ability to communicate by doing a GCSE English as a mandatory choice, why is the ability to communicate safely online not treated as a must-have too?

It may be a while before change hits the school curriculum, but at FE colleges change can start straight away. Joining college from school is a daunting transition, bringing more independent living and learning. A good induction programme is essential to engage the student.

Embedding digital skills within these programmes ensures students can access all the tools, support and information they need throughout their time in study. We can offer training in these skills – or a refresher on them – upfront.

The government’s digital skills inclusion plan is another piece of the puzzle. This aims to help those who are most left out of the digital world, such as older people and those in low-income households.

But aspirations to embed AI to improve productivity will fail if people do not have the essential digital skills in the first place.

A Select Committee on Digital Skills report in 2015 said digital literacy should be given equal weight to numeracy and literacy. Despite a decade of digital change since then, we are still awaiting action.

How we went from ‘inadequate’ to ‘good’ in 19 demanding months

In February 2023, we received the devastating news that Croydon College and Coulsdon Sixth Form College had been graded ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted. Nineteen months later, we had turned it around to a ‘good’ rating in what we believe was record time for a college.

But it took a huge effort from everyone to make such significant changes at speed, and we learned a lot along the way.

It was my job to lead staff and students through adversity, but I couldn’t do it alone. We asked staff to lead on various parts of the improvement plan.

We set up task groups to work on strategies improving areas such as attendance, tutorials and work experience. We had the talent, expertise and knowledge to develop the solutions and our passionate, committed staff really wanted to be involved.

Management consistency

Many issues stemmed from lack of consistency in how staff were being managed and how staff in turn were managing students. Systems to monitor student progress were not used properly and there was irregular management oversight of staff performance. Expectations were not consistently high. 

We had to ensure high expectations were set throughout the college and action was taken when these expectations were not met. We provided coaching and training to managers to help them improve standards and get them excited about their jobs again. 

The rapid and transformational impact of good management on previously underperforming areas was incredible, raising the morale and motivation of both staff and students. We could see the impact on student engagement almost immediately. 

Your people are your superpower

We knew that in some areas, staff didn’t feel supported or valued which meant they had lost some of the love for the job. We worked hard to create an environment where teachers wanted to be better and understood how they could develop and make sure all learners were getting the best experience.

We ensured our policies and expectations were clear, and increased staff development with a focus on consistently high standards of teaching and learning.

We also ensured there was support and/or management action where standards were not being met. It’s all about how you engage and harness that combined wealth of experience and passion to make improvements.

Personal resilience

There were many lessons I learned about myself personally and as a leader.

From the minute we received the ‘inadequate’ grading until the outcome of the next inspection, my competence and capability were questioned so often that I questioned it daily myself. The scrutiny and pressure had a massive impact on my life.

Everyone will have their own ways to cope but whatever they are, you have to take care of your own wellbeing as a leader. You need to be you on your best day, even when you don’t feel like it, constantly encouraging people and demonstrating that you believe in them.

You need the belief and resilience to keep going. Seek support wherever you can get it and find something that can relieve your stress. 

Accept that it isn’t going to be easy, no matter how optimistic you feel at the time. Anyone leading through such moments needs to find out where their support is and who they can talk to. Dealing with the initial poor inspection outcome was only the first in a series of significant leadership challenges during the period of intervention.

It’s important to remember you can turn it around and to stay focused on that, or you simply can’t keep going. Hold tight to your vision of success in the darkest hours. Your staff are the solution.

A clear vision and plan to get there

The final lesson was about having a clear plan on how to achieve that vision of success.  When I had doubts, I went back to the plan and kept reviewing our impact.

If something was not working or moving too slowly, I would find new solutions. Look for every little bit of evidence of impact and improvement and celebrate and note achievements along your path. This fuels your resilience. 

Believe in your plan and your team’s ability to deliver it. You will get there.

Entrepreneur agrees to settlement over training provider liquidation

An entrepreneur who was being chased for £8.4 million worth of public skills funding following the collapse of his training provider has reached a secret settlement with creditors.

GB Training (UK) Ltd, run by West Midlands businessman Lawrence Barton (pictured), has been subject to multiple investigations since it closed in 2020 amid accusations of funding overclaims.

A report by liquidator Kevin Mawer, published by Companies House, revealed the Department for Education’s funding agency was seeking £4.7 million after it uncovered alleged cases of taxi drivers – who were either not employed or self-employed – on GB Training’s books listed as apprentices.

The West Midlands Combined Authority was also claiming over £1 million after it allegedly found “ineligible” funding claims for learners who said they did not undertake the courses referred to, while North East Surrey College of Technology (NESCOT), which used GB Training as a subcontractor, was seeking more than £2.6 million.

Mawer also delved into intercompany transactions and found £1.7 million had been transferred to companies controlled by Barton or members of his family, including a nightclub, four days after the firm decided to go into liquidation.

A settlement has now been reached between the parties, according to a joint statement from Barton and Mawer which said a “distribution to creditors” will be made but the terms “will remain confidential”.

Barton said he was “happy a line has been drawn under it with all the parties involved” and added that he “must stress” that the allegations of funding overclaims “were never proven and the terms of the settlement reached in no way represents an acceptance of any culpability or guilt on this matter”.

“I remain concerned about the conduct of the investigation, the devastating impact it had on the company which I had worked more than 20 years to create and the loss of jobs and services to learners that ensued,” Barton added.

FE Week requested an interview with Barton to address the specific allegations made in the liquidators’ report, but he declined.

Mawer said: “I am pleased to have reached an agreement which will result in creditors recovering some of their claims.”

Barton is now the festival director of Birmingham Pride and has held roles including leadership commissioner for the West Midlands Combined Authority and board director of Birmingham Southside Business Improvement District, a community regeneration initiative.

He was appointed to be a deputy lieutenant of the West Midlands in March 2020.

GB Training traded for 20 years and trained thousands of apprentices and adult learners until its closure in 2020. Around 70 jobs were lost.

Barton said: “I’m now looking forward to continuing my community and business activities and to making a success of the new venues re-opening next month and continuing to drive forward the Birmingham nighttime economy.”

Level 7 apprenticeship age restrictions are ridiculous barrier to growth

The apprenticeship sector has waited with bated breath since Labour’s conference in September, when plans were announced to restrict employers’ use of levy funds on level 7 apprenticeships.

Back then I described the decision as “retrograde” and assumed all level 7 apprenticeships would be axed – or at the very least the cutting of public subsidy would be “pretty widespread”.

Last week, education secretary Bridget Phillipson gave the first proper indication of what the level 7 decision will mean after many months of lobbying.

Having rolled back from removing levy funding with no exemptions, she is making an exception for young people who start a programme when aged 16 to 21. I am now amending my opinion to describe the situation as both retrograde and ridiculous.

There will be no 16 and 17 year olds qualified to undertake a level 7 apprenticeship, and a very small number of 18 to 21 year olds.

The suggestion is daft and somewhat disingenuous

The suggestion from government is daft and somewhat disingenuous. Should an age restriction be necessary, a more appropriate starting point would be for those aged 18 and, if the argument for an all-age, all-level apprenticeship programme is now lost (regrettably), include (at the very least) 19 to 25 year olds.

Leaving 16 to 21 year olds as levy fundable for level 7 apprenticeship programmes will do nothing but seriously harm public sector plans to develop the skills needed.

Any NHS trust will tell you how important it is to have the right leadership and clinical skills to meet the challenges they face. They will also tell you that the level 7 apprenticeship training they have procured is making a significant and positive impact. The idea that they can pay for the vital training outside of the levy is “for the birds”, they will say.

The government’s changes mean level 7 skills gaps will remain, hampering the ability of the NHS to meet the needs of its communities. Indeed, restricting the use of level 7 apprenticeships for the key NHS roles that have been developed at that level seems entirely at odds with the government’s mission to build an NHS fit for the future.

NHS trusts will undoubtedly question why the government has raised the possibility of restricting their ability to use their apprenticeship levy to train key level 7 roles including community nurses, advanced clinical practitioners and a range of other key NHS occupations.

A question mark remains as to how the government wants apprenticeships to support the delivery of its industrial strategy and its focus on advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and ‘making Britain a clean energy superpower’.

Level 7 apprenticeship standards tick all those boxes, training up advanced robotics engineers, sustainability business specialists, artificial intelligence data specialists, ecologists, process automation engineers and systems engineers.

It is well understood that over 80 per cent of the 2030 workforce are already in work in 2025. Level 7 should have a key role in developing the skills of the adult workforce.

Government will not deliver its five missions or its industrial strategy by overly focusing apprenticeships on young people. It is cakeism to assume that apprenticeships can be focused on young people and entry-level roles, while at the same time maximising their contribution to the delivery of the government’s five missions.

Skills gaps and shortages exist at all levels. In an advanced economy such as ours, skills gaps and shortages at higher levels are particularly apparent.

Individuals following technical and vocational programmes do not follow a linear trajectory. Social mobility does not just happen by the age of 21, it can happen and should be supported to happen throughout an individual’s working life.

Phillipson’s decision, it would appear, is driven by political posturing and positioning. Rather than spuriously limiting level 7 funding by age, the government could have considered expanding levy parameters to raise or retain additional funding.

This would have meant more types of apprenticeships could be supported, and allowed for the levy to address vital skill shortages in the NHS and the public and private sector more widely.

Cutting apprenticeship support risks leaving a generation behind

It is imperative that young people get the support they need to pursue the career that is right for them. Initiatives to educate young people on the benefits of both higher education and further education are what is needed to achieve this, alongside tailored routes that mean they can learn and accumulate the skills they need to pursue their chosen path.

Then they can explore all the available routes, be it attending university or a vocational path, before setting off into the world with confidence.

The feedback we receive about the many skills-based programmes run by Education Development Trust shows a huge level of appreciation from the hundreds of thousands of young people who undertake them, as well as from teachers and parents.

And I’m happy to say that the Department for Education also appreciates skills-based further education programmes – providing millions of pounds of funding for a multitude of different initiatives.

The economic benefits to the UK of skills-based employment are also apparent. A 2024 report by the Learning and Work Institute found cuts to skills funding puts £20 billion of economic growth at risk.

That’s why I was surprised and disappointed to see the DfE announce it will cease funding for the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) programme from August this year.

ASK supports schools, special schools and colleges in England to raise awareness of apprenticeships and T Levels – offering a variety of activities to inspire learners, including mock interviews, assemblies and workshops. 

Launched in 2015, ASK has been run by various organisations, with the programme recently receiving  £3.4 million from the DfE, with £2.14 million paid last financial year and £1.27 million this year.

EDT delivers the programme across the London region, and as CEO, I have seen the positive impact of this first-hand.

It has supported more than half a million young people over the past five years and we have countless case studies of young people in London crediting the programme with transforming their lives.

Although no clear alternative has been put in place yet, the DfE’s aforementioned support for skills-based programmes means I am confident that one will be announced.

Shortages in the workforce have emerged in areas from traditional disciplines such as plumbing and carpentry, to emerging skills for the modern age, such as AI. We only need to look at current EDT programmes provided to young people to see how skills-based initiatives help to bridge this gap. 

West London Careers Hub promotes best practice in careers provision and work experience for young people – supporting institutions to educate 120,000 young people across 173 schools and colleges.

In addition, roughly 150 schools and colleges across England subscribed to our Inspiring Careers Programme and we provided careers guidance and work experience opportunities to approximately 17,000 students.

While I understand that difficult fiscal decisions must be made by the DfE, the cost of skills-based programmes is modest compared to their overall impact on the economy.

We only need to look at ASK, as well as other programmes provided by many different organisations, to see the great work undertaken to promote awareness and uptake of apprenticeships, traineeships and T Levels to students across the UK. 

That’s especially true for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, who often lack access to networks and information about vocational careers.

I look forward to continuing to work with policymakers to champion skills-based programmes and provide a path for young people to have the fulfilling and long-standing careers they deserve.

Timetables, talks and trust – how we’re getting students to show up

At Leeds College of Building, we’ve taken a determined and structured approach to improving attendance. Our strategy has been multi-layered, but one fundamental principle underpins everything: consistency.  
 
Our students thrive when they experience structure, routine and a sense of belonging, and we’ve been relentless in ensuring they get that. When students are present and ready to learn, we know they have the best chance of securing sustained employment in the construction industry.  
 
The latest Ofsted monitoring visit in February highlighted the progress we’ve made. Inspectors commended our “range of highly effective strategies to improve attendance and punctuality,” recognising our “less punitive approach” that focuses on student support and incentives.  
 
Our work with students to identify barriers – whether financial, personal, or educational – and our commitment to removing or mitigating those barriers have been crucial.

Some of our most impactful initiatives include:

Attendance strategy 

We’ve developed a standalone attendance, punctuality and engagement strategy (separate from our behaviour policy) to ensure a focused and structured approach. It provides accountability across departments, allowing staff to track attendance patterns, intervene early and provide tailored support. By embedding attendance at the heart of our culture, we reinforce the message that regular attendance is essential for success. 

Timetable adjustments 

Our students told us rigid timetables can act as a barrier to attendance, particularly for those who struggle with motivation. So we’ve strategically timetabled English and maths lessons around vocational courses so students see these essential subjects as integral to their learning rather than standalone requirements. By reducing the separation between practical and academic learning, students feel a stronger sense of relevance and purpose. 

Parental engagement 

We’ve strengthened relationships with parents and carers. From enrolment onwards, they’re informed about the importance of attendance and their role in supporting their child’s success. We provide regular updates, progress reports and attendance monitoring letters. This creates a shared responsibility for student success. 

Inclusive classroom model 

A structured and supportive learning environment is vital for student engagement, particularly for those who may have struggled in traditional educational settings. Our inclusive classroom model, embedded in our teaching and learning strategy, provides a framework that ensures consistency in classroom expectations, lesson delivery and student support. When students know what to expect and feel included in their learning journey, they are more likely to attend regularly. 

Employer involvement 

Through our guest talks, industry experiences and career development opportunities, students hear first-hand from professionals about the real-world consequences of poor attendance. These interactions not only highlight the importance of reliability but also provide students with tangible career aspirations. 

Today’s talks 

Each session begins with ‘Today’s Talks’, where attendance and time management are key discussion points. These structured conversations help students understand the long-term impact of punctuality on their reputation, employability and overall success. By integrating these discussions into daily learning, we reinforce the message that attendance is not just a college requirement but a life skill. 

Time management in tutorials 

Finally, recognising that poor attendance is often linked to organisational challenges, we’ve integrated time management lessons into the student-led tutorial programme. These sessions give students practical strategies for planning their schedules, prioritising tasks and developing a disciplined approach to their studies.

Our relentless approach is paying off. Ofsted inspectors noted that our actions led to “substantial improvements” in attendance. Over the past two years we’ve driven improvements of 3.4 per cent in overall attendance.

However, what truly matters is the impact we’ve made by working closely with students who face complex challenges and those who’ve struggled with attendance. We have countless success stories where personalised student support has helped individuals overcome barriers.

Our progressions and positive destination rates are now at an all-time high: nine in 10 of all our students have positive destinations, with over 1,200 students across provision types progressing into permanent employment – despite 66 per cent of students coming from the UK’s most deprived areas.  

We will continue to refine and enhance our approach to ensure every student here has the best chance of success. 

We’re haunted by the ghosts of failed curriculum reforms

Professor Becky Francis has some huge decisions to make as she prepares to submit her final recommendations to the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson.

Francis follows a long line of ‘independent education experts’ tasked by ministers to examine the efficacy of the national curriculum, including post-16 skills.

More recent holders of the title include Sir Mike Tomlinson, known as the “safest pair of hands in education”. He advised New Labour in 2004. Meanwhile, Baroness Alison Wolf conducted her review during the Tory-led coalition government (2010-15).

Both these curriculum reviews turned out to be poison chalices.

Tomlinson couldn’t get traditionalists in Downing Street to abolish A levels, so the then education secretary, Ed Balls, pressed ahead with implementing 14-19 diplomas that failed to gain traction.

The Wolf Review took a ‘flamethrower’ to so-called ‘non-value’ qualifications, only for the cohort of secondary pupils that came after to be worse off in attainment terms, according to the only academic study of the period.

Researchers found the reforms led to a fall in the percentage of pupils achieving Level 2 of the national qualifications framework (5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE or equivalent), from 72 per cent in both 2012 and 2013 to 61 per cent in 2014.

In other words, these reforms achieved the opposite of what they were supposed to.

That’s why this latest curriculum review must make the case based on first principles. Not political gerrymandering or some wishful thinking about ‘parity of esteem’.

T level policy is a case in point. Since Lord Sainsbury completed his review in 2016, this political chameleon and multi-party donor has been on manoeuvres to secure his backward vision of upper-secondary education.

Sainsbury makes no secret of his agenda in his book, Windows of Opportunity. He dislikes awarding bodies’ independence, competition between providers, and student qualification choices; hence, the Department for Education owns T levels.

The segregated upper secondary curriculum whereby students are forced to make a binary choice between A levels and T levels was all his idea. As the Protect Student Choice campaign demonstrated in opposition to the abolition of BTECs, it’s the old class politics of the 1944 Education Act all over again. Instead of pupils divided at 11 between academic and technical ability, this new form of education apartheid is enforced at age 16.

Today’s youth cohort is made to choose between A levels and T levels – they can’t combine both.

Fundamentally, this is why T levels are doomed to fail. Young people and their working-class parents are not stupid. They can see when a liberal elite is trying to pigeonhole their offspring into two different brain types: the grammar track for the academically minded and the occupational track for those more ‘practical’ in their dispositions.

As a professor of education, Becky Francis will know that this was the same position taken by the Norwood Committee in 1943. After the war, it led to the discredited 11-plus examinations and segregated secondary education.

The Labour titan of 1960s education, Anthony Crosland, famously got rid of this socially divisive system by issuing his 10/65 Circular, introducing comprehensive schools.

That’s why T levels are so stuck in the past. They are premised on perpetuating class divisions instead of the powerful and progressive idea that all our young people, regardless of background, should benefit from a good comprehensive education until the compulsory leaving age.

Eighteen is effectively the school-leaving age in England. The government should set a high bar for all learners until this age, not divide them like sheep and goats.

Denying teenagers the choice of combining A levels with vocational options is nothing more than class prejudice masquerading as progress.

If Bridget Phillipson wants to go down in history as a transformative secretary of state, she must ensure her curriculum review ends the hard-wired unfairness of T levels, embracing diversity and choice for young people instead.