Office for Students to investigate uni’s subcontractors

An investigation has been launched into “potential concerns” over a university’s subcontracting arrangements which include a further education college and multiple private providers.

The Office for Students (OfS) is looking into the governance arrangements and quality of courses delivered by partners of Leeds Trinity University.

The OfS said it has identified “potential concerns that require further scrutiny”

This is believed to be the first time the higher education regulator has launched an investigation specifically into a university’s franchising and validating arrangements. 

Leeds Trinity lists seven domestic and two international “academic partners” that deliver foundation to master’s level degrees on its behalf. 

For example, Waltham International College, a private provider which was graded ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted in 2022, delivers three bachelor’s degrees with foundation years in partnership with Leeds Trinity. 

Leeds Trinity badged degrees are also offered at Applied Business Academy, Global Banking School, LD Training Services, Results Consortium and Scholars School System. 

Degree courses at Barnsley College are validated by the university.

Just over 7,300 students were on subcontracted out courses in 2021/22 according to OfS data. Most of them, 6,540, were full-time undergraduates.

Student numbers in four UK partner private providers grew to “over 9,000” according to the university’s 2022/23 accounts.

The OfS refused to explain whether its “potential concerns” related to a specific contractor but said its investigation will check the quality of courses on offer, the effectiveness of the university’s management and governance and its compliance. 

“The investigation will consider whether Leeds Trinity University has complied with general ongoing conditions of registration, and any matters relevant to the provider’s authorisation for degree awarding powers in relation to its partnerships,” the OfS said. 

It stressed that launching an investigation does not mean the university has necessarily broken any rules. 

If the investigation reveals a breach, the OfS can impose conditions of registration, monetary penalties or revoke degree awarding powers. 

A Leeds Trinity University spokesperson said: “As a responsible higher education provider we understand and take seriously our obligation to comply with all relevant rules and guidelines to meet the sector’s regulatory requirements. Leeds Trinity University will work with the Office for Students to ensure transparency and assurance in relation to the institution’s franchise partnership arrangements.  

“Widening participation is at the heart of Leeds Trinity’s ethos and has been for many years. Franchise partnerships are one of a number of ways in which the University enables social mobility and raising aspirations in groups traditionally under-represented in higher education.”

It comes a month after the National Audit Office published a damning report on higher education franchising which called for greater oversight in light of fraud and abuse. 

The government’s audit watchdog found that 53 per cent of the £4.1 million of student loan fraud in 2022/23 was at franchised HE providers, even though franchised students only make up 6.5 per cent of Student Loan Company funded students.

Want to be attractive as an employer? Be sustainable

The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) presents an unparalleled opportunity for the education sector to lead by example in the shift towards sustainability. With over 200 FE Colleges embedded in the heart of local communities, they are uniquely positioned to spearhead this change. By integrating sustainability across operations, they can enhance their appeal to prospective students and employees.

As reported in these pages last month, the DfE intends to “meet the strategic commitment for all settings to have a climate action plan in place by 2025”. Pressure is building, and arguably there will very soon come a point when climate action plans will undergo the same level of scrutiny as other policies such as safeguarding and health and safety.

But how does this all play out on a practical basis? There are an ever-increasing number of companies specialising in advising on all aspects of reducing carbon emissions focusing on things like heat pumps, solar panels and improved insulation. Rewilding schemes and recycling programmes don’t directly reduce carbon output from a college estate but are important additional options for creating sustainability.

However, one of the biggest practical impacts that will be felt over the next few years is the move to electric vehicles (EVs). With over half (52 per cent) of all domestic transport emissions coming from cars and the transport sector being the largest emitter of carbon in the UK, there has been a focus on driving down emissions from combustion engines and moving to zero-emission vehicles.

While government policy pushed back a ban on the sale of new combustion engine cars to 2035, the zero-emission mandate (ZEV) means a minimum of 80 per cent of all new vehicle sales will have to be EV’s in 2030. Combined with the Labour Party stating they will revert to a complete ban in 2030 as well as manufacturers continuing to remove combustion engine products from their portfolios, the reality of college car parks full of EVs looms.

The reality of college car parks full of EVs looms

Charging at home is an option for some, but those with no off-street parking will have to rely on a network of publicly available charging points. Range anxiety and access to charging facilities are two of the most common barriers to individuals moving to EVs, but the big barrier of cost is rapidly falling: price parity with combustion engine cars is only a few years away.

The rapid rise of EVs on the roads to over 1 million by December 2023 has been helped further by schemes such as the removal of road tax and the car salary sacrifice initiative as well as cheaper running costs. The salary sacrifice has been a very popular route for organisations to offer real value to an employee at no cost to either party. Employers lease the car from a recognised business and the employee pays for it via their gross salary, saving on NI and income tax. Given the pressures on pay within FE, this is a great way of providing employee benefits without impact. It’s also arguably a necessary incentive to compete for prospective employees’ attention.

Charging is also becoming simpler and more accessible, not just for users but for those with the capability to make it available. FE colleges are at an advantage in that they tend to benefit from having the electrical infrastructure to allow charging to take place on site – an incentive for students, staff and visitors alike.

Therefore, the government’s announcement at the start of this month that, through an enhanced Workplace Charging Scheme grant, they will now cover up to 75 per cent of the cost of each charging point (up to £2,500 per point) installed at an FE College should be welcomed and embraced.

The route to Net Zero will take many forms but the barriers will mainly exist around how practical some of the initiatives are to implement. Without adequate charging facilities, uptake (and therefore our ability to reduce overall emissions) will falter.

Strategically embracing EV technology offers a dual benefit: colleges can contribute significantly to environmental sustainability while simultaneously bolstering their attractiveness as forward-thinking, environmentally responsible institutions.

The good news is that the incentives are there, enabling us to jump before we are pushed.

There’s no tired like teacher tired  

When I was 14, my mother became a teacher. From then on, she would regularly come home after work and fall asleep in front of the TV news. We used to tease her: how could she could be so tired when she only had a part-time job? And then life had its revenge and I, too, became a teacher.

Now well into my third decade in the job, I am still perennially surprised by how very, very tiring the job can be, especially at this time of year. Now it is me slumped in front of the evening TV news every evening.

And it’s not just our own tiredness, The pressures of the job mean any responsibilities at home or in ours wider lives take a knock too. It’s no surprise that home tensions are so common among the profession.

In teaching, everything seems urgent, even though little of it might actually be important. Most enervating, perhaps, is having to complete tasks for the sake of accountability – tasks that take us away from the real job. What really wears teachers down is the weight of knowing what we do makes such a significant difference to our students’ lives. We won’t not do those things, and we can’t not do what managers ask us to do to prove we’re doing it. And so we do both.

More exhausting even than this consistent over-burdening is the holistic nature of the job. A good teacher is physically, mentally and emotionally engaged. Spiritually, even. A teacher simply cannot turn off.  

Each of us is only a few generations away from working on the land. Among my ancestors, there are farmers, ship builders, lorry drivers, shopkeepers, builders and policemen, among others. As I leave for work some mornings feeling tired and sorry for myself, I try to remind myself that they would have jumped at the chance of a life like mine, doing the job I do. 

A teacher simply cannot turn off

I spend my days reading poems and plays. I am often caught in various sorts of crossfire, but nobody shoots at me. Teaching is a privilege. Nevertheless, there is such a thing as teacher-tired.

In 2021, a YouGov TeacherTrack survey suggested that 50 per cent of teachers suffered at least one characteristic associated with work-related burnout ‘all the time’ throughout the academic year. Further, 89 per cent reported that they felt a lack of energy or exhaustion in relation to their job ‘some or all of the time’. The mental health consequences of this are patent. Teachers are not just tired; they are dangerously tired.  

One former colleague managed the demands made upon him by only ever submitting information or data on the second request. If it was really necessary, he reasoned, managers would ask again. Many tasks seemed to evaporate for him that way.

Another committed to only ever doing things in a half-arsed sort of way so that she would never be asked to do those things again.

These are desperate measures, and they speak of desperate times.

For my part, I approach each term a little like a military campaign. I plan. I prepare. Physical fitness, good diet, a sound sleep regime, all these things will sustain you through the initial skirmishes of the term rushing towards you. Experienced teachers also know that sometimes simply getting to the end of the day in one piece is enough. So they let themselves have those days.

Teacher tiredness sometimes plays a conversational role akin to the weather. It is a safe topic on which agreement is assured and debate limited. So teachers can talk about their weariness without fear of being controversial.

Until government funding is increased and contact time reduced, maybe that is the key. Talking about things normalises them and allows the people who experience them to see they are not alone.

We need to admit that teaching is uniquely tiring. That way, perhaps more managers will be inclined to reduce the burden however they can. And more importantly, perhaps more trainees will enter the profession with a true idea of what it means to be a teacher and they, too, will give the job a few decades to grow on them.

Where Greater Manchester leads, others will follow

On 15 February, a year to the day since Greater Manchester signed a landmark strategic partnership with InnovateUK to drive innovation in the region, InnovateUK unveiled a new Further Education Investment Fund. FEIF is a groundbreaking £7.5 million initiative to build capacity and capability in 33 colleges nationwide.

It is with great pride and excitement for the future that GMColleges was awarded £2.5 million of that funding to deliver the city-region’s ambitions.

Launching FEIF, Indro Mukerjee, chief executive of InnovateUK, passionately emphasised the pivotal role further education colleges play in driving innovation, citing their unique connection to local businesses and communities.

We agree. Having recently become engaged in the Greater Manchester’s innovation ecosystem as outreach delivery partners for the Centre for Digital Innovation led by Manchester Metropolitan University, GMColleges leveraged this experience to seize the opportunity presented by FEIF.

Our nine Greater Manchester general further education colleges united for a single collaborative bid, recognising the necessity of contributing to the ecosystem in a coordinated manner, rather than duplicating existing approaches or adding to confusion of provision.

We also aimed to introduce fresh and exciting elements that create new areas of activity and understanding for our sector and staff. 

Our unity of purpose and the creativity of our bid have been recognised, and we now look forward to delivering a comprehensive plan that we hope will be a model for other regions.

In each Greater Manchester borough, there will be a business innovation centre complete with a business innovation adviser and a local coordinator who will facilitate business community engagement. Our goal is to promote the adoption of new technologies and processes, aiding business growth and productivity. We will collaborate closely with the innovation ecosystem partners to bring expertise out of the centre into the boroughs and into businesses who can sometimes seem distant from business support programmes.

This opportunity is not just exciting for us but for the entire sector

Crucial to our project are four ‘innovators in residence’ who will offer sector-specific knowledge to all GM colleges, enhancing their FE staff capabilities through CPD, industry visits and advice on procurement of equipment. Each innovator in residence will be expert in one of Greater Manchester’s frontier sectors, as outlined in combined authority’s innovation plan: advanced materials and manufacturing, health innovation and life sciences, digital, creative and media, and clean growth.

A highlight of the Greater Manchester programme will be the creation and deployment of apprentice innovation ambassadors. This dynamic initiative will foster ‘innovation literacy’ among apprentices from all sectors, empowering apprentices to champion and support incremental innovation in their workplaces.

Through these apprentices, our aim is to demystify innovation and make it relevant to everyone, gradually building a movement towards decent work and increased productivity across the city-region.

This opportunity is not just exciting for Greater Manchester colleges but for the entire sector. With a team of 36 staff to be assembled over the next two months, our ambitious program embarks on a year of initiation and experimentation. In building the team, we will even test new ways of bringing knowledge and capacity into the colleges.

With initial funding and contracts for 12 months, these posts will suit people who are excited to break new ground, so we are open to full- and part-time employment, but also secondments, academic-sabbaticals and contract working.

Each day in this project is a learning opportunity, and we eagerly seek collaboration with partners to propel this knowledge into the future, solidifying further education colleges as vital partners in propelling UK innovation. We want partners to join us in shaping a new frontier of innovation, where each day presents a chance to contribute to something extraordinary.

Not for the first time in recent years, Greater Manchester is leading the way, not just in driving business innovation but in modelling that innovation through its own approach to meeting economic challenges.

At the heart of that approach is a genuine recognition of further education’s unique capability to bridge businesses and communities. The combined authority’s aim is to create the country’s first integrated technical education system. We hope this new stream of work will ensure it is far from the last.

Post-nominals put apprenticeships and academia on a PARS

Just over six years ago I was applying for apprenticeships. My teachers, advisors and friends all mocked my decision at the time, and I was told I should be following a traditional degree route. To this day, having a completed a degree apprenticeship, I still sometimes witness stigma and receive negative comments around being an apprentice.

Without my apprenticeship though, I wouldn’t be contributing a piece like this to a publication like  FE Week; I wouldn’t have given a speech in Westminster; I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to go on a decommissioned submarine at age 19; and I wouldn’t have chaired an apprentice council for a national association. And those are just a few of the many opportunities my apprenticeship has given me. Alongside this, I have also gained a first-class honours degree and rapidly progressed in my career.

I know numerous apprentices like me, who can list countless opportunities and achievements they have gained on their apprenticeship journey. And just like me, many of these individuals were almost shamed for making the best choice for their personal and professional development. 

The Post Apprenticeship Recognition Scheme (PARS) will highlight apprenticeship success stories. In doing so, it has the potential to bring their real value, worth and recognition to the fore and do away with the stigma. Post-nominal awards for apprentices provide a visual signal that an individual has successfully navigated the apprenticeship route and derived all the benefits from this integrated mode of learning and development, which is greater than the sum of its parts.

As a degree apprentice, I could always use my Bachelor of Science post-nominals – BSc. I have chosen not to because I do not believe it truly reflects my experience and efforts in full.

On completion of my apprenticeship I was already career-experienced, with a significant range of professional skills and business acumen that I was applying every day in combination with my academic attainment. I had acquired a broad range of soft skills, understanding of the workplace and resilience derived from high-level study integrated with a job. My degree is definitely valuable, but the development gained during my apprenticeship goes way beyond this academic aspect.

BSc didn’t reflect my experience and efforts in full

My purpose in highlighting this is certainly not to undermine or diminish full-time students. Each pathway has different experiences and struggles; all routes should be recognised as valuable choices for career and academic progression. The point is to give both the recognition they deserve.

The awards made to qualified apprentices through PARS and the use of post-nominals will provide a permanent mark of achievement for a route which deserves to be valued in its own right; not simply in relation to other qualifications or learning routes.

Credentials for qualified apprentices also help us to role model the relevance and value of apprenticeships for the next generations to come. Such recognition should be helpful motivation through the inevitable challenges and demands of combined work and study, hopefully encouraging apprentices to stay the course to achieve the full apprenticeship standard.

Apprenticeship recognition also points visually to the fact that qualified apprentices have accumulated experience and acquired, and practised, professional skills and behaviours that boost their value and level of entry in the employment market. It should help prospective recruiters to identify this quickly and help to accelerate their progression.

I’ve seen perceptions of apprenticeships gradually changing over the past six years, and I believe PARS could truly bring about a step change in perceptions that moves the conversation on.

I am now really proud to be Emma Nolan CGA (Certificate of Graduate Apprenticeship) and delighted to congratulate my colleagues who supported the Post Apprenticeship Recognition Scheme (PARS) through the pilot phase as they become the first group in the country to receive their awards.

I look forward in the future to celebrating awards for many more qualified apprentices in the months and years ahead.

The road to a Rolls Royce apprenticeship system

The Government is rightly proud of its record on apprenticeships. 

Since 2010, over 5.5 million apprentices have been trained and the apprenticeship landscape has altered massively.

Thousands of young people still leave school each year to learn traditional trades earning as they learn as an apprentice. But thousands more now train in artificial intelligence, become data engineers or get a foot on the ladder with major banks.

Importantly, parents’ attitudes have shifted towards high-quality apprenticeships and away from traditional degrees. Organisations like The Careers & Enterprise Company see major increases in the number of teachers promoting the value of vocational education. 

The Secretary of State for Education, herself a former apprentice, is pushing for doctors and teachers to be trained this way. Equally, I have hired two apprentices since being elected in 2019. 

The old view that to be an apprentice means being a teenager at the start of your career is shifting too. Tens of thousands of older workers are now being supported to upskill and reskill through apprenticeships. 

While it’s right we recognise this impressive record, for the apprenticeship system to be a genuine Rolls Royce operation, we need to constantly improve. 

And one of the biggest areas for reform focuses on people in the middle of their careers.

One of the government’s big themes over the past year has been getting more people to stay or get back into work. Economic inactivity is costing the country billions and impacting the public through labour shortages, lower productivity and fewer people paying tax. 

Recent research from Multiverse shows this is set to worsen, with 450,000 people thinking about dropping out of the labour market because they can’t keep up with the skills needed in the modern workplace. 

Every weapon in the government’s arsenal needs to be focused on this, and that includes apprenticeships. 

Functional skills requirements lead to perverse policies

We’re already seeing more and more businesses recognise the value in retraining long-standing workers by enrolling them as mid-career apprentices. It means someone working in a call centre learning the ropes of data analysis as AI takes over their old job, or a long-standing learning support assistant having a pathway to becoming a teacher. 

But there is one part of the apprenticeship system which is proving to be a major barrier for older workers: functional skills requirements.

To be an apprentice, you must prove you have good qualifications in both English and maths. If you can’t, the taxpayer will pay hundreds of pounds to put you on courses and enter you into exams to prove it. 

This sounds well-intentioned, but in reality it is leading to some perverse policies being enacted. Tens of thousands of older workers, working with their employers to retrain into new jobs using apprenticeships, are being forced onto expensive courses when they clearly don’t need to be there. 

For thousands, it’s because they simply cannot find their old O Level or A Level certificates. I’ve seen evidence of millions of pounds wasted each year on people being put on these functional skills courses when they already have a degree. 

Retaking basic English and maths qualifications when you already have an undergraduate degree defies all common sense. As I advocate for in the New Conservatives’ Plan to Upskill Britain, removing these requirements will boost the number of apprentices. 

Government spent £379 million on functional skills courses in the past five years. This is an area ripe for reform, not just because of its cost but because it is causing more apprentices to drop out, or worse, never apply in the first place. 

For people who have been good employees for decades, being told to go back to the classroom and the exam hall just doesn’t make sense. 

Making degree certificates evidence of passing your functional skills would save millions of pounds each year and stop thousands from being turned off from a life-changing apprenticeship.

Gillian Keegan and the Prime Minister are proud champions of apprenticeships and want to see the system go from strength to strength. Sensible reforms like this are key to delivering that ambition.

Four things to know from Ofsted’s careers review in specialist colleges

Specialist colleges are providing varying quality of careers guidance to SEND learners amid a lack of support from local authorities and gaps in communication with parents and employers, Ofsted has found.

The findings, published today, come from a 2022 mandate from the Department for Education for Ofsted to review careers provision in specialist settings.

Inspectors visited four specialist colleges, three pupil referral units and five special schools during the 2023 summer term.

They found mixed results in the careers guidance strategies in SEND colleges, integration of careers education into the curriculum and the support received from local authorities.

Ofsted’s chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said: “Good careers guidance can help address social inequality by teaching children and young people with SEND about the full range of options available and how they can make the most of them. These children deserve the kind of high-quality advice that opens the doors to ambitious and interesting experiences that help them choose their next steps. 

“It’s great to hear that many specialist settings are working with children and their families to make sure these transitions are as aspirational and positive as possible.”

Here are four key take aways from Ofsted’s review:

Local authorities ‘distressing’ families with incorrect transition paperwork

Ofsted criticised local authorities for not always giving families and education providers enough support for learners transitioning into further education, training or employment; something that is part of their statutory guidance.

The watchdog said there was a “great deal” of regional variation in how well local authorities carried out their duties.

“There were some cases where the local authority did not confirm school/college places within agreed timescales, or sent out incorrect paperwork related to transitions,” the report said.

“This was distressing for families and children and young people, and providers’ staff had to invest significant time and resource in resolving these problems.”

Local authority officers that Ofsted interviewed cited “system-wide issues”.

“They said it can be particularly challenging to find specialist provision, especially after the learner has turned 19. They also expressed concerns about the numbers of level 1 and 2 college courses being reduced and said there were not always sufficient suitable places in providers to meet learners’ needs,” Ofsted said.

Concerns of BTEC options for SEND learners

Ofsted found that all providers felt there had been a reduction in the number of options for learners with SEND. Providers were concerned about the potential drop in the number of BTECs amid the government’s level 3 and below review and a move towards apprenticeships or T levels.

One learner told Ofsted: “I like [the] BTEC but [they’re] getting rid of it.”

The review also found barriers for some learners as some courses required formal qualifications in maths and English.

“Providers felt that these courses were too academic for some young people,” the report said. 

“Employers in our focus groups also saw this as a barrier, particularly for young people who want to do apprenticeships. It may be more appropriate for some learners to continue to study for maths and English while undertaking further study, and this is often what happens,” it added.

‘Varied’ integration of careers into the curriculum

Through interviews with local authority officers and focus groups with stakeholders, Ofsted found the effectiveness of careers guidance in the curriculum was varied across providers.

“In the best providers, it prepared learners for next steps. In others, it was less effective,” they said.

The review cited one SEND college which did not provide any dedicated lessons on work readiness until the final term of the year before learners were due to progress. 

“This was because of a lack of planning and strategic thinking about careers guidance from leaders, who also were not prioritising helping learners to understand the importance of next steps, including getting a job,” inspectors explained.

Meanwhile, one specialist college featured life skills in “every aspect” of the curriculum that would prepare them for work.

Inspectors praised the providers’ provision of work-related training to all learners, whether on academic, vocational or mixed pathways.

The report said: “The college developed links with local businesses, for example a hair salon, to provide external work placements. It also created in-house working environments, for example a café/restaurant, where learners could get experience of the workplace. Learners studied English and mathematics in the classroom and while doing work-based training.”

They added that planning for careers guidance was ad hoc and unstructured in two SEND colleges they visited.

“They did not monitor or measure the impact of their guidance,” inspectors critiqued. 

“In one of these providers, learners had very little knowledge of possible next steps, such as apprenticeships, supported internships or higher education. Additionally, parents did not receive any formal communication about what their child or young person had been doing outside of EHC plan review meetings.”

Employers lacked support from providers

The review said that some employers did not have the knowledge or confidence to give learners with SEND high-quality work experience. 

“Some felt that they did not get enough support from providers, to enable them to deliver high-quality experiences,” it said.

Providers used a mix of internal and external work placements, depending on the individual needs of the learner and availability of external placements. 

In a few SEND colleges, inspectors found that work experience placements led to paid employment, which was also confirmed in Ofsted’s inspection evidence review. 

“However, not all providers in our sample were ensuring there were enough opportunities for learners to experience the workplace,” it added.

‘Politically driven’ post-16 policy churn has damaged stability, think tank warns

Governments must end the “high level” of policy churn across all four UK nations that has caused instabilities and overly complex training routes, a think tank has said.

A report, published today, has exposed stark inequalities in post-16 education outcomes for students across the UK and has put part of the blame to “political and ideologically driven” policy changes.

Researchers examined each UK jurisdiction’s efforts over the last two decades to overhaul its post-16 education and training system, which sought to engage with economic challenges, changing skills needs, and social necessities.

The research, conducted by Education Policy Institute (EPI) and the Oxford University Centre for skills, knowledge and organisational performance (SKOPE), found 30 legal changes have been imposed since devolution in 1999 – comprising six education acts, nine reviews, four White Papers, three green papers, and eight government strategy papers.

The report said that such policy churn, which was rolled out for as “change for its own sake”, as well as budgetary pressures and “low-cost” education policies has resulted in instability, complex pathways, complicated regulatory mechanisms, and confusing understandings of post-16 education in the four nations.

“The system is at best flawed and at worst failing.”

This has led to poor outcomes in the four nations, notably in England and Wales.

Fewer apprenticeships are taken by young people in England and Wales (20 per cent) than in Scotland and Northern Ireland (37 per cent and 52 per cent), the report found.

Additionally, Wales was found to have the highest share of 16 to 18-year-olds classed as Not in Education, Employment or Training’ (NEET). Nearly 11 per cent of young people in Wales were classified as NEET in 2022-23, compared with 8 per cent in England, 9 per cent in Scotland and 5 per cent in Northern Ireland.

“No easy solution has been found to match the skills demand and the skills offer,” the report said.

The report slammed the “constant state of flux” of post-16 education policy in the UK from governing parties, mostly caused by “short attention spans”, and said it was exacerbating problems rather than solving them.

“The level of policy churn experienced within UK education and training (E&T) is enormous and potentially damaging for all the individuals and institutions involved. Constant policy churn emphasises the view that the E&T system is at best flawed and at worst failing,” the report said.

The relationship between further and higher education and bringing FE to the same level of prestige has been marred by the policy churn, researchers argue.

“It is arguable that the levels of policy churn experienced over the last three decades have had a detrimental impact on that process,” they said.

The “frequent tinkering” has also hindered the offering of vocational qualifications and has also caused a lack of comparable data between the four nations.

“Data can sometimes be organised around the latest focus of policy, which, as we know, can frequently change,” it said.

“We weren’t able to look at socio-economic differences in 16 to 18 participation at all across the four nations. Comparisons were slightly better for apprenticeships, but these could also be improved too.

“In principle, the four nations could be used for policy learning across the UK. In reality, a lack of comparable data severely limits these opportunities.”

The report called for a “new vision and policy approach for post-16 E&T”, which will require “political consensus within each nation on goals and ambitions that can be realised, well-funded institutions and structures, and a stable set of qualifications”.

And following that, a period of “policy stability should be overtly enshrined in both the governments’ and opposition parties’ post-16 E&T priorities to allow the sector to recover”.

The report admitted this plan “may sound fanciful” within the UK’s adversarial political system, but the main political parties are “not actually that far apart on their aims and policies for post-16 education and training”.

Luke Sibieta, research fellow at the EPI, said: “Our report exposes worrying inequalities in outcomes for students, as well as significant variation in the approaches taken to the provision of post-16 education and training across the four UK nations.”

James Robson, director of SKOPE, added: “This interim report highlights the important ways in which education and training policy approaches are converging and diverging across the four nations and how these shifting policy logics shape learner experiences and outcomes. It shows excessive levels of policy churn across all the UK nations which has had a damaging impact on the stability of the education and training sector.

“Our analysis highlights a need for more cross-party policy work that unpacks the challenges of different approaches to coordinating education and training, both market and systems-based thinking, and deals proactively with growing inequalities in the UK.”

A full report will follow this interim report later this year.

David Hughes, chief executive of Association of Colleges, said: “The report confirms that the very high level of policy churn has been detrimental to post-16 education and training despite the broad consensus across the political parties of the need for a more coherent, effective post-16 system.

“We have seen some of this just last week in England, with another change in policy around English and maths funding rules, which is unfair to learners, unfeasible for colleges and implemented without discussion.

“Whilst stability might be too much to ask for after the general election, we would be hoping for strong engagement between politicians, policy makers and the college staff who will have to implement any changes being proposed.”

The Department for Education declined to comment.

Hull College exits intervention after 7 years

Hull College has officially exited formal government intervention after more than seven years under the spotlight.

The FE Commissioner closed the college’s financial notice to improve yesterday. It was first issued in November 2016. 

The college has now moved into post-intervention monitoring and support (PIMS), a period of around six months where the FE commissioner’s team supports colleges through the remaining “low-risk” items in their improvement action plan. 

Debra Gray

Hull College principal and CEO Debra Gray said: “We are delighted to move out of intervention and into PIMS. Every staff member at the college has worked incredibly hard over an extended period to help transform the college back into a highly respected anchor institution in the city.”

Gray joined the college in April 2022, just after the college received its second consecutive ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted judgment. 

The college was reinspected in October 2023 and scored a ‘good’ overall judgment, with ‘outstanding’ grades for its adult learning programmes and personal development.

Hull College was placed in intervention in November 2016. A report at the time by then-FE Commissioner Richard Atkins pointed to spiralling deficits, ‘inadequate’ rated financial health, high staff costs and a request for emergency ‘exceptional financial support’. 

It later emerged a government Fresh Start bailout in the region of £50 million was paid to the college to stabilise its finances. 

The college reduced its staff headcount, transferred one of its colleges to another group and shut a campus to help balance its books.

The notice to improve was updated four times before being closed this week. The latest update for May 2023 said the college needed to sustain its ‘good’ financial health rating achieved in 2020/21 and continue to reduce its use of sub-contracting. The college was also told to “continue to develop its curriculum plan and quality improvement plan to meet the varied needs of its learners and stakeholders, whilst working towards Ofsted ‘good’,” which has now been achieved.

Financial statements for 2021/22 however state the college scored a ‘requires improvement’ financial rating for that year alongside a £2.3 million deficit. Its 2022/23 accounts have not yet been published. 

Staff costs have reduced from 78 per cent of income in 2015/16 to 70 per cent in 2021/22. 

But it wasn’t just finances the colleges were wrestling with.

Allegations of nepotism and “financial wrong-doing” levelled against the college’s then-chief executive Michelle Swithenbank were investigated in 2019. An investigation found “no impropriety” but Swithenbank left the college that year, succeeded by a succession of seven short-term interims until Gray’s arrival in April 2022.

One of those interim leaders, Lowell Williams, launched another investigation into a £240,000 sponsorship deal to name a local rugby club stadium. The deal, signed by Swithenbank, was found to have breached the college’s financial regulations because it wasn’t also signed off by the college’s board.

Gray said the college is now “firmly back at the leading edge of technical and vocational education in the Humber, and we couldn’t be prouder of our staff and students.”

There are currently 13 colleges in formal government intervention, with six entering intervention in 2023, according to FE commissioner Shelagh Legrave’s last annual report.