Keep BTECs until T Levels have stood the test of time, MPs demand

Ministers must halt their controversial planned bonfire of BTECs and other level 3 qualifications until there is evidence T Levels are a “more effective” replacement, a committee of MPs has warned.

The House of Commons education committee has called for a moratorium on the government’s plan to defund a raft of applied general qualifications (AGQs), warning a “clear track record” of T Level success should be a “prerequisite” to their defunding.

The committee made the demand as it published the findings of its inquiry into reform of post-16 qualifications, in which it also urged the government to address the fall in young people taking apprenticeships, called for a “wholesale review” of 16 to 19 funding, and proposed an independent expert panel to look at the possibility of adopting a post-16 baccalaureate model in England.

Department for Education officials are working to introduce a streamlined system for students finishing their GCSEs that pushes them to study either A-levels, their new technical equivalent T Levels, or an apprenticeship from 2025.

Alternative AGQs, such as Pearson’s popular BTECs, will only continue to be funded if they do not overlap with T Levels or A levels and pass a strict new approvals process.

The education select committee, chaired by Robin Walker (pictured), who was schools minister between September 2021 and July 2022 when the reforms were being pushed through, warned “tried and tested” applied general qualifications should only be withdrawn when there was robust evidence proving T Levels were more effective in preparing students for “progression, meeting industry needs and promoting social mobility”.

The ability of businesses to offer “sufficient, high-quality industry placements”, and a “clear track record” of T Level success, as well as evidenced improvement in equalities outcomes, “should be prerequisites to scrapping further applied general qualifications on the basis of overlap”.

Walker said: “We have concerns about the feasibility of scaling up T Levels, and, as it stands, the planned withdrawal of AGQs will constrict student choice and could deepen the skills shortages that these reforms are meant to fix.”

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, which has led on the Protect Student Choice campaign, said he hoped that “ministers will finally start to listen and rethink their damaging proposals” adding that AGQs “serve a distinct and different purpose to the government’s new T Levels”.

The committee also demanded key data around T Level graduates’ destinations and progression be published as soon as possible.

In an interview with FE Week, Walker said that removing AGQs simply because they overlapped with T Levels “risk removing some of the steppingstones for people to be able to move forward”.

He distanced himself from involvement in discussions on the reforms during his own tenure in the ministerial team.

He said: “Those were discussions that would be taking place really between the secretary of state and the skills minister of the time.

“It wasn’t something I was intensively involved in. As schools minister, I would have been briefed on the outcomes of those discussions rather than engaged in them.”

The committee’s report said that while T Levels were rightly rigorous and challenging, there was not yet the right balance between “rigour and accessibility”.

Tom Bewick, chief executive of the Federation of Awarding Bodies, said: “This damning report from a cross-party group of MPs should send shockwaves through the Department for Education.

“It is not too late too late to take stock of these reforms.”

MPs also said that up to 250,000 T Level employer placements could be needed but employer interest in offering placements had fallen from 36 per cent in 2019 to 30 per cent in 2021. Nearly two thirds of employers were not interested in offering placements at all.

The committee also pointed to DfE data which estimated one fifth of first cohort students dropped out, and exposed a 14 per cent progression rate for T Level transition programme students onto a full T Level, with just under half (49 per cent) progressing into a different level 3 programme.

DfE’s own equalities impact assessment found that students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), those from disadvantaged backgrounds, from Asian ethnic groups and males were “likely to be particularly affected by the reforms”.

The committee added: “Early evidence indicates that schools and colleges are setting high entry requirements, and we heard that, as a result, T Levels could be restricted to a small pool of academically gifted students who have a specific employment goal in mind by age 16.”

Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, said ministers have “dug their heels in and appear to be determined to scrap a proven set of qualifications,” and can “only hope that they now pay heed to the warnings of the education select committee”.

A spokesperson from the DfE said: “Our post-16 qualifications system provides a ladder of opportunity for young people from all backgrounds, so every qualification leads to a rewarding career, either through higher education or skilled work.

“We welcome the committee’s recognition of the importance of our reforms. We will consider the recommendations and respond in due course.”

DfE issues final call for flexi-job apprenticeship agencies

Final calls have been issued for applications to join the register of flexi-job apprenticeship agencies, as education chiefs signal their intent to close the scheme to fresh bids in the future.

The Department for Education said that applications for the latest window of opportunity are open until 10am on May 31, and follows the latest round in the autumn.

Flexi-job apprenticeship agencies are designed to operate in industries where it is tricky for apprentices to operate for 12 months with a single employer, such as in the screen or creative industries.

The organisations act as the official employer for apprentices, covering administration and other tasks, with the learners moving around a series of businesses through the duration of their apprenticeship.

However, announcing the opening of the latest application window this week, the DfE said: “We have no plans to open another application window after this period. Therefore, any organisation who wants to deliver apprenticeships via a model where they place apprentices with host employers for the majority of their apprenticeship, must apply before May 31, 2023.”

It warned that only organisations on the register will be able to start new flexi-job apprenticeships after January 1, 2024, and any who facilitates that type of apprenticeship who is not on the register after that date will be in breach of the funding rules.

The register launched in February last year with 15 names, 11 of which shared £5 million of grant funding.

Two names dropped off the register with another joining before the second wave of applications last autumn.

That resulted in 16 new additions joining in January, all without grant funding.

The DfE confirmed that a number which had failed in that window on financial grounds only would be reassessed against a new sustainability criteria, resulting in five successful additions over Easter.

It means there are now 35 on the register.

The DfE confirmed that the sustainability criteria, which featured an assessment of the organisations’ trading history, sources of funding and current financial position, will remain a consideration for the future round, alongside pre-existing financial checks such as full accounts, balance sheet and profit and loss accounts.

The government had set a target of 1,500 to 2,000 learners on flexi-job apprenticeships by 2023. FE Week asked the DfE how many it has hit to date but did not receive a response at the time of going to press.

A report by the education select committee published today on the future of post-16 education said the department must expand its flexi-job uptake to 5,000 learners by 2025.

English Football League apprenticeship provider nets top Ofsted marks again

A large training provider for apprentices at English Football League (EFL) clubs has netted another ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating – 11 years after scoring its first grade one.

League Football Education was given the education watchdog’s top rating in a report published today following a visit in February, having last been inspected in April 2012.

The organisation, formed in 2004 by the EFL and the Professional Footballers Association, works with 64 EFL clubs, nearly 1,200 learners on level 3 sporting excellence apprenticeships and 584 on the level 3 programme in sports coaching and development.

It also runs level 2 sports education programmes, and, since 2016, has offered community trust study programmes in partnership with the EFL and EFL Trust for 16-to-18-year-olds to study sports qualifications while representing their football club.

The provider has arrangements with 39 subcontractors.

Ofsted’s report praised learners’ “exemplary” behaviour and positive attitude to learning, finding that learners and apprentices with the provider “do extremely well”. Many apprentices scored distinctions in their final assessments, it said.

The watchdog found learners quickly improved their public speaking and gained confidence from their work experience, while apprentices were “prepared exceptionally well to develop their resilience by transition officers in case they are not successful in achieving a professional football contract”.

Inspectors said that apprentices frequently participate in community activities such as supporting foodbanks and fundraising for charities, as well as volunteering to provide football coaching for primary school children.

Ofsted reported that specialist training was offered from external organisations to promote positive mental health and learning on sexuality and gender issues in the sport, while specialised careers advice is also provided by regional officers to help them make informed decisions about their next steps.

Inspectors described the relationships with subcontractors as “very strong and highly effective”, and had helped reduce the number of people not in education, employment or training in their local areas.

The curriculum was sequenced logically, and deemed “highly ambitious” by the watchdog, and included additional teaching to support learners’ development in the wider industry.

The report said that “high-quality bespoke teaching” in English and maths included one-to-one teaching applying those skills to areas like nutrition, while off-the-job training was “highly effective”.

League Football Education chief executive Sarah Stephen said: “Once again, we are extremely proud that Ofsted have rated us ‘outstanding’ in all areas, an achievement that confirms all our staff and stakeholders are committed to providing outstanding, tailored education programmes for all young people and go above and beyond everything we do.”

ESFA ups childcare cash for young parents as demand falls

Bursaries to cover childcare costs for young parents so they can stay in education have been boosted, as data shows the numbers of claimants are plummeting.

Care to Learn cash is paid to parents aged up to 20 who continue with their studies by helping fund childcare costs.

In an update this week, the Education and Skills Funding Agency confirmed the maximum amount has increased from £160 per child per week to £180, or an increase from £175 per week to £195 per week in London.

Official data up to 2021/22 indicated that take-up of the subsidies had fallen dramatically in eight years, with demand now a fifth of 2013/14 levels.

Figures for 2021/22 showed there were 1,052 claimants with allocations totalling £4.6 million. That compares to the 5,674 claiming in 2013/14, where total payments exceeded £24.5 million.

The government previously told FE Week that a fall in teenage pregnancy rates had reduced demand.

But concerns were raised in 2020 by the National Union of Students that the complexities around claiming the cash were also to blame, prompting the union to call for a simplification of the system and extension of eligibility to include apprentices, who are excluded as they earn a salary.

Funding rules dictate that the young parent, the education institution they attend and their childcare provider must all be eligible in order for the cash to be paid.

Learners must also submit a fresh application every year, even if their programme runs for more than one year.

According to the rules, parents must be under the age of 20 on the first day of their study programme, be the main carer and be in receipt of Child Benefit to be eligible.

Their study programme must have some direct public funding, and can include GCSEs, A-levels, BTECs, short programmes, further education programmes in higher education institutions, and foundation HE courses at FE providers.

HE courses at HE providers, apprenticeships, and higher technical qualifications are not in scope.

How FE can turn the recruitment crisis into an opportunity

In the midst of the many challenges facing further education, there is an opportunity for the sector to seize some control within the broader education landscape. Modernising its recruitment and retention strategy could see the sector take its rightful place in local and national workforce planning.

We hear daily of skills gaps in engineering, computing, childcare, hospitality, management and, of course, teaching. These gaps are keenly felt across the country and all eyes are increasingly on FE to produce tomorrow’s workforce in these areas specifically. The tension, less obvious to those outside our sector, is that those skills gaps translate directly to the front of the classroom too. And therein lies the problem: How can the sector take this opportunity if it lacks the staff to grasp it?

Rigorous workforce planning is crucial. The labour market is complex and jobseeker expectations have shifted substantially in a short space of time. Adapting to this shift could hold the key for colleges to broaden their provision without sacrificing quality.

Greater flexibility

One thing FE can offer that other educational institutions can’t is flexibility. Historically, part-time positions have been seen as precarious by both employers and employees. Colleges keen to tie down lecturers with sought-after skillsets and lecturers looking for the security of a full-time position have long been the norm.

However, with so many colleges speaking highly of their staff with industry experience, now is the time to lean in. FE is well-placed to embrace blended careers and flexible working. Research shows the upcoming workforce is more values-driven and socially conscious than previous generations and desires greater autonomy over their working week. A week split between working in industry and imparting expertise can be good for all involved; Students receive expert teaching, colleges recruit lecturers to address the skills gap and staff can enjoy the flexibility of true dual-professionalism.

Better intelligence

If government is setting the questions and FE has the answers, then labour market intelligence has to be the source material – the data behind the decision-making.

Many colleges have five-year strategic plans, but labour markets are shifting at an unprecedented rate and funding streams are unpredictable. An 18-month outlook, with local employment data as your north star, will help with curriculum forecasts and, in turn, highlight any potential gaps in staffing.

If there are demographic changes, an uptick in SMEs or new flagship businesses in town, we must be ready to respond, to determine whether we have a suitable talent pipeline and the time to upskill staff as required. With resignation deadlines approaching, many are planning for September 2023. How many, I wonder, are planning with equal rigor for September 2024?

External Collaboration

Drawing on labour market intelligence, colleges can determine if it’s in their interest to grow a provision depending on local demand from students and employers for a specific skillset.

As you look to grow key provisions, it can be difficult to secure the depth of knowledge needed to develop curriculum, especially as level 3 and 4 programmes increasingly include modules where highly specific knowledge is required.

Strategic partnerships between colleges and groups could go beyond sharing best practice towards sharing key staff. This may not always be an entirely comfortable arrangement, but adults returning to education can make student numbers less predictable and a visiting lecturer or expert on-call approach might be a more viable guarantor of quality in the short term.

Internal Communication

The final elements of a fit-for-purpose recruitment and retention strategy for the new world of employment are to ensure HR teams grasp the college’s curriculum plan, and that technology is being used optimally to secure the right candidates.

It is by working together towards a medium-term staffing plan across all parts of a college (including HR, curriculum and business management) that FE can create the most thorough, holistic and effective recruitment strategies.  

More of the same isn’t going to solve a shortage of lecturers in our sector and private sector pay growth is likely to continue to outstrip education in the immediate future, especially in those sectors relying on shortage skills.

But FE has one advantage: the ingenuity and bandwidth to respond better than other areas of education, if only it seizes the opportunity.

How leading from the middle can have national impact

After working in the Nuclear Industry for eight years, I now manage the day-to-day operations at the National College for Nuclear, northern hub building at Lakes College and lead the curriculum team delivering from the facility.

My approach to curriculum design and delivery is informed by both my experience in industry, and the appreciation of what it is like to work while studying for a qualification, as I did for my degree. It is about pace, ensuring students only cover certain content once they are in a position to understand and connect it with what they have already learned. That is achieved with case studies, something that would be far more difficult to do effectively without industry experience.

Our department has developed a range of higher qualifications directly in line with the needs of the employer base in our locality. This was not an easy process. We began by creating sector-specific industrial liaison groups that engaged employers to identify key areas for curriculum development and content.

These groups allowed us to focus on curriculum design and awarding body liaison – in our case with the University of Cumbria – knowing that what we were developing would align with what employers were seeking. Importantly, they continue to meet now that the curriculum is being delivered, helping to maintain an understanding of the industrial context our learners will progress into and identifying up-to-date case studies for use in the classroom and assessments.

In five and a half years, we have gone from having no students and no curriculum to having eight foundation degrees, two higher national diplomas and four honours degree top-ups, all validated by the University of Cumbria. We also deliver 11 higher apprenticeship standards. Of 96 students who have completed full honours degrees, 55 achieved a first, 34 a 2:1 and seven a 2:2. Additionally, 154 students have completed their higher apprenticeship, with a first-time pass rate of 88.46 per cent.

We focus on giving students experiences rather than delivering to them

We attribute these successes to our academic and apprenticeship delivery models, not least our own  ‘NCfN Experiential Learning Model’, built on the original Kolb model, with additions including assessments and a requirement for constant reflection. Our model was developed through research as part of an ‘Outstanding teaching, learning and assessment’ project.

The result is that we can focus on giving students experiences rather than delivering to them. For example, our nuclear behaviour training sets students a week-long scenario in which they take control of an ongoing situation, stabilise and then recover a plant to normal operations. As facilitators, we can change the situation at any moment, affecting how students go about their task.

As part of the experience, we use radio waves to set up a simulated radiological field with which we can replicate different situations. Students gain a better understanding of why they are learning particular things, but also what working in the nuclear industry is like and how they react under pressure.

We also do things differently with our apprenticeships. Our model is based on coaching rather than assessing, with colleagues who, though not qualified in the technical areas they are coaching, are highly qualified and skilled as coaches. They are the main link between the academic team and the employer and pull everything together as a cohesive package.

Crucially, we seek to share our experiences with the sector. This isn’t always straightforward because of our geography, but my 2020 award of a technical teaching fellowship by the Education and Training Foundation and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition in 1851 have changed that. For example, our department is being utilised as case study material in the T level and apprenticeship professional development frameworks.

That collaboration is vital for us and, I believe, for the sector. A professional community allows us to overcome the barriers of location and seed best practice for all learners. More than that, it rightly values the power of classroom practitioners and middle leaders to effect system change.

Find out more about technical teaching communities of practice at bit.ly/444Afnm

ITPs are crucial players in ensuring apprenticeship inclusivity

There is no doubt that for school leavers, the option of apprenticeships is growing in popularity when compared to university degrees. A recent article in The Times reported that on average there are seven applications for every undergraduate place at Oxford and six at Cambridge. By comparison, 17,000 teenagers applied for 215 apprenticeship vacancies at the banking group Lloyds in 2022. The picture was similar at oil and gas giant, BP where 1,253 applicants competed for 33 apprenticeship vacancies, and at PwC where there were 5,919 applicants for 589 apprenticeships.  

The prospect of a full-time job on completion of the course and a future without the burden of student debts is undeniably attractive, especially in times of austerity. However, while the middle classes clamour for apprenticeship places at these firms, we must not lose track of what the apprenticeship model was designed for – to generate a pipeline of trained professionals which our country desperately needs and importantly to drive opportunity and a clear career path for disadvantaged youngsters.

Apprenticeships drive diversity

Apprenticeships receive acclaim not just because of the contribution they make to businesses by increasing their skills base and productivity, but also to improving the diversity of the workforce. The aim of removing barriers to entry and opening opportunities for all brings new ideas and a better reflection of customers and the communities they operate in.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) is currently high on the corporate agenda. Employers are setting their own targets and we see our role as an Independent Training Provider (ITP) as pivotal in ensuring that they can meet them.  

We provide many of our employer partners with benchmarking data that allows them to understand the diversity of their apprentices against their total workforce data. We can also tell them how they’re performing against similar sized organisations in the same sector. This information helps to identify under-represented groups and to shape action in improving diversity, equity and inclusion.

Thousands served

For example, we’re working with McDonald’s UK & Ireland to ensure that its apprenticeship programme leads by example and provides an inclusive experience for all involved. The programme offers a complete career pathway to manager level and beyond and is showing how growing and upskilling the workforce through apprenticeships is having a positive impact not just on the business but on the communities in which it operates.

McDonald’s is looking to grow the number of apprentices it supports to 3,000 by December 2024, with the majority set to come from level 2 and level 3 enrolments. Lifetime will be using DE&I benchmarking to ensure that the apprenticeship programme effectively represents the diverse workforce across the business.

Building on success

Apprenticeships provide a career pathway with clear progression opportunities, irrespective of background. Across all learners, the story for retention tells a positive story: 86 per cent are still working in the same sector and 77 per cent are still working for the same employer.

But Lifetime’s destination data also shows a nuanced picture regarding diversity and inclusion. Between 2018 and 2023, we found that 84 per cent of learners from an ethnic minority said their apprenticeship had helped their career, compared with 76 per cent of those from a white background. With regards to continuing career progression, a higher percentage of learners from an ethnic minority (62 per cent) said they are interested in a higher level apprenticeship compared to those from a white background (53 per cent).

As apprenticeships become more popular, ITPs have a very clear role in shaping the diversity of organisations and ensuring these programmes play the part they were designed to in providing opportunity for all.

By helping employers set – and meet – realistic targets and demonstrating how they’re performing in this area by providing benchmarking data to shareholders, employees, potential employees, and the wider community, ITPs can act as a guiding light. By helping to grow and diversify workforces, we can allow organisations and communities to reap all of the benefits that come with that.

The minimum apprenticeship duration requires reform

The 12-month minimum duration that all apprenticeship standards must meet has become a celebrated cornerstone of England’s modern apprenticeship system. It is an easy shorthand for ministers arguing that the apprenticeships system has improved after 2017.

But it could be argued that the rule lets trailblazers reject proposed standards that could prove useful for businesses. IfATE’s back and forth with firms including the NHS over the level 2 business administration standard is an example of how the minimum duration rule stifles the system.

In addition, the minimum duration rule is also proving an ineffective way to ensure quality. In our experience of working in the sector, multiple providers have been getting away with putting learners through higher-level standards at an unreasonably rapid pace. This allows them to maximise their short-term income but with devasting implications for the learner, employer, and the sector.

We have been inundated with transfer requests, and a quick look through recent Ofsted reports, coupled with a number of providers ‘exiting’ the sector after being found out, adequately demonstrates why this practice is flawed.

The 12-month minimum duration has also meant lower-level apprenticeship standards cannot develop the flexibilities that learners and employers need in sectors with more casual work.

For all these reasons, the rule needs to be reviewed. Instead, the government should introduce a sliding scale approach which bases the minimum duration of an apprenticeship on its level.

Rushing through higher-level standards

Through our experience of delivering ‘Outstanding’ provision between levels 3 and 7, we have come across providers in our subject areas that are delivering training at a suspiciously quick pace.

For instance, we have seen providers offering to fast-track the level 7 senior people professional standard in 18 months. Past the 12-month minimum duration, yes, but far short of the 36 months IfATE says it typically takes to get an apprentice to gateway.

How can you teach learners the necessary skills, knowledge, and behaviours in half the time it ought to take you? Bear in mind, this is from an advertisement for the course; the provider has no idea about each apprentice’s prior learning.

Nor is it an isolated case. We’ve seen scored of operations/departmental manager apprenticeships at 12 to 14 months, instead of the recommended 30.

Flexi-jobs prove the need for flexibility

There must be an equal focus on delivering quality provision at lower levels. However, apprentices and employers concerned with level 2 need much greater flexibility and more support with progression.

The government conceded that the apprenticeship system needed greater flexibility when it created the flexi-job apprenticeship scheme to support sectors where apprentices find it difficult to secure 12 months’ work with one employer.

That same flexible approach should be applied across the system. Level 2 apprenticeships, especially in sectors where casual work is prevalent like hospitality and retail, should not have a 12-month minimum duration. The apprentices need much greater flexibility to learn skills and gain workplace experience.

Another crucial element of lower-level apprenticeships is progression. Level 2 apprentices should be able to pass their qualification then move up through the levels, with each qualification imparting more advanced knowledge, skills, and behaviours. As the complexity of the learning increases, so should the minimum duration.

Importantly, this is a proposal to change the minimum duration, not the maximum. Learners ought to receive a tailored training programme to account for their varying levels of prior learning, or where they simply need more time to pass their course.

A sliding scale of durations

Instead of the mandatory 12-month minimum duration across all standards, there ought to be a sliding scale approach where the duration differs by level.

Our proposal for this scale is as follows, based on a learner with no significant experience or prior learning:

  • Level 2: Nine months
  • Levels 3 and 4: 12 months
  • Level 5: 18 months
  • Levels 6 and 7: 27 months

This allows for flexibility and progression at the lower levels but means apprentices will receive adequate time – and employers will get proper value for money – especially at higher levels.

DfE puts Multiply online platform on ice

A £100-million online platform designed as the “front door” for the government’s flagship Multiply maths scheme for adults has been put on ice.

The Department for Education refused to confirm whether it was still going ahead with its much-delayed procurement for the platform following an FE Week investigation in to the Multiply programme.

The Guardian yesterday reported that the digital platform element, originally planned to launch in 2022, has been shelved while the government “reviews how the wider scheme is working”.

It is unclear whether plans for the platform have been completely axed or merely delayed.

Rishi Sunak introduced Multiply while he was chancellor in 2021. Sunak has made improving maths skills a key mission of his since becoming prime minister – last week he reaffirmed his desire for all students to study maths of some kind up to the age of 18.

Multiply is a three-year programme that provides free courses for adults aged 19 or above who did not have a grade C or above in GCSE maths or equivalent level 2 maths qualification.

An online platform was planned to signpost people to the free courses in their local area, provide a diagnostic tool to assess skills levels and provide online tuition.

A prior information notice published last year ahead of a planned contract tender described it as a “critical pillar” of the bellwether scheme, but the procurement never took place. The DfE has instead paused that part of the programme as it reviews how the overall project is performing.

Funding of £559 million has been set aside for the three financial years to the end of 2024-25 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for Multiply. Around £430 million of that has been dished out locally – £270 million in England and £160 million for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

It left £129 million for the online platform and a programme to build up evidence of what works in addressing adult numeracy.

It is not yet clear what would happen with the funding if the online platform doesn’t go ahead.

DfE told FE Week the department was keeping the Multiply online platform “under review” so that it could ensure it was delivering the right offer for learners.

It said it will update on next steps in due course.

Mark Dawe, chief executive of training provider The Skills Network, said: “As an initiative of the now prime minister, and given the recent announcement requiring maths in education through to the age of 18, the decision to suspend progress on the Multiply national digital platform is somewhat of a surprise.

“With a significant number of local authorities requiring physical face-to-face delivery, along with this news, it is yet another example of the DfE veering away from innovative online solutions, while the rest of the word becomes excited by the opportunities that digital and artificial intelligence provide in terms of quality, efficiency and accessibility of skills development.”

An FE Week investigation earlier this month found that delivery on the ground for Multiply had been mired in red tape and complicated funding.

Funding allocations to local authorities had been slow, with some only receiving their allocations in December despite having submitted plans in the summer, while contacts were also delayed in reaching providers in some instances.

Elsewhere, prices from providers have varied wildly, and engaging with adults that have low numeracy skills has proved difficult as many do not want to seek help.

DfE data up to the end of February 2023 indicated that 13,500 learners had participated in the scheme so far.

Sue Pember, director for policy and external relations at adult education provider network Holex, said she remained positive about Multiply, as thousands of adults have improved their maths, and said that while an online tool would be useful there were “already a lot of excellent resources for teachers already online”.

On the Multiply programme more broadly, Pember added: “It’s a great initiative and we need to give it time. Any over-zealous bureaucratic processes will settle down but it is important to demonstrate that government funds are being used wisely.”