Joyce quits Ofsted for college leadership role

Ofsted’s top further education director is leaving the inspectorate to take a leadership position at a college. 

Paul Joyce will stand down as further education and skills deputy director after 20 years with the inspectorate.

This comes weeks after Ofsted announced controversial reforms to inspections which unions described as “even worse” than the system we have now. 

Joyce, a regular speaker on the FE conference circuit, will become deputy principal at North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College (NWSLC) this summer under principal and CEO Marion Plant.

He said: “I am delighted to be joining the NWSLC team and am so looking forward to working with Marion and colleagues. 

“I look forward to contributing to the continued success of the college and supporting the talented staff team to ensure that every student is empowered to reach their fullest potential.”

Ofsted told FE Week it would recruit externally for a successor to Joyce later this year and will appoint a temporary replacement in the interim. Its national director of education Lee Owston wished Joyce well:

“Paul has been a huge part of the Ofsted further education team for nearly 20 years. First, as an inspector and more recently as the deputy director of further education and skills, he has had a significant impact on raising standards for so many young people.

“We wish him all the best in his new endeavour.”

Marion Plant

Plant said she is “absolutely thrilled to have appointed Paul Joyce to the role of deputy principal at our strong, ambitious and happy college.

“Paul’s extensive experience, knowledge and, in particular, his style and approach will, without doubt, add significant value to an already effective and cohesive senior leadership team.”

Ofsted has been instructed by the new Labour government to replace current inspection reports with new-style report cards. But the plan has attracted early criticism as while it removes overall judgments, the watchdog wants to introduce potentially 20 areas where colleges will be graded.

Joyce’s decision to join NWSLC comes as the Ofsted grade 2 college prepares to launch a new “further education company” with Coventry University.

Plant added: “Everyone within our close college community looks forward to welcoming Paul into the NWSLC ‘family’ as we continue to build on our recent positive Ofsted assessment and prepare for an exciting formal partnership with Coventry University.”

Payments fail to solve T Level work placement problem

A cash incentives scheme to encourage employers to provide T Level industry placements flopped with nearly half the funding allocated clawed back, FE Week can reveal.

Freedom of Information data from the Department for Education shows officials recouped over £3.9 million of the £8.5 million dished out through the one-year T Level Employer Support Fund available from April 2023 to March 2024.

The Confederation of British Industry complained the “concerning” high clawback rate suggests roll out inefficiencies and called for “clear and easy funding” to help businesses step up to the task.

While cash incentives appear to have been officially retired, the DfE recently relaxed rules for T Level work placements to allow for hybrid and remote working in a bid to boost student numbers.

The DfE launched the £12 million Employer Support Fund in early 2023 as an opt-in scheme offering incentive payments of up to £25,000 for businesses hosting industry placements for 12 months from April 2023. 

The flagship T Levels qualification includes a mandatory 45-day industry placement with an employer.

The FOI figures, obtained by FE Week, revealed £8.5 million was handed to 273 training providers whose payments were based on their T Level student numbers.

A total of 1,243 employers then made claims to the fund.

Guidance for providers stressed employers could only claim for “legitimate costs” for providing an industry placement and could not profit from the cash.

Legitimate costs referred to administrative costs such as physical workspaces, and tangible costs including equipment and insurance.

Employers were required to submit a declaration form including basic information about their business and the costs they were claiming for, though they were not asked to evidence claims.

Providers were responsible for everything else: validating claims from employers, making the payments to businesses either once a start date was agreed or a placement began, and then reporting back the claims paid out via a DfE online tool.

The DfE clawed back any unclaimed funding from providers and recouped £3,959,786 in August.

Rob West, head of education and skills at the Confederation of British Industry, said: “The high clawback rate is concerning as it suggests inefficiencies or overly stringent rules that prevent employers from fully benefiting from the funds.

“T Levels have struggled to gain full buy-in from employers, who want to be involved in the creation and development of solutions, rather than just delivering a pre-determined ‘answer’ from the government.”

Business groups are still pressing for some form of incentive despite previous iterations of the fund also failing to attract support.

A £10 million incentive fund handing out £1,000 payments between 2021 and 2022 resulted in a £6.75 million clawback, while a £7 million scheme giving £750 for each placement running from 2019 to 2021 resulted in just £500,000 being spent.

The Federation of Small Businesses rehashed previous calls for £1,000 payments to be reinstated.

Tina McKenzie, FSB policy chair, said: “For T Levels to be a success, we need sustained, clear and easy funding assistance to be in place, which is then promoted well to raise awareness amongst small firms, allowing them to plan ahead and create new placement roles.”

A government frequently-asked-questions page on T Level industry placements says the Employer Support Fund (ESF) was always meant to be a one-year fund as it found “the majority of employers are able to host the placements without the ESF”.

It adds: “Overall, the ESF has proven to be a valuable way of testing employer need and we will be monitoring the evidence from the pilot to inform any future support offer.”

Julian Gravatt, deputy chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said T Levels were “making a real difference” in colleges for around 29,000 current students, but securing placements with employers “has always been a challenge”.

He added: “There continues to be a case for targeted support for employers who are small or who are involved in priority sectors but perhaps part of a wider DfE employer engagement strategy involving programmes outside T Levels.”

The Department for Education was approached for comment.

Apprenticeship reforms mirror Scotland – and that’s good

From my home in Scotland, two changes to the English apprenticeship system announced last week caught my eye: the scrapping of functional skills for adult apprentices and the reduction of the minimum duration from twelve to eight months.

Both changes are sensible and certainly get my vote. They both promote greater flexibility in the delivery of apprenticeships and we need more flexibility to meet the needs of the diverse audience that apprenticeships serve. A one size fits all approach simply doesn’t work.

Mandatory minimum duration

In Scotland, we’ve never had a mandatory minimum duration for completing an apprenticeship. We ask developers to provide an `average duration’ as a guide and this helps employers and apprentices to better understand the size and scope of the programme. But it’s just a guide.

We think it’s important that apprentices work at their own pace. Some will progress faster than others. We don’t think there’s any merit in slowing down an apprentices’ progress simply to meet an artificial timescale.

Apprenticeships come in different shapes and sizes, so inevitably some will take longer to complete than others. In traditional sectors such as engineering and construction, a four-year programme model works well and meets the needs of employers.

In other sectors such as hospitality and retail, more intensive assessment over shorter periods is the best delivery model for many employers so apprenticeships can be delivered and completed more quickly without any reduction in quality.

And we shouldn’t forget that many candidates have already acquired significant skills and knowledge before they start their apprenticeship and this enables them to progress more quickly.

Whilst the current rules in Scotland allow for very short delivery and completion times (as little as three to four months), in practice these are few and far between.

The Scottish system acknowledges the complexity of the apprenticeship system and encourages each sector to determine the appropriate duration for its apprenticeship programmes. It has worked well. There have been no horror stories.

It’s good to see England showing more flexibility with this. Hopefully this will be the first step in the eventual scrapping of mandatory minimum durations for all apprenticeship programmes.

Functional skills

The removal of functional skills from adult apprenticeships is also welcome news.

We don’t have functional skills in Scotland. Instead, we have Core Skills (numeracy, information and communication technology, communication, working with others and problem solving); they are mandatory and assessed in the workplace alongside the main vocational qualification.

In the early days of Scottish apprenticeships (the mid-1990s) there was a degree of enthusiasm for core skills.

In creating apprenticeship frameworks, many employers set core skills at high levels. The rationale was that an apprenticeship should be developmental in nature and should provide apprentices with skills and knowledge above and beyond those required in the current job role.

However, employers quickly realised that the achievement of core skills at these higher levels required apprentices to undertake activities which were not part of their current job role, so additional activities needed to be put in place for assessment to be carried out. This could be costly and employers began to question the original rationale. Gradually, core skills levels fell into line with workplace activity.

Since then, the enthusiasm for core skills has dampened.

Many employers agree they are a good thing and are important. But there is a belief they should be included as a mandatory part of the school curriculum; school-leavers should start an apprenticeship with a clutch of core skills already achieved.

And there’s the cost. There is no additional funding in Scotland for the delivery of core skills so employers feel they are paying for something that schools should be providing.

There’s no doubt that core skills and functional skills can bring valuable additional learning to apprenticeships and support the development of future careers.

But Scottish evidence suggests that employer appetite for these skills in frameworks is low; presumably, employers in England take a similar view.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 488

Afzal Hussain

Chair, Bmet

Start date: February 2025

Concurrent Job: Chief Officer, Wittle Lodge Community Association

Interesting fact: Outside college, Afzal serves as a deputy lieutenant for the West Midlands and was recently appointed to join the mayor’s Council of Experts helping drive change in the region.

James Thorne

Assistant Principal (Curriculum Skills), Nottingham College

Start date: January 2025

Previous Job: Assistant Principal, SMB College Group

Interesting fact: James ran his first, and last, marathon in Cologne in October, raising £1,300 for Dementia UK, and his favourite countries visited are Costa Rica and New Zealand.

Providers denied in-year adult ed growth cash

A plan to provide funding boosts worth up to an extra 50 per cent for in-demand adult education courses has been scrapped to cut costs.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency had previously said it would surpass the usual 10 per cent bump-up for successful courses midway through the academic year, which is achieved by reallocating cash from courses that miss their recruitment targets.

But ESFA officials have now said the system, which applies to independent training providers with procured contracts, will revert to a 10 per cent maximum due to affordability issues.

The government has argued it has less money available to reinvest in the adult skills fund (ASF), formerly known as the adult education budget, due to “significantly high” delivery rates and devolved areas eating up more of the budget.

The announcement comes weeks after mayoral combined authorities were told to expect budget reductions of two to three per cent for the 2025-26 academic year.

‘Unmet demand’

Mark Dawe, CEO of The Skills Network which has a £2.5 million contract with the ESFA, described the situation as a “triple knock” ahead of anticipated ASF cuts and a shrinking national contract, as the portion of adult education funding devolved to combined authorities grows from 60 per cent (about £828 million) to at least 70 per cent over the next two years.

He said: “At The Skills Network we have unmet demand from thousands of learners across the country.”

“While I understand the financial pressures on government, this raid on an already small and significantly reduced budget appears counter to the government’s claim to be focussing on growth, productivity and skills.”

Association of Employment and Learning Providers deputy chief executive Simon Ashworth said: “When you piece it together it’s a full-frontal attack on adult funding ahead of the Treasury spending review, and the DfE is probably putting on a bit of a squeeze to find money to return.”

“The adult education budget was £3 billion 10 years ago – it constantly gets pinched and eroded.”

“When you add [long-term cuts, mayoral combined authority cuts and in-year growth savings] together it’s quite an assault.”

Adult provision up ‘significantly’

The DfE declined to comment on the record but provided background information to FE Week that explained the adult education delivery of independent training providers had risen significantly in the current and previous academic year, although no figures were given.

The department emphasised that any growth to ASF contracts was always subject to affordability.

Funding allocations for this year were rolled forward unchanged from the previous year as they were communicated during the pre-election period, it added.

The most up-to-date figures shared by the DfE through freedom of information requests show cumulative adult education underspends of £394 million out of a total budget of £5.2 billion between 2017 and 2023.

Contract review point

The funding system for contracted provision in non-devolved areas works on an academic-year cycle, with allocations under the ASF and smaller Free Courses for Jobs fund confirmed in the summer, and reviewed for amendments in December and January.

The review point allows the ESFA to redistribute funding from underperforming providers to those with stronger delivery performance.

But in a letter to providers this month, the ESFA told contracted providers in non-devolved areas their contract values would not be increased beyond the usual 10 per cent for over-delivery, regardless of demand.

Officials from the ‘in-year calculations team’ said: “We know this news will be disappointing, we appreciate your understanding and remain committed to supporting 10 per cent over-delivery at year-end reconciliation.”

Excitement dashed

An update to funding rules for 2024-25 had previously told providers that, “subject to affordability,” the ESFA would increase funding by up to 50 per cent of their contract value for independent training providers that had delivered 90 per cent of their standard national profile by December 5, had a “good track record,” and met their key performance indicators.

Luke Muscat, CEO of the Back2Work Group, which has a £2.5 million national contract, said: “We were excited when they put the extra wording into funding rules this year, it seemed quite clear cut as to what [we] would have to do to be eligible for growth.”

“Clearly, the intention was there, but something has changed for whatever reason.”

“The Department for Education is probably using it to cover other areas of their budget – I know they’re feeling the pressure.”

It follows two decades of budget reductions to adult education funding, which has dropped from a total of £5.1 billion in the early 2000s to £1.7 billion in 2023-24.

Entrepreneur chased for millions after apprenticeship collapse

A collapsed apprenticeship provider is being chased for £8.4 million of alleged dodgy funding claims, according to a liquidators’ report that also reveals the firm made large payments to “connected companies” of its high-profile owner days before closure.

GB Training (UK) Ltd went bust in October 2020 due to what managing director Lawrence Barton (pictured), a West Midlands entrepreneur, claimed was a “combination of reasons of which Covid-19 was a critical factor”.

But it has now emerged the firm closed after the government’s Education and Skills Funding Agency suspended starts and withheld payments following a probe into the legitimacy of its apprentices’ jobs.

The ESFA uncovered cases of taxi drivers who were either not employed or self-employed on GB Training’s books listed as apprentices. The agency is demanding over £4.7 million be repaid.

Meanwhile, the West Midlands Combined Authority is seeking over £1 million from GB Training for “ineligible” funding claims on an adult education contract, and North East Surrey College of Technology (NESCOT) is seeking more than £2.6 million.

Barton has denied wrongdoing and claimed the government’s Insolvency Service determined there was no misconduct on his part as a director.

A progress report by liquidator Kevin Mawer, published by Companies House and first reported by Birmingham Live, delved into intercompany transactions made in the days running up to GB Training’s demise.

On September 18, 2020, four days after the firm decided to go into liquidation, GB Training made three payments to companies controlled by Barton or members of his family – nightclub The Nightingale, GB Holdings, which traded as Village Inn, and a manufacturer called Good With Wood.

When GB Training went into liquidation on October 19, 2020, £1.7 million had been paid to the three companies.

Mawer said documents show The Nightingale and GB Holdings were not in a position to repay debts to GB Training “for some time prior to the liquidation”.

He stated that whilst there appeared to have been intercompany trading – whereby the connected firms invoiced for services provided in connection with the training business – there “appears to be no commercial justification for advancing such large sums to these connected companies”.

Around £130,000 was repaid by the connected companies by July 2024, according to the liquidator report, and two of them – The Nightingale and GB Holdings – have since gone into administration.

Good With Wood is continuing to repay its debt.

Lawrence 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, in “recognition of his community activism”, according to his personal website.

Mawer’s report said there was “little prospect” of GB Training’s largest creditors, including the ESFA, ever being repaid.

Apprentices that were never apprentices

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

The ESFA sent a letter to the provider on June 10, 2020, referring to “potential irregularities” in relation to apprenticeship funding claims. GB Training notified the ESFA it had ceased trading on September 24. 

A month later the agency told the company it had found “material evidence of non-compliance” with funding rules.

The ESFA said numerous apprentices claimed they were employees of private hire taxi companies and confirmed that they received no training, or they were not in employment or were self-employed.

Some apprentices were also enrolled as employees of “newly formed companies that lacked sufficient trading/business operations to support the productive purpose requirements of an apprenticeship”.

According to Mawer’s report, the ESFA relied upon the 2016, 2017 and 2018 academic years, when 123 apprentices were provided training at a company which had never filed any company accounts, had no internet or social media presence and operated from a terraced house in Birmingham, which the company recorded as the delivery location of the training.

Some of the delivery locations where GB Training claimed training took place were virtual offices or the company owner’s home address.

The ESFA also allegedly heard from some learners who were supposed to have completed training with the provider, but stated they never worked for the companies in question and had not undertaken an apprenticeship.

Other findings included learner file comments attributed to assessors and learners that had been duplicated across different learners and years.

West Midlands Combined Authority also claimed an audit report by RSM, dated December 8, 2020, showed “ineligible claims or funds at risk” in 44 per cent of the audited claims.

This included a number of learners being contacted and stating they did not undertake the courses referred to, did not complete the courses referred to, and problems with learners’ employment status.

NESCOT, which used GB Training as a subcontractor, was forced to repay the ESFA £2.5 million in 2022 as the college was ultimately responsible for some of the ineligible claims in its position as the prime contract holder.

The college is now trying to recover this funding from GB Training. A spokesperson told FE Week that leadership was continuing to “actively pursue” the claim.

Barton said: “The Insolvency Service conducted a full and independent two-year investigation into my role as a director following a complaint made by ESFA in respect of GB Training. 

“After an extensive review of all relevant evidence, they determined that no action was necessary and there were no findings of misconduct. That decision was reached independently by the UK’s official regulatory body for director conduct and remains a matter of public record.

“While I am unable to comment further due to legal and commercial considerations, the outcome of this investigation speaks for itself.”

The Insolvency Service declined to comment.

Barton and Mawer said in a joint statement they would reach a “settlement” in the “coming days”, but the terms of any settlement would be confidential.

A West Midlands Combined Authority spokesperson confirmed the authority wrote to the liquidator “raising concerns” but could offer no further comment as proceedings are still active.

The ESFA declined to comment.

Read the liquidators’ report in full here.

No more shocks please DfE over apprenticeship achievement rates

It was July last year when we at the Fellowship of Inspection Nominees started hearing complaints from members (mostly judged good or outstanding by Ofsted) that their funding for 2024-25 was under threat.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency had instructed them to stop taking on new apprentices for certain programmes. In some cases providers were forced to comply and apprenticeship programmes were closed down.

The reason, providers were told, was they were failing to achieve a qualification achievement rate (QAR) of at least 50 per cent for one or more standards in 2023-24.

During exchanges facilitated by FE Week editor Shane Chowen at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers autumn conference, the providers’ claims were disputed by the Department for Education, whose officials believed intervention had been triggered instead by judgements made on performance recorded on the apprenticeship accountability framework.

But the Fellowship of Inspection Nominees (FIN) subsequently undertook a member survey, to which 68 providers responded, and held member roundtables that confirmed the original complaints had substance.

FIN is not in the business of defending poor quality and outcomes. But the DfE’s approach taken to intervention last year should not be repeated, especially when the government wants to see apprenticeship opportunities for young people increase.

FIN has recently written to the department urging it to urgently:

  1. Set out in a written statement to all providers on the apprenticeship provider and assessment register detailing what its policy will be on allowing new starts on individual apprenticeship standards from the start of 2025-26, and on what basis or quality thresholds the policy will be based.
  2. Issue the statement publicly, e.g. in the ESFA Update, five to six months before the end of this academic year so potentially affected providers can try to achieve the required performance and programme completion improvements before year-end.

Our members’ concerns are that without adequate notice of the government’s expectations, the DfE may intervene again at a higher level of QAR, e.g. 60 per cent, or at some as yet unspecified benchmark under the apprenticeship accountability framework.

Providers need confirmation that intervention will indeed be based on the Apprenticeship Accountability Framework in future. They recognise that achievement rates are part of the framework, but the framework must offer a more balanced and comprehensive measure of provider delivery.

QAR on its own is a crude and unfair measure of provider performance for several reasons.

FIN is not defending poor quality and outcomes

Firstly, it is not uncommon for the gap between an apprentice completing their training and their end point assessment to be as long as three to five months. This frequently results in the end point assessment taking place after July 31, which means that a successful programme completion cannot be counted towards the QAR in the same academic year.

Meanwhile, insufficient allowance is being made for a provider starting a new programme/standard in any given year. The QAR is effectively zero for that standard, while the provider has made significant investment in upfront costs. The initial learner cohort can be small or immature and therefore non-achievers have a greater impact on achievement rates.

The impact of the functional skills attainment requirement for apprentice completers on the QAR had become an issue before ministers announced their reform on February 11, although the change may actually deter employers from recruiting 16 to 18 year olds who aren’t covered by the announcement.

But equally importantly, the government should overhaul the maths curriculum to make the qualification more ‘functional’. FIN also argues that if early leavers are not funded, they should not count towards QAR.

Some providers reported that they were on their fourth or fifth ESFA account manager before the DfE made recent changes to the supervisory system. It meant the provider had to explain its business strategy to each new manager and it made conversations about QAR harder.

To borrow lyrics from a Radiohead song, providers ask for ‘no alarms and no surprises’ please for 2025-26. They want to know for certain if their performance is being judged on their apprenticeship accountability framework data rather than on QAR alone.

Car-crash Ofsted report for motor industry trainer

A training provider delivering lucrative engineering apprenticeships online has suffered Ofsted’s lowest grades following an inspection held just weeks after it was bought by new owners.

Semester Learning and Development was taken over on October 1 by RMI Standards and Certification (RMISC), which serves the automotive sector, and was then inspected from November 27 to 29.

Ofsted’s report, published on Thursday, was damning. It found the quality of its apprenticeship provision had “deteriorated” and described a “lack of support” from tutors, especially for younger apprentices who “often struggle with learning independently online”.

The number of apprentices completing their course was “extremely low” and “almost all” apprentices had, and continue to have, a “poor learning experience”, the report said.

Ofsted noted that following the takeover, new leaders “immediately began implementing actions to improve the quality and effectiveness of the education and training that apprentices receive”.

However, “it is too early for any of these actions to have had a positive impact,” it said.

Semester Learning and Development has now been downgraded from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘inadequate’.

Private providers typically have apprenticeship funding contracts terminated by the government following a grade 4 Ofsted verdict. Officials can however continue to fund such providers if there are exceptional circumstances.

RMISC told FE Week it could not comment on Ofsted’s report or potential contract termination because its chief executive was out of the country.

Semester started operations in 2014, beginning with telecoms courses before offering online engineering and fire safety courses.

The Rugby-based provider won its first apprenticeship contract in 2018 and currently offers 11 apprenticeships from levels 2 to 4 in engineering-related standards that attract high levels of funding.

Most of the 68 apprentices with the provider at the time of inspection were also studying NVQs.

The company had 19 apprentices on the level 3 compressed air and vacuum technician standard, which comes with a maximum funding band of £14,000. A further 25 apprentices studied engineering operative, fitter and technician standards with funding bands ranging from £10,000 to £26,000 per apprentice.

All training is delivered online.

Ofsted found that Semester’s tutors put a “disproportionate emphasis” on apprentices completing NVQs “at the expense” of their apprenticeship.

It also lambasted the curriculum as “ineffectively” planned and unambitious.

Most apprentices’ interest in their apprenticeship had lapsed since they started, the report added.

Tutors did not give apprentices the theory they needed to build upon their practical skills, and most apprentices do not develop substantial new knowledge, skills and behaviours.

“This is particularly the case with adult learners, where most already have the knowledge and skills they are expected to learn,” the report said.

The watchdog also pointed out that apprentices’ vocational training was provided by their employer.

Inspectors slammed Semester tutors for failing to coordinate their training with employers.

“Employers allow apprentices the time off they need to study the theoretical elements of their apprenticeship but tutors do not make sure that apprentices use this time productively,” the report said.

Inspectors added that few apprentices knew how their apprenticeship would be assessed and tutors were not preparing them properly.

As a result, most apprentices were making “very slow progress” and the proportion of learners completing their qualifications was “extremely low”.

The report also found Semester’s safeguarding arrangements were ineffective.

RMISC is the motor industry certification offshoot of the Retail Motor Industry (RMI) Federation.

Collaboration was our way of solving a local SEND crisis

SEND is at the top of many agendas – including that of the education select committee which is conducting a national inquiry into how best to solve the crisis.

Its chair, Helen Hayes MP, recently said SEND was the “single biggest challenge at all points of the education system”.And we know, as respective representatives of a local authority and an education group, this is absolutely the case.

But how do you solve such a complex issue when the needs of children and young people are increasing and becoming more complex, demand for EHCPs is rising and funding is tightening in all areas?

While we don’t have all the answers, we do know that strong, innovative local collaboration has had a hugely positive impact on our own SEND delivery and provision – creating a high quality and sustainable solution for some of our most vulnerable learners.

Without extra money in the system, collaboration has become fundamental. Funding shortages can put organisations on a collision course, with significant pressure on everyone to deliver on their own commitments, often in silos.

But in truth, most local authorities and educators share the same vision; to provide every single young person with the care and education they need and deserve, supporting them to develop the skills they need to live fulfilling lives.

‘Young people didn’t need out-of-borough care‘

With something as challenging as the SEND crisis, we must focus on these shared aims and be willing to pool resources, insight and expertise.

Two years ago, we both recognised that an urgent education solution was needed for Lambeth’s 19 to 25 year olds with complex needs. The independent provider, Michael Tippett College, had been judged inadequate by Ofsted and there was a real risk that learners would be left with nowhere to go.

London South East Academies Trust (sponsored by London South East Colleges) had just been named by the Department for Education as the preferred multi-academy trust to take on its failing feeder school, Michael Tippett School, which is also in need of urgent improvement.

Together, we realised we could create an exceptional progression pathway for learners with complex needs from 11 to 25. This would not only give families peace of mind about a smooth transition (from school into FE), but these young people could remain in their community without needing out-of-borough care.

It is this local, place-based provision that was highlighted in the DfE’s 2023 SEND and AP Improvement plan.

‘The college building was not fit for purpose’

Many local authorities are reaching breaking point due to their high-needs budgets. But without local options, expensive independent schools and colleges with associated high transport costs may become their only choice.

Our journey has not been without challenges. It was clear from the outset that the existing college building was not fit for purpose.

Undertakings were required on both sides, and a commitment from the local authority was made to identify and secure a new building. While this was not straightforward, we both kept sight of our shared aim – and our learners have now moved into the new Nido Volans Lambeth Centre, in the heart of the borough.

The college’s provision is now unrecognisable, with all commissioned places maintained and set to grow further. Learners are being prepared with the skills they need. We’ve all learnt along the way, with communication, negotiation and understanding being key to our partnership.

The benefits go beyond ‘improved provision’. This collaboration has involved people from all parts of our local authority, including adult care, health and skills. Strong relationships between college leaders and the council leads for these areas have developed. Everyone has had to ‘get in the same room’, literally and metaphorically.

This has created a more holistic approach to each learner’s care and an understanding throughout both organisations that we all must be part of the solution.

This local delivery model can be replicated across sectors such as health and social care, and with employers in all industries.

Solving something as complex as the SEND crisis means looking at challenges differently and working flexibly. We know that by continuing to collaborate and innovate, we can sustain high quality SEND provision in our community.