First approved digital functional skills awarding body revealed

The first awarding body to get their digital functional skills qualifications over the line has been revealed.

Gateway Qualifications today announced that regulator Ofqual has signed off on its offer ahead of delivery set to commence in August 2023.

With just four months to go before the launch date, 10 other awarding bodies continue through the stringent approvals process.

Digital functional skills qualifications (DFSQs) have been in the works for several years and form part of the Department of Education’s strategy for digital skills, alongside essential digital skills courses that became available in August 2020.

DFSQs will be available at entry level and level 1 and are being designed to provide learners with the skills to use a range of software applications, navigate the internet and keep safe online.

They will replace all existing functional skills ICT qualifications from July 31, 2023.

Paul Saunders, commercial director at Gateway Qualifications, said: “Digital skills are increasingly important for both life, study and work, and we are pleased to be at the forefront of making available this new, but essential qualification to colleges and training providers across the UK. 

“With the Covid-19 pandemic accelerating the adoption of digital technologies, the need for individuals to have basic digital skills has never been more important.”

Gateway Qualifications was also the first awarding body to gain approval for essential digital skills qualifications in August 2020.

It was in fact the only awarding organisation to get sign off to offer the courses in time for that deadline. The DfE and Ofqual will hope the other awarding organisations seeking to offer DFSQs will not repeat those delays this time around.

Each awarding organisation must go through a “technical evaluation” process with Ofqual to ensure they are “valid and fit for purpose” before being made available to colleges and training providers to deliver.

Ofqual publishes the progress so far for each awarding body and places them on a five-point scale – one being the furthest from approval and five meaning sign off has been granted.

Of the 10 other awarding bodies going through this process for DFSQs, three are at stage four, four are at stage three, and three are at stage one.

OrganisationEntry Level 3Level 1
BCS33
City & Guilds44
Gateway55
Highfield11
iCan Qualifications11
NCFE44
NOCN33
OCNLR44
Pearson33
TLM33
TQUK11
Source: Ofqual

Slowly layering pre-work support for SEND students is vital. I’m autistic myself – I know

Last year I was trolled by a welfare rights officer. They objected to me using my own autistic lived experience in a leadership role to lift others and give representation to my autistic students. The reason? I am normalising the idea that autistic people can work.

Unless either you or a loved one are autistic you may not know that just 29 per cent of autistic adults in the UK are in paid employment. Of those autistic people not yet ‘out’, 65 per cent said they wouldn’t disclose their neurodiversity to their line manager through fear of discrimination.

Over the years, my various roles in the education and children’s sectors have involved working with students, staff and employers. I have found a few initiatives to be particularly effective in preparing autistic students for the world of work.

Manager confidence is key

Workplace culture is everything. If you are going to support your neurodiverse students to find jobs they love, your neurodiverse staff must love their jobs too.

This is all about upskilling your managers to ensure staff feel included and valued. Too many managers have their own internal imposter syndrome going on and what you can then get is a culture of managers wanting to be popular with the crowd.

But inclusion is an intentional act and successfully managing workplace adjustments for disabled staff requires strong, confident leaders to manage those non-disabled team members who may gripe that “It’s not fair she gets to wear ear defenders,” or “Why can he work hybrid three days per week,” or “It’s so unfair they get interview questions in advance!” 

One way to tackle this is asking your managers about their confidence to manage case studies on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in small group workshops, so they do not lose face.

I would urge all would-be employers to examine their own workplace culture first when it comes to helping students transition to jobs. The ground must be fertile to plant a seed that grows.

Offer staged internships

Many students with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) aren’t ready for year-long, full-time supported internships and it’s important for them to ‘try before they buy’. This can be done by providing different study levels and pathways.

An example is the provision at Digital Independent Specialist College (DISC). This Manchester-based college delivers programmes in partnership with SENDCode, a social enterprise that supports young, neurodiverse people who are not engaging in education. Together, they’ve crafted three layered programmes for their students including an alternative provision pathway which gives an insight into their pre-internship for school-aged students who struggle to access the mainstream curriculum.

They also offer a flexible pre-internship, based on students’ interests, which includes remote learning, travel training, work at DISC’s city centre studio and, where appropriate, external work placements.

A year-long, full-time supported internship for young people with an EHCP is also available alongside pastoral, peer-to-peer and weekly maths and English support.

Recreate work settings

Develop ‘pop-up’ employment experiences where students work on live briefs and feel what it’s like to work in an organisation, but within the small-scale, supported environment of their own college setting.

In the past, we’ve worked with charity, Digital Advantage on developing a replica creative agency within New Bridge where our students design logos, write scripts, and make films and podcasts. It’s significantly improved their confidence, self-esteem and understanding of how businesses operate.

Showcase top job opportunities

In May 2022, we took our digital pathway students from our college to Apple’s headquarters in Chicago to design a new app. It’s an experience they will never forget; they were so energised and determined after the visit. We must push at the ambitions of young people with SEND so they can carve out a meaningful future for themselves.

Support employers to adapt

Colleges must work with employers, so they adjust their recruitment practices. Online job ads, complex application forms and formal interviews might mean businesses are missing out on many talented young people with SEND.

Students, too, need support to navigate the recruitment process so they can continue to be themselves and achieve what we all want – to start, stay and succeed in work.

The Ideas Room shows what meetings could be like. Come try it out

We’ve all been to this kind of meeting. The kind that leaves you feeling over-worked and under-valued. The kind you have to sit through although most of the agenda doesn’t concern you, when you could be doing something more productive. The kind where the person who keeps asking questions is resented because they’ve made the thing over-run. The kind where content is delivered at you, a fait accompli that requires nothing from you, and especially not well-intentioned feedback.

Do you ever wish there was a safe space for you to go, where you could openly share and discuss ideas without fear of being judged or interrupted? A space beyond the physical confines of your office or classroom walls, and populated by FE professionals from across the country, all eager and ready to connect with you? Do you yearn for a new way of conducting meetings, to empower your teams to really think and listen to each other?

Good news: This space exists, and it is open and ready to welcome you.

I always leave the Ideas Room feeling re-energised, refreshed, and inspired, and I know you will feel the same.

Created and facilitated by the JoyFE Collective (a group set up by Dr Lou Mycroft and Stefanie Tinsley during the first Covid lockdown as a way for FE practitioners to stay connected during those challenging times), the Ideas Room is based on the principles of Nancy Kline’s Thinking Environment.

In short, it is the very opposite of traditional meetings: there is no fixed agenda; everyone is treated equally; job roles and hierarchy are left at the door; everyone has the opportunity to speak without interruption; no advice is given. It is truly a space full of opportunity and potential, where ideas can grow and thrive.

Here’s how it works.

At first, everyone in the room is invited to share how they are doing and whether they have an idea to explore or are simply there to listen. Everyone takes it in turn to answer honestly and succinctly, without interruption. I felt self-conscious the first time I attended, but soon realised that there was no judgement from anyone. We listened intently to each other as we shared our feelings, not only about work but some personal things too. (It is up to each individual how much they want to share.)

Next, those with an idea briefly explain it and then everyone splits off into breakout rooms (one room per idea). The person with the idea explains it in more detail, and then we take it turns to share our freshest thinking about that idea, again without interruption. Ideas range from initial thoughts about a lesson plan or teaching idea to topics for CPD or research projects and right through to wider themes such as inclusion and motivation. Any FE-related topic is welcome.

Active listening is often missing from traditional meetings, but in the Ideas Room the act of switching off your mic is a powerful one. Forced to listen to the speaker without interrupting them, we listen more intently. It’s equally powerful for the speaker, who is free to share their thoughts and ideas with complete control over how much to say and the time to pause as required. It is wonderful to watch thoughts being formed and then verbalised in real time.

The framework of the Ideas Room can be applied to any meeting. Indeed, it has the power to transform how leaders interact with their team members by facilitating honest thinking in a safe space that is rooted in respect and equality.

The Ideas Room is held on Zoom every Wednesday evening from 8 to 9pm, and Fridays from 9 to 10am during term-time. It is a genuinely enriching way to reach out to the FE community and, as Joy FE put it, to let your thinking grow.

Work meetings might take some time to catch up, but in the meantime there’s a space for every professional to have a voice. I hope to hear yours soon.

To access the Ideas Room connect with #JoyFE on your favourite social media platform

Automation will result in different jobs – not fewer – but we must adapt 

With the recent launch of Open AI’s ChatGPT 4, headlines about the impact of artificial intelligence and automation on human employment prospects have again reached a fever-pitch. 

And just as technology seems to work harder, faster and better than the average person, we are faced with the reality that the UK remains consistently on the back foot when it comes to workforce skills. 

There is a persistent skills gap across key industries and – with the exponential rise of digital technologies in almost all sectors – we urgently need a talent pipeline that can keep pace with automation across the country. 

The good news is that automation will not necessarily mean fewer jobs in the UK – but it will lead to different jobs across different regions. 

Our new Local Skills Report takes a serious look at the changing nature of employment in the UK. Pearson’s AI-predictive modelling harnesses these emerging technologies to glean fresh insights into the future of work.

In brief, Pearson’s Workforce Skills division applies proprietary machine learning models to billions of data points in order to surface insights on how dynamic forces such as new technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping the world of work.

Using the West Midlands as a case study, our modelling suggests that 15 per cent of jobs in the region (affecting over 400,000 people) will see significant change over the next decade due to automation. Looking at specific sectors in the region, the biggest net change in demand will be for cleaners (+3,286 jobs), carers (+2,778 jobs) and HGV drivers (+2,680 jobs); in other words, roles that technology and automation will struggle to replace.

This is a shift that will require major changes in the skillsets of the local population. 

In order to best determine next steps, we conducted a substantial public opinion survey on attitudes towards skills and retraining. 

It is striking that-two thirds of the respondents (64 per cent) were interested in undertaking a course to learn new skills. Critically though, only 4 per cent of the public claim to know exactly what type of courses are available to learn new skills and only 5 per cent know what institutions offer programmes that develop skills. 

The public are clearly committed to learning useful skills that will help them find better, sustainable jobs – but interventions are required to steer individuals towards employable skillsets that will boost their prospects.

So how do we act upon what the data is telling us? This is, of course, the difficult bit.  Our new report makes the following recommendations: 

Use data to plan for the future 

We need to keep looking forward in order to anticipate the skills we will need in five, ten or even fifteen years’ time. Data insights can help anticipate the shifting demand and supply of skills, and policymakers should then respond accordingly. 

Further devolution to Combined Authorities 

Those at the heart of English regions understand local needs and what can be done to meet them. Building on the recent “trailblazer” devolution deals, we need to go further when it comes to coordination over 16-18 skills delivery, post-19 skills funding, and autonomy over careers advice for adults of all ages.

Incentivise employers to take the lead 

Individuals are more likely to make the time for skills training when encouraged by their current or prospective employer. Central and local government officials should therefore explore what policy levers can empower employers to offer more robust and systematic training to their employees. 

Embrace modular learning 

We should embrace technology to make it as easy as possible for individuals to integrate skills training into their day-to-day lives. Stackable micro-credentials that can be accumulated over flexible timelines will help to build a realistic culture of lifelong learning 

Bring providers together

Finally, we must ensure there is a unified ‘supply side’ architecture for training in a local area. It will take a coalition of local policymakers, local employers and education providers to do everything they can to make this happen. 

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 424

Roy O’Shaughnessy

Chair, Twin Group

Start date: May 2023

Previous job: Chief Executive Officer, Capital City College Group

Interesting fact: Roy spent much of his childhood in remote parts of Central, Northern, and Southern Africa. He once saw an eagle drop onto the tail of a large leguan with such force the tail came off, and the eagle flew off with the tail clasped within its claws.

Nick Harrison

Chief executive, The Sutton Trust

Start date: May 2023

Previous job: Chief Growth Officer, MatchesFashion

Interesting fact: Nick is an adventure seeker. He climbed Mount Blanc before having children and hopes to get back to mountaineering at some point. He is also a keen scuba diver and once went dive hunting with a pack of reef sharks at night in the Pacific.

Government should consider bringing back maintenance support

Social mobility is a widely used and hotly contested phrase, but one that we at the Skills and Education Group understand to mean improved financial and educational performance across generations or throughout a person’s life. We know that social mobility is a long game, with many rungs to its ladder. We see our role as supporting learners and staff to keep those rungs accessible to all.    

We do this by providing financial support to learners so they can attend their classes and achieve their qualifications. We fund staff to enable them to pursue professional development opportunities or research projects with the aim of making themselves more effective in the classroom. We offer our members grants that enable them to improve their resources and facilities, providing an up-to-date, industry-standard education for learners. We know that without this support the opportunities available to those most in need would be severely limited – something that flies in the face of the quest for social mobility.

Of course, the popular narrative of social mobility is the ‘smart kid from poor background goes to university and gets into a white-collar profession’. The mostly unspoken part is that the young person then most likely leaves the place where they came from. We’re sure these cases exist but what we see everyday are people from lower socio-economic positions or with negative experiences of school turning to their local FE colleges to continue their educational journey post 16.

It’s colleges and providers that give these learners the chance to gain skills. They offer clear routes to stable and more prosperous jobs and, crucially, do so within their own communities. This means those who benefit from their local college can, in turn, go on to benefit the town and community where they live.  

Our support removed practical barriers that impeded committed learners

At the Foundation, we work with anyone over the age of 16 and it’s worth noting that around a quarter of learner recipients are over the age of 35. We know our grants for learners have a clear, decisive and positive effect on educational outcomes. Initial findings from an independent analysis of our work show that in the 21/22 academic year there was more than a 20 per cent difference in pass rates between grant recipients (97.8 per cent) and those in the wider cohort (77 per cent).

The support we offered in each case was not large-scale, with an average spend of £553 per head. We weren’t buying learners houses or providing them with sustained private tutoring. Instead, our funding most often provided learners with support around travel costs, utilities expenses and the purchase of learning technology like laptops and course software. In doing so, it removed the debilitating stress and pressure of short-term, logistical concerns and enabled them to focus on the course they were passionate about. We simply removed some of the practical barriers that impeded committed learners from getting the most out of their time at college, raising them a few rungs up that ladder.  

Since our establishment in 2019, the number of learners we have supported has more than doubled year on year. At the time of writing, we have helped 309 learners in the 2022/23 academic year alone. As we continue to weather the storm of a cost-of-living crisis and as learners continue to balance the demands of their lives with their passion for education, the need for our work will persist. Indeed, the demand for it and the impact we see that it has, pose the question as to whether it is time for the government to consider a return to a revised form of educational maintenance support.

Our sector is filled with excellent staff and with dedicated students who, with a little extra help, can achieve life-changing results in their own hometowns. We remain dedicated to them, today and in future generations, and will never stop looking for ways to empower them to climb the ladder.

Warnings to providers over third-party harassment claims

Employers are being urged to prepare for the possibility of new legislation which would put more liability onto them for staff suffering harassment from third parties, such as students or parents.

Legislation is currently in the Lords dealing with worker protection (amendment of Equality Act 2010) bill, which plans to allow employees to bring harassment claims to their employer after a single incident of third-party harassment.

Employers will be expected to demonstrate that they have taken “all reasonable steps” to prevent the issue.

The Equality Act 2010 currently offers no protection for workers who suffer harassment by a third party rather than another employee, a loophole that the bill aiming to close.

Previous legislation which is no longer in place effectively had a ‘three strikes’ rule where claims could only be made if it had happened on two previous occasions and employers hadn’t done enough to prevent the problem.

The new legislation, if passed, would mean all employers – including colleges and training providers – may need to introduce more stringent measures to protect staff from abuse by students or parents, as employees could sue their college or ITP for failing to prevent third party harassment.

The bill – a private member’s bill brought forward by Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, Wera Hobhouse – has enjoyed government support so far, although questions remain over whether it will progress because of a series of up to 40 amendments by Conservative peers which could run down the clock on Parliamentary debate time.

However, colleges are being urged to prepare regardless of the outcome, to ensure their reporting policies are robust and leaders are aware of the obligations.

Joanne Moseley, senior practice development lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, who has penned a blog explaining what the changes could mean and what employers should do to prepare, said that it is “particularly difficult in the context of colleges and schools”.

Moseley said businesses in service industries could just ban a customer harassing a member of staff, but colleges and schools had legal duties to students and pupils which meant they could not just exclude them in the very first instance.

“I think it is extremely important [colleges are aware of what their responsibilities will be]. You want to retain the staff you have – if you don’t tackle this it is going to lead to probably stress, ill health or leaving the profession,” Moseley told FE Week.

“If it does come into force it is going to change their legal responsibilities, and therefore put a much greater obligation to try and pre-empt these things. If you have got somebody who has been subjected, for example, to a catalogue of racist abuse you are looking at [paying out in compensation] a decent sum of money for that.”

Moseley said injury to feeling payouts at employment tribunals start at £1,100 for the lowest band – one-off or isolated incidents which are not considered serious – rising to £56,200 for the most serious cases where there has been a campaign of harassment.

On top of that could be payouts for things such as loss of earnings or pension losses if that member of staff cannot continue work, and could add up to hundreds of thousands of pounds in remediation.

The bill follows work originally started under a previous employment bill, which ceased over a year ago.

As well as liability for harassment of employees by third parties, the new bill also covers employer duties to prevent sexual harassment of employees.

A government survey in 2020 reported that 29 per cent of employees had experienced some form of sexual harassment in the workplace in the 12 months prior.

A spokesperson for Hobhouse said the bill was a recognition that the issues were widespread, and said that the government was working with Conservative peers who had raised concerns to find a way through.

Hobhouse told the Commons in February: “This bill cannot be allowed to fall. It will make a huge difference to the lives of many people in the workplace and will help to provide a cultural shift in attitudes towards appropriate behaviours at work.”

Among measures colleges are being encouraged to consider are reviewing policies and reporting mechanisms, being aware of the prevalence of existing problems on their campuses, reviewing teaching of harassment to students, monitoring complaints, introducing any necessary training to staff, and evaluating policies regularly.

A spokesperson from the Association of Colleges said: “It is important colleges keep their policies up to date within the ever-changing regulatory landscape and we support our members to do this when new rules are on the horizon.”

‘Momentous’ top Ofsted rating for large Kent college group

A large college group in Kent is celebrating after securing a “momentous” top-rating from Ofsted.

EKC Group today became the first general FE college to sweep ‘outstanding’ grades across the board since the watchdog introduced enhanced inspections last autumn.

It becomes the eleventh general FE college to currently hold a grade one overall Ofsted judgement.

EKC Group encompasses six large FE colleges in Ashford, Broadstairs, Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone and the Isle of Sheppey as well as a training arm for prison education. It currently teaches 5,500 young students, 750 apprentices and nearly 2,000 adult learners.

In a report published today following a visit in March, inspectors said the group has created “calm, positive and inclusive environments” which allow “highly motivated” learners to “thrive”.

The group said the report demonstrated that standards had not slipped despite the rapid expansion it had undergone since its last rating in 2017 (a ‘good’ rating), which include acquisitions of Ashford and Canterbury colleges.

EKC Group chief executive Graham Razey said: “This Ofsted rating is a momentous occasion for us as an organisation, and we are delighted that inspectors recognised the incredible work put in by staff and students.

“To be deemed outstanding in all aspects highlights the excellent standard at which we operate, with everyone playing their part to provide top quality training and improve the socio-economic prosperity of the communities we serve.”

Ofsted found learners expanded their studies to include social work in the community through volunteering in food banks, giving talks in primary schools and creating art displays.

The report said that learners and apprentices, including those with high needs, made very good progress, and gained additional skills that complement their qualifications study.

Inspectors said the group makes a strong contribution to meeting skills needs, developing “exceptional links” in its communities, demonstrating an excellent knowledge of the local economy and reviewing course offerings to quickly respond to developing needs, as well as playing a pivotal part in the local skills improvement plan process.

Courses were developed well with employers in order to reflect current industry practices and future skills needs, the report continued.

The report described the adult learning courses as “ambitious and adaptable”, while teachers were praised for their efforts in clearly demonstrating skills and using questions to check learners’ understanding.

Those with additional needs were well supported, and included frequent communication to ensure they made good progress and planned adjustments as needed.

High quality careers advice helped learners make informed decisions about their next steps, the report said, with work placements directly relating to industries students aspired to work in.

Inspectors said that most staff are “very proud to work for the group” and updated their vocational practice and teaching skills regularly.

The report also praised the oversight of governors and the frequent observations leaders made of teaching to ensure they were aware of areas in need of improvement and regularly reviewed provision.

Seismic changes to post-16 qualifications landscape

The post-16 qualifications landscape is changing and will look significantly different to the present one.

The government is clear that the purpose of post-16 education is to support people to move into high-skilled jobs, either directly, or through progression into good quality higher education courses.

So, what does mean for schools, sixth forms and colleges and the students at them?  At present there is a wide range of vocational qualifications, such as Cambridge Technicals and BTECs, available to post-16 students in a variety of sizes and subjects.  To enable their objectives for post-16 education the government is in the process of reforming current post-16 qualifications at Level 3 and below. This is happening over three phases.

  • Phase 1- The DfE removed funding from qualifications with sustained low or no publicly funded enrolments in England.
  • Phase 2 – The DfE removed funding for 16-19 qualifications which overlap with T Levels to allow the T Levels to flourish
  • Phase 3 – A new integrated approval process is introduced for qualifications that will receive public funding for first teaching in September 2025. This sets quality criteria for all academic and technical qualifications. Those qualifications that get approved will be those that provide skills for the future and lead to good outcomes.

The reforms mean that most current Level 3 post-16 vocational qualifications will lose their funding by 2025 unless they meet these strict criteria.  From September 2025, post-16 students will have to choose between one of two routes – academic or technical – as they plan their way into higher education or employment.  

The academic route is primarily designed to support progression to further/higher education and would mean studying A Levels.  The technical route is primarily designed to support progression to skilled employment and will mean studying T levels.  It sounds straightforward and certainly streamlines the post-16 curriculum, but what about students that don’t sit comfortably in either route?  

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In the academic route, there will be an option for a mixed study programme comprising A Levels and new Alternative Academic Qualifications (AAQs).  Small AAQs (equivalent in size to 1 A Level) can be taken alongside A Levels, while large AAQs (equivalent in size to 3 A Levels) can be taken as an alternative to A Levels where a subject is less well served by A-Levels and a T Level in the subject doesn’t exist.

OCR understands that no student is the same and we want to ensure all students get the education they deserve and can accomplish their ambitions.  

We will be submitting AAQs for approval in the academic route in July 2023. We will know the outcome for these cycle 1 qualifications (first teach Sept 2025) in July 2024. We’ll also be submitting cycle 2 qualifications (first teach Sept 2026) in July 2024 and discovering their outcomes in July 2025.

Once approved, in September 2025, OCR will be offering Alternative Academic Qualifications (AAQs) in:

CYCLE 1
SubjectSizeFirst teach 
Engineering
Health and Social Care
IT
Science		Small
Small
Small
Small		September 2025
September 2025
September 2025
September 2025
CYCLE 2
SubjectSizeFirst teach
Digital Media
Enterprise
Criminology
Performing Arts
Sport		Small
Small
Small
Large
Large		September 2026
September 2026
September 2026
September 2026
September 2026

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A post-16 study programme for every student

OCR offers over 30 A Level qualifications in a wide range of subject areas and many students already take one or more A Levels alongside vocational qualifications such as our existing Cambridge Technicals. Others also choose to supplement their study programmes with the Extended Project (EPQ) or Core Maths.

The changes to future academic programmes of study are an opportunity for students and centres to consider the knowledge and skills required in the future and we will be providing support and guidance on potential subject combinations for a range of different sectors to aid you with this.  We have worked closely with universities in the development of our AAQs to ensure they provide value to an academic programme.

OCRs AAQs are being designed from the ground up in collaboration with teachers to ensure that they remain an accessible suite of qualifications that suit the needs of a wide range of students and are valued by HEI providers for entry to undergraduate level progression.  We understand that reform can be difficult to manage and keep up to date with so we have created a dedicated website that highlights what is happening and provides key dates to aid you in your planning.

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