The government has renamed the lifelong loan entitlement after legislation that paves the way for the flagship scheme gained royal assent.
Now officially rebranded as the lifelong learning entitlement, the LLE was put on the statute book last night after clearing both houses of parliament.
Set to be rolled out from 2025, the entitlement will provide individuals with the equivalent of four years of tuition loans – worth up to £37,000 in today’s fees – to use flexibly over their lifetime.
Funding through an online account will be available to study at levels 4 to 6, for both modular and full-time study at colleges, universities, and other providers registered with the Office for Students.
Philip Augar, chair of the Post-18 Education and Funding Review which recommended the creation of the LLE in 2019, said: “This legislation gives us a framework that fits our modern, fast-changing jobs market. The potential now exists for adults to transform life opportunities through lifelong learning and I hope universities, colleges and employers respond constructively in ensuring that this potential is fulfilled.”
The Lifelong Learning Act will allow HE providers to use a new method of calculating the maximum level of tuition fees they can charge for different courses. This will make the pricing of modules and short courses “proportionate, so people can access education and training at a fair price”, the government said.
‘Legislation gives us a framework that fits our fast-changing jobs market’
The LLE will be available to new and returning learners. For people who have already taken out a loan for a degree, the amount they can borrow will be reduced depending on the funding they have previously received to support study.
Ministers also announced earlier this year that the controversial equivalent and lower-level funding rule (ELQ), which prohibits funding for higher-level courses at or below a level a learner is already qualified, will be scrapped under the LLE.
LLE tuition loans will however only be available for people up to the age of 60.
Government officials were urged to change the language and branding of the LLE last year after researchers found the term “lifelong loan” to be unappealing to potential learners, namely because adults do not want to take on more debt.
A Department for Education spokesperson said the government has now agreed to change the name to the lifelong learning entitlement so it “better reflects its core purpose of offering learning opportunities throughout people’s working lives, making education and training more accessible to people from all backgrounds”.
The DfE also recently announced the launch of a £5 million competition to encourage universities and colleges to develop and offer individual modules of higher technical qualifications (HTQs).
The scheme will “exceptionally allow” around 20 providers to grant fund tuition fees for students to study HTQ modules in academic years 2023/24 and 2024/25.
This will include up to £20,000 provided to each successful bid for “demand-raising activity, including information and guidance to learners”.
The competition closes on November 3.
Skills, apprenticeships and higher education minister Robert Halfon said: “Giving people the chance to access education and training over the course of their working lives, in a way that suits them, is crucial to enabling those from all backgrounds to climb the ladder of opportunity.
“From HTQ modules in cyber security to short courses in accountancy and university degrees in engineering, this new lifelong learning entitlement will plug skills gaps and give employers access to a pipeline of talent to help them grow.”
Gillian Keegan is determined that local skills improvement plans will ease the nation’s skills crisis. Jessica Hill lifts the lid on the negotiations between the worlds of business and skills.
The LSIPs designed to address the nation’s skills shortages “have to work” and “will work”, Gillian Keegan told FE leaders in her inaugural speech to the sector last November.
They’re so important to the government that it’s given itself powers to “direct structural changes” in colleges if they’re found not to be meeting local skills needs.
Ten months on, and the education secretary has signed off all 38 of these “employer-led” plans that she’s pinning her hopes on to get the nation out of its current skills crisis.
The plans have been published at a time of political flux, with devolution deals still being worked up that shift the responsibilities of the key political players, and with other parties offering no long-term commitment to the plans.
Will Keegan ever be able to lay claim to the policy proving a success?
Gillian Keegan at AoC conference, where she discussed lsips
Therapy for businesses
Last year, the DfE tasked 38 “employer representative bodies” (ERBs) with spelling out the changes needed to make education and training provision more responsive to employer needs.
The ERBs, 32 of whom are chambers of commerce, are being paid £550,000 each over three years to lead the plans.
The LSIP discussions were a much-needed outlet for some businesses to vent their frustrations – some of whom were coming to the table to talk about skills shortages for the first time. But there is now a sense that change is afoot.
Chris Fletcher, Greater Manchester chamber of commerce’s policy director, says “the number of therapy sessions was amazing”.
“Businesses said ‘we know you’re not going to change things overnight. But at least there are people on the case now that understand these issues and are plugged into the right people locally to start to make things happen.”
Similarly, Jane Gratton, the British Chambers of Commerce’s head of people policy, believes that LSIPs mark the moment that we “turn the big tanker around” in addressing skills shortages. “But in doing so, we’ve raised expectations.”
Jane Gratton, British Chambers of Commerce Photo: Philip J.A Benton
At the beginning…
LSIPs arose from a 2020 report by the British Chambers of Commerce warning how skills shortages were “coming to a head”, Gratton says.
The pandemic made the problem even more pressing, while local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) – business-led partnerships that (similar to ERBs), bring together businesses, local government and academic and voluntary institutions – were scaled down.
Fletcher believes the issues were “much bigger than the LEPs could deal with”, while funding to tackle skills issues was “piecemeal”.
“You needed some bigger intervention to actually move the dial on it.”
The report called for a new forum to bring stakeholders together. The Chambers of Commerce ran a pilot alongside discussions over the Skills for Jobs white paper, which set out an employer-led approach to making FE provision more responsive to local needs.
Eight trailblazers were rolled out last year, with a two-year £165 million local skills improvement fund building on last year’s £96 million strategic development fund.
Chris Fletcher, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
Collaborative aims
Collaboration was seen as “key to the success”. But councils felt snubbed by the government putting business representatives in the driving seat.
When the LSIPs guidance was published in September last year, the Local Government Association highlighted how in non-devolved areas of England, councils had been “almost entirely omitted”.
“It is disappointing the DfE has not reflected the reality of what local partners know is needed on the ground,” it said.
Despite concerns from others in the public sector that the plans would be too business-focused, some ERBs have reached out to other local employers – including NHS trusts – and national bodies such as Skills for Care. Greater Manchester’s LSIP, for example, described mental health nursing as an “urgent priority for provision” with “critically high demand”.
Meanwhile, colleges need to make sure LSIPs are a success, partly because they are now tested on their responsiveness to local skills needs through recent extensions to the Ofsted inspection framework and new accountability agreements with the DfE. The 2022 Skills Act even gave the education secretary powers to intervene if a college’s curriculum “fails to adequately reflect priorities set out in the local skills improvement plan”.
Chris Starkie, Norfolk Council’s director of growth and investment
What negotiations really looked like
Different players had to learn each other’s language, with businesses “having to interpret and translate FE and skills speak” says Gratton, while those in the training sector grappled with corporate lingo.
FE Week understands there were early tensions in some LSIP areas. Norfolk and Suffolk collaborated, but with both areas lining up separate devolution deals, LSIP discussions have taken place against the backdrop of political wranglings, particularly in Norfolk.
Chris Starkie, Norfolk Council’s director of growth and investment, says it tried to use devolution in LSIP discussions as “additional rather than something that gets confusing and in the way”.
Norfolk and Suffolk share certain “synergies” when it comes to their offshore, agri-food and digital creative industries, and have a “history of working together” on skills born through the LEP over the past 10 years through a shared skills hub. Previously, European structural funds came through to some joint county projects – which made LSIP joint working “relatively straightforward”.
But there have been “nuances and differences” too. Both counties have their own adult education budget contracts with the Education and Skills Funding Agency, for example, so each county will “do our own thing where it’s more appropriate”.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham
It’ll be different this time
Some of the same issues were raised repeatedly in LSIP discussions, such as the lack of employability skills in young people, and apprenticeship levy-paying businesses “begging for more flexibility to get more people trained”, Gratton says.
“Businesses everywhere are crying out for technical skills – they just keep going through recruitment, and it’s not working.”
North of Tyne’s LSIP says employers want “more differentiation between training providers”, with colleges focusing on “specialist, quality courses, provided by teachers with industrial experience”.
In Greater Manchester, Fletcher says the priorities that emerged from the LSIP research were “not a surprise”. Theirs highlighted retrofitting skills as an “urgent priority” – with mayor Andy Burnham’s grand plan for the region to become net zero by 2038 dependent on it. But employers say they have problems finding people with those skills.
While the region has done comprehensive work around skills requirements in the past – its 2019 local economic strategy, for example – Fletcher says the LSIP enabled it to “dig into” skills issues in a “much more methodical way”. At a granular local level it looked at labour shortages and the supply coming through from colleges and ITPs, then broadening that out to the regional level.
“What is different with LSIPs is we have the quantity and quality of data,” he says. While some businesses did pass the comment “oh, another skills survey”, many said it “feels a bit different this time, as though the intention is to change things”.
Frustrating course changes
The discussions also gave employers the chance to be made aware of which courses are set to be defunded, sparking “frustration” from some.
Gratton points out that when the DfE issues a consultation it is “only the businesses most engaged with that system” that respond, not necessarily the ones most affected by the proposals. This has left some businesses in the dark over level 2 and below, and level 3 reforms.
The LSIPs, though, have created a “network to reach out to” on these issues.
Fletcher sees the ability to have those conversations as “absolutely great”, but also “extremely worrying because you’re finding out now ‘that course is gone, that’s going – how are we going to get around that?”
But even the right courses to suit local economic needs doesn’t mean students will enrol. Gratton believes good careers advice is “crucial to it all”, with employers raising the issue “time and time again”.
Businesses also recognise “this isn’t just a one-way street” of them “demanding things from colleges”. “There was also a kickback into businesses as well to say ‘hang on a minute, we’ve seen investment [in training] dropping – this isn’t all free’.”
Gratton believes that by “understanding they have to be part of the solution”, through the forum of LSIPs, businesses will “then start to invest more” in training.
Fletcher says college principals used the networking to urge businesses to provide much-needed T Level work placements, amid “huge uncertainty from employers over what T Levels are”.
Battle for talent
The biggest surprise emerging from the LSIPs discussions has been the lack of “basic IT skills”, he says.
While people tend to think of “software developers”, many businesses “just want people with basic skills … they can then teach them the more technical bits”.
And the “battle for talent” for teaching staff was heard loudly. How could employees with those skill sets be taken “out of business and into a training environment?”.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
Political uncertainty
If Labour wins the next election, the party may not be so favourable towards the very Conservative concept of business-led skills planning.
Its proposals involve setting up a new expert body, Skills England, but it might have different priorities to those set out in LSIPs.
There is also uncertainty over whether a future Labour government might scrap plans for eight new investment zones to boost growth, which some LSIPs had to consider in their planning. Only two zones have so far been announced, in South Yorkshire and Liverpool.
Gratton says the British chambers is seeking at least a ten-year commitment from all political parties to LSIPs.
She is profoundly concerned about the consequences if they are scrapped before then. “We can’t get businesses excited, then say ‘sorry, we’re not doing that anymore’. Businesses are fed up of that. They don’t have the people they need – the economy’s in a mess. If people are training for the wrong things, they’ve wasted their time and we’ve failed them.”
More than just numbers
By October, the DfE will notify lead providers of the outcome of their stage two LSIF funding application, although Fletcher says organisations are still stepping forward to become part of the LSIP conversation.
He has also been asked “quite bluntly” by some what the KPIs (key performance indicators) are for the LSIPs. There aren’t any, as yet.
“We’ve got to ensure the provision starts to match that demand. When we get to that stage where we’re comfortable it’s happening, then we can dig into what targets and outcomes we need.”
Fletcher knows that the DfE is “keen to have a measurable impact it can show the Treasury”, but he wants that to be “beyond the number of apprentice starts. It’s got to mean something more than just a number.”
Adult education services at Birmingham City Council are unlikely to be affected by the authority’s strict new controls on spending, imposed after the council effectively declared bankruptcy.
City Councillors at the beleaguered local authority have been told they must agree to immediately stop all non-essential spending, reduce running costs and not commit to new expenditure.
The council faces an £87 million black hole in its budget as it struggles to settle a historic equal pay liability worth up to £760 million. As a result, officials issued a section 114 notice last week, which has widely been described as the local authority effectively declaring bankruptcy.
However, the notice does not affect pre-existing contracts.
A spokesperson for the council said they were unable to comment specifically on the section 114 notice, but confirmed the council has already signed an adult education contract with the West Midlands Combined Authority.
The city council is the second largest recipient of adult education budget grant funding from the combined authority, after South and City College Birmingham, worth £10.2 million.
Its adult education offer includes free and subsidised courses in English, math, ESOL, computer skills, languages, social care and employability skills. It achieved a ‘good’ rating from Ofsted in 2019 and trains around 13,000 students.
The service has continued to promote its courses and advertise for staff vacancies since the section 114 notice was filed.
A WMCA spokesperson said: “We are aware the council has made a section 114 notice. We are closely monitoring and assessing the situation as it develops and are in regular contact with our partners.”
Birmingham City Council is not the first local authority to have filed a section 114 notice and others, such as Nottingham and Surrey Heath, have warned that spiralling deficits could lead them to follow suit.
Other councils such as Croydon, Thurrock, Woking, Northamptonshire and Hackney have previously issued section 114 notices.
Tributes have been paid to a young deputy principal whose “best was yet to come” following his sudden death at work on Friday morning.
Tom Hamilton-Dick, 46, dedicated his career to further education and most recently worked as deputy principal at North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College (NWSLC) and trustee at Skills and Education Group.
Friends and colleagues said Hamilton-Dick was widely respected and will be remembered for his energy, charisma and commitment to students.
A rising star in the college sector, his FE career began as a film and television lecturer at Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education in 2002.
In just a few years he became head of the media department at South Essex College and, in 2012, began a near eight-year stint in Nottingham where he was part of the senior team that merged two of the city’s colleges to create one of the largest colleges in the country, Nottingham College.
He left Nottingham as executive director for curriculum in March 2020 to become deputy principal at NWSLC and was widely tipped as a future principal in the sector.
NWSLC principal and chief executive Marion Plant, said: “We are devastated at the loss. Tom was a wonderful colleague who was highly respected by staff, students and the wider education community.
“We have received hundreds of messages of condolence reflecting Tom’s impact across the sector,” she added.
Plant said the mood at the college is “sombre” and “everyone is pulling together to support each other.”
“Our main concern is for Tom’s family, and we are doing as much as we can to support them,” she added.
The college has opened books of condolence at each of its seven campuses and online.
Alongside his role at NWSLC, Hamilton-Dick was a trustee of Skills and Education Group.
Paul Eeles, chief executive of Skills and Education Group, said: “Tom was caring, full of charisma, energetic and kind-hearted and deeply passionate about the FE sector. He was a talented leader, and his commitment to students saw him rise through the ranks in a career that has now been cruelly cut short. The best was yet to come.
“Our deepest condolences are with Tom’s family and friends, and the college communities in North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire, and Nottingham.”
Janet Smith, principal and chief executive of Nottingham College, said the FE sector has “lost a true star.”
“The news of Tom’s death has shocked and saddened us all at Nottingham College. His charisma, influence and experience shone through in everything he did for us, and his passion for FE knew no bounds.
“Our heartfelt condolences are offered to his family and loved ones who are forced to comprehend the incomprehensible. Tom made many friends in the sector throughout his career, and we will all feel his loss for some time.”
Besides his passion for further education, Hamilton-Dick was an enthusiastic collector of luxury watches. His authority on the subject saw him interviewed by the Financial Times and writing for a collectors’ website.
He is survived by his wife and two children.
NWSLC is inviting messages of condolence that they will share with Tom’s family. Please send messages, stories and photos to condolences@nwslc.ac.uk
About Exeter College Exeter College is an award-winning, worldclass college and Devon’s only Ofsted ‘outstanding’ college. Established in 1970, Exeter College provides tertiary education for around 10,000 – 12,000 students and offers A Levels, BTECs, Apprenticeships, Professional Qualifications and T Levels. In 2021 the College was shortlisted for the coveted title of ‘FE College of the Year’ and ‘Apprenticeship Provider of the Year’.
THE CHALLENGE
Future-proofing technology and digital services In response to the regional digital skills shortage, Exeter College has ambitions to be at the forefront of support to the growing technology and digital industries in the South West. They believe that the future of the sector will be secured by developing programming, software and app development skills for people in the community.
THE AIM
Apple Authorised Training Centre for Education Exeter College’s aim was to become an Apple Authorised Training Centre for Education (AATCe) which would be an important part of their newly formed South West Institute of Technology (SWIOT). A £10.3 million project, the SWIOT is focused on revolutionising digital, engineering and manufacturing technology education across the region. Becoming a training centre authorises the college to deliver Apple-certified training courses and capitalise on the digital learning opportunities made possible by the Apple platform.
Transitioning to become an AATCe would require investments in skills and technology to see their plans realised. Exeter College turned to Academia to support them.
THE SOLUTION
Empower the trainers To achieve AATCe status, Exeter College needed three members of staff to obtain accreditation as Apple Certified Trainers. Armed with brand new Apple MacBook Pro and iPads, the staff were able to earn their certifications as Apple Certified Trainer – App Development with Swift status.
Work with Academia to build a state-of-the-art Mac Suite In preparation for a new cohort of students following the Apple syllabus, the college needed to fit out a state-of-the-art Mac suite planned for the SWIOT. Academia helped to provide timely advice and guidance on the most suitable Apple technology and how the devices should be set-up, deployed and managed within the state-of-the-art Mac suite.
THE IMPACT
Broadening learning pathways Thanks to its status as an Apple Certified Training Centre, Exeter College has set up their Apple Academy, added new courses to their roster and included iOS app development across a variety of existing courses including Level 2 and Level 3 IT.
They have also created extracurricular learning opportunities through iOS development and learning-to-code groups for students outside of the IT department, as well as building digital skills into other curriculums like humanities, art, maths, and languages. Similarly, they are pioneering a 16-week government-funded Apple bootcamp. This allows students to retrain in software development for free, where they will gain the skills and build a portfolio to get them started in a career in the software industry.
Enriched learning experiences Local businesses have been encouraged to commission the students to work on real projects and put their newfound skills into action. This not only provides valuable resources to local businesses without cost but also gives students real-life experience as well as practical examples of their work to show to possible future employers. For example, students studying Software Development in Apple Swift Programming Skills bootcamp have developed an app for the Royal Navy Leadership Academy (RNLA).
The students were set a brief to simplify and digitise the marking and scoring system used in the RNLA when carrying out assessments in the field. Seven students worked on the project; they were all allocated tasks such as graphic design, navigation flow, and the data model.
Paul Barnard, Quality Assurance Chief for the Royal Navy Leadership Academy said;
“The brief was to digitise the marking scheme that we utilise in the Royal Navy Leadership Academy. We call it ORCE, which stands for observe, record, classify, evaluate. Currently, it’s being done by paper, so instructors are out and about with students trying to write down in the wind and rain. This app will massively help the instructors. They will be able to standardise their reports as well as save huge amounts of time.”
Connections with local and national employers The college hosts cross-collaboration events where they take briefs from local and national employers to simulate industry practice. Briefs have been received from the Royal Navy, Optix Solutions, Honiton Rugby Football Club, Eco-Tech and Your Digital Future (YDF).
This app will massively help with the instructors. They will be able to standardise their reports as well as save huge amounts of time. Paul Barnard | Royal Navy Leadership Academy
Upon completion of the Apple Bootcamp, Emma went to work at the Met Office Headquarters in Exeter as a data analyst. This was partly due to the soft and transferable skills she had picked up during the course surrounding development and project lifecycles.
Cliff studied the Apple App development bootcamp and has a passion for technology. He was interested in developing some of his own app ideas, as well as wanting to deepen his knowledge of the programming language Swift. Cliff utilised the bootcamps to up-skill in his employment, and acquired the new role of “Digital Process and Innovation Lead” at Capita.
Better student engagement The use of Apple technology at the college has helped educators connect with students, foster collaboration and democratize access to resources.
A dynamic and efficient way to learn: The use of unique Apple features like AirDrop to share resources between devices has been a great benefit to students and staff – enabling teachers to respond promptly to any questions or issues and for students to get to work quickly and stay on task.
Cross-course collaboration: Digital marketers, software developers and data analysts now work together on the same projects to generate ideas and build apps, often addressing the briefs provided by local companies and reflecting what is currently going on in the business world.
Promoting student equality: Access to these technologies promotes equality among learners as not all students have access to the most up-to-date technology at home.
More efficient and effective teaching Apple technology has also enhanced how teachers have been able to approach their lessons. Discussions can take place around key coding or development concepts, and then students can be guided to Swift Playgrounds to try out what they have learnt. This allows teachers to work with students 1-to-1 if they get stuck on a problem and empowers learners who are ahead to challenge themselves and develop their app further.
Technology teachers have gained a passion for the Apple platform and are now inspiring other staff members to utilise Apple hardware and software in other disciplines. To encourage this, the college has run several staff development sessions on topics including:
Augmented Reality in Education using iPad Pro;
alternative assessment methods, such as creating podcasts on GarageBand or mini-documentaries using iMovie;
introduction classes to Mac OS for staff new to Apple.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Exeter College is keen to develop its Apple syllabus and use of Apple technology, so is exploring:
making iOS and Swift development a core part of Level 3 Mobile Apps Development;
extra-curricular opportunities for other learners across the college;
providing adult learners with the chance to learn through a modular approach to development and Swift Fundamentals;
working further with the DfE to expand the Apple Bootcamp course available to adult learners;
an education outreach project, delivering Swift programming and Apple App development with local schools to engage students in digital technology earlier.
Contact our Further Education team to discuss how Apple technology can transform teaching and learning at your college.
Vice Principal: Business, Growth, Skills and Partnerships, Solihull College and University Centre & Stratford-Upon-Avon College
Start date: August 2023
Previous Job: Group Director – Business Development, Activate Learning
Interesting fact: A qualified librarian, Nancy has founded her own publisher consultancy business, successfully selling this before bringing her commercial experience to the college sector
Jaki Bradley
Interim Head of Adult Education Budget, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority
Start date: August 2023
Previous Job: Principal, Thurrock Adult Community College
Interesting fact: Jaki started her adult education career after joining a tap dancing class at Peterborough City College 30 years ago. She then joined the college and trained as a basic skills tutor
Jamie Stevenson
Principal, Lewisham College
Start date: August 2023
Previous Job: Group Executive Director for Apprenticeships and Business Development, New City College
Interesting fact: Jamie has ran the the London marathon five times over the last six years, raising over £15,000 for charity. He’s also a former amateur show jumper
A training provider that was left off the government’s adult education budget tender winners list has finally had its contract award published.
On August 30 the DfE named 54 training providers who won a contract in its national tender – which was worth £74,702,770 in total – on the contracts finder website. This was one fewer than what was announced to the sector in July, and TLG Business Services was left off.
The DfE later revealed it was awarding an “additional” AEB contract for an undisclosed amount to The Portland Training Company, taking the total number of winners back up to 55.
However, the department then published a separate contracts finder page a day later which showed TLG Business Services has in fact been awarded a contract from the tender for £297,230.
It means the total amount of funding awarded from the tender will surpass the £75 million pot set aside for it, once Portland’s contract value is revealed next week.
The saga adds to concern about the whole procurement process which is currently being challenged through the courts by a major training group, Learning Curve, which missed out on a contract.
The legal challenge imposed an automatic suspension on contract awards when it was launched in August, but it was swiftly lifted by Learning Curve’s lawyers.
DfE officials blamed the delay for publishing TLG’s contract award on the automatic suspension.
TLG told FE Week it was experiencing “some system onboarding issues”, which were “quickly rectified” by the DfE, but “may have been the reason for the omission”.
“I’m pleased to share that our contract has been signed and there are no ongoing issues to speak of,” the spokesperson added.
Outsourcing giant Capita has left the adult education and skills bootcamp training markets, whilst also significantly reducing its apprenticeship delivery.
The firm told FE Week the decisions were made while considering “broader market conditions”.
It has been offering government-funded skills training for almost two decades and is currently rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.
Capita was awarded one of the largest procured national adult education budget contracts by the Department for Education, worth £2.8 million, in 2021. But the company was one of the big names missing from the list of national AEB contract winners from the DfE’s latest tender this year.
The company is now closing its education arm known as Vision2Learn, which also delivered government-funded skills bootcamps.
It is the latest in a string of well-known training providers that have pulled away from government-funded AEB, bootcamps and apprenticeships – mostly due to unsustainable funding rates.
Capita was one of England’s biggest apprenticeship providers in 2021/22 when it recorded over 1,500 starts. However, the firm’s apprenticeship numbers have dropped significantly since then. Latest government data for the first three-quarters of 2022/23 show just 356 starts.
Its accounts for the year to December 31, 2022, stated that investment in apprenticeships “at all levels continued to grow and is providing ongoing opportunities to build the skills required for our future business success and for serving our clients successfully in support of growth”.
But, the company has now told FE Week it will only continue to deliver the level 3 operational firefighter and level 4 commercial procurement apprenticeships going forward, which accounted for just 15 per cent of its apprenticeship starts in 2021/22.
It will stop delivering other popular apprenticeships including public service operational delivery officer, customer service specialist, and business administrator.
The two continuing apprenticeship standards, operational firefighter and commercial procurement, are on the highest funding bands out of all of Capita’s apprenticeship offer at £14,000 and £9,000 respectively.
A spokesperson for Capita said: “Following a review we have revised our model for delivering adult learning services, to better meet the needs of our customers and more closely align with our strategy.”
The company refused to say how many staff would lose their jobs as a result.
Capita oversees several schemes on behalf of the DfE, including a flexible working programme and the SATs series in schools, which ran into several problems last year.
Earlier this year the firm withdrew from delivering the government’s flagship teacher training and development programme to new schoolteachers and lost its contract to administer the Teachers’ Pension Scheme worth £233 million, after delivering it for 27 years.
FE Week’s sister title Schools Week also this week revealed that hackers are believed to have taken up to 30,000 school pupils’ names and dates in a cyber-attack on Capita’s servers.
Latest accounts show that Capita’s pre-tax profit dropped from £285.6 million to £61.4 million.
A student has been given a 14-month suspended prison sentence after she admitted setting fires in two college bathrooms to avoid an exam.
Ozlem Firat pleaded guilty to one count of arson this week, following a court case at Newcastle Crown Court. The court heard that she set fire to toilet paper in two bathrooms at Newcastle College’s Parson’s building to avoid an exam on May 28, 2021.
No one was hurt in the incident.
The police report into the incident revealed text messages sent by Firat that day to a friend which talked about setting fires to avoid exams, in a case first reported by local newspaper The Chronicle.
She also said she had a “fascination with fire” and “excitement at watching bodies burn” in her texts. Sophie Allinson-Howells, Firat’s defence lawyer, said she accepted the incident was “self-destructive” and “doubtless caus[ed] risk” to other people, but that there was no “intent to harm” anyone. She also said Firat has a personality disorder and that the episode “marked a crisis point for her mental health”.
A security guard was called to the building, the court heard, at around 9:50 am after they got a radio message about a fire in the third-floor bathroom. Security found teachers in the bathroom “in the process of tackling the fire by spreading water”, prosecutor Joe Culley told the court.
CCTV footage revealed that Firat, who was 21 at the time of the incident, was the last person in the bathroom before the fire.
Culley said Firat then “denied” setting the fire at the time but later found matches and a lighter during a search of her bag. She was allowed to complete the exam, and the incident did not lead to any exam delays, FE Week understands.
Firat later described herself as a “pyromaniac” to police, according to The Chronicle.
‘It was a matter of luck that nobody was hurt’
On the same day as the incident the security guard was told about another fire in the sixth-floor bathroom, which Culley said started “around the same time” as the first fire, before Firat went to complete the exam.
“[The fires] had been started by toilet paper being set alight,” Culley added.
The CCTV footage also showed Firat had changed clothes before going from the first to the second bathroom. The second fire burnt itself out, according to Allinson-Howells.
The court heard the total cost of the repairs and the cleaning was more than £7,000.
Firat was described in pre-sentence reports as getting feelings of euphoria when setting fires, and did not think about the consequences of her actions when feeling euphoric. The report also identified “disturbing childhood behaviour over a number of years”.
Firat pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 14 months, suspended for two years, and a four-month curfew, between 8pm and 8am with an electronic tag.
Court recorder Caroline Sellars said she had seen the pictures of the damage and that it was “a matter of luck rather than judgement that nobody was hurt, that the damage was not more serious”.
A spokesperson for Newcastle College said the safety of their students and staff is their “top priority” and that they consider the campus to be a “safe and secure place for all of our community”.
“Incidents of this nature are extremely rare and we responded swiftly to identify this individual,” the spokesperson added.
