Pepe Di’Iasio nominated to succeed Barton as ASCL general secretary

The executive of the Assocaiation of School and College Leaders has nominated headteacher Pepe Di’Iasio to be its next general secretary.

The former ASCL president, who also previously worked for Rotherham council, is the union council’s pick to succeed Geoff Barton following a selection process.

Union members will also have the chance in September to nominate their own candidates, which is how Barton ended up on the ballot in 2017.

But if no further nominations are received, Di’Iasio, the head of Wales High School in Rotherham, will be elected uncontested. If anyone challenges him, an election would then be held.

John Camp, ASCL’s vice-president and member of the general secretary selection committee, said Di’Iasio was “an exceptional leader with an optimistic and ambitious vision for the future of the association”.

“He possesses the skills and ability to represent our members very effectively with policy-makers, the media, and all our stakeholders.

“We are absolutely confident that he will take our association from strength to strength and build on Geoff’s outstanding record as general secretary.”

Barton, who last year announced his intention to step down in 2024, said it was the “right time for our association to have a new leader with a fresh approach, and I am delighted that Pepe is council’s nominated candidate”.

“He has a wealth of experience and expertise in education and a deep sense of moral purpose which equips him to do an excellent job on behalf of our members and the children and young people they serve.”

ASCL has around 24,000 members, 500 of which work in colleges.

John McNamara returns as Federation of Awarding Bodies interim CEO

The Federation of Awarding Bodies has appointed John McNamara as its interim chief executive ahead of the departure of Tom Bewick.

This will be McNamara’s second stint as interim boss of the membership body, having held the role for five months in 2018 during its last leadership switch. He was also the founding chair of the federation from 2001 to 2009.

McNamara will become interim CEO again from September 1 until a new permanent chief is found.

Bewick will leave on September 29 after five years at the helm. He is moving to Ecctis, an international qualifications body, as chief executive.

A statement from FAB said McNamara, currently chair of Innovate Awarding, brings a “wealth of strategic leadership experience from the commercial banking services, skills, and vocational education sectors”.

It added that FAB’s board of directors will commence the recruitment process for a permanent CEO “in the summer”.

12 ESFA staff get £50k+ exit packages amid restructure

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) handed out 12 “exit packages” of more than £50,000 last year amid a restructure that halved its staff.

The revelation is one of the main findings from the ESFA’s annual report and accounts for 2022-23, which has been published today.

Here’s what you need to know…

1. Dozens of pay-outs as ESFA cuts jobs

The Department for Education approved Sir David Bell’s recommendation to more than halve the number of officials working for the ESFA more than 12 months ago.

And the annual report showed its average headcount stood at 829 in the last financial year, down from 1,779 in 2021-22. This brought total staffing costs down from £104 million to £49 million.

Although many staff moved to the Department for Education as part of the restructure, the documents revealed 28 exit packages – totalling £1.38 million – were agreed over the last year. None were approved in 2021-22.

Of the payments signed off, 11 were between £25,000 and £50,000, and 12 were between £50,000 and £100,000.

The ESFA’s spend on consultants was also slashed from £726,000 to £345,000 during the year.

2. College merger cost £2m

There were five claims for funding waived or abandoned by the ESFA last year, totalling just over £5.75 million.

Greater Brighton Metropolitan College received the biggest waiver of £2.1 million. The college was forced to join Chichester College Group in August 2022 after being propped up by the government for several years due to deteriorating finances.

Elsewhere, the ESFA abandoned £459,000 paid to Health Futures UTC. The university technical college was taken over by the Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust in April 2022 and became Shireland Biomedical UTC following years of under-recruitment.

The ESFA’s accounts explained that balances owed by academies and colleges “may in some circumstances be waived to facilitate the re-brokerage of the academy or college to a more sustainable academy trust or college, or support closure”.

3. Ombudsman probed four complaints against ESFA

During the last financial year, the ESFA said it was made aware of four complaints against it being lodged with the parliamentary and health service ombudsman.

The watchdog declined to probe two of the cases. Of the others, one was upheld and the other is “still with the PHSO to decide whether it will be accepted for full investigation”.

No further details of the probes were given in the document.

“PHSO reports full data with a year delay and the ESFA is not always made aware at the time that a complaint has been made,” the report added. “This figure represents a small proportion of total complaints made to ESFA and the department.”

4. Majority of funding audits were for FE

The ESFA conducted 155 funding audits in total during 2022-23 to “test the accuracy and completeness of the data driving funding allocations”.

Most of the audits (95) were carried out in either FE colleges (33) or independent training providers (62). The 60 other funding audits were for academy trusts.

Academies make up 27 per cent of the ESFA’s total budget, while FE providers make up just 8 per cent.

5. Up to £25k in exec bonuses

Three executive staff members received a bonus, down from ten the year before.

Warwick Sharp, who served as director of schools financial support and oversight as well as interim chief executive until August 2022, received a bonus of between £5,000 and 10,000, as did Owen Jenkins, who served as interim director of funding.

David Whitey, who became ESFA CEO in August 2022, was the only other executive staff member to receive a bonus, which was between £0 and £5,000.

The accounts show Whitey’s annual basic salary amounts to £125,000 to £135,000. This is below the salary of the previous permanent CEO Eileen Milner who was on £150,000 to £155,000.

Roaring success for Derby apprenticeship provider in first inspection

An apprenticeship training provider in Derby has received top marks from Ofsted in its first full inspection.

Inspectors praised Blue Lion Training Academy’s experienced staff and its “outstanding provision” across niche sectors in a grade one report published today following a visit last month.

The independent training provider started offering apprenticeships in 2020 across levels three to six and had 47 apprentices mostly aged over 18 at the time of inspection.

Most apprentices were enrolled on the level 4 improvement practitioner course and level 4 associate project manager apprenticeship. The remainder were on courses for content creators, digital marketers, and assistant recording technicians.

The company’s early monitoring visit from 2021 found reasonable progress was being made.

During the full inspection, the watchdog found apprentices were benefiting from a well-structured apprenticeship and were able to progress significantly within their studies and workplace.

The report also praised Blue Lion Training Academy trainers’ partnership with employers to help apprentices apply theoretical approaches to their workplace, such as spotting inefficiencies to improve working practices or cost savings. 

Apprentices said they feel safe and aware of raising issues. Inspectors said that learners felt supported by trainers, helping to build confidence and resilience.

Most of the courses blend online and in-person learning and the inspection found that the provider had invested heavily in “highly-experienced trainers” and bespoke learning resources.

“They rightly made the strategic decision to offer only courses in the niche sectors in which they are confident of delivering outstanding provision,” the report said. “As a result, employers, apprentices and staff hold the company in exceptionally high regard.”

Inspectors also commended the company’s dedication to “extensive” analysis for each employer offering apprenticeships to determine its organisational and training needs.

The report added that the provider’s assessment practice was “outstanding” from detailed and constructive advice and guidance on assignments. Staff also provide recap activities to help apprentices consolidate learning from previous modules.

Managing director and chief executive Harj Dhanjal said: “A big congratulations to the team at Blue Lion Training Academy.”

“Walking the talk, our tutors have years of industry experience in Lean Six Sigma and have formed a solid foundation for the growth of Management, Marketing and Media provision. The industry insights the tutors provide their learners is invaluable,” he added.

‘Excellent’ quality improvement measures

The report said that Blue Lion leaders provide a quarterly forum for all staff to review the apprenticeship provision, assess areas for improvement and share good practice. Inspectors said that staff at all levels now understand what they have to do to continue the company’s objective of being the “best in the business”.

Leaders also use a range of performance measures to assess the company’s performance, which inspectors said its quality improvement arrangements were “excellent”. Leaders identify barriers to performance, carry out a strategy to improve, implement a standard, monitor noncompliance and improve apprenticeship outcomes.

Meanwhile, Blue Lion’s governance is “effective,” the report said.

Blue Lion has a chief executive officer and one external partner which comprises the governance team. At the time of inspection, they had met twice.

“Governors consider a range of key performance measures, and they understand well the company’s strengths and areas for improvement. They plan to further strengthen governance and are in the process of appointing additional members,” the report said.

‘Rip-off’ HE student cap a ‘worry’ for colleges

Plans to restrict student numbers on higher education courses with poor student outcomes could disproportionately hit non-traditional students, the Association of Colleges has warned. 

Ministers today claimed that “too many” young people are taking university-level courses that have high drop-out rates and don’t lead to high-paid jobs. They have asked the Office for Students (OfS), the higher education regulator, to restrict how many students universities, colleges and other HE providers can recruit to courses with “poor” outcomes. 

Government figures show that nearly three in ten graduates do not go on to further study or get a highly skilled job 15 months after graduating.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak said: “Too many young people are being sold a false dream and ending up doing a poor-quality course at the taxpayers’ expense that doesn’t offer the prospect of a decent job at the end of it.

“That is why we are taking action to crack down on rip-off university courses while boosting skills training and apprenticeships provision.” 

This is the latest policy response to the review of post-18 education and training, led by Philip Augar, and comes four years after the landmark review published its recommendations.

But David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC), told FE Week he is “worried” the government’s plans to clamp down on recruitment will hit courses with non-traditional intakes.

“I think the potential for these proposals to hit older learners and part-time learners is high, and that’s because of the way outcomes are measured. We all want really good outcomes for all learners at all levels. It’s how you measure those outcomes fairly taking into account context, geography and labour markets that’s the real difficulty here.

“I am worried about what this might do for some providers, universities and colleges, and for certain groups of learners, particularly those who are less likely to progress into very high-paid jobs.”

Existing powers

The OfS already has some powers to investigate and intervene in HE providers that underperform against its student outcome thresholds. These cover measures for continuation, completion and progression. 

If the regulator isn’t satisfied, it can impose conditions on the provider’s OfS registration and demand monitored improvement plans and, as has happened in several FE colleges already, impose recruitment restrictions. 

The Department for Education confirmed that the OfS will be issued with statutory guidance directing it to impose recruitment limits on providers with provision found to be in breach of its student outcomes registration condition (B3). 

It also confirmed that the OfS will continue to publish the outcomes of investigations where B3 is breached.

‘Boosting’ uni alternatives

The government also said today it will cut the steps employers currently need to take in order to recruit an apprentice “by a third” and allow “expert” providers to take on more of the admin burden. Small employers will also be able to backdate apprentices’ start dates by up to one month.

It pointed to its rollout of new higher technical qualifications, Institutes of Technology and the upcoming lifelong loan entitlement as “high-quality” alternatives to degrees, alongside apprenticeships. 

Employers and prospective students will be able to access a single source of information on apprenticeships, T Levels, bootcamps and other skills courses. 

The DfE said its new website, which will be developed in-house within existing budgets, will signpost users to existing information and services. 

Foundation year fee cut

The Augar review was critical of the use of foundation year programmes to recruit students, often in competition with Access to HE courses which it argued offered students better value for money. 

“It is hard not to conclude that universities are using foundation years to create four-year degrees in order to entice students who do not otherwise meet their standard entry criteria,” the review said.

In response, the government has announced it will slash to the tuition fee cap that universities can charge for foundation years from £9,250 to £5,760. 

Alison Wolf, who served on the post-18 review panel, said she was “delighted that the government has introduced reforms for foundation year courses, whose current meteoric growth is hard to justify educationally or in cost terms”.

“Aligning their fees explicitly with college-based access courses should also promote the greater alignment of further and higher education to which the government is, rightly, committed,” she added.

Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, described today’s announcements as “an attack on the aspirations of young people and their families.

“The Conservatives’ appalling record on apprenticeships means it can’t be trusted to deliver the overhaul that our young people need, and the new role for the Office for Students will be to put up fresh barriers to opportunity in areas with fewer graduate jobs.”

Paying college chairs is a growing necessity

In the ever-evolving landscape of the further education sector, the need for diverse leadership and robust governance structures has become increasingly apparent. The role of the chair and specifically the relationship between the chair and CEO can make or break a college.

We know through numerous conversations with FE principals that the role of the chair today is less geared towards the support and development of the CEO but more towards colleges’ outcomes and performance. This is of course a natural focus, given the highly regulated and inspected regime that currently exists.

However, through profiling analysis we know that there are particular areas of the FE leader profile that are less developed than with other public service leaders. They are mainly under the themes of ‘self’ and ‘people’. The former includes the ability to engage and inspire, demonstrating courage, tenacity, engendering trust and being curious. The latter comprises skills like building relationships, having impact and influence, promoting collaboration and building team unity. All of these matter a great deal.

It is also critical to press on with diversifying leadership in FE. This is a matter of equity and representation, and it is also strategic imperative. Through analysis of specific regions within the country, we can see that colleges have worked hard on ethnic representation on their boards. However, there is plenty of scope for improvement both in terms of the strategic partners that boards are aligned to and in terms of the professional backgrounds required of boards. 

If chairs were paid, the talent base for the key position of chair would dramatically expand. It would then become part of the chair’s paid role to drive broader participation across the remaining board volunteer base, tapping into a more diverse pool of talent.

There is growing demand for diverse and highly capable committee and board chairs

Moreover, it would greatly strengthen the accountability relationship between the chair and chief executive. Few support or development plans exist between chairs and CEOs. Attending the ETF strategic leadership programme is a start, but it is not enough.  Coaching, mentoring, analysis of the CEO’s strengths and weaknesses and putting plans in place to develop those priority areas needs to rapidly become the norm. CEOs have similar plans for their leadership teams. It seems a glaring omission that they are exempted from this support structure.

Being chair can be time-consuming if carried out diligently and the reality is that FE does not have the support mechanisms of other sectors. This means the one-to-one relationship becomes even more important. 

Many FE CEOs may not welcome a closer relationship with their chair, but this is a symptom of a systemic problem. The right chair, bringing significant levels of senior leadership experience, should be a real positive in enhancing the effectiveness of the CEO and the college. Both are (or should be) critical leaders, and remuneration is key to fostering a more developed and mutually beneficial relationship between them.

Paying chairs is a contentious issue. More often than not, discussions and debates over the issue only lead to pushing it further into the long-grass – not helped by the fact that the department for education itself has held various views over the years. The previous FE commissioner supported the idea that board members should be remunerated, but it is still quite rare even for chairs to be remunerated.

But this is an idea whose time has surely come. Its strong potential to enhance and diversify leadership as well as to strengthen the critical relationship between chair and CEO make it essential.

It is a highly competitive non-executive market out there, and there is growing demand for diverse and highly capable committee and board chairs. Attracting the best people to FE boards is not easy, and the sector is crying out for talented individuals who can help it to navigate the complex challenges that lie ahead.

And if tapping into a wider talent base can also drive up support for college leaders to develop themselves and their teams, then it’s surely an avenue worth exploring.

Labour must focus on apprenticeship completion rates

Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge last week that a future Labour government will work to ensure vocational training holds the same prestige as academic courses is crucial. But changing people’s attitudes towards vocational routes such as apprenticeships counts for little if apprentices fail to complete their training.

Against the economically tumultuous backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis, an average apprenticeship offers a mere £5.28 an hour. While this number has gradually risen from £4.81 in March 2022, this approximate nine per cent increase does little to support apprentices under pressure from the 16.9 per cent increase in the cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages that occurred in the lead up to December 2022. Apprenticeships are therefore becoming less appealing and in some cases even unsustainable. Many are dropping out to start jobs where the minimum wage is higher. 

Last year, and in a throw-back to the target-driven, top-down system of government that became the hallmark of New Labour, then-minister for skills and apprenticeships, Alex Burghart announced an ambitious new 67 per cent target completion rate for apprenticeships. 

Despite the target, completion rates continue to go in the wrong direction. Recent figures put them at 53 per cent – down from 58 per cent in 2019/20. Apprenticeship starts have also plummeted by over 160,000 in absolute terms since 2015/16. So, there are fewer going in, and even fewer coming out. 

Various factors catalyse low completion rates, but a major factor is undoubtedly the apprenticeship minimum wage. For example, the current £5.28 an hour apprenticeship salary compares poorly to an entry-level hourly wage of £11.02 at Tesco. 

Adding fuel to the fire, some employers even fail to pay that. One in five (21 per cent) of the 202 employers named and shamed by the government for breaching minimum wage laws in 2022-23 additionally failed to pay their apprentices the lowest rate.

Last week, the government missed an open goal to incentivise employers to pay more by omitting apprenticeship wages from its annual league table of the ‘top 100 apprenticeship employers’. Thus, with the cost of living spiralling, many apprentices are instead lured away by the prospect of more lucrative work elsewhere. 

But while apprentices should be paid more, they must also do all they can to complete their training. Dropouts are hugely frustrating for employers and providers alike. Not only does their hard work go to waste, it also negatively impacts completion rates.

Apprentices are lured away by the prospect of more lucrative work elsewhere

Often, employers are too lenient in granting apprentices leave from their apprenticeship. The learner’s subsequent failure to return to their training is also a driver behind low completion rates. For apprenticeships to hold the same parity of esteem as academic routes, they should be subject to similar expectations in terms of attendance and processes for requesting leave as other educational courses.

Employers and providers must also provide their apprentices with an effective support structure. We have found that providing additional support for our apprentices with issues such as mental health helps to reduce the rate of absence. As a result, we have a lower-than-average dropout rate.

The final issue that deters people from starting and completing apprenticeships is the 12-month minimum duration. Heralded by ministers as a way of introducing greater rigour to the system, the reality is that it’s led to the unnecessary extension of important but low-paid apprenticeships in areas such as hospitality. At the same time, the policy has created the false impression to some businesses that more technical training can be completed in 12 months.

The duration of apprenticeships should be less uniform and instead adapted to the needs of the industry’s technical requirements and those of the skill itself.

There is no silver bullet to addressing the high apprenticeship dropout rate. Instead, the solution requires a coordinated effort by government, employers, providers and learners alike.

Whoever is in power, we’ll have to go way beyond a 67 per cent completion rate before we can even begin to talk about the long dreamed-of parity of esteem. But by having a wholesale review of pay, conditions and minimum duration periods, and by introducing a greater support structure for learners, I’m confident this goal is an achievable one.

Academy trust boss set for Ofsted chief inspector role

Academy trust boss Sir Martyn Oliver is set to be named the next chief inspector of Ofsted, it is understood.

Oliver, who leads Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT), has been named the preferred candidate by education secretary Gillian Keegan, but his appointment is still to be ratified by Number 10, the Sunday Times reported.

Oliver had been the frontrunner for the role alongside fellow trust boss Sir Ian Bauckham.

Oliver leads one of the country’s most successful trusts in turning around failing schools in deprived areas, many of which are now ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ – some for the first time in their history.

The trust has also led on helping schools become more efficient and is one of four that founded the flagship National Institute of Teaching.

Exclusion rate and isolation use criticised

However, the appointment is also likely to prove controversial.

OGAT’s zero-tolerance approach to behaviour has been criticised: from its schools’ high exclusion rates to facing a legal challenge over its use of isolation booths. A pupil claimed they had spent almost a third of their time at school in isolation.

FE Week’s sister title Schools Week also first revealed the trust had run “flattening the grass” assemblies where ex-teachers said pupils were shouted at and humiliated.

Oliver himself also sat on the government commission on race, led by Sir Tony Sewell, which was widely criticised for underplaying racism.

OGAT boss criticised curriculum-focus inspections

Oliver, who was knighted for services to education last year, was also highly critical of current chief inspector Amanda Spielman’s new inspections. 

He was one of a handful of leading CEOs who said the switch in focus from exam results to curriculum would favour middle-class children.

Schools Week revealed in 2019 many schools under the new inspections had been criticised for starting GCSEs in year 9.

Oliver said at the time that inspectors were taking a “far too simplistic a view on when GCSE teaching should begin. Many of the children in our schools need a three-year run up.

“They don’t have books at home and space for homework. All that has to happen in school time and disproportionately their life chances come from qualifications.”

‘Schools transformed by OGAT’

Once the government has named its preferred candidate, they will appear before the education committee which makes its own recommendation on the appointment.

A spokesperson for OGAT said: “In our trust are schools in areas of high deprivation which had been under-performing for years and were some of the most challenging in the system when we took them on.

“These schools have been transformed by OGAT. They now provide students with a great education and the best chance to lead successful lives. Our schools have never been so popular with parents and local authorities have expanded several of them so they can take even more students.”

A spokesman for the DfE told the Sunday Times: “No final decisions have yet been made on the new chief inspector of Ofsted.”

Ofsted has been widely criticised following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry. Labour has pledged to ditch one-word grades for a report card, should it form the next government.

Five things we learned from IfATE’s 2023 annual report

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has published its annual accounts for 2022/23.

This is the fifth annual report from the arms-length public body and entails the organisations expanding responsibilities across the skills sector.

Here are five things we learned from this year’s accounts.

  1. Workforce grew by 20%

IfATE now employs more than 300 civil servants.  

Its headcount rose 20 per cent in the year to 328, up from 274 staff members the year before. In its first accounts in 2018/19, the organisation had just 146 staff members.

The recruitment spree this year was the biggest driver for the 18 per cent increase in staff costs to £21.1m. According to the report, the institute conducted an accelerated recruitment campaign was to guarantee “sufficient resource to fulfil delivery obligations”.

Those obligations have been ramped amid new powers given to IfATE this year as part of the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, which gives them the responsibility to “define and approve new categories of technical qualifications that relate to employer-led standards and occupations in different ways”.

Due to its growing remit, the institute received £29.2 million in financial year 2022/23 in grants from the Department for Education, a rise from £21.5 million the year before.

  1. Jennifer Coupland’s salary bump but smaller bonus

The institute’s chief executive Jennifer Coupland was the highest paid employee at the organisation, earning a salary of up to £135,000 compared to up to £130,000 the year before.

However, her bonus decreased from up to £15,000 in 2021/22 to up to £5,000 this year.

Plus, Coupland took a smaller pension benefit – she was paid £20,000 this year compared to the £35,000 pension contribution she received the year prior.

Overall her total pay package fell from up to £180,000 in 2021/22 to up to £160,000 in 2022/23.

Most board members received fees of between £10,000 and £15,000 – the same as previous years. The chair however, Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, received a fee between £25,000 and £30,000.

  1. £95,000 was paid out in exit packages

One exit package, amounting to a total £95,000, was handed out to an unnamed person by the institute in 2022/23.

The package was not spent on compulsory redundancies as there were no redundancies agreed for the year.

The payout was smaller than last year however, where the institute paid out one exit package to the amount of £118,000.

  1. Handing over EQA service to Ofqual saved almost £2m in costs

In June 2022, the institute handed over the management of the external quality assurance service to Ofqual.

This led to a drop in the associated costs by around £1.8 million. It recorded £0.4 million in costs, down from £2.2 million in 2021/22.

It also posted £0.07 million in fee income for the financial year. IfATE now has no ongoing income from the EQA service.

  1. Internal governance review

Due to the organisation’s growing remit, the institute conducted and implemented a governance review, taking effect from April 2022.

This entailed a revised board committee structure of four committees reporting to IfATE board. It consolidated oversight of approvals to a single committee, the approvals policy, and assurance committee.

It then reconstituted the quality assurance committee as the assessment panel and introduced a new board committee to focus on equity, diversity and inclusion.