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Interview: Meet AELP’s new CEO, Ben Rowland

Ben Rowland has just finished his first week as chief executive of the Association for Employment and Learning Providers. He tells Shane Chowen about his plans to rebuild membership following a turbulent period and get decision-makers face-to-face with private providers

As a child, Ben Rowland remembers one Christmas day when his mother invited three people who had nowhere else to go to his west London home for dinner. Growing up in a church-going household, he credits his “socially aware” mother fondly with early formative memories of helping those in need that would shape his professional interests later in life. Of course, he wasn’t to know that at the time.

It is a journey that would see him ride the, in his words, “conveyor belt from a posh school to posh universities, no credit to me” and ultimately end up this week taking over as chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP).

The “posh school” was the London independent boys’ school St Paul’s, and the “posh universities” were Oxford, where Rowland studied Latin and Greek at the “quite left-wing” Balliol College, and London School of Economics, where he completed a social policy masters degree.

He now leads one of the primary lobbying organisations in the sector, going into a general election year where the stakes for his members could not be higher.

AELP is best known for standing up for private-sector training organisations operating in publicly funded apprenticeships, adult education and other skills programmes. But among their members are also universities, employer providers and FE colleges.

While apprenticeships are enjoying their time in the political spotlight, the same cannot be said for the organisations that deliver the training for the vast majority of them – independent training providers (ITPs), who struggle for visibility in the busy education lobby.

Rowland is hitting the ground running, with a national tour to entice back training providers that he says “can’t quite see” where AELP is going.

He talks from experience having co-founded Arch Apprentices in 2012 until it merged with Avado in 2018, achieving an Ofsted ‘outstanding’ inspection result in between. Earlier this year, Avado became the latest large training provider to leave the apprenticeships market altogether, turning its attention to “more attractive markets” instead.

It is symbolic of the strategic dichotomy facing the independent training sector struggling to turn a profit on flat apprenticeship funding rates, shrinking adult education contracts and soaring business costs.

“The guts they [ITPs] bust to deliver great apprenticeships … I am motivated by a sense of unfairness that that’s not seen,” Rowland said. “I want to make sure the efforts and that hard work is truly visible, because I don’t think it is at the moment.”

Rowland speaks about a “wariness” of independent training providers among public sector officials as a barrier to the visibility and recognition he wants for his members.

“There’s a little bit of ‘they’re different from us’ among some civil servants,” he states, adding that “high-profile scandals” in the past have left “a sense that ‘those bastards have ripped us off’”.

Kirstie Donnelly, Seema Malhotra, Ben Rowland, David Hughes

It is a battle every AELP chief has faced. But Rowland is clear that the best people to dispel any suspicion about the independent sector are the companies themselves. His challenge to aspiring ministers, MPs and education officials is to commit to seeing at least one ITP for every college they visit.

“If you’re up in Preston, say, and you’re seeing a college, then we’ll find you a training provider. You go and see them and get to know them, see what they’re doing and really connect with the day-to-day nuts and bolts of what ITPs up and down the country are.”

Rowland is candid about the changes needed at AELP, which has been without a chief executive since the sudden departure of Jane Hickie in May.

Although he won’t give away the precise numbers, which appear to be a closely guarded secret, “about half” of the 1,200 registered training providers are members of AELP.

He doesn’t just have his eyes on growing AELP’s membership for the sake of it though; it’s central to his strategy to boost the organisation’s influence in the corridors of power. And he wants to engage with non-member training providers directly to get them in the fold.

Rowland hits the road in January on an 18-date tour across England, where he hopes to meet “hundreds” of AELP members. Non-members are invited too.

He is also creating a “mini-panel” of people running organisations that have left AELP, or who have never been members, “to really understand what their viewpoint is”.

But with all the well-publicised issues facing ITPs – well-publicised largely thanks to AELP – why would anyone running one not want to be a member?

“Element by element, members like the different things that we provide,” Rowland asserts, namechecking the work done by Simon Ashworth, AELP’s policy director, who is “one of the best in the business”.

What has been missing though is “that overall sense of what’s the bigger purpose – that’s not been there the last 12 months or so”, he admits.

“I think people have said, ‘well, I’ve got tight budgets, I can’t quite see where this is going, it’s harder to justify internally’. I know what it’s like to run a training provider.

“But I don’t think it’s difficult to address that. You need to see a clear vision, and see an ongoing conversation with you that’s back open again. And I think it’s about being more clear and assertive about the wins we have had.

“Membership subs can’t be unconditional. Someone has to earn it. But I think we’re in a good position to do that.

“I don’t want people to tell me they think their membership fee is about justified. I want it to be, like, ‘wow, absolute bargain’.”

Rowland also wants to resolve “some historic tensions” between AELP and the regional networks of training providers, which he says “are a huge asset”.

The radical centre

Another unresolved tension is the future direction of apprenticeship policy.

Our interview took place on the day the EDSK think-tank published a report calling for some of the most radical controls on apprenticeships made to date, including banning existing graduates from publicly funded apprenticeships in order to protect funding for younger people who don’t follow the academic path through education.

At the opposite end, there are those who argue against controls on apprenticeships on the grounds that it’s an employer-led system.

Rowland won’t be drawn on picking a side – “I’m in the radical centre” – but sets out his stall that a “perfect system is always changing”.

“We’ve always struggled with this in the apprenticeship system. Is it an employment programme? Is it a skills programme? The answer is it’s both, because one leads to another.”

The “purely libertarian view” that apprenticeships should be guided entirely by employer demand “just doesn’t work – because people move jobs”.

“That’s market failure. So we need to have intervention. It’s a constant kind of dance that government has to choreograph with people like me who are talking to the dancers.

“A perfect system, to my mind, is always changing. I will find out whether my members agree with me on that.”

Rowland’s desire to return to a debate about “the size of the pot” – the overall amount of funding committed towards skills – is perhaps more radical at a time when economists are forecasting government budget cuts and the Labour party is warning it won’t be “turning on the spending taps” if it wins the next election.

Although enthusiastic, he is hesitant about rushing in to make an all-out case for more money for the sector without first “organising our arguments”.

“We’ve got to show exactly what the system is. So, universities do this, colleges do this. Then there’s us, with our fast-moving cycles, our very close relationships with employers, our national coverage …we all play our role. And that’s where data comes in because it enables us to build a case that is also testable.”

He is convinced that he can tap into wider political narratives too: “We have to argue that we are the solution to big problems – to drive up performance in NHS, better people, better admin, you need better skills, better managers.”

Equipping himself with his members’ data comes across as a major feature in Rowland’s plan to improve AELP’s case for change. For example, he is keen to press the line that “not every [apprenticeship] withdrawal is a failure”, in contrast to education secretary Gillian Keegan’s recent remarks that high drop-out rates are a waste of taxpayers’ money.

‘This is what real poverty looks like’

Rowland refuses to be defined by his own “posh” education. “I’ve learned by doing stuff,” he says. Handy for someone who will spend most of their working life talking up apprenticeships.

But his contempt for an education system which streams by societal advantages also comes from experience. While an undergraduate at Oxford, he was introduced to Toynbee Hall, a charity that provides support services for people in poverty in east London.

His early involvement saw him volunteer every year in a team that took disadvantaged 10 to 16-year-olds on summer camps where they would learn skills like map-reading and cooking. He would eventually chair the organisation, around the time he set up Arch Apprentices.

“My childhood was very comfortable. When I started doing this stuff with Toynbee Hall with these kids I was like, shit, this is what real poverty looks like.

“So, if you went to a posh school with nice middle-class parents, you’re streamed down one route. But, if your mum is a bit unstable, or your dad is in prison, then you are streamed somewhere else. It’s actually not got much to do with the qualities or abilities of each person.”

Helping families to “navigate through the really crap hand they’d been dealt” led Rowland to his first job working as a consultant in regeneration. The role saw him work with government departments and local authorities on, among other things, employment programmes for young people and unemployed adults.

It was at that point he first saw what “private training providers were able to do with the right set up”. He was impressed by “how practical they could be in the way they got people back to work”.

After three years and a move back to London from Cambridge, Rowland set up his own consulting business with a friend. Specialising in data in local government, this took him all over the country, working in “bashed up estates” and in rural and urban areas.

He sold the business after eight years and moved on to co-found Arch with the backing of Blenheim Chalcot, one of the UK’s biggest venture builders and private equity specialists. They wanted someone who could help them access government funding streams – “apprenticeships looked best” – which gave Rowland a crash course in everything SFA, funding contracts, “all of that”.

As Arch grew, Rowland found himself rubbing shoulders with sector figures on the national apprenticeship stakeholder board including the likes of the CBI and, as it happens, fellow Oxbridge graduates and FE leaders Mark Dawe and David Hughes.

Fast forward to 2023, the now published author of Understanding apprenticeships: A student’s guide is in a job at AELP that he says “could not be a better role for me”.

‘Outstanding’ inspection leaves SEND college buzzing

A specialist college in Birmingham is “elated and overwhelmed” following a sweep of top inspection grades from Ofsted.

The education watchdog rated The Hive College ‘outstanding’ today in all areas following a two-day full inspection in November.

College leaders were praised for “detailed processes for quality assurance” which inspectors said allows learners to “progress swiftly” and “achieve their best”.

Learners achieve “significantly beyond” their target outcomes set out in education, health and care plans (EHCPs), helped by ongoing assessments that teachers use to adjust learners’ programmes to make sure they are “consistently demanding”.

Kim Everton, executive principal of The Hive College, told FE Week the college was “confident going into the inspection, but you always have that bit of self-doubt”.

“We were elated, overwhelmed and unbelievably proud to hear from the inspectors that what we do at the Hive is outstanding,” she said.

Progression to employment, apprenticeships and independent living is backed up by an “extensive” post-college support package so the college can continue to support learners once they’ve completed their studies.

High-needs students are “well prepared” for adulthood, according to the report, thanks to the college’s partnerships with employers, who in turn benefit from free disability awareness training enabling them to provide internships.

The college had 120 learners with special educational needs an/or disabilities at the time of the inspection, all aged over 18 years old.

It offers three programmes for students depending on their needs and aspirations: an employment focussed “Live @ The Hive,” volunteering focussed “Thrive @ The Hive” and an individualised course “Strive @ The Hive”.

Everton advises fellow specialist college leaders to “make sure that all decisions regarding the curriculum are based on what is best for the learners”.

“Investment in the quality of education was paramount to outcome. We have invested in recruiting exceptional teachers and support staff and in providing continual professional development,” she added.

Teachers were praised for the ways they support learners with profound and multiple learning disabilities to fully engage in their education, self-regulate their behaviours and develop new skills.

“As a result, learners make extensive progress in developing their confidence and speaking skills, and they progress from being unable to express themselves confidently to delivering presentations and making videos, highlighting issues people with disabilities face when shopping,” the report said.

The education watchdog also highlighted “significant” levels of challenge provided by the college’s “well-balanced” board of trustees in scrutinising subjects like changes to the curriculum and concerns around attendance linked to travel.

The Staffroom. The role changes but the value of technicians is permanent

One of the most varied roles in any college is that of technician. It is a job I have been fortunate to do for the past 55 years – my entire working life – and one that still motivates me to cycle six miles into college and six miles back each working day.

Supporting the college’s lecturers with teaching and learning in construction and civil engineering is as fulfilling and enjoyable as ever. Practical learning has always been at the heart of training students and apprentices for their future careers in the construction industry, so as a technician the contribution you are making is very direct.

Every brickwork model built by the students has to be set up and taken down by a member of the technician team. Over the years, I must have knocked down a million bricks from the models that students have built! The importance of practical work within our curriculum area creates a strong sense of teamwork between the lecturing staff and technicians. We are all here for the same purpose, and my colleagues are definitely one of the best things about the job.

Working as a technician is far more varied and interesting than you might at first think. I certainly had no idea of the breadth of work I was signing up for when I came here for a job interview soon after finishing my O Levels in the summer of 1968. Technicians get asked to help with anything and everything to support the smooth running of the department, but we are also experts in our field.

Working in the brickwork workshop, the area of I came to specialise in was materials testing. Up until the early 2000s, the college had a materials testing service and local building contractors came to us to have concrete cubes, bricks and other building materials certified. I was responsible for running the testing service for many years and I enjoyed working with employers from the local construction firms. Whenever I walk around the centre of Norwich, I can see numerous buildings I certified the building materials for.

I had no idea of the breadth of work I was signing up for in 1968

The more varied aspects of the technician role have included things like helping with trips to construction sites, providing classroom support with teaching and assessments, driving the college minibus and lending a hand with the enrolment of students. In the days before electronic records, one of the small but crucial jobs at the start of each new academic year was to replace the nibs of the ink pens that students used to fill out their enrolment cards.

The biggest change during my career has undoubtedly been the introduction of computer technology and the central role it now occupies in every area of the curriculum and every part of working life. When the college opened a new Advanced Construction and Engineering Centre last year, the construction lab was designed to integrate practical and digital skills in the same space.

On one side of the workshop, students make and test concrete samples and carry out hydraulics experiments using a water flume; in the same space they have access to interactive whiteboards and desks that a bank of laptops can be plugged into. Today’s students can move easily between carrying out experiments, recording the results and then presenting and discussing their conclusions.

The contribution you are able to make as a technician can be brought home in unexpected ways. A few weeks ago, I was doing the shopping at a local supermarket. A chap came up to me, introduced himself and asked to shake my hand. He was a student from many years ago, on an HNC in construction, and he remembered me. He thanked me for all I’d done in the past, for helping him to get into the position that he is in now as a chief engineer at one of the local airbases.

It is moments like this that remind me that us technicians – often working away ‘behind the scenes’ in colleges – can and do make a very real difference for our students.

How AI is enhancing assessment, reducing workload and improving FE outcomes

Ever since the early days of teaching machines in the 1920s, the PLATO system of the 1960s and the Intelligent Essay Assessor of the 1980s, there’s been an ever-changing landscape in the use of technologies to support formative assessment practices within the education sector.

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool for enhancing assessment practices, and the FirstPass platform, developed by Bolton College in collaboration with NCFE, is leading the way in leveraging the use of natural language processing to support students and teachers in this exciting space.

FirstPass is an online platform that utilises AI to provide real-time feedback to students as they compose their responses to open-ended questions. The basic premise behind the platform is a simple one: that real-time effective feedback enables learners to develop positive meta-cognition skills as they identify areas for improvement and adjust their work before submitting it to their teachers for commentary and feedback.

The Assessment Innovation Fund, a £1 million initiative launched by NCFE, provided Bolton College with the necessary funding to pilot FirstPass and assess its effectiveness in enhancing formative assessment practices. The pilot involved six further education (FE) colleges across England and Wales, spanning a diverse range of vocational subjects. The results of the pilot were very encouraging, demonstrating that real-time feedback can positively aid students as they author responses to open-ended questions.

Key findings from the pilot

Learners reported feeling more engaged and motivated due to the immediate feedback provided by FirstPass. Real-time feedback gave learners the opportunity to assess their first drafts, enabling them to make changes and edits before submitting. Results showed that nine in 10 learners (92.3 per cent) found that the feedback they received from FirstPass helped them to compose better answers to open-ended questions.

Teachers reported that the FirstPass platform led to improved submissions from learners. Consequently, they spent less time providing remedial feedback and 82 per cent stated that FirstPass would be an effective AI service for supporting them with their formative assessment practice.

One of the unique traits of the FirstPass platform is that it leverages the power of crowdsourcing to support the training of subject topic classifiers that underpin the delivery and assessment of open-ended questions over the platform.

The pilot demonstrated that teachers and other subject specialists can train AI models through a platform like FirstPass. The participatory model lends itself particularly well to the education sector where the larger group are motivated towards shared goals.

Implications for formative assessment

The success of the FirstPass pilot and the advances that we have all witnessed in the past 12 months demonstrate the potential of using AI to support formative assessment practices within the education sector. In some instances, the things we have taken for granted will be displaced. In other cases, AI will open a new vista of opportunities within the formative assessment landscape.

We have come a long way since the advent of the first analogue teaching machines in the 1920s. In 2023, the FirstPass pilot has demonstrated that AI can play a transformative role in enhancing formative assessment practices within the further education sector; especially regarding its ability to deliver immediate real-time feedback, reducing teacher workload around remedial feedback, and improving learning outcomes.

As AI continues to evolve and advance, FirstPass and other emerging services have the potential to transform the way formative assessment is undertaken. Thanks to continued support from NCFE and the Assessment Innovation Fund, we’re able to progress our research into a second phase where we will look to further develop and test the platform.

This research will focus on formative assessment in two specific courses: the Level 2 Diploma in Early Year Practitioner and the Technical Award in Child Development and Care at Levels 1 and 2.

Additionally, we are being funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to undertake a small-scale pilot with 8 to 12 further education colleges. The pilot will assess how FirstPass can support formative assessment practices to aid learners within GCSE English Language resits. If it is successful, the EEF will increase its funding to support a larger scale project during 2024-25.

Finalists for AAC Awards 2024 revealed

Big-name apprenticeship providers and employers such as BPP Education Group, Osborne Clarke and Learning Curve Group are among the finalists for this year’s AAC Apprenticeship Awards.

The seventh annual awards, jointly run by FE Week and the Association of Employment and Learning Providers and delivered in partnership with City & Guilds, will see individuals, training providers, employers, universities and colleges recognised for their efforts in the apprenticeship world.

Several FE colleges have made it to the national finals, including Wigan and Leigh College in the engineering and manufacturing apprenticeship provider of the year category, and Gloucestershire College for digital apprenticeship provider.

Nominations closed at the end of October and judges convened in November to review and select the finalists and winners for each of the 20 award categories.

The 20-strong judging panel included Ian Bamford, chief quality and curriculum officer at Paragon Skills, Sharon Blyfield, head of early careers at Coca-Coca Europacific Partners, and John Cope, UCAS’s director of strategy.

There were a record 380 entries this year, narrowly breaking last year’s record of 375 nominations.

Judges chose the following providers as finalists for the coveted apprenticeship provider of the year award: BPP Education Group, Bauer Academy (Bauer Radio Ltd), In-Comm Training, apprenticeships at Salford City College.

Four finalists were selected for apprentice employer of the year. These were Hob Salons Limited, Labcorp, Torus and Osborne Clarke.

Apprenticeships at Salford City College also made it into the final for the care services apprenticeship provider of the year category, alongside Paragon Skills.

BPP Education Group got a second nomination as a finalist in the legal, finance and accounting apprenticeship provider of the year.

A parliamentary reception will take place at the House of Commons in February 2024 to recognise this year’s finalists. The winners will be announced at the tenth Annual Apprenticeship Conference gala dinner on February 27 at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham.

Paul Warner, AELP director of strategy and business development, who was on the judging panel, said: “AELP is delighted to be the principal partner for the AAC Apprenticeship Awards once again. As part of the judging panel, it was inspirational hearing the amazing work that goes on across the skills sector.

“Choosing between the entrants was more difficult than ever, so this year the finalists really do deserve their nominations.”

Shane Mann, managing director of FE Week’s publisher Lsect and AAC awards co-host, said: “As chair of the judging panel, we were overwhelmed by the number and quality of the nominations we received.

“Congratulations to all finalists this year. They demonstrate that excellence happens when dedicated employers and training providers work together to provide the best quality apprenticeships on offer in the sector currently.

“We look forward to celebrating the finalists at a parliamentary reception next year before announcing the winners at the Annual Apprenticeship Conference gala dinner and awards evening.”

See the full list of finalists here:

From prisoner to prison reformer – one student’s amazing transformation

Kamali Stevens jumped up and punched the air in delight when he was announced as the winner of the higher education student of the year award at this year’s Association of Colleges annual conference.

The 41-year-old’s elation at that moment was understandable. He had undergone an incredible journey from prisoner to prison reformer, after being failed as a child by the systems designed to protect him.

Now he is about to complete his BA (Hons) in film and media arts production from University Centre Weston (part of Weston College Group), and is working with senior leaders within the prison service to implement cultural change. He is also developing an app supporting those leaving custody to stay on the right track.

“To come on the national stage and be recognised just blew my mind,” he said.

“Just three years ago, I didn’t even have a basic school education. It was a hard childhood, and I held on to that anger for so long. I poisoned myself with rage and resentment for being let down.”

Tina Daheley, Kamali Stevens and Karen Taylor at the AoC student awards

Path to crime

As a young boy, Stevens did not know his father and had a “difficult relationship” with his mother, who went through “tough times herself”. She would “take it out” on Stevens with a belt, and he remembers feeling “petrified” of her. He “used to run away a lot”, leading to social services involvement.

At seven, Stevens was sent to live on his grandmother’s farm in the Caribbean. Stevens recalls her with fondness as being “more like a mother” to him, and he felt “liberated” as a “nature boy” there in contrast to the “concrete jungle” of Slough. He passed grammar school entrance exams and had “plans to be a doctor”, but his mother brought him back to start secondary school in the UK.

At 12, Stevens wanted to “buy nice things” to “fit in” with his peers, and lied about his age to get work at KFC. “I’d go buy my Reebok Classics, then I’m one of the guys.” But Stevens’ life “took a turn” when his mum discovered his work uniform in his school bag, and got him sacked.

He “still wanted nice things” and turned to crime to get them. Stevens claims his mum told the court after he was arrested for robbery that “she didn’t want me at home”, and he was sent to live in a children’s home in Reading.

Life of crime

Rivalry between gangs from Slough and Reading made the move particularly challenging. Stevens was introduced to crack cocaine at 13 in a secure unit.

Social services paid for taxis to his school in Slough, but he kept “disappearing for months on end”. At 14, he was permanently excluded for stealing the deputy headteacher’s car, which he vehemently denies doing. “I spoke to somebody who did take the car, and that was enough in their eyes to kick me out. That was really hard.”

After being thrown out of another children’s home at 14 for “behaviour issues”, Stevens was moved onto a bed and breakfast. That was the last he ever heard from social services.

“I was left to my own devices and tried to survive the best I could. The streets took me from there.”

Reflecting on this time, Stevens feels he was “let down” by public services. “There was no duty of care. I had a lot of abandonment issues and unresolved trauma. Life became about just wanting more drugs.”

Lacking any qualifications, Stevens felt “stuck in a rut” and unable to break free of a life of crime.

‘The devil came whispering’

His last stint in prison in 2017 was for aggravated burglary. He recalled how “the devil came whispering” after he left a “really horrible job” and couldn’t pay his rent.

It was his first time back in jail for 13 years, and prison conditions had deteriorated in that time. It was “like a war zone”. While there, he was told his grandmother had died and his teenage son was put into care after getting involved in county lines.

“It was frustrating seeing history repeating itself, and knowing I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t tell my son to do better without doing better myself.”

Stevens was moved to five different prisons over the next three years, including a move to HMP Guys Marsh in Dorset after he experienced “a lot of trouble because of the people I’d robbed”. However, the move proved fortuitous, as it was there that Stevens met prison reformer Dr Sarah Lewis.

She was working to create a rehabilitative culture using an all-prison approach called The Growth Project. Lewis saw potential in Stevens and told him to apply for a position as a researcher on her team.

The job paid him £15 a week – not a lot, given that “things are more expensive in prison”, but it meant a great deal to Stevens who received no outside support during his sentence.

The job involved creating “interventions that brought meaning to the staff and residents”, including wellbeing days and a community fair. Stevens was tasked with coming up with a project of his own. At the time, spice was “causing havoc” in the prison.

Research by Middlesex University shows that almost half the non-natural deaths of prisoners between 2015 and 2020 were caused by the synthetic cannabinoid. Stevens recalls around five people dying from it during his time in the prison. He decided to write a play about the harm he saw it inflicting.

Prison play

Stevens’ play, Choices, told the story of a young prisoner with “lots of potential” who is guided by an older inmate, and another who commits suicide after being bullied for not paying off drug debts.

It only took Stevens one night to write – he stayed up until 3am to complete it – and another five months working with Lewis to bring his vision to life.

Stevens led six performances in 2019 which elicited “powerful emotions” from the audience of staff, residents and the local community, and was “really well received”.

Lewis recalls how inmates were referred to on the radio “as ‘actors’ rather than ‘prisoners’”, which meant they felt “seen for their talent, not their mistakes”. Spice use in the prison “fell to near off zero” following the play.

Championing prison reform

In July 2020, Stevens was released but returned to prison within six months – though thankfully not as an inmate. He has been working alongside Lewis and senior managers as a consultant, tasked with creating content for staff training, and for social media around staff and inmate experiences.

Being able to bring camera equipment into prisons makes him smile. “Only Ross Kemp does that!”

Staff and prisoners these days are shocked when he tells them he was an inmate once.

“They just can’t get into their heads that I’ve been in a cell, and now I’m working with them at that level.”

Kamali Stevens with his camera equipment

State of education

Stevens is passionate about the power of education to change prisoners’ lives. But prison education is in a “poor” state and “continue[d] to decline” this year according to Ofsted, amid “significant recruitment issues” in some prisons.

Of the 43 prison and young offender inspections undertaken this year, only four were good, 20 required improvement and 19 were inadequate, with none judged outstanding.

Ministry of Justice data for prison contracts analysed by FE Week shows that between January and March, there were 34 instances where classroom-based delivery was “significantly restricted”.

Although contracts state that “other forms of remote delivery have continued”, Stevens laments that it’s “nearly impossible” to develop meaningful learning opportunities without face-to-face interaction.“Only about four per cent of prisoners complete online courses. They don’t get that engagement they need to push them through.”

“Every establishment I went to would be making me do the same courses over and over – basic maths and English. Why?

“I’ve seen people in there with PhDs and masters degrees still having to do these courses. There’s an abundance of creativity within prisons. If it was nurtured, you’d get so many leaders coming out of there empowering others.”

Stevens believes in the adage that “culture starts at the top”, and in prison that means change needs to come from those “doing organised crime, the guys on the wing with the most status. If you can change their way of thinking, it’s only going to filter down and create opportunities.”

Kamali Stevens winning Weston’s Creative Student of the Year Award with his lecturers Ross Bliss and Richard Edkins

Appy days

Stevens believes that probation services are currently “very stretched,” with a “low trust factor” from “those they’re supposed to be serving”.

He has been involved in developing an app providing them with digital support by pulling together information about well-being, job placements, housing and education for those in custody and on probation. Stevens hopes the Growth App will also act “as a deterrent”, by providing “the fundamentals that can stop people from falling into the cycle of criminality”.

“We want people to get the most out of their time on probation instead of it being a box ticking exercise, which it has turned into unfortunately.”

Kamali Stevens with his son and granddaughter

Life on the outside

Stevens decided he wanted to do a degree while still in prison, where he did an access to HE course through the Open University and went on day release to attend an interview at University Centre Weston.

He “didn’t think anything would come of it”. However, Weston staff told him: “‘don’t worry, we’ve had people who have done worse crimes than you and given them a chance’. We take you on the merit of who you are today.’”

Stevens now has “good relationships” with his five brothers on his father’s side, and after leaving prison one brother let him sleep on his sofa in Slough for eight weeks to save money for a flat. He borrowed his nephew’s bike to travel to a construction job every day.

But starting at Weston was not easy. As a mature student in a class where “a lot” of his fellow students had “come up through school or college together”, it was “difficult being an outsider”.

Many of his classmates were the same age as Stevens’ 22-year-old son.

Stevens is currently commuting to college from West London, where he is a single dad to his youngest son, 11 and daughter, 10. They came over to the UK from Antigua to live with Stevens in September, so he could “provide a better future” for them.

It’s “a lot of back and forth”, and Weston has been “really flexible” so he can “juggle work with school runs”.

One of the most moving moments of the AoC ceremony for Stevens was not the rapturous applause he received upon collecting the award, but the conversation he had with a porter who approached him as he was leaving.

She told him, “I want my son to be like you. He’s going through some difficulties, but your story gave me hope.”

Stevens said: “For me, that’s so important because a lot of those who’ve gone through adversity don’t see people like themselves reach those heights. If they can see someone who reflects who they are, they’ll believe they can do it themselves.”

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 446

David Oloke

Chief Academic Officer, New Model Institute for Technology & Engineering (NMITE)

Start date: February 2024

Previous job: Head of Technical Education and Apprenticeships, University of Brighton

Interesting fact: David is involved in faith-based charitable work as someone who enjoys seeing the development of people and communities. He also enjoys travelling for work and pleasure.

Peter Husband

Interim CEO and principal, Warwickshire College Group

Start date: January 2024

Previous job: Group Principal, Warwickshire College Group

Interesting fact: Peter’s first job in engineering involved weighing oil rigs in the North of England and throughout Scotland, some of which were up to 20,000 tonnes in weight! He enjoys running to keep fit and reading for relaxation.

Former apprentice awarded £52k after discrimination by ‘outstanding’ provider

An ‘outstanding’ apprenticeship provider has been ordered to pay more than £50,000 to a former apprentice for discriminating against her disability during a functional skills exam.

Manchester Employment Tribunal judge Rhodri McDonald ruled that the dismissal of Miss S Molyneaux, as she is named in court documents, from Apprentify Limited was also “significantly influenced” by allegations she made of sexual harassment.

Apprentify was found to have breached the Equality Act for disability discrimination and unlawful victimisation after failing to make reasonable adjustments for the former digital marketing apprentice, who was also a social media employee of the company.

Molyneaux said the experience had hindered her ability to complete the apprenticeship and find alternative employment.

In a statement provided by her solicitor, she told FE Week: “Apprentify was wholly responsible for my unfair dismissal, disability discrimination and for me not being able to successfully complete my apprenticeship that I worked so hard to complete, thus hindering my efforts to secure an alternative apprenticeship or gainful employment elsewhere because of what they did.”

Apprentify is a Cheshire-based company set up in 2016 by Paul Drew that started delivering apprenticeships in 2018. The company provides online, nationwide apprenticeships for nearly 300 apprentices studying mostly level 3 digital marketing and content production.

Molyneaux joined Apprentify in May last year and was at the time a disabled person with anxiety, depression, and dycalculia – a mathematical learning disorder. She started at the company with a job as social media executive and was already enrolled onto a digital marketing apprenticeship with Apprentify.

She was scheduled to complete her apprenticeship by September 11, 2022 upon passing a level 2 functional skills maths exam. A month after joining, Molyneaux failed her mock maths exam.

Apprentify fired her on August 3, which a judge found breached the Equality Act on the grounds of disability discrimination.

The judge ruled that Apprentify treated her unfavourably because she failed her exam and had failed to make reasonable adjustments which would have improved her experience sitting the exam.

The former apprentice had an additional learning support individual learning plan and a functional skills tutor to help prepare for her exam. The judge accepted her testimony that the company had given her no notice of the mock exam, “which added to the pressure on her”, but said he needed more specific evidence about the likelihood of her passing it had Apprentify made the reasonable adjustments.

He added that Molyneaux described how she was seen as a “troublemaker” for reporting issues of bullying and sexual harassment and her dismissal was also a breach of the Equality Act on the grounds of victimisation.

“I found it [the dismissal] was significantly influenced by the claimant having done protected acts by reporting an allegation of sexual harassment of a colleague to the respondent on 11 July 2022 and attending a meeting with that colleague about the allegations on that same date,” Judge McDonald said.

Jonathan Fitchew, Apprentify group chief executive, apologised to Molyneaux for the distress caused by the failure to accommodate her learning needs.

“We felt, at the time, that we had taken all the necessary steps to support her in completing her studies. However, we now acknowledge that we fell short in this particular case,” he said.

“We have learned some valuable lessons, and as a result have put in place a more robust set of HR systems and processes under a new HR director, to ensure our people are given all the support they need for a successful apprenticeship experience.”

The pay-out totalled £52,348.25 and was calculated by paying Molyneaux’s net loss of earnings until she was supposed to graduate, an injury to feelings payment, a 15 per cent ACAS uplift for the lack of proper disciplinary process, plus interest and compensation following taxation.

Just a few weeks after her dismissal, Apprentify was inspected by Ofsted for the first time. That November, a glowing report was published, awarding the provider an ‘outstanding’ grade.

Despite the positive report, inspectors pointed out that leaders at Apprentify were aware that the very few apprentices who require functional skills in English and mathematics “do not always receive support early enough in their apprenticeship”.

“As a result, a few apprentices do not pass their functional skills examinations. Leaders have recently recruited new staff to provide support but, at the time of the inspection, the impact of these changes could not be seen.”

Molyneaux said in a statement that the Ofsted inspection “clearly avoided ongoing staff grievance issues”.

She added: “In view of the damning tribunal judgment, I am naturally very disappointed to learn that Apprentify was awarded an ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted inspectors in November 2022.”

Inspector’s conflict of interest led to Ofsted abandoning judicial review

Ofsted pulled out of its high-profile judicial review with Make UK at the 11th hour after an undeclared conflict of interest came to light, FE Week has learned.

The manufacturing giant claimed victory over the watchdog this month after it turned a proposed ‘inadequate’ judgment into a ‘good’ following a costly, year-long legal battle.

Make UK claimed its original inspection, conducted in January, was “fatally flawed” and led by an “inept and inexperienced” team that came to a “fundamentally inaccurate” grade. Its leaders have, however, maintained they were unaware of the true reason why Ofsted surrendered before the dispute could go to trial and decided to reinspect the provider.

FE Week understands that the watchdog would have seen out the trial but stood down at the last minute after a relationship between the lead inspector and Make UK was exposed.

There was a family connection between the lead inspector and a company that is both a member of Make UK and used the organisation to train its apprentices, which raises questions of impartiality.

The lead inspector failed to declare this alleged conflict during the original inspection process. FE Week understands that the lead inspector claimed to have had no knowledge of the link and therefore it could not have impacted the decisions made during the inspection, but this was contested by Make UK.

This significant information came to light after Make UK was granted a judicial review in the summer and the judge accepted it could be added to evidence ahead of the trial.

Ofsted then backpedalled and ultimately pulled out of the proceedings. The watchdog decided to conduct a full reinspection of Make UK with a different inspection team in October, which resulted in a ‘good’ report published last week. None of the allegations in the January inspection, including claims of misogynistic behaviour, were carried forward.

FE Week understands the lead inspector from the January inspection has now been suspended.

Ofsted’s conflicts of interest policy states that inspectors should “not accept work or undertake inspection or regulation activity with a provider where past, present or future employment, engagement, allegiance or relationship suggests an actual or perceived bias or any personal benefit”.

It adds: “Inspectors are responsible for continuously ensuring that there is no real or perceived conflict of interest before undertaking an inspection event or any work for Ofsted. They are responsible for declining inspections where they feel there may be a real or perceived conflict.”

Angela Sandhal, a judicial review solicitor who specialises in Ofsted disputes, said the potential for conflicts is a “wide-open field and can arise in various forms”.

She told FE Week: “Inspectors may feel uncomfortable and awkward about disclosing affiliations or memberships which could create the conflict, preferring instead to keep quiet about such matters.

“The key problem from a provider point of view is that conflicts or potential conflicts do not have to be declared to the education provider and may arise unexpectedly during the inspection itself. So providers have to rely completely on an inspector making a declaration in the first place and then Ofsted’s assessments and decisions about whether an inspector can proceed to conduct objective and impartial judgments about the quality of provision, which is ultimately what the public relies on.”

Make UK, formerly known as the Engineering Employers’ Federation, is an influential organisation that represents manufacturers across the country. It is chaired by Lord Hutton of Furness and was name-checked twice in last month’s autumn statement speech by the chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

It spent more than half a million pounds on legal fees to suppress the grade four Ofsted report, which included initially being granted an anonymity order to protect its name and reputation.

An ‘inadequate’ judgment would probably have led to the Education and Skills Funding Agency terminating the provider’s skills funding contract and ending its ability to deliver apprenticeship training.

Sandhal pointed out that “unfair” inspections can have “major ramifications for small education and training providers especially and there have been several cases recently of providers being put out of business based on a single inspection and not having the financial resources to bring these matters to the court’s attention”.

Ofsted and Make UK declined to comment.