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The party conferences have given me renewed hope for the future of our sector

My top takeaway from the three party political conferences I’ve attended in recent weeks (Lib Dem, Conservative and Labour) is that change is afoot. Each party is positioning itself as the party of change, renewal, new approaches, a break with the past. The electorate will decide which one they believe is best placed to deliver that, but it’s clear that the polling is showing that this is the message the population wants to hear.

For all of us in further education, that is good news. After 13 years of austerity in which post-16 education and colleges were among the biggest losers, a change is long overdue. But being subject to change is rarely nice, and that is where we have been until recent years – subject to change, neglected and not respected.

So my second reflection on the conferences is pleasingly how much that seems to have changed. I am sure that colleges have never been so central to both the prime minister’s and the leader of the opposition’s speeches in successive weeks. But it goes deeper than mere warm words: we are seeing new investment coming in and we’re being engaged at the heart of government as well as with the opposition in ways we could only have dreamed of a decade ago.

Not only is it good news that colleges are now being talked about by the most senior politicians, we are helping them understand the priorities, the realities and the changes which are vital for colleges to thrive. Of course, much of this is about money, and colleges need a long-term boost in funding.

To achieve that, we need to understand that broadly speaking governments only ever invest in services and infrastructure that are both effective in realising their priorities and politically attractive to the electorate. It usually has to be both – and both can only be achieved if there is understanding and respect for what colleges are, what they do, who they serve, how they help, what impact they make.

The conferences suggest we are making great strides

The conferences suggest we are making great strides on all of that too, with more fringe events about and with colleges than I have seen in over a decade on post-16, apprenticeship and skills issues. The AoC team was busy and in demand throughout. In itself that is a strong signal, but what was most remarkable is how often people from employers, business organisations, universities, thinktanks and others talked about the issues we are passionate about.

None of this brings quick solutions or funding to address long-standing shortfalls, of course. College leaders are still having to creatively and expertly make the books balance, deal with pay levels that are simply inadequate and work through qualification reforms which look likely to be damaging. It’s easy to forget those stark realities in the bubble of party conferences, so I am not going to get carried away. I know how far there is to go to restore pay levels and invest in facilities, IT and estates.

It’s easy to scorn the announcements of the Advanced British Standard and Technical Excellence Colleges by pointing to the scale of the wider challenges or to the history of similar approaches. There’s something attractive and cathartic about that reaction. For me both announcements were significant because they signalled that colleges are being noticed, understood and engaged in ways that augur well for the future.

I have to be optimistic, and I know that’s easier for me because I don’t have to deal with the day-to-day realities of running a college. However, looking to the longer term and building the relationships we need with politicians, it feels like we’ve turned a corner.

Optimism runs through the heart of our sector. Just look at the events, stunts, student voices and case studies emerging as part of Colleges Week for proof that colleges embody it in everything they do for and with learners.

Maybe, just maybe, we can believe that the future will be better for colleges themselves, their staff as well as their students. I truly believe it will be, and all of us at AoC will do all that we can to make sure it happens.

Learning about the dark web safely (for over-18s only)

After a thirty-year career in cyber security and with a desire to share my passion for it, I entered the classroom as a lecturer at the South Central Institute of Technology. Now in my third year as a full-time educator, I have been on a professional journey that has taught me a great deal, including a very different way of operating compared to my experience in industry.

I’m a very practical person by nature. I learn by doing; in reality, trying, failing, trying again, etc., until I succeed. Theory only gets us so far and I know from my own personal experience that unless I anchor my knowledge in something tangible, new information can erode quickly. I also believe deeply that difficult conversations and debate are essential to understanding a topic well.

My classroom activities have a strong practical element – cracking passwords, hiding data with steganography, performing a forensic analysis with autopsy software and, among many other things – a class outing to the dark web. This is a very well-attended lesson which, while billed in something of a controversial way to drive excitement, addresses some very serious points.

It is important to point out that all of my students are aged 18 or over, and some of them will have been using the dark web for several years with information they’ve personally researched on the internet. The quality of this information ranges from the good to the downright dangerous.

The lesson is conducted using just-in-time Azure Cloud Virtual Machines, which the students have learnt to build in an earlier lesson. The Virtual Machine (VM) is both an enabling tool and a protective layer; if it gets infected with malware, then you just delete it and start again. Using an Azure VM – as opposed to a constrained dedicated educational VM – has a reinforcing action on prior learning as well as instilling essential, work-ready cloud skills and knowledge.

A significant percentage are already exploring the dark web

The students will then download and install anti-virus tools and the TOR Browser to their Virtual Machine and at this point we stop to discuss what we are about to do. First, we debate the dark web. What is it? How does it work? What are secure routes? Are you really anonymous there? What are the risks? Many learners don’t know there is more law enforcement on the dark web than anywhere else on the internet; in fact, one of our destinations is the CIA dark web homepage.

We debate online marketplaces; the places where you can buy literally anything. We talk about how users can know they are not law enforcement sting operations (there are many); and what happens if the site is raided and customer details are seized (yours will be too, and then they will be routinely shared with law enforcement agencies around the world).

We also debate the dark web as a force for good, which it certainly can be. It offers freedom of speech not permitted by oppressive regimes and the ability to research and self-solve Ransomware attacks. These essential topics balance conversations around more lurid areas such as drugs, firearms and fake passports

When I explained this lesson at the Education and Training Foundation’s ‘Big Data, Cyber Security and the Future of Learning’ conference earlier this year, a small number of people in the audience expressed a valid safeguarding concern: that such a lesson could expose learners to information that would put them at risk.

In response, I think we need to ask whether there is a better environment in which these learners could be informed and guided on this subject. A significant percentage are already exploring the dark web, guided by information from forums. Many aren’t insulating themselves well from malware attacks, and many are registering on websites and online marketplaces that lead to guilt by association.

The answer I gave then and by which I stand now is that we have a duty as educators to explore the difficult, debate wisely and drive safety through better knowledge. If we don’t teach the right way of doing things, it will be taught by others – and almost certainly not how we’d want.

Firm that took over Learndirect owes ‘large debt’ to ESFA, liquidators reveal

The company that bought Learndirect, formerly England’s largest training provider, owes the government a “large debt” after officials identified dodgy funding claims during its liquidation.

Dimensions Training Solutions (DTS) and LD Training went bust last year after failing to secure enough skills contracts to clear “significant liabilities”.

A new statement of affairs from liquidators at James Cowper Kreston shows that they identified 175 creditors who were owed £1.9 million as of July 25, 2023 for DTS. LD Training, formerly called Learndirect, owes around £8.3 million, of which £6.3 million is related to “intercompany balances”.

Since then, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has completed an internal audit of DTS and LD Training’s previous multimillion-pound contracts and found “ineligible” funding claims that equate to an undisclosed “large debt”.

The liquidators’ statement said: “A further large debt from the ESFA was identified. It was confirmed shortly after the reporting period that debtor position has been offset in its entirety owing to large creditor sums and the identification of ineligible funding claimed for contracts carried out prior to our appointment.”

The liquidators refused to tell FE Week how much the ESFA is owed or the time period for when the ineligible funding claims were made.

DTS was incorporated in 1998 and delivered a range of commercial and government-funded training.

It took over Learndirect in 2018 from Lloyds Development Capital shortly after the adult training and apprenticeship provider received a fatal grade four Ofsted report following a High Court battle. The ESFA then stepped in and cancelled Learndirect’s contracts which were worth around £100 million.

DTS and Learndirect, under the ownership Wayne Janse van Rensburg, managed to secure around £35 million in European Social Fund contracts from the government a year later despite Learndirect’s failure.

In 2020, Learndirect changed its name to LD Training Limited, and the name Learndirect was transferred to another company, also owned by Janse van Rensburg, which continues to operate.

Janse van Rensburg sold DTS and LD Training to The Firebird Partnership in January 2022, just over a year before the European Social Fund contracts expired in March 2023.

The Firebird Partnership put DTS and LD Training into liquidation in July 2022 – just six months after the acquisition. Its board said the decision to close followed an unsuccessful attempt to win new government-funded skills contracts and a failed effort to refinance the business with external investment.

Both former owners claimed to have no knowledge of the dodgy funding claims identified by the ESFA or the “large debt” owed to the agency.

Ian Finlay, a director at The Firebird Partnership, said: “The ESFA debt and the ‘ineligible funding claims’ both pre-date our ownership. We only owned the business for a very short amount of time and were unaware of these issues before we got involved.”

Janse van Rensburg told FE Week: “I have no knowledge of any funds or claims owed by the ESFA to DTS or by DTS to the ESFA.”

The ESFA declined to comment.

The skills sector is vital for social justice and systemic change

A week after returning from the last political party conference in Liverpool, where City & Guilds hosted the first ever Skills Hub as part of the Future Skills Coalition (FSC), I was struck by just how much skills were on the agenda. However, the recent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report is a reminder if we needed it that there has been a long period of significant lack of investment in skills. Conversely, our own recent impact report demonstrates just how much economic and social value is possible when you do invest in skills.

I don’t think anyone would disagree that skills are a force for good. At City & Guilds, the value we add seems to be a ‘no-brainer’, but we really wanted to hold ourselves to account and put some hard data behind our suppositions to make the case for skills. So, in 2019, working with Cranfield University, we set up an impact framework to really understand the value of the skills we develop to people, organisations and wider society. The report clearly demonstrates how our purpose is being put into action.

I am proud to say that 72 per cent of our learners have progressed into further employment or study upon achieving their City & Guilds qualification. That’s good for learners, for businesses and desperately needed for the economy if we want to increase productivity and compete alongside our G7 partners, whom we are currently languishing behind.

Supporting marginalised people

As many of our research reports show, employers are crying out for skilled workers, while at the same time many people are locked out of work. That is why City & Guilds have been investing in numerous programmes to unlock the potential of people who face barriers to the workplace and future success.

One such example is our work with refugees seeking a new life. In the past year we have supported 244 refugees. Today 140 are already in employment. Recipients of our bursary fund also reported a 92 percent increase in feeling optimistic about the future.

In 2022/23, City & Guilds funding supported the training of prisoners in fields like construction, transport and IT. Developing these skills means people have a choice about which path to take upon release, which they often didn’t have upon entering custody. Armed with a skill, they can genuinely choose employment and rehabilitation over recidivism and reincarceration.

Our report shows that for some of our programmes, the reoffending rate is nil. As one bursary recipient recently told us, “As well as providing me with a new skillset to build a successful career, I gained confidence and a chance for a new start.”

Upskilling the UK’s workforce

It’s no secret that the economy and jobs market are changing rapidly. For example, against a backdrop of rapid climate change, many people who work in the energy and utilities industry understand that their jobs will change as energy demands change too. The report shows demand has quadrupled for City & Guilds green skills since 2019.

That is why we have been investing heavily in the creation of skills to support low-carbon industries over recent years, including our new EV charging qualifications. If we want to turn the dial on climate change, it’s crucial that we develop the skills needed to build a robust, highly-skilled workforce to meet the demands of a more sustainable world.

For me, the time is now to look to skills not just as a narrow policy lever, but as a step change for society. The window to reset our thinking about skills and their role in delivering social justice and systemic change is open.

Our impact report shows how we are doing that at City & Guilds and that investment in skills has returned £11.2bn in economic and social value. If the next government took the same approach and saw skills as an investment and leveller for society, imagine what the impact could be then.

Provider won max national AEB allocation after appeal

A training provider awarded a special national adult education budget contract following an appeal after initial allocations had been revealed received the maximum amount possible, new figures show.

The Portland Training Company’s “additional” contract was for £2.5 million, which takes the total amount allocated through the Department for Education’s tender to £77.5 million.

Portland did not appear among the 55 original winners from the DfE’s national AEB tender, which was supposed to be worth £75 million in total. Contract outcomes were communicated in July and allocations revealed in September.

Days after the allocations were published, however, the DfE announced that Portland was to be awarded an extra contract.

After initially keeping the reasons for the additional contract under wraps, the DfE has now confirmed to FE Week that Portland won it following an appeal during the 10-day voluntary standstill period.

The department said the provider successfully challenged the score awarded to it by in relation to a single question. No further details have been shared.

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers previously said the extra award “further undermined” the controversial tender which is being challenged through the courts by Learning Curve Group, one of several major training providers that had bids rejected.

Funding allocations for all types of training offered by providers in 2023/24 were published this week and revealed that Portland is among the biggest winners from the AEB tender, with a total contract of just under £2.5 million.

Portland said it was pleased with the outcome but declined to comment on the details of its appeal.

FE gets invited to everyone’s party – but the measures lack substance

After years of neglect, Cinderella is finally on the ballroom dance floor. The further education and skills sector featured prominently in all of this year’s party conferences, was given star billing in the prime minister’s speech and featured in the leader of the opposition’s speech too.

Meanwhile the Prince Charming of the previous decade – our Higher Education sector – has been relegated to the sidelines in the constantly rotating stage of British party politics. We’re witnessing the traditional display of pre-election manoeuvring – ‘Strictly Come Voting’, if you like – but the mood music has changed.

Having ditched one big infrastructure project, Rishi Sunak perhaps felt the need to commit to another one; this time a re-engineering of our education system for 16-19 year olds. Goodbye HS2, after 20 years of debate; hello the Advanced British Standard, a plan to replace A Levels with a baccalaureate-style qualification, which we are told will take 10 years to fully implement.

There’s plenty to welcome in the idea of creating a system that combines elements of academic and vocational education and broadens our post-16 curriculum, but it promises to set us on a course for a decade of radical upheaval at a time when many commentators are arguing for greater policy stability and continuity. Is this really what we need, at a time when we’re still recovering from the educational impact of the pandemic and still trying to bed down new initiatives such as T Levels, Higher Technical Qualifications, and Institutes of Technology?

The Conservative announcement of extra funding to support the FE sector is very welcome, but they have gone strangely silent on critical issues such as the misfiring apprenticeship levy system. It’s been left to Labour to make the running, with its commitment to a broader Skills and Growth Levy, the creation of Skills England to oversee a national skills strategy, and the interesting new idea of Technical Excellence Colleges directly linked to Local Skills Improvement Plans.

Cinderella is finally on the ballroom dance floor

The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, are keeping it simple; their policy will be to pump money into all parts of the system, with the extension of the pupil premium to 16- to 18-year-olds, an increase in per-student funding to above the annual rate of inflation, and a £10,000 ‘skills wallet’ for every adult to spend on education and training.

It’s clear that the university sector has now found itself in the ‘too hot to handle’ category. All the burning questions – the fee cap, the student loan system, the increasing reliance on overseas students, the growing financial strain many universities are under – were studiously ignored at all the party conferences, at least in terms of new policy.

There are some differences in tone: while Rishi Sunak is still pursuing the phantom menace of ‘rip-off degrees’, Keir Starmer embraced ‘the working-class aspiration to go to university’. But there were hardly any concrete commitments on HE policy. Labour want universities to be part of the new LSIPs; the Liberal Democrats want more maintenance grants for disadvantaged students. Hardly ground-shaking stuff, and it goes nowhere near addressing the elephant-in-the-room question of student fees and loans, nor the huge challenge of implementing the Lifelong Learning Entitlement.

Stepping back from the detail, what is remarkable is the high degree of consensus between all main political parties that investing in better vocational skills is now an essential priority. This is very welcome, and opens up some exciting opportunities, whatever the colour of the next government.

But is throwing money at the problem or pursuing further qualification reform the answer? The challenge is deeper. The false dichotomy between academic and vocational education and the artificial divide between FE and HE surely need to be tackled if we are to create a pipeline of skills and talent stretching from school right through to workplace training.

‘Worrying’: Out of work and training 18-year-olds hits highest rate since 2009

The proportion of 18-year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) has shot up to its highest level since 2009, new figures have revealed.

Department for Education statistics published today show that 15.9 per cent of people aged 18 were classed as economically inactive by the end of 2022 – an increase of 6.1 percentage points compared to 2021. In 2009, 16.5 per cent of 18-year-olds were NEET.

This rise drove the overall 16 to 18 NEET rate up by 1.3 percentage points to 8.4 per cent, the highest rate since 2012, despite the proportion of 16 to 17-year-old NEETs falling by 1.1 percentage points to 4.6 per cent over the same period.

Stephen Evans, chief executive of Learning and Work Institute, said: “The latest data show NEET rates a little higher than pre-pandemic, particularly driven by a worrying rise among 18-year-olds.

“That points to the need for individualised support for all young people, and to grow the number of apprenticeships available to young people which are low by international standards.”

Two factors affect the proportion of young NEET people: the proportion not in any education and training (NET), and the employment rate for young people who are NET, estimated from the Labour Force Survey.

Statisticians at the DfE said the increase in age 18 NEETs comes after a record low in 2021 driven by a high proportion in employment.

Commentary published alongside the data said: “The large annual increase in NEET at age 18 follows an unusually low NEET rate in 2021. The 2021 NEET decrease was driven by a high proportion of 18-year-olds estimated to be in employment (not in education and training) at 22.2 per cent. In 2022 the proportion in employment was 18.5 per cent, comparable to other recent rates.

“The trend since 2016 shows an increasing proportion NEET at age 18 driven largely by decreases in participation.”

The overall 16 to 18 NEET rate fluctuated between 8 and 10 per cent up to 2012 and then fell each year to a series low of 5.8 per cent in 2016.

Over recent years the 16 to 18 NEET rate has slowly increased with a large jump of 1.3 percentage points in the latest year to 8.4 per cent.

Bill Jones, executive principal at Leeds City College, said the figures were concerning.

“Given projections for 200,000 additional 16-18 students by 2030, there’s a real risk this number may spiral in the coming years,” he said.

“Re-engagement programmes, such as those on offer at Leeds City College, are needed to support otherwise NEET young people, who often need mental health support, careers advice and pastoral guidance to re-enter or remain in education. This is particularly crucial in areas such as Leeds, where there have historically been far higher levels of NEET than the national average.”

A DfE spokesperson said it was good news to see the rise in the proportion participating in education and apprenticeships for the 16 and 17 age group.

“To support more young people to progress we are continuing to work with employers to create more apprenticeships, roll out more transformative T Levels, and promote all the exciting education and training opportunities through our ‘Get the Jump’ campaign,” they said.

“We’re also investing in a range support programmes for young people, including Youth Hubs, Supported Internships and the DWP Youth Offer, ensuring that young people aged 16 to 24 receive personalised work coach support.”

Confirmed: DfE will chop all courses that compete with wave 3 T Levels

Ministers have confirmed plans to axe scores of level 3 courses taken by over 17,000 students that compete with the latest batch of “gold-standard” T Levels.

In May, the government published a provisional list of 92 courses, including popular BTECs, that would be defunded from 2025 where they “overlap” with wave three of T Levels, which includes business and administration, legal, finance and accounting and engineering and manufacturing qualifications.

Awarding bodies were given the opportunity to appeal the decisions, but the Department for Education revealed today that none were successful.

The final list, published today, names 85 qualifications that will now be defunded (see list below). This is lower than the provisional list because officials had mistakenly included seven courses that already had their public funding removed due to low or no enrolments.

Another 134 qualifications taken by almost 40,000 students are set to be defunded from 2024 where they overlap with courses in wave one and two of the T Levels rollout, as confirmed in March 2023.

Ministers are pushing forward with their defunding plans despite prime minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement earlier this month that he wants to replace both T Levels and A-levels with one qualification: the Advanced British Standard.

James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said the DfE’s level 3 reforms have “no credibility left”.

“Despite being forced by Downing Street to reverse the plan for a twin track system of A-levels and T Levels, ministers are continuing to scrap successful qualifications like the BTEC diplomas in engineering.”

The final list shows 46 engineering courses will be scrapped, the majority of which are BTECs delivered by Pearson.

Its level 3 national foundation diploma in engineering is the most popular course on the scrap list, with 3,790 enrolments in 2020/21.

Pearson didn’t appeal to save any of its qualifications facing the axe, however.

Kewin said engineering employers have been “very clear” that these qualifications are valuable and removing them will create a “serious gap in the talent pipeline”.

Defending the defunding plans, skills minister Robert Halfon said: “As recently outlined by our prime minister, our goal is to future-proof education, and T Levels support just that. They are a robust qualification, which give young people the skills and real work experience which employers need, and they will be the backbone of the new Advanced British Standard alongside A-levels.

“On the final list of 85 qualifications, 30 of the qualifications had no enrolments and a further 23 had fewer than 100 enrolments in the 2020/21 academic year. Removing funding from the list of qualifications published today streamlines further education and ensures that anyone taking a technical course can be confident that they are getting a qualification respected by employers.”

Labour and the Liberal Democrats have backed the Protect Student Choice campaign’s call to pause and review the defunding of BTECs.

Kewin said: “The government should now do the same, particularly given the uncertainty created by its plans to replace A-levels and T Levels with the Advanced British Standard.”

Final list of qualifications overlapping with wave 3 T Levels

Qualification name	Sector subject area	16-19 enrolments 2020/21
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Foundation Diploma in Engineering	Engineering	3790
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Engineering	Engineering	3370
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Engineering	Engineering	1300
IMI Level 3 Diploma in Light Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Principles (VRQ)	Manufacturing technologies	1120
Pearson BTEC Level 3 Certificate in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Development Technical Knowledge)	Engineering	1090
City & Guilds Level 3 Diploma in Engineering	Engineering	640
OCR Level 3 Cambridge Technical Diploma in Engineering	Engineering	620
EAL Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Engineering Technologies	Engineering	580
Pearson BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Development Technical Knowledge)	Engineering	550
EAL Level 3 Diploma In Engineering Technologies	Engineering	540
Pearson BTEC Level 3 Award in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Development Technical Knowledge)	Engineering	440
EAL Level 3 Technical Extended Diploma in Engineering Technologies	Engineering	410
OCR Level 3 Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma in Engineering	Engineering	290
EAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering Technologies	Engineering	280
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Aeronautical Engineering	Engineering	280
Pearson BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Development Technical Knowledge)	Engineering	250
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Electrical and Electronic Engineering	Engineering	240
City & Guilds Level 3 Advanced Technical Certificate In Engineering	Engineering	180
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Mechanical Engineering	Engineering	180
EAL Level 3 Certificate in Engineering Technologies	Engineering	150
NCFE Level 3 Diploma in Skills for Business: Sales and Marketing	Business management	150
EAL Level 3 Diploma in Engineering Technology	Engineering	140
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Manufacturing Engineering	Engineering	140
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Manufacturing Engineering	Engineering	140
City & Guilds Level 3 Advanced Technical Extended Diploma in Engineering (720)	Engineering	130
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Aeronautical Engineering	Engineering	120
NCFE Level 3 Diploma in Skills for Business: Enterprise	Business management	80
OCR Level 3 Diploma in Administration (Business Professional)	Administration	70
Pearson BTEC Level 3 Foundation Award in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Development Technical Knowledge)	Engineering	50
EAL Level 3 Advanced Diploma in Engineering Technology	Engineering	40
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering	Engineering	40
IMI Level 3 Diploma in Light Vehicle Maintenance (VRQ)	Manufacturing technologies	30
City & Guilds Level 3 Diploma in Marine Engineering (Advanced)	Engineering	30
OCR Level 3 Cambridge Technical Foundation Diploma in Engineering	Engineering	30
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Electrical and Electronic Engineering	Engineering	30
IMI Level 3 Diploma in Auto Electrical and Mobile Electrical Principles (VRQ)	Manufacturing technologies	20
IMI Level 3 Extended Diploma in Light Vehicle Maintenance (VRQ)	Manufacturing technologies	10
EAL Level 3 Diploma in Fabrication and Welding Engineering Technology	Engineering	10
Skillsfirst Level 3 Diploma in Computerised Accounting for Business (RQF)	Accounting and finance	10
ACCA Diploma in Financial and Management Accounting (RQF Level 3)	Accounting and finance	<10
City & Guilds Level 3 Diploma in Boatbuilding (Advanced)	Engineering	<10
EAL Level 3 Diploma in Machining (Development knowledge)	Engineering	<10
SEG Awards ABC Level 3 Diploma in Fabrication and Welding Techniques and Skills	Engineering	<10
IMI Level 3 Award in Automotive Refrigerant Handling (EC842-2006) (VRQ)	Manufacturing technologies	<10
IMI Level 3 Diploma in Vehicle Accident Repair – Body (VRQ)	Manufacturing technologies	<10
IMI Level 3 Diploma in Vehicle Accident Repair – Multi-Skilled (VRQ)	Manufacturing technologies	<10
IMI Level 3 Diploma in Vehicle Accident Repair – Paint (VRQ)	Manufacturing technologies	<10
NCFE Level 3 Diploma in Business Administration	Administration	<10
NCFE Level 3 Diploma in Skills for Business: Human Resources	Business management	<10
ATHE Level 3 Diploma in Accounting	Accounting and finance	0
ATHE Level 3 Diploma in Business and Management	Business management	0
BIIAB Level 3 Diploma in Business Administration	Administration	0
CISI Level 3 Award for Introduction to Investment	Accounting and finance	0
FDQ Level 3 Diploma in Food & Drink Operations	Manufacturing technologies	0
Focus Awards Level 3 Diploma in Business Administration (RQF)	Administration	0
IMI Level 3 Diploma in Auto-Electrical and Mobile Electrical Operations (VRQ)	Manufacturing technologies	0
NCFE Level 3 Diploma in Skills for Business: Customer Service	Business management	0
NCFE Level 3 Diploma in Skills for Business: Retail	Business management	0
OCN NI Level 3 Award In Business Development Skills	Business management	0
OCN NI Level 3 Certificate in Quality Improvement	Business management	0
Open College Network West Midlands Level 3 Award in Business Administration	Administration	0
Open College Network West Midlands Level 3 Certificate in Business Administration	Administration	0
OTHM Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Accountancy	Accounting and finance	0
OTHM Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Accountancy	Accounting and finance	0
Pearson BTEC Level 3 Certificate for Business Administrators	Administration	0
City & Guilds Level 3 Diploma in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Development Knowledge)	Engineering	0
City & Guilds Level 3 Diploma in Maritime Defence (Development Competence)	Engineering	0
City & Guilds Level 3 Diploma in Maritime Defence (Development Knowledge)	Engineering	0
City & Guilds Level 3 Extended Diploma in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Development Knowledge)	Engineering	0
EAL Level 3 Diploma in Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering – Fabricator (Development Competence)	Engineering	0
ECITB Level 3 Diploma in Engineering Construction Maintenance (RQF)	Engineering	0
ECITB Level 3 Diploma in Engineering Design and Draughting (RQF)	Engineering	0
ECITB Level 3 Diploma in Installing Engineering Construction Plant and Systems (RQF)	Engineering	0
Pearson BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Machining (Development Knowledge)	Engineering	0
SEG Awards ABC Level 3 Certificate in Fabrication and Welding Techniques and Skills	Engineering	0
SEG Awards ABC Level 3 Certificate in Welding Techniques and Skills	Engineering	0
SEG Awards ABC Level 3 Diploma in Welding Techniques and Skills	Engineering	0
Skillsfirst Level 3 Diploma in Administrative Operations (RQF)	Administration	0
TQUK Level 3 Diploma in Business Administration (RQF)	Administration	0
AAT Level 3 Diploma in Accounting	Accounting and finance	Not available
City & Guilds Level 3 Award in Component Removal and Replacement in Electric and Hybrid Vehicles	Manufacturing technologies	Not available
City & Guilds Level 3 Award in Component Removal and Replacement in Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles	Manufacturing technologies	Not available
City & Guilds Level 3 Award in Diagnosis, Repair and Recalibration of Advanced Driver Assist Systems	Manufacturing technologies	Not available
City & Guilds Level 3 Diploma in Light Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Principles	Manufacturing technologies	Not available
Skills and Education Group Awards Level 3 Award in the Diagnosis and Rectification of Faults on Electric and Hybrid/Electric Light Vehicles	Manufacturing technologies	Not available

Source: Department for Education

Uni foundation year numbers up 700% in 10 years

The number of students taking controversial foundation year courses at universities has rocketed by more than 700 per cent over the past decade, new figures reveal.

Ministers are currently clamping down on such higher education programmes which they claim are of poor quality. FE colleges have long viewed the foundation courses as a hindrance that pull students away from their own level 3 offers, such as Access to HE diplomas.

Ministers have sided with Philip Augar’s review of post-18 education and funding which was published in 2019. They are critical of universities’ use of foundation years to “entice” students on to degrees instead of the alternatives.

The government announced this year that it would slash the tuition fee cap that universities can charge for foundation years from £9,250 to £5,760 from 2025/26, making foundation year fees more aligned to Access to HE courses.

Exponential growth

New figures this week reveal the massive growth in foundation year courses over the past 10 years. A record 69,325 students took a foundation year course in 2021/22, up from 8,470 in 2011/12 – a 718 per cent increase.

Back in 2011, there were 678 foundation year courses available at 52 institutions. By 2021/2022, the number of available courses had rocketed to 3,717 across 105 institutions.

Much of the growth in provider numbers has occurred in London, where it shot up from 10 to 23. The number of providers in the South West increased from four to 10.

Business and management courses were by far the most popular foundation year subjects, with half – 35,580 – of all students taking such courses in 2021/22. The next most popular subject area was social sciences, with 6,915 students. The least popular courses were in veterinary sciences, geography and agriculture.

Fewer completions

Foundation years appear much more likely to attract older students, when compared with undergraduate degrees. One in five first-year undergraduates were aged 21 and above in 2021/22 compared with 64 per cent of foundation year students.

Foundation year students were also more likely to come from ethnic minority backgrounds: 46 per cent compared with 34 per cent of first-year undergraduates.

But they were also more likely to drop out: completion rates have hovered around 50 per cent for foundation year students for the past three years; for first-year undergraduates in 2021/22, that figure was around 80 per cent and for Access to HE courses it was 66 per cent.

Lower earnings

Graduates who take a foundation year generally earned less than graduates who did not, but a graduate’s decision whether or not to take a foundation year has had little impact on their progression to work or further study.

Median earnings of graduates who did not study on a foundation year were £3,700 higher on average than those who did. The only exceptions to this – where doing a foundation year had a positive impact on later earnings – were in materials and technology subjects, medicine and dentistry and veterinary sciences.

Graduates who took a foundation year were also less likely to be in high-skilled employment 15 months after graduating.