A 130-year-old adult education centre has been handed a financial notice to improve after needing emergency funding from the government.
London’s Mary Ward Settlement, also known as the Mary Ward Centre, is now in intervention and must now work with the FE Commissioner to improve its finances.
The notice, dated April 4 and published today, said Mary Ward Settlement faced “serious cashflow pressures” and was provided with an unspecified cash bailout by the Department for Education.
It must now comply with a list of conditions set out by the FE Commissioner, including an independent review of its “capability and capacity” to strengthen its finances.
Mary Ward’s leaders must also produce a single improvement plan (SIP) which must include “exploration” of staff savings, a “thorough” review of curriculum and a “detailed” analysis of future student numbers.
Improvement progress is then closely monitored by the Department for Education, who will later decide whether to lift the notice to improve, or take further action.
Mary Ward has not published its 2023-24 accounts. Its 2022-23 accounts show it made a surplus of £1,000, up from a deficit of £128,000 the year before, on a total income of just over £5 million.
Most income comes from its adult education centre, which offers Greater London Authority-funded and full-cost courses to adults in subjects including English for Speakers of Other Languages, art and design, English and maths and employability skills. Mary Ward had around 2,000 students at the time of its January 2025 Ofsted inspection where it achieved ‘good’ grades across the board.
Alongside its adult education centre, based in Stratford, the settlement also operated the Mary Ward Legal Centre, which provides free advice on debt, housing and welfare for Londoners, and the Blackfriars Settlement.
Founded in the late 1800s, it is one of the so-called specially designated institutions (SDI); a status for adult education organisations that share the same public sector status as further education colleges.
A relocation from its central London site to its new Stratford centre was delayed multiple times, according to accounts, which came as the organisation was dealing with the impacts of the pandemic and reduced grant funding.
Chief Executive and Warden of the Mary Ward Settlement Therese Reinheimer-Jones said rising costs and a “challenging political backdrop” have contributed to “significant strain” on the organisation.
Reinheimer-Jones added: “To address this, Mary Ward Settlement is implementing a strategic recovery plan. This plan includes securing financial support from the Department of Education, working closely with the FE Commissioner and her team.
“We are carefully reviewing our financial management through monitoring expenditures and renegotiating contracts whilst diversifying income sources by exploring new funding opportunities and partnerships. The organisation is also focused on maximising its impact by enhancing service delivery efficiency with new systems and engaging staff and volunteers to support new ways of working.”
Mary Ward is not the first London-based SDI to hit the intervention buffers.
Earlier this year, City Lit was released after a three-year stint in intervention following a pandemic-induced hit to its income.
One of the largest colleges in England has been awarded Ofsted’s top grade for its efforts to widen participation and tackle social inequality through “excellent education and training”.
London-based New City College had its 2021 ‘good’ rating upgraded in a report this morning after inspectors found first-rate modelling of good practice and curriculum planning across its seven colleges, covering 18,500 learners.
The group was inspected between March 11 to 14. At the time, it had 10,133 young people and 7,071 adults on its books. It also had 921 high needs learners enrolled, and 453 community learners taught through subcontracted provision.
Inspectors were wowed by governors and senior leaders’ commitment to widening participation and tackling social inequality.
“They provide exceptional leadership to drive improvements across the group and create a culture of high ambition and success,” the report said, adding that staff at all campuses – including the newly merged BSix campus, challenge learners and apprentices to achieve well.
Ofsted also praised leaders’ “consistent” and structured approach to curriculum planning across all seven campuses. For example, in GCSE English at Havering Sixth Form and BSix campuses, staff plan a comprehensive learning plan with “excellent modelling of good practice” that is shared across sites.
As a result, most students make “significant” progress in their studies and achieve highly, Ofsted added.
Gerry McDonald, NCC’s group principal and CEO, said: “I am immensely proud of the New City College staff team and our partners who are rightly recognised in this report. And, of course, enormously proud of our students who showcased to the Ofsted team their skills and determination to succeed whilst, importantly, supporting and respecting each other in all that they do.”
NCC was awarded the grade one in all areas apart from its apprenticeships provision, which was rated ‘good’. The group had 694 apprentices at the time, mostly on level 2 and 3 apprenticeships in construction trades and business administration at its Rainham College and Hackney campus.
The watchdog commended the college group’s “expert” teachers and closely replicated work environments for apprentices, particularly at the Rainham construction and engineering campus, where students learn about green skills in low carbon and retrofit labs with heat pumps, solar photovoltaic systems and electrical vehicle charging stations.
Apprentices were praised for developing skills rapidly and most successfully gain or sustain employment at the end of their apprenticeship.
However, the report noted that for a few apprentices, trainers and employers do not align their on-and-off-the-job well enough.
Inspectors found learners and apprentices thrived in a learning environment full of diversity and “greatly appreciate” the freedom to be themselves.
“They demonstrate high levels of mutual respect towards each other and their teachers,” the report said.
Learners told the inspectorate that they find their studies demanding and “highly rewarding”.
Younger learners also complete “meaningful” work in sectors that align with their career goals.
Ofsted agreed and found a curriculum offer which is “exceptionally well considered”.
Meanwhile, adult learners benefit from flexible courses to fit their individual needs. Ofsted was impressed by the college’s provision of sector-based work academy programmes in high-demand sectors.
The courses, which are suited to unemployed adults, include specialist railway track maintenance courses at the Epping Forest campus.
A high proportion of learners gain jobs as qualified rail track operatives, which reduces staff shortages in these sectors.
Ofsted deemed NCC to be making a ‘reasonable’ contribution to skills needs in the area.
The report said leaders have a “thorough” understanding of skills needs in Essex and east London and have developed courses in priority areas such as creative arts, media, digital, engineering, and construction.
Ofsted inspectors were also impressed with the curriculum offer for the growing population of refugees and asylum seekers in local boroughs, such as the ESOL courses from pre-entry up to level 2.
NCC governors were found to be “extremely” committed to providing an outstanding education and have a “thorough” oversight of the strengths and provide “rigorous challenge” to areas of improvement.
“We’ve all come away from it completely different people,” said Isle of Wight College graphic design student James about his recent Turing programme-funded trip to Thailand.
In two weeks, James, 18, got to do things “you wouldn’t normally do on holiday” – hearing from Thai women about why they still farm rice using traditional methods going back countless generations, and meeting Buddhist monks in mountain temples.
He had only ever left the UK once before (on a school trip), and said there was “not a chance” he could have afforded such an adventure without Turing funding.
It’s made me more open to spirituality and other cultures
“I’ve always had a closed mindset, and it opened my mind massively. It’s made me a lot more open to spirituality and understanding other cultures,” James said. “I’ve built up so much mental and physical resilience… there are so many different levels of return on investment for a trip like this.”
Across the country, thousands of FE college students – many of whom had never been abroad before – have had their horizons, and CVs, expanded by visiting places and experiencing cultures vastly different from their own, thanks to the DfE-funded Turing programme.
It was launched in 2020 by education secretary Gavin Williamson, who said the post-Brexit successor to Erasmus+ would “expand opportunities to study abroad and see more students from all backgrounds benefit from the experience”.
Its popularity has grown rapidly: successful project bids from FE colleges almost doubled from 112 in 2022-23 to 214 in 2024-25.
But from the academic year 2025-26, fears are growing that fewer disadvantaged learners will benefit. The living allowance rate has been almost halved, and a new cap has been placed on the overall funding each provider can bid for.
Some fear Turing may be disbanded altogether. The Department for Education is said to have offered it up to the Treasury as part of cost-saving proposals, trimming around £100 million.
Isle of Wight students in Thailand
Erasmus comparison
The Turing scheme replaced the EU-funded Erasmus+ in 2021, with a promise to reach more disadvantaged students. In that respect, it appears to have succeeded: just 20 per cent of vocational Erasmus+ placements went to disadvantaged students, compared to 60 per cent from FE through Turing.
A DfE evaluation last year found only 23 per cent of FE students would likely have gone abroad without the funding.
And in 2023, 28 per cent of Turing participants were from FE colleges, compared to around 25 per cent in 2019 under Erasmus+.
Turing has a smaller overall budget, but greater reach for UK students.
Erasmus+ UK funding in 2019 totalled £123.76 million (£151.11 million in today’s money), but just 18,305 of 54,619 participants were UK citizens going overseas. In contrast, Turing’s £105.4 million pot for 2024-25 will fund 44,797 UK-based students abroad, including £29.6 million for English FE colleges.
Isle of Wight students in Thailand
Global reach
Unlike Erasmus+, which focused on the EU, Turing has opened up more distant destinations. In both 2022-23 and 2023-24, five of the 10 most popular destinations were outside the EU.
From 2025-26, 31 more destinations have been added, taking the total to 249.
For Lisa Humphries, associate principal at Chichester College Group (CCG), the scheme’s global footprint is its biggest asset. CCG has sent hospitality and tourism students for work placements at the Sandals Resort in St Lucia, and others for football coaching with street kids in Mumbai, boxing and whale watching in Tenerife and eco-tourism in Bali.
Together with Bournemouth and Poole and Middlesbrough colleges, CCG is taking 95 students this summer to work in a school in Kenya, located in an area of extreme poverty.
Middlesbrough College vice principal Aimey Adamson said that of the 26 students it sent to Bali last year, all but one had never held a passport. “Their first ever flight was Manchester to Hong Kong, how cool is that?”
This year, Middlesbrough is quadrupling its Turing cohort to 117 students, with three-quarters coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Some Hull College students on a Caribbean art and design trip last year “had only previously travelled from Hull to Bridlington,” said executive director Andrew Goudie. “They’ve come back absolutely buzzing with confidence.”
This year Hull is sending students to St Lucia, Spain, South Africa and Thailand.
Hull College students in St Lucia
Soft skills building
Although universities have criticised the scheme’s red tape, FE colleges report a more positive experience. Just 23 per cent found the application process difficult, compared to 80 per cent of HE providers, according to DfE’s evaluation report.
Of FE respondents, 89 per cent were ‘satisfied’ with their placement, with 70 per cent ‘very satisfied’. 84 per cent reported an increased ability to get along with people from different cultural backgrounds.
One of the 12 Burton and South Derbyshire College hair and beauty students on a trip to South Korea last year was “taken under the wing” of the Korean boys he met. “He made such good friends, he cried when we left”, said curriculum team leader Heather Jones.
Turing participants in the evaluation report also cited increased confidence, being ‘more well-rounded’ and mature, more friendships and improved sociability.
These are now adults equipped to go anywhere in the world
Isle of Wight College principal Ros Parker recalled how the group that visited Thailand went from “intense nervousness” at the airport to “striding forwards with confidence” upon their return. “These are now adults who are equipped with the skills to go anywhere they want in the world,” she said.
One student had a speech impediment which made her wary to speak. The trip had a “transformational” effect on her self-confidence.
There are other benefits too.
Following a Brighton Met College trip to Tenerife for 12 learners on a boxing programme, teaching and learning manager Mike Burney said attendance was up by over 10 per cent among those who went.
He added: “No student is now behind on their coursework, which is usually a battle at this time of year.”
Isle of Wight principal Ros Parker with students she accompanied to Thailand
Giving back
Several students have returned from trips determined to support others.
On the Tenerife trip, in which the boxers got to sample mountain training at altitude, star-gazing and diving with turtles and dolphins, one student opened up about the tragic loss of their coach to suicide and others spoke of their experiences of domestic violence.
These conversations led to plans to fund local projects upon their return to raise awareness and support.
Eight of them have since engaged with voluntary community work, fundraising by washing cars and selling pots they have painted.
They got to see something bigger than themselves
“It gave them the opportunity to see something bigger than themselves, thinking about what they can give back to the world,” said Burney.
Gaming students from Darlington College visited Cambodia. They saw the killing fields, a prison and a torture camp, and helped local schoolchildren improve their English. Mitchell Dobson, 18, said the trip offered powerful lessons in gratitude.
“It’s amazing to think that half the population is under the age of 22 and they are still clearing mines,” he said.
The students also helped school children improve their English through storytelling, which Dobson said was “the closest way we could link [the trip] to our course which involves you having to be able to tell a good story”.
They sampled crispy grasshoppers and fermented duck eggs, and endured cold showers and bedroom fans. This “certainly made us appreciate the luxuries of our home”, added Dobson.
Brighton MET College students in Tenerife
Turing funding cuts and consequences
From 2025-26, providers will be capped at bidding for £205,000 – much less than some received this year. CCG, for example, received £340,000 to fund 280 placements this year but will now need to cut 50 places.
Humphries said: “A smaller college can bid for the same amount. I’ve got seven colleges and 25,000 students. There’s an inequality in the approach.”
Daily cost-of-living allowances have also been slashed. When the programme started, those visiting more expensive counties such as Japan and the US received £109 per day for the first 14 days and £76 thereafter, for less pricey destinations £94-£66 and for the most affordable places £80-£56.
The lowest tier was axed and the rate was cut for the second group (which made up the lion’s share of participants) to £87-£61 last year. For 2025-26 the rate has been almost halved, to £50-£35 for cheaper destinations and £55 to £40 for the priciest places.
Colleges say this is already affecting plans.
Walker said: “The cutbacks have caused a few colleges to have to rethink their programmes and affordability.”
Goudie said Hull College is “already dipping into its own reserves to provide support” for Turing trips, with the current funding rate “insufficient to meet the cost”.
The college is committed to these trips because of the transformational impact
CCG sent four students with significant needs to Kenya last summer. That would be much harder to afford now, Humphries warned.
Some providers have turned to partners to negotiate costs, or to students to fundraise. Middlesbrough students are aiming to raise £1,000 each for their Kenya trip through bake sales and football matches.
Adamson laments the loss of funding but says this gives the students “ownership” of the experience. However, Walker cautions that fundraising takes time, staff, and infrastructure.
Gouldie said Hull will “encourage” students to undertake fundraising, but “we don’t expect that to be what we entirely rely on… it’s unreasonable to expect people from highly deprived areas to find the resource to go on trips when they already face other life challenges. But the college is committed to these trips because of the transformational impact they have on those learners.”
Brighton MET College students diving
The future
Turing had previously been set to end in 2024-25, with 2025-26 being an extension year.
After that, it faces a cliff-edge.
A DfE spokesperson said that this year had seen “successful applications than ever” for the scheme, with “young people getting invaluable career-building opportunities”.
But they were unable to commit to the long term future of the scheme.
Humphries believes that axing Turing would be “absolutely devastating to our young people who’ve already had so much taken from them in today’s world.”
But Turing’s benefits are impossible for the DfE to properly quantify, with no way of proving that a particular trip was responsible for improving a student’s later life outcomes.
“When we talk about cost versus value, we fail to recognise that the transformational impact that Turing trips have on a person’s employability, confidence and self-esteem is priceless,” said Goudie.
His discussions with AoC and others make him hopeful that if the government does pull the plug, a successor programme will arise – albeit with potential destinations being more Europe-centric and trips being perhaps shorter in duration.
Goudie, who had experience with the Erasmus scheme before Turing, believes that a return to Erasmus would “create more exciting opportunities” for colleges, with “thematic projects looking at innovation in education and pedagogy design impacts of AI”.
“There’s all sorts of things we could begin to explore that across the border, our European colleges are already involved with,” he said.
A south west college has shocked staff with plans to cut 65 jobs in a bid to secure its “long-term financial sustainability”.
South Devon College, whose main campus is in Paignton, opened a consultation with union representatives about the “potential redundancies” this week.
A college spokesperson said management took the “necessary decision” to cut 65 full time equivalent jobs after a period of “rigorous financial planning and review” earlier this year.
They added: “The decision to restructure has not been taken lightly.
“But, it is essential to securing the college’s long-term financial sustainability, ensuring it continues to deliver outstanding education and support for current and future students.”
The job cuts outlined to union officials include 47 academic, nine management, and 17 other roles, some of which may be part-time, FE Week understands.
South Devon College said it is facing rising costs and increased competition “like many colleges and other organisations nationally”.
Nick Varney, regional official for the south west University and College Union, said notice of the redundancies came as a “real shock” on Monday evening.
He suggested the cuts are “unfair” as they target the “hardest working” staff in the college.
A strategic assessment in the college’s most recent accounts, for 2023-24, blames short-to-medium term underfunding due to the “lagged funding model”, which caused an estimated shortfall of £800,000 during the year.
During that year, the college recorded a £739,000 deficit on a total income of £36 million, however it has £16 million in unrestricted reserves.
The college declined to share its current financial health rating, as assessed under the Department for Education guidance, which colleges typically publish in their accounts.
But according to its accounts, the college has a “clear strategy and action plan” to return its financial health to ‘good’ by 2025-26.
The accounts said: “The college is engaged in ever-ongoing work on determining where forward efficiencies will need to be made whilst maintaining capacity and the ability to grow, minimising as far as possible impact on quality delivery, and also recognising short and medium term (until 2028) demographic upside gain.”
Since 2020, South Devon College’s staff numbers have grown from 567 to 724, while income has remained at about £36 million.
The Torbay council area that the college serves has a population of about 136,000 people, nearly half of whom are aged 50 or over, with only about eight per cent of residents aged 16 to 24.
According to the council’s accountability statement, the area “suffers from several issues common to coastal towns” including a low-wage, low-skill economy that is “over-reliant on seasonal tourism and is now “one of the weakest in the country”.
A small but “vital” college in Cumbria has been told to rebuild its reputation by the FE Commissioner following an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted verdict as it battles with declining student numbers.
Furness College’s “future sustainability and long-term resilience” is currently being tested through a structure and prospects appraisal (SPA), which includes exploring whether to stay as a standalone college or merge with another.
The FE Commissioner Shelagh Legrave intervened at the college after Ofsted dealt its lowest possible grade in October 2024 due to a raft of leadership and governance failures.
Legrave’s report, completed in December but only published by the Department for Education today, detailed how a new senior management team was appointed in 2023-24 but was “comparatively inexperienced” and “many” have “little experience outside of Furness College”.
A new chair, Gary Lovatt, joined the college in October 2024 after Ofsted’s judgment and while Legrave said he is an “experienced non-executive board member”, Lovatt has “limited FE experience”.
Her report said the board “must ensure there is sufficient capacity in board membership to place teaching, learning and assessment at the core of college business”.
This is “likely” to include the appointment of new governors “and/or the appointment of a co-opted governor(s) as a short/medium term intervention”.
An independent external board review (EBR) is also needed, which should “focus on how the governing body supports and holds the college senior management team to account”.
‘Focus on improving staff morale’
Furness College, which took on Barrow-in-Furness Sixth Form College in 2016 through a merger, teaches almost 2,000 students.
Legrave’s report said the “geographically isolated college” plays a “vital role in respect of its local communities” and nationally. But it also highlighted Ofsted’s criticism that the college is making a “limited contribution” to skills needs.
Barrow is ranked as the 31st most deprived out of 317 lower tier local authorities and is where the BAE Systems Maritime Submarines shipyard builds the UK’s nuclear submarines.
Furness College is financially healthy, but overall learner numbers are declining – a trend which is set to worsen due to a falling demographic of young people in the area.
Achievement and retention are also in a three-year decline and work to improve low attendance is “not yet having the impact needed”, Legrave’s report said.
It added that the “generally positive outturn forecasting” for the college’s key performance indicators (KPIs) is a “reflection of leaders’ ambition and commitment to rapid reversal of decline”, but achievement of these will “necessitate relentless and rapid action”.
As part of her recommendations, Legrave said the college must ensure its reputation across both internal and external key stakeholders improves, by implementing a “comprehensive and impactful communications strategy, and that the college grows its student cohorts”.
The communications effort must involve a “very focused approach on improving staff morale but also ensuring support mechanisms are in place (CPD strategy) to enable staff to deliver high quality education and skills training; underpinned by clear lines of accountability”.
‘Progress has been made in some areas’
The report also said the strategic importance of BAE systems means that the college should consider the recruitment of a specialist contracts manager, to “both ensure the college maximises the opportunities of the Barrow Transformation Fund and the partnership opportunities with BAE systems, but also to mitigate management distraction and to ensure the current management team are fully focused on improving the college’s Ofsted grade”.
In a joint statement, Furness College principal Nicola Cove and chair Gary Lovatt said: “We remain very disappointed with the Ofsted inspectors’ findings. We do however welcome the FE Commissioner’s office recently published intervention report following their visit in December 2024, and their ongoing support as our college goes through its improvement journey.
“It is encouraging to see that at that time the report was written, it was noted that progress has been made in some areas since the Ofsted Inspection, such as continuous professional development of leaders, managers and staff and an improved use of data to enable challenge and decision making. Five months on from that visit, I am pleased to say that all of the six recommendations are already well underway.”
The college’s leaders said that the SPA “has commenced” and is being overseen by the FE Commissioner’s office and board of governors.
“As said previously, we are focussed forward and want to give our ongoing reassurance to our students, parents, employers and stakeholders that everyone across college is committed to delivering all of these improvements,” the statement added.
After the initial euphoria following the government’s announcement about the removal of mandatory functional skills qualifications for adult apprentices, the reality has set in. While framed as a success, the decision raises several concerns.
Is this a well-intended policy shift or a cost-saving measure for the government cleverly disguised as responding to industry needs?
The reform only applies to apprentices aged 19 and over, but apprentices who begin their training at ages 16 to 18 are still required to study and achieve English and maths functional skills qualifications.
Research by the Fellowship of Inspection Nominees had previously identified the urgent need for functional skills reform, but not its removal, across all age groups, particularly for younger apprentices under 19 who arguably require the most support.
It suggested more practical and accessible functional skills with appropriate assessment methods rather than the current system that fails so many apprentices.
However, instead of addressing these concerns, the reform leaves under-19s behind, making their path more unappealing to employers, with the focus shifting onto 19-plus as a more attractive proposition.
In our work with training providers and employers, we consistently hear that English and maths skills remain critical.
Take, for example, a childcare apprentice responsible for documenting a child’s development, where good written communication is essential. Or, a young automotive apprentice who must accurately calculate the correct amount of AdBlue diesel fluid to use in vehicles.
When employers look in more depth at functional skills requirements, the additional time off the job needed to pass exams and examples of the exam papers, their opinions on them change.
Over 30 per cent of automotive learners are neurodiverse; they make great technicians but not all of them enjoyed learning English or maths in the way it is taught in schools. So instead of the currently funded functional skills model, employers across different sectors ask for their apprentices to engage in relevant and contextualised English and maths relevant to their business, such as calculating percentages.
Rather than an exam, employers would prefer to see evidence of a successful practical application of this contextualised learning in the form of a workplace assessment. For example, an apprentice hairdresser could demonstrate the calculation and communication needed to mix dye safely and correctly. The working knowledge would then be recorded in the apprentice’s handbook.
The big problem is providers are unable to access funding for this type of provision and the latest reforms may exacerbate it, creating a wave of instability across the sector.
And what about Ofsted? English and maths have been a firm favourite and highly valued by the inspectorate as an essential backdrop for all industries. Therefore, regardless of funding, inspectors are very likely to still judge a provider on how well maths and English is being developed to maximise career opportunities.
Under its present leadership, Ofsted’s focus will be on the most disadvantaged, many of whom will have struggled with these key subjects at school. And yet the government’s new policy will lead to providers having less funds available to teach them within an apprenticeship.
The decision to leave younger apprentices behind contradicts the very need for reform that stakeholders have identified.
As the study of functional skills is not exclusive to apprenticeships, we hope the Francis review will lead to the curricula becoming more ‘functional’ – always our preferred solution to removing the requirement to study for a test or assessment. “Nuanced” changes won’t be sufficient.
In the meantime, ministers are probably being advised to wait and see how the age-split decision will impact apprenticeship starts over the coming months for younger and adult apprentices respectively.
For 16 to 18 year olds, around 79,000 start a programme each year, almost a quarter of the whole cohort, and from our conversations with employers and providers, the Fellowship of Inspection Nominees can see the negative impact already.
Some young apprentices are missing out because when employers see over-19s come with a choice over functional skills qualifications, they become a more attractive option. And some 18-year-old applicants are being given a start date after their 19th birthday.
We must not wait to realign the English and maths requirements for apprentices who are aged under 19.
After much debate and scrutiny, the legislation dissolving the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) has passed through Parliament and the process of moving its functions to Skills England has officially started.
I have read a lot of articles arguing Skills England will have no teeth, that it does not possess the resources to make a difference and that, as an executive body of the Department for Education, it will not be able to make use of statutory powers as IfATE did, something that those with an understanding of constitutional law and process will know is not true.
This week the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) highlighted the narrative that Skills England will “feed into” and “inform” policy rather than having teeth. The Financial Times reported that a shrinking vision and lack of “clout” would lead to an agency that would, to all intents and purposes, be stillborn.
With so much talk about the “significant headwinds” Skills England already faces, it is worth taking a moment to consider the ways in which this period of change offers opportunities to the education sector, as well as industry.
This is a chance for us to really shape and inform its development to ensure we get what we need. Skills England will need educators, employers and representatives of industry to be effective in the current challenging fiscal environment, where every arm’s length body will have to justify its value to the public purse. So, what can we do?
Mobilise as a cross-sectoral group
Our greatest strength as providers and employers is the way in which we have established close working relationships to understand the capabilities and needs of one another. We have long undertaken the activities at a local level that Skills England seeks to coordinate and streamline. We need to demonstrate this to Skills England as it establishes itself. By entering the conversation as a united front, we can help to shape the way in which Skills England operates, engages and supports the solutions we need.
Lend our expertise
We need to demonstrate our support for Skills England by offering to aid its mission in any way we can. As specialists in the areas in which we operate, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to really show the government what is needed to make the skills system work, to ensure it is a system that ‘enables with us’ rather than ‘does to us’.
Supporting Skills England to meet our needs
Skills England has been criticised for a narrow focus on industry priority skills, but it has a much more critical role to play in speeding up qualification approval and revision, bringing clarity over funding, and providing a focus on innovation in delivery and meaningful FE/HE integration. We need to ensure these matters remain high on the list of priorities and are not lost in the surrounding noise.
Be the solution
Linking to our expertise, we have the opportunity to show Skills England the solutions that work, the methods we have tried, those that have succeeded and those that have failed. Radical new action is not necessarily what’s needed here. Instead we need to double down on the things that do work, especially as content and mode of learning is reformed to meet oncoming technological and societal challenges.
A call to action
Industry and educators must work together to shape how Skills England evolves, and support the translation of national priorities in regionally contextualised action that can be delivered locally within our communities. As City & Guilds CEO Kirstie Donnelly said last year when speaking about the new body, we have an opportunity to really come together to influence and build something great.
I have heard too much talk of Skills England being a divisive tool that will not effect change. Together we can change the narrative.
No college wants to be faced with an Ofsted downgrading but that’s exactly the situation we were confronted with almost a year ago. I won’t lie, it hurt.
Yet here we are 12 months on and in what many would call a ‘remarkable turnaround’, SCCB has been recognised as the most improved further education institution in the UK, following publication of the latest National Achievement Rates Tables (NARTs).
For 16-18 full-time education and training provision, SCCB secured an improvement rate of 13.3 per cent. That’s something to be proud of!
Whilst some may argue that ‘the only way was up’, we’d rather focus on the fact that our achievement rates have enjoyed such a significant improvement.
Yet this is about more than statistics. It’s about the journey our whole college community – everyone from the governors, to teaching staff, management and students, and everyone else in between – has been on, and the invaluable lessons we’ve all learned along the way. Lessons, we believe, that stand as an example to other colleges in a similar situation.
Following our Ofsted inspection (in which we were rated as ‘requires improvement’), we made it our mission to not just improve, but to become the best college in the country.
Of course that doesn’t happen overnight, and it very much remains the goal that we’re all working towards.
However, setting that level of aspiration served as the starting point for a series of steps that we’ve worked through – and in many instances, continue to work through – that helped to cement our focus and commitment and to justify the investment that would drive forward our path to improvement.
From the outset this has been a collective experience across the entire SCCB community. We’re a college spread across eight distinct campuses which means that silos of information or communication could so easily occur. We couldn’t allow that to happen.
We’ve strategically refocused all areas of the college so every department aligns with the overarching goal of creating a high-performance culture.
This has been complemented by significant investment in staff development, the implementation of a robust quality assurance programme to better support teaching and learning, and a steadfast focus on the learning experience in the classroom.
However, the step we took that I believe made the greatest impact is one that stemmed from a position of humility. Our college wasn’t delivering what it needed to, and we needed to improve that quickly.
This experience wasn’t unique; other colleges have gone through similar and turned a corner. We knew there were lessons to be learned.
With support from the Association of Colleges, we engaged with around 25 colleges across the country from which we believed valuable lessons could be learned.
Key figures from throughout our college’s leadership and management teams spoke with counterparts nationwide to discuss best practice across a broad range of topics that included attendance, work experience and employer engagement.
This approach required us to take an often-difficult look at ourselves but was absolutely the right way to proceed.
All the college staff we met demonstrated support and a willingness to share their own experiences.
Among those who deserve special mention for taking the time to not only speak with managers from SCCB on MS Teams but also welcome them to their own colleges are Zoe Lewis at Middlesbrough College, Dr Fazal Dad at Blackburn College, and Tony Mangan at Moulton College. We also took away valuable guidance and learnings from the teams at Leeds Luminate, Chichester, Hull, Burnley and Kirklees.
Our journey is ongoing, and we’re determined to not lose any of the momentum that we’ve gained over the past year. There is an air of optimism at SCCB and we’re looking forward to continued improvement in the months ahead.
The central pledge of Labour’s election manifesto was to ‘kickstart economic growth’.
But one element holding that growth back is the lack of appropriate skills among our workforce, with 80 per cent of organisations reporting they struggled to recruit skilled talent last year.
To address this skills gap, we need to recognise there is a huge educational divide in the UK.
While the largest proportion of the population holds a qualification at Level 4 or higher (27.2 per cent), almost one in five adults in England and Wales have no qualifications, and a further 23 per cent only hold Level 1 or 2 qualifications.
This educational shortfall ramps up pressure on government finances through universal credit claims, given essential skills attainment reduces the likelihood of being out of work or education by half.
If ministers truly want to kickstart economic growth they must tackle this huge deficit in essential skills. Doing so will increase the supply of badly-needed intermediately-skilled individuals, and widen the pipeline for those able to progress to higher levels of education.
One way to achieve this is by supporting the creation not just of the technical excellence colleges that the government is planning, but also complementary institutions with a focus on essential skills. These provide the gateway to further learning and employment opportunities that could help overcome the impact of the recently announced 6 per cent cut in the national adult skills budget for non-devolved areas.
The creation of LSBU Group has tested this concept by repositioning Lambeth College to focus on gateway provision.
With an emphasis on essential skills, including English and maths, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), adult education and special educational needs and disability education, the college offers programmes designed for people from a wide range of backgrounds so they can re-engage in education.
We’re providing progression routes into higher levels of technical or vocational education and – through links with local employers – good job prospects.
Lambeth College’s expertise in English and maths has enabled us to develop a Higher Development Award programme supporting clinical and non-clinical staff to progress in their careers, providing a pathway into nursing associate, allied health professionals or registered nurse roles.
The programme teaches management skills and, crucially, includes English and maths at Level 2. As a result, several hundred students have been able to achieve on programmes previously out of their reach, with at least half of those completing the course progressing onto nursing associate and other health-related apprenticeships.
In addition to the opportunity for immediate employment opportunities, because of Lambeth College’s position within LSBU Group, the curriculum has been designed so direct pathways exist for learners seeking to progress into local higher levels of education at London South Bank Technical College (levels 3 and 4) and London South Bank University (levels 5, 6 and 7), where the curriculum has similarly been designed in close partnership with local employers.
A network of local gateway colleges across the country would be well placed to serve those who have previously been failed by the education system or face some form of societal or economic exclusion.
With their focus on ensuring students develop essential skills for lifelong learning and vocational skills for employability, gateway colleges not only offer a chance to boost economic prosperity but enable learners to improve their wellbeing.
Such an ambition will never be possible without adequate funding within the adult skills budget and additional funding for 16-19 ‘catch-up’ learners who lack these qualifications.
If the government is serious about growing the economy, then investing in tackling our basic skills crisis should be the first step.
