Weston College has appointed Jane Hadfield as its new permanent chair of governors, following its exit from financial intervention.
Hadfield, national lead for apprenticeships at NHS England, has replaced Tim Jackson, who led as interim chair when the college was embattled with a “traumatic” financial notice to improve.
Jackson was parachuted in last May from the FE Commissioner’s office when multi-million-pound payments to ex-principal Sir Paul Phillips were exposed.
Fraud investigators uncovered governance failures around the disclosure of financial information including high pay packages to Phillips after his retirement.
Meanwhile, the Department for Education sent auditors from BDO to examine “other aspects” of financial controls at the college. These investigations are ongoing.
In early October, the south west college emerged from the FE Commissioner’s financial probe after leaders proved they had strengthened governance and audit procedures, and remuneration processes for senior staff.
Pat Jones, who was appointed principal in July 2024, said at the time the saga had been “traumatic for colleagues” and moving out of intervention was a “significant step in the journey of putting this behind us”.
Jones said Hadfield was appointed due to her “clear passion” for supporting learners and the wider community as well as working with the college to deliver cohorts of apprentices.
Hadfield, a former nurse, has been a resident in north Somerset for 40 years and her daughter also attended Weston College.
“Jane’s integrity, compassion, and ambition shine through everything she does,” Jones said.
“She has a clear passion for supporting our learners and the wider community, and we look forward to working closely with her as we embark on an exciting new chapter in Weston College’s journey towards becoming an extraordinary college.”
Hadfield said she was “absolutely thrilled” to be taking on the role.
“The college plays such an important role in supporting the local community – something I feel deeply passionate about,” she said.
“I am particularly looking forward to helping widen participation and improve access to education and training opportunities across our region, enabling people from all backgrounds to thrive and grow.”
Hadfield was also a board member of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) until it was abolished earlier this year to make way for Skills England.
She had chaired numerous IfATE’s employer-led trailblazer groups for health and science, including the T Level employer panel for health.
Earlier this year, Hadfield was celebrated with the special recognition award at the Apprenticeship and Training Awards (ATAs), run jointly by FE Week and the Association of Employment and Learning Providers.
She was also the employer co-chair of St Martin’s Group, a representative of employers and awarding organisations that support employer-led skills training.
Founded by The Pathway Group, in partnership with the world’s lifelong learning company Pearson, this year’s milestone event represented a powerful moment of reflection, growth, and renewed purpose. Since its inception in 2015, the Awards have engaged more than 3,000 apprentices, 500 employers, and 100 learning providers across every major sector, a remarkable journey of transformation, inclusion, and innovation.
Hosted in London for the first time, the move to the capital signifies the Awards’ growing national impact and expanding mission to engage communities from every region of the UK. The evening was co-hosted by presenter Tommy Sandhu, alongside 2024 Young Professional of the Year and Arup apprentice Santina Bunting.
Opening the evening, Oliver Latham, VP Enterprise, EMEA, Enterprise Learning & Skills at Pearson, said: “I’d like to congratulate all the winners of the Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards. Pearson is proud to be a partner and we actively promote and support apprenticeships in our own business and with customers. Apprenticeships create opportunities for people in all walks of life, and give people the tools they need to make a direct impact in the workplace and realise their potential.”
With over 500 nominations received this year, 152 apprentices, 44 employers, 14 learning providers, 8 universities, and 8 schools were shortlisted, each representing a story of ambition, determination and excellence.
A theme of ‘Resilience’ resonated throughout the evening, as winning apprentices shared powerful journeys of overcoming adversity, from homelessness and life-threatening illness, to personal hardship and systemic barriers.
Amongst the standout winners were:
Simona Olok Kweya, NatWest Group, winner of Level 3 Apprentice of the Year, whose journey from growing up in a low-income background with no previous banking experience to a trusted Assistant Relationship Manager within six months exemplifies courage and determination.
Aliea Mahmood, Great Ormond Street Hospital, winner of Health, Medical & Social Care Apprentice of the Year, recognised for her nine-year apprenticeship journey, culminating in her pioneering an AI model predicting kidney failure, the first of its kind in the UK.
Efan Mutembo, Worldline UK&I, winner of Digital & Technology Apprentice of the Year, for developing the UK’s first rail chatbot and delivering a key role in a multi-million-pound project.
Zain Ali Khan, McDonald’s, winner of Retail, Hospitality & Tourism Apprentice of the Year, for leading one of the UK’s busiest McDonald’s restaurants with over 100 staff at just 21 years old.
Adesewa Adetoro, Microsoft, winner of Creative, Media & Marketing Apprentice of the Year, for being a young, neurodiverse woman championing representation and inclusion in tech and marketing through national and corporate engagement and having of a philosophy of “I won’t just sit at the table, I’ll make sure there are more chairs”.
Organisations including AstraZeneca, Royal Mail, BBC, and The University of Wolverhampton were honoured for their outstanding contribution to apprenticeships, while Alperton Community School made history as the first ever School of the Year, recognised for its pioneering programme transforming opportunities for underrepresented students.
Sharon Blyfield OBE, Head of Early Careers and Apprenticeships at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, received the Overall Commitment to Diversity in Apprenticeships award for her outstanding leadership and advocacy.
The evening culminated in Isha Ahmed, Architectural Assistant Apprentice at WW+P Architects, being crowned Apprentice of the Year 2025. Isha’s trailblazing work in architecture and tireless advocacy for diversity, mentorship, and apprenticeship funding embodies the transformative spirit of the Awards.
Reflecting on the event, Safaraz Ali, Founder of the Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards and CEO of Pathway Group, said:
“As we celebrate ten years of progress, we’re reminded that apprenticeships don’t just change careers, they change lives. Our mission remains to celebrate, elevate and connect talent from every community. Together, we’re building a stronger, fairer, and more inclusive future for all.”
Full List of Winners
Apprentice of the Year 2025 (sponsored by Pearson)
Isha Ahmed – WW+P Architects (London South Bank University)
Commitment to Apprenticeships (sponsored by Multicultural Apprenticeship & Skills Alliance)
Dan Howard (Partnership Development Director at Lifetime Training) & Lucy Hunte (National Programme Manager of Apprenticeships at NHS England)
Overall Contribution to Apprenticeships (sponsored by Pathway Group)
Kirstie Donnelly MBE (CEO of City & Guilds)
Overall Commitment to Diversity in Apprenticeships (sponsored by Pathway Group)
Sharon Blyfield OBE (Head of Early Careers at Coca-Cola Euro Pacific Partners)
Accounting & Finance (sponsored by Kaplan Financial)
Apprentice Winner – Ahmed Ali – Lloyds Banking Group (Kaplan)
Employer Winner – Chaucer Group
Management & Professional Services (sponsored by Mindful Education)
Apprentice Winner – Martin Lin – KPMG (BPP)
Employer Winner – Vialto Partners
Legal Services (sponsored by City Century)
Apprentice Winner – Amina Batool – TLT LLP (BPP)
Charity, Voluntary & Public Services (sponsored by NCFE)
Colleges could be forced to change their leaders if Ofsted finds they are failing to meet local skills needs.
The move is part of new reforms to the government’s college oversight framework, refreshed today as Ofsted’s new “report card” inspection model is rolled out.
Overall headline grades have been removed and the watchdog will now grade colleges in up to 16 individual areas on a five-point scale from ‘exceptional’, ‘strong standard’ and ‘expected standard’ to ‘needs attention’ and ‘urgent improvement’.
This shift allows for a “more nuanced understanding of provider performance and enables targeted responses”, the DfE said.
The department’s guidance revealed three tiers of support, led by new regional improvement teams: “Universal support around driving best practice; targeted support where improvement needs are identified; and intensive support – where colleges have hit a trigger for intervention.”
‘Urgent improvement’ consequences
Under the new rules, if Ofsted judges a college’s contribution to meeting skills needs as ‘urgent improvement’, this “may lead to targeted support or the college being placed in intervention”.
If a college is placed into intervention, the FE Commissioner will take over from regional improvement teams and has the power to enforce changes to governance or leadership as well as funding restrictions.
Officials will also place a college into intervention where ‘leadership and governance’ or ‘inclusion’ is judged as ‘urgent improvement’ or where safeguarding is ‘not met’.
Ofsted began judging colleges on how well they were contributing to local skills demands in 2022 through “enhanced inspections”. Until now colleges have been rated along a scale of either ‘strong’, ‘reasonable’ or ‘limited’ for this category, none of which have been used to trigger intervention.
There are seven colleges that made a ‘limited contribution’ to local skills from their latest inspection, according to Ofsted’s inspection data up to August 31, 2025.
Provision-level concerns
Today’s guidance stated that where provision-level evaluation areas are graded as ‘urgent improvement’, this will “normally lead to targeted support or action depending on circumstances”.
The DfE said: “The overarching ambition is to ensure our action is proportionate while upholding high quality standards.
“Any finding of ‘urgent improvement’ may also lead to a college receiving a letter to improve, and an FE Commissioner led improvement review, neither of which would be published. Should there be continued concerns about the college’s capacity to improve then the college could be escalated to intervention.”
Where provider-wide or provision-level evaluation areas are judged as ‘needs attention’, the focus will “normally be on targeted support in some circumstances”.
The DfE said: “For example where a college is ‘needs attention’ across multiple areas or is combined with other finance or governance risks a commissioner improvement review may be triggered. This is most likely to take place after other forms of support have been offered.”
College report cards will list three grades for each provision type; apprenticeships, high needs, programmes for young people and programmes for adults. Each area will get a grade for curriculum, teaching and training; achievement and participation; and development.
Ofsted has committed to monitoring inspections of colleges with any evaluation areas graded as requiring ‘urgent improvement’ or ‘needs attention’ or where safeguarding is ‘not met’.
These monitoring inspections may result in a change to grade for the areas, published through an updated report card. And where there is evidence of decline, Ofsted may decide to carry out a full inspection.
A new stage of more confidential “targeted support” has been added to the government’s college oversight regime.
Department for Education (DfE) guidance published today details “a more prioritised” college support system that will “increasingly and more systematically” target improvement by the next academic year.
Regional improvement teams (RITs) staffed by DfE officials and helped by a lead regional deputy further education commissioner (FEC) will manage ‘targeted support’, a new “tier” of oversight that it hopes will replace formal intervention in most cases.
The DfE says RITs will benefit “around 70,000 college students”, helping to “break the link” between background and success.
Revised oversight guidance sets out three tiers of support for colleges: universal support based on sharing best practice, targeted support for “colleges that would benefit most”, and intensive support for “challenges that cannot be resolved through improvement alone”.
Performance concerns the improvement teams are expected to address include not meeting local skills needs, poor financial management, leadership and governance failures or poor quality of provision.
‘Non-published letters’
If “serious risks” are flagged or a college refuses to accept targeted support “voluntarily”, RITs can issue a “non-published” ‘letter to improve’ that will mandate an FEC-led “improvement review”.
The new guidance says letters and reviews will not be published and the improvement team’s involvement will not be “seen as intervention”.
This behind-closed-doors approach appears to differ from the DfE’s quality improvement-focused Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence teams, which name “stuck” schools and academies they are working with in a regularly updated public list.
The DfE has been asked to clarify why this new tier of support for colleges whose performance raises concerns will remain private.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Every young person deserves a brilliant education, and these new teams will help to drive improvements and share best practice in colleges across the country.
“By providing targeted support where it’s needed most, we’re delivering on our commitment to break down barriers to opportunity and give young people the best possible start in their careers.”
Who are RITs?
RITs will be staffed by DfE officials who “currently oversee” colleges and ITPs – paired with a lead deputy FE commissioner who can provide “expert practitioner advice”, the guidance says.
It is unclear whether RITs will replace or work alongside teams of officials known as ‘place-based teams’, who manage day-to-day relations with college leaders, monitor performance, and ultimately decide on intervention actions.
Place-based teams are currently split into three large regions for the whole of England.
Avoid formal intervention
The department hopes targeted support will avoid formal intervention, which includes publishing formal intervention notices and reports summarising failures at colleges.
“While some issues will always trigger immediate intervention or use of the secretary of state’s statutory intervention powers, in the majority of other cases, the department will initially seek to work with colleges to resolve issues without placing the college into intervention,” the guidance said.
Persistent or “significant challenges” at a college will continue to trigger “intensive support”, decided by RITs and led by the FEC team, which can include formal intervention or a structure and prospects appraisal (SPA).
FE Week has also asked the DfE to clarify whether targeted support will replace the FE Commissioner’s ‘active support’ service for colleges, which includes informal conversations, “health checks”, leadership monitoring, curriculum efficiency and consultations on restructuring.
Strengthening post-16 delivery
The guidance said RITs will work with strategic and local authorities to set priorities for post-16 provider improvement based on their performance and skills improvement plans.
Priorities could include NEET, special needs student outcomes, local growth priorities, uptake and delivery of new qualifications such as T Levels or V Levels, and improving progression to higher levels of training.
They will also look at roles of both colleges and independent training providers at tackling skills shortages.
The guidance said: “Having clear priorities for regional improvement will enable us to consider how ITPs contribute to regional needs – where, for example, some ITPs have played a leading role in supporting young people at risk of being disengaged.”
Ministers also want to “promote collaboration and foster continuous improvement” through universal support that already exists, including national guidance, benchmarking data, FE Commissioner effective practice guides and webinars.
Former social mobility commissioner Alan Milburn will lead an independent investigation into rising numbers of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), the government has announced.
The review, which will place a particular focus on the impact of mental health conditions and disabilities, is hoped to tackle what work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden has warned is a “crisis of opportunity”.
Figures show that nearly one million young people, approximately one in eight young people aged 16 to 24, are currently NEET.
The government is trying to cut its “ballooning” benefits bill and announced earlier this year that it plans to slash health and disability benefits for young people in a bid to push them into employment or training.
Officials said today that over a quarter of NEET young people now cite long-term sickness or disability as a barrier to participation, compared to just 12 per cent in 2013-14.
The number of young people claiming Universal Credit (UC) health and employment support allowance has also increased by more than 50 per cent in the last five years.
And around 80 per cent of young people on the UC health element currently cite mental health reasons or a neurodevelopmental condition among declared health conditions.
The NEET review announcement comes days after new analysis from Sir Charlie Mayfield’s Keep Britain Working review also revealed a 76 per cent increase in economically inactive 16–34-year-olds with mental health conditions since 2019.
Additionally, the review found that being out of work at a young age can cost over £1 million in lost earnings over a lifetime.
McFadden said: “The rising number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) is a crisis of opportunity that demands more action to give them the chance to learn or earn.
“We cannot afford to lose a generation of young people to a life on benefits, with no work prospects and not enough hope.”
‘Uncompromising in exposing failures’
Last month’s post-16 education and skills white paper contained a range of new measures designed to combat rising young NEET numbers, including auto-enrolling school-leavers on post-16 courses and tracking attendance of 16 to 19-year-olds.
Milburn was health secretary from 1999 to 2003 and is a former chair of the social mobility commission. He was appointed last year as a non-executive director of the Department of Health and Social Care.
His review will make “practical recommendations to help young people with health conditions access work, training or education — ensuring they are supported to thrive, not sidelined,” the government said.
The report will not cover the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system.
It will “complement” the Timms Review, which was launched in October to examine broader reforms to the disability benefits system, by “focusing specifically on the link between youth mental health, economic inactivity and benefit system”.
Milburn said: “We cannot stand by and let a generation of young people be consigned to a life without employment or prospects. It’s clear urgent action is needed.
“That’s why with the help of a panel of expert advisors; I will aim to get to the bottom of why current efforts are not preventing young people from becoming trapped out of work and education.
“The review will be uncompromising in exposing failures in employment support, education, skills, health and welfare and will produce far-reaching recommendations for change to enhance opportunities for young people to learn and earn.”
Interim findings will be shared with the government in Spring 2026, with the final report published in summer 2026.
Long-serving principal Chris Nattress is set to retire after steering Lakes College out of government intervention.
He will be succeeded on December 1 by Mark Fell, currently executive principal at Milton Keynes College.
Nattress (pictured above) joined the college in West Cumbria in 2009 as a deputy before taking up the top job in 2013.
The college has doubled in size since Nattress started but it hit cashflow issues in early 2024 mostly due to student number shortfalls that required a £1.5 million emergency government loan.
A new chair was appointed to the college in August 2024 and the college’s financial notice to improve was lifted in June 2025 after a period of FE Commissioner intervention.
Nattress, who was presented with a lifetime achievement accolade in the Pearson Teaching Awards this year, said he was “immensely proud” of what has been achieved at the college during his time.
He said: “I have been very fortunate to work with fabulous colleagues and partners who have always supported me in seeking ways to improve opportunities for everyone in West Cumbria to thrive and prosper.
“Amongst many highlights, visiting Buckingham Palace to receive the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for our work, opening our Construction Skills Centre and the National College for Nuclear Northern Hub, and working with key employers and organisations in our area to more than double the size of our college do stand out.”
His replacement, Fell, has more than 20 years of experience in the FE sector.
Mark Fell
Fell said: “I am delighted to be joining Lakes College as principal and have been working closely with Chris and the executive team over the last few weeks to ensure a seamless transition and I can’t wait to get started. I’ve been inspired by the commitment of the staff in supporting our students to succeed and progress. I now want to help further progress the College to be at the absolute forefront of technical, vocational and professional learning.
“Further education is entering an era of change, with the government white paper, the Ofsted and apprenticeship reforms, but what won’t change is our college playing a crucial role within our local community and beyond. Our approach to learning will be around raising aspiration, supporting skills development and ensuring that we meet the needs of stakeholders locally, regionally and nationally.”
Ministers have appointed a former higher education access chief to reprise his role at the Office for Students.
Professor Chris Millward (pictured), who was the first person to hold the director for fair access and participation post when it was created in 2017, has begun immediately on a part-time, interim basis.
It comes as John Blake, the current director, announced on Friday that he will stand down when his four-year term ends this year to “move on to a new challenge”.
The director for fair access and participation is a statutory position established in the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 and comes with a range of powers to approve, monitor, and report on higher education providers’ performance against their access and participation plans.
Millward served a full four-year term in the role until January 2022. He has since been professor of practice in education policy at the University of Birmingham and a board member of Medr, the Welsh government’s commission for tertiary education and research.
He will join the OfS board and continue his role at the University of Birmingham.
Before joining the Office for Students the first time, he was director of policy at its predecessor regulator, the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
Millward said: “I am delighted to be returning to work with the OfS during this crucial period, and grateful to my colleagues at the University of Birmingham for making this possible.
“We have made terrific progress on access and participation during the last two decades. Now is the time to seize the opportunities afforded by a wider range of pathways to higher education, which will enable more people and places to benefit.”
Blake
The Department for Education said it will recruit for a permanent post-holder in due course.
“When I took up the role, I was charged with reforming OfS’s system of access and participation plans. Now that all-new plans are in place across the sector, and with the government recently setting out its plans in its post-16 education and skills white paper that they will build on this by introducing a risk-based equality regulation system … I feel that it is the right time for me to move on to a new challenge,” he added.
A former refugee-turned-ESOL tutor and an apprentice determined to decarbonise the capital are among this year’s finalists in the Mayor of London adult learning awards.
Now in their fourth year, the awards celebrate inspiring learners, tutors, employers and learning organisations who are helping Londoners gain skills, confidence and opportunities.
Run by the Greater London Authority, and sponsored by FE Week and awarding organisation Ascentis, winners of the coveted awards will be announced next Thursday. Categories this year will include employer champion for skills progression, inspirational adult learner and inclusive provider of the year.
From more than 250 nominations, 20 finalists have been shortlisted by a panel of judges drawn from the capital’s adult learning sector. Their stories showcase how adult education is transforming lives and London’s economy.
Education changed everything
Hamzeh Mouallem
Among the finalists is Hamzeh Moullem, who arrived in London as a refugee from Syria in 2019 speaking little English. While holding down a full-time restaurant job and caring for his younger brother, he completed a higher national diploma in business at United Colleges Group with a distinction and is now at university.
“One of the most rewarding parts is seeing my brother willing to enrol in college because of my experience. This journey has transformed me personally and inspired those around me,” he said.
Another learner finalist, Jennifer Flanigan, enrolled on a British Sign Language course with Professional Training Solutions so she could communicate with her non-speaking son. Despite her own eyesight and health challenges, she completed the qualification and now serves as co-chair of governors at his deaf school.
“Before I learned BSL, I felt shut out of his world,” she said. “Now we talk every day.”
Breaking barriers
In Redbridge, Judith Guarte Lee turned to learning after moving from the Philippines and overcoming attitudes towards her disability.
With support from Redbridge Institute, she has gained childcare qualifications and a job in a nursery. “I want to show my son that if you put your heart into something, good things can happen,” she said.
Meanwhile, Hannah Barrow is completing a low-carbon heating technician apprenticeship at London South Bank Technical College.
Her skills in heat-pump and solar-thermal systems recently earned her a place in the WorldSkills UK national finals. “I wanted a career that matched my values around sustainability,” she said.
Tutors and employers making the difference
Several awards honour the professionals behind these successes.
Iryna Hura
Iryna Hura, an ESOL tutor at Hammersmith & Fulham Adult Learning Service, arrived from Ukraine and now teaches English to other refugees, achieving a 100 per cent pass rate with her pioneering trauma-informed teaching.
Another finalist, Emily Bunu from Step Ahead Social Enterprise, is praised for combining education with safeguarding and pastoral care – often connecting learners with food banks, social services and employment support.
Employers are also being recognised.
Wellcome Collection has been shortlisted for its partnership with Step Ahead to help unemployed residents gain accredited qualifications and jobs in visitor-experience roles, while Marlborough Highways and the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust are celebrated for high-quality apprenticeships that lead to skilled careers to diverse range of Londoners.
Training providers such as Kundakala, a Camden-based charity teaching sewing and enterprise to women from minority backgrounds, and MAMA Youth Project, which helps under-represented young adults break into the media industry, highlight how community learning can transform individuals and industries alike.
A Reform UK mayor’s plans to ditch ESOL courses because they don’t benefit “native” residents have not yet been copied elsewhere in England, an FE Week investigation has found.
Last month, Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (GLCCA) mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns announced her intention to redirect about £1 million in funding spent on English for speakers of other languages courses towards a more “inclusive” literacy and numeracy programme.
Jenkyns, who had a four-month stint as skills minister in 2022, is due to take control of £17-£19 million in adult education funding next year.
Her “policy principle” will mean ESOL courses which benefited about 1,400 learners in 2023-24 will no longer be funded by her authority from next September.
Explaining her position at a board meeting of GLCCA members who oversee skills and employment last month, she said literacy and numeracy were on a “really downward spiral” in Britain and that English language provision “doesn’t go to native Lincolnshire people”.
Dame Andrea added: “I stood on a manifesto to put Lincolnshire people at the forefront and a million pounds a year goes on this.
I think we need a more inclusive scheme which actually goes to the Lincolnshire people, because we’ve got to upskill them – they are left behind, very sadly.”
Other rule changes include requiring learners to live in the Greater Lincolnshire area for at least three years – reversing a recent national eligibility rule that gives learners funding eligibility from day one.
The draft policy changes for the next academic year won the support of all but one of the seven councillors representing GLCCA local authorities at the meeting, which included several Conservatives.
Dame Andrea said she hoped to make a further change to the rules requiring learners to have worked for the last 12 months “actually putting money into the system” before they can start funded learning.
Diana Sutton, director at The Bell Foundation, a charity that campaigns for language education, warned that removing or cutting funding for ESOL could be “counterproductive” in terms of promoting integration and improved job prospects for immigration.
She said: “Importantly, the 2021 Census shows that, of those people of working age who reported that they cannot speak English well or at all, 35 per cent have British nationality.”
“Access to appropriate and specialist English language provision should be seen as a sound financial investment as it can unlock skills and enable learners to contribute to and participate in society.”
Plans not replicated
The Reform mayor, elected earlier this year, appears to be the sole leader from her party to take a concrete step towards scrapping publicly funded ESOL courses, FE Week’s inquiries suggest.
Reform UK leads nine English local authorities and two combined authorities.
Six local authorities said they had no plans to reduce ESOL provision, although Kent County Council said it made changes to “some” courses to incorporate more literacy and numeracy skills following a £500,000 cut to its adult education allocation from the Department for Education this year.
Kent County Council’s leader Linden Kemkaran was the first Reform UK leader to publicly suggest scrapping the courses, questioning whether ESOL was “value for money” and suggesting individual learners should pay for the courses themselves or use a free language learning app.
But the council now says essential skills development, “including ESOL”, remains a priority for the council.
The spokesperson said changes it had made were part of a “wider redesign” of adult education in Kent following new adult skills fund rules that prioritise skills for employment and “no real-time funding increases in over 20 years”.
Cornwall Council, Derbyshire County Council and Kent County Council are all known to have closed some of their adult learning centres in the last year following national funding reductions for adult education.
Caroline McDonald, CEO of adult education sector body HOLEX, said Jenkyns’ plans were “an interesting development and one to watch”.
She added: “While it’s vital for integration that those making the UK their home can learn the language, positioning language development more firmly within the essential skills framework could, if managed well, strengthen pathways and progression.”
Local power
The government told FE Week that decisions on how adult education funding is spent are down to local authorities.
It added that devolved areas can decide how to support local and national skills needs, but should publish annual skills reports setting out how they have used funding.
It comes as the government announced plans to review the national essential skills offer, including ESOL, to ensure it helps people “progress into and within employment”.
In its immigration white paper earlier this year, the government also announced plans to impose tougher language requirements for immigrants applying to extend their visa or settle in the UK, alongside a promise to “make it easier” for people who need “additional help”.
