Latest news from FE Week

Why we’re bringing employers into education earlier

For centuries, university has been the more traditional and default destination for young people, with vocational education seen as the ‘alternative’. We need to broaden the conversation around what success after school can look like, with vocational and technical education such as degree apprenticeships offering valuable alternatives to a university degree. This is particularly important as more young people than ever are showing an interest in these types of qualifications.

By working closely with schools, sixth forms, colleges and universities, we can help young people understand the full range of routes available to them – from apprenticeships and higher technical qualifications such as HNCs, HNDs and HTQs, through to degree-level study.

So, why is there such a significant mismatch between what employers need and what young people are learning in school? And, why are young people hesitant to venture into construction careers when there is such a desperate need in our local economy?

Largely, the issue comes down to a widespread misunderstanding of the opportunities available in practical industries. Construction offers some of the clearest and quickest routes into well paid, meaningful careers, with fields such as digital and AI, green construction and heritage skills becoming increasingly important within nationally significant infrastructure projects.

Once qualified, construction professionals are also much more likely to start their own businesses and employ others as a result. But many people are simply unaware of the breadth of opportunities available in practical careers.

As the Construction Technical Excellence College (CTEC) for the East of England, West Suffolk College was one of just 10 colleges selected to take part in a £100 million national government-backed programme to transform the quality and perception of construction education.

An employer-first curriculum

A distinguishing feature of our curriculum at West Suffolk College is that learning isn’t aimed towards employment once students finish with us. It is co-designed, co-created and co-delivered by employers throughout our students’ journeys in our education group’s schools, from primary age onwards.

Rather than leaving employment to simply just the traditional careers fair, we work with employers to offer work experience opportunities and shape all learning from our skills content to our equipment, delivery methods and assessment approaches. Once our students leave, our employer partners offer a range of progression pathways where they can build on what they have already learned. The result is a talent pipeline that meets local employer needs, with students building relationships with businesses long before they complete their studies.

Exploring a world of opportunities

The construction industry extends far beyond the ‘classic’ roles. Digital construction, robotics, infrastructure skills and modern construction methods are exciting and rapidly expanding sectors at the cutting edge of the UK’s economy, while sustainability or project management roles might excite young people wanting to drive the bigger picture.

Heritage crafts like thatching, flint knapping and stained-glass restoration might sound outdated, but they are in high demand. They play a critical role in conservation efforts and are key to the net zero restoration of a number of different types of buildings. To recognise this, and to ensure that we produce qualified experts to all the industries that sit under the umbrella of construction, we have made them a key pillar of our educational provision.

Building the future

For too long, we have measured success through a narrow academic lens while overlooking the practical skills that build our roads, homes and nationally significant infrastructure projects, restore our heritage, drive innovation and power economic growth.

There are signs, however, that this is beginning to change. The government’s recent announcement of new V Levels, including a potential Building and Construction pathway from 2029, is recognition that young people should have the opportunity to develop practical and technical skills alongside a strong academic core. That is a welcome step, but we also need to continue to strengthen links between education and employers, giving young people the chance to understand where these skills can take them.

We should ask ourselves a simple question: are we preparing young people for the world as it is, or for the world as we imagine it ought to be? If we are serious about tackling skills shortages, reducing youth unemployment and building a more resilient economy, then practical, employer-led education must become the central part of our national education strategy.

Philip Le Feuvre named new NCFE chief executive

Awarding organisation NCFE has appointed Philip Le Feuvre as its new chief executive, alongside two other senior leadership changes following the death of David Gallagher.

Le Feuvre, currently chief operating officer at the awarding organisation, will take over from Gallagher, who died in July. Gallagher had led the education charity since 2019.

Kris Todd, chief financial officer, has been appointed to a new deputy chief executive role, retaining his existing finance responsibilities.

Janine Oliver, currently director of product and standards, will become chief commercial officer in another newly created role.

All three will take up their new positions on 9 November. The appointments were confirmed by NCFE’s board of trustees following a competitive internal recruitment process.

Le Feuvre joined NCFE as chief strategy officer in 2020 before becoming chief operating officer.

A former primary school teacher, he previously worked in PwC’s strategy team in London and Sydney, advising clients across education and employment.

He said it was a “privilege” to lead NCFE into its next chapter.

“NCFE has an extraordinary heritage and a powerful charitable purpose. Our ambition is to build on those foundations, embracing change, innovation and new partnerships to extend our reach and impact,” he said.

“Above all, I want to make sure we stay focused on the people we exist to serve, helping more learners develop the skills, confidence and opportunities they need to succeed.”

Todd joined NCFE in 2015, having previously worked at the college group NCG.

He said his priorities would include “growth and diversification”, embedding innovation and technology in NCFE’s work, and exploring ways to extend its reach in the UK and internationally.

Oliver, who became director of product and standards in 2023, has more than 20 years’ experience in education, skills and workforce development, including a previous role at Skills for Health.

Her newly created position will focus on product development, customer relationships and sustainable commercial growth.

Deborah Jenkins, chair of NCFE’s board of trustees, said the appointments marked a “transition into a new era”.

“This has been a challenging year for NCFE, irrevocably coloured by the tragic loss of David, but it has brought out the remarkable strength and resilience of our workforce, not least the executive team, who have led the organisation with great skill and compassion without losing any focus on quality,” she said.

“We will never forget David, but I am confident that he would have been as delighted as I am to entrust the organisation he loved so much to the leadership of Philip and Kris and the new configuration of our talents.”

Dame Mary Beard crowned lifelong learning champion

Celebrity historian Mary Beard has been honoured as a champion of lifelong learning at this year’s Get the Nation Learning awards.

The bestselling author, broadcaster and classicist joins the British Army and Walsall Football Club among 12 winners of this year’s celebrations, which also recognised colleges, adult education providers and inspirational learners.

Beard received the lifelong learning ambassador award for making classical history accessible through her books and television programmes. She is also a fellow of City Lit and an advocate for women in academia.

She follows former politician Ed Balls, who won the award last year.

The awards, organised by Learning and Work Institute (L&W), were presented at the Royal Society in London on Wednesday as part of Get the Nation Learning week.

The British Army was named employer of the year for its commitment to essential skills, social mobility and preparing service personnel for civilian careers.

Walsall FC won the talent is everywhere award for a training programme developed with Pilot IMS, which helps local residents gain qualifications and paid matchday work in spectator safety, security and event operations.

Among the FE winners, Newham College received the net zero hero award for its green skills provision in construction, engineering and retrofit. Its offer includes 22 short courses in sustainability and low-carbon construction.

Westminster Adult Education Service was named learning provider of the year for programmes spanning English, maths, ESOL, digital skills and apprenticeships, particularly for adults facing barriers to education.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority took the regional growth award for using devolved adult education powers to align training with local jobs and employers.

Academy Transformation Trust Further Education (ATTFE) won the stronger communities award for its Stop the Bleed initiative, teaching thousands of people first responder skills for serious incidents.

Two individual learners were also recognised.

Stacy McKeown, from Salford, received the patron’s award from the Princess Royal after progressing from unemployment and personal hardship into an adult social care apprenticeship and higher education.

Aiden Tsen won the new directions award after spending five years out of education, employment and training amid health challenges. He entered the NHS through a King’s Trust programme, completed three FE qualifications and is now studying for an access to higher education diploma.

Elsewhere, Adult Literacy Trust won the essential skills award for its volunteer reading coaches, while Barts Health NHS Trust took the learning with technology award for developing staff digital, data and AI skills, including through apprenticeships.

Adult Learning North Yorkshire received the healthier futures award for supporting residents who may be experiencing isolation, poor mental health or long-term inactivity through community learning and one-to-one conversations.

Stephen Evans, L&W’s chief executive, said the winners demonstrated the benefits of learning for “individuals, communities and our society as a whole”.

The learning age never ended. The funding just dried up

It’s almost 30 years since a Labour government relatively new to office was thinking about how to respond to a new IT revolution and spread opportunity to all. Part of its response was the learning age green paper, published by David Blunkett as education secretary, arguing that lifelong learning could hail a “renaissance for a new Britain”.

The argument was that new technology created new opportunities, but lifelong learning would be crucial to take advantage of them, particularly given an aging population.

Thirty years later, lots has changed, but lots is still the same. Today, a Labour government wonders about the impacts of AI (among other things). But how has that ‘learning age’ gone? Around two in five (43 per cent) adults told Learning and Work Institute’s Adult Participation in Learning Survey that they have taken part in learning in the last three years, little changed from 40 per cent in 1996 when the survey first started.

So was the learning age a damp squib? No, because adult learning has been transformed and adults’ interest in learning remains remarkably resilient. What has changed is how people learn and the opportunities available to them.

The lifelong learning revolution

Accelerated by the pandemic, Britain has experienced something close to a technological revolution in lifelong learning. Online learning has become mainstream, with almost half of learners now studying entirely online.

Learning for leisure and personal interest has expanded dramatically and now accounts for almost half of all learning activity. Self-directed learning, enabled by apps, online platforms and digital resources, has moved from the margins towards the mainstream. Far from abandoning learning, adults have found new ways to pursue it.

But sadly opportunities to convert that learning into recognised skills, qualifications and career progression have become more limited.

Adult skills funding in England remains around £1 billion lower than in 2010, while employer investment in training has fallen one third in the last twenty years. Adults may be finding new ways to learn, but too often without access to the structured opportunities that help turn learning into economic mobility and workforce development.

The inequalities that blighted access to education for adults in the 1990s remain. We estimate that class-based inequalities mean three million lost learners, and that people are 3 per cent less likely to learn with each year older they get. Feeling “too old” has become one of the most commonly reported barriers to learning.

This matters because the case for lifelong learning is becoming stronger, not weaker. Net zero, AI, and longer working lives each require people to update their skills and retrain more often. In previous generations, economic change could often be absorbed as older workers left declining industries and younger people entered growing sectors. That model no longer works. Four in five people who will make up Britain’s workforce in 2035 have already left full-time education. Future prosperity will depend increasingly on their ability to keep learning throughout their careers.

And learning delivers benefits beyond learning too. More than nine in ten learners report positive outcomes, including improved confidence, greater enjoyment of learning, stronger social connections and better wellbeing. Older learners are especially likely to report health and wellbeing benefits, highlighting the contribution learning can make to tackling loneliness and supporting healthy ageing.

Things can only get better?

The central lesson from thirty years of evidence is therefore not that lifelong learning has failed. Rather, adults’ enthusiasm for learning remains undimmed, but opportunities to take that learning further have not kept pace. Technology has opened up new possibilities. People have embraced them. Governments and employers have too often failed to match that energy with investment.

The challenge for the next decade is not simply to raise participation. It is to ensure that the lifelong learning revolution becomes genuinely universal, giving people of every age and background the chance to develop new skills, improve their lives and adapt to a rapidly changing world. Until then, Britain will continue to have a learning revolution whose benefits remain unevenly shared.

Learning Curve subsidiary hit with ‘urgent improvement’ blow

Poor attendance and low achievement on access to higher education courses have resulted in two ‘urgent improvement’ judgments for a subsidiary of major training provider network Learning Curve Group (LCG).

Profound Services Limited, based in Durham and part of LCG since 2018, was handed Ofsted’s lowest rating for achievement and participation and development in adult learning programmes, in a report published today.

It also received three ‘needs attention’ judgments, including for leadership and governance and inclusion, alongside three ‘expected standard’ ratings for apprenticeships delivery.

Profound is led by Tracey Fletcher-Ray, who became LCG’s chief executive in May following the departure of the group’s high-profile leader Brenda McLeish.

At the time of Profound’s last Ofsted inspection in 2022, the provider was judged to be ‘good’ overall, while adult learning programmes were considered ‘outstanding’.

Ofsted’s report noted that many leaders at the provider are “very new to the organisation or recently promoted”. Alongside a newly appointed governance board, they “generally understand the quality of their provision, particularly regarding apprenticeships”.

However, inspectors criticised leaders for failing to “accurately identify several weaknesses” in access to higher education programmes, such as low attendance, low participation in learning and poor assessment of learners’ gaps in knowledge.

Profound had 112 adult learners studying for access to higher education diplomas at the time of its inspection in September. It holds a £328,119 advanced learner loans facility with the Department for Education.

The provider recorded an overall adult learning achievement rate of 57 per cent in 2024-25, compared to the national average of 87 per cent.

Ofsted’s report said achievement on higher education diploma courses had remained “consistently very low and shows no sign of improvement”.

Achievement rates for learners with a declared learning need were also “significantly lower than those without”, inspectors said.

Learners who complete the diploma gain the grades needed to attend university. But despite this, a “significant proportion” of these learners do not progress to university.

Many adult learners at Profound are returning to education after long periods of time. But inspectors found that leaders do not consistently identify or address barriers to learning, including for learners who speak English as an additional language, lack level 2 qualifications in English or maths, or have demanding personal circumstances such as caring responsibilities.

The few learners who need to gain formal qualifications in English and maths alongside their higher education diplomas are not supported “well enough to achieve these”. Inspectors said this “too often” prevents them from securing university places.

Low attendance drives poor achievement

Leaders and teachers were criticised for not requiring learners to attend their classes.

Adult learners are “not prepared well” for attending university or entering employment in sectors such as health or teaching because they miss taught sessions, do not catch up with their work, and miss out on opportunities to share experiences and develop additional knowledge and skills alongside their peers.

Profound’s main area of delivery is apprenticeships. The provider currently trains 464 apprentices across a range of standards within the care, housing, logistics and digital sectors.

Although Profound’s overall apprenticeship achievement rate was 44 per cent for 2024-25, compared with a national average of 65 per cent, Ofsted praised the quality of this delivery and said the proportion of apprentices who stay and complete their apprenticeships on time is increasing.

A spokesperson for Learning Curve Group said: “We take Ofsted’s findings extremely seriously, and an improvement plan is already in place to address this specific area of our wider provision.

“We also welcome Ofsted’s positive assessment of Profound’s apprenticeship provision and confirmation that safeguarding standards are met.”

FE Week has asked the DfE whether it plans to take any action against Profound following Ofsted’s judgment.

The department typically terminates a provider’s contract following ‘urgent improvement’ ratings for apprenticeship delivery.

Third of FE staff plan to leave sector

More than a third of further education staff are actively planning to leave the sector – with workload, pay and stress among the biggest reasons for wanting to quit, a new Department for Education survey has revealed.

The survey of 4,440 leaders, managers and teachers found that 37 per cent intend to exit FE. A further 17 per cent were unsure about their future.

Just 42 per cent said they had no plans to leave.

The findings come as FE faces a deepening recruitment and retention crisis, with colleges and providers struggling to fill vacancies as growing numbers of school leavers enter the sector.

The survey was carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research between November 2025 and January 2026 across general FE colleges, sixth-form colleges, independent training providers and adult community learning providers.

Among those planning to leave within the next five years, 63 per cent said workload and working hours were a factor, while 57 per cent cited pay.

A lack of career progression was cited by 30 per cent, while 29 per cent said a lack of recognition or appreciation had influenced their decision.

College staff more likely to consider leaving

Colleges face the biggest retention challenge. Just 36 per cent of staff at general FE and sixth-form colleges said they had no plans to leave the sector, compared with 55 per cent at independent training providers and adult community learning providers.

The survey found that 44 per cent of general FE college staff and 43 per cent of sixth-form college staff were planning to leave in the next five or more years. The equivalent figure for independent training providers and adult community learning providers was 23 per cent.

Managers with teaching responsibilities were most likely to leave followed by teachers, while leaders and managers with no teaching responsibilities were most likely to stay in the sector.

The technical report’s statistical modelling also reported that part-time staff were more likely to report an intention to leave than full-time staff.

Just 33 per cent of part-time staff who combined FE work with another profession, known as dual professionals, said they had no plans to leave the role.

Workload and stress

Almost three-quarters (72 per cent) of respondents said they experienced work-related stress.

The proportion was higher among staff with teaching responsibilities, reaching 82 per cent among managers who teach and 72 per cent among teachers.

This compared to 67 per cent of leaders and 64 per cent of managers without teaching responsibilities.

The research also reported that 40 per cent of FE staff believe their workload was unacceptable, compared with 45 per cent who agreed it was acceptable.

Full-time teachers reported working an average of 43.4 hours during their most recent full working week, while full-time managers with teaching responsibilities reported the longest hours, at 47.2.

More than four in ten respondents (44 per cent) agreed that unfilled vacancies had increased their workload.

The technical report’s statistical modelling found that staff who experienced work-related stress were more likely to report an intention to leave, while those who considered their workload acceptable were less likely to do so.

Don’t pay, we’ll walk away

Pay has continued to be a major concern, with 57 per cent of respondents saying they were dissatisfied with their current salary.

More than half (58 per cent) disagreed that FE offered a good salary compared with alternative careers they could pursue, while 54 per cent were dissatisfied with their longer-term salary prospects.

Teachers were particularly negative about their pay.

Just 19 per cent of teachers in general FE colleges said they were satisfied with their salary, compared with 27 per cent in sixth-form colleges and 36 per cent in independent training providers and adult community learning.

The majority of leaders reported being satisfied with the salary they currently receive.

The report’s modelling stated that higher pay satisfaction was associated with a lower intention-to-leave score.

Recruitment pressures

The survey also reported that engineering and manufacturing was the most common area in which it was difficult to recruit skilled teachers, identified by 30 per cent of leaders.

Construction was cited by 29 per cent and digital and IT by 26 per cent.

The findings chime with an Association of College survey published in November 2025 which found teacher shortages and lack of space had forced most colleges to close enrolments on construction courses – with over half setting up waiting lists to train tradespeople.

Maths was the most difficult academic subject to recruit to, identified by 31 per cent of leaders, followed by English at 20 per cent, the DfE’s research added.

Leaders and managers most often identified salaries compared with industry and schools as barriers to recruitment.

This is “particularly important in subjects where staff have strong external labour market opportunities, such as engineering, construction and digital, and in areas where FE competes directly with schools for qualified teachers, such as for teachers of mathematics and English,” researchers said.

The pay gap between school and FE teachers is currently around £10,500.

A collective nationwide ballot of college staff is expected to be staged in the coming weeks by the University and College Union.

But FE staff do value their work

Despite the concerns, the survey found that staff continued to value the purpose of working in FE.

Three-quarters (74 per cent) said that making a difference to learners’ lives was one of the best or most rewarding aspects of their job.

More than half (54 per cent) cited building positive relationships, while 36 per cent said teaching their vocational or subject specialism was rewarding.

Around two-thirds of respondents were satisfied with working in FE overall.

However, the researchers concluded that “intrinsic motivation is unlikely to be sufficient to sustain the workforce if staff continue to experience concerns about pay, workload, wellbeing and progression”.

Awarding body competition could cut T Level fees, Ofqual suggests

Scrapping the contentious single-licence awarding body model for T Levels “may positively influence” the fees that colleges pay per student, Ofqual has said.

From 2028, the government will replace exclusive contracts for the technical qualifications with an “open market model”, similar to the system used for A Levels and most other qualifications.

The move means that for the first time, awarding organisations (AOs) will be responsible for certifying every element of a T Level, including industry placements, aggregating overall results and issuing final certificates.

Ofqual, which opened a consultation on changing its regulatory framework to align with these new duties today, said the “competitive pressures” of opening up the market could have a “positive influence” on the fees, availability and quality of the qualifications.

Currently, the government contracts four awarding organisations to deliver the 20 T Level qualifications available to students.

The average weighted T Level qualification fee reached £283.75 in 2026, compared with £76.44 for vocational and technical qualifications and £132.97 for A Levels, according to Ofqual statistics.

Fees rose by 3 per cent between the start of 2025 and 2026.

Ofqual did not estimate how much fees could reduce by.

‘Minor to moderate’ costs for AOs

Ofqual’s qualification level conditions consultation also warned that transferring responsibility for industry placements, results aggregation and issuing certificates could bring “minor to moderate” implementation and ongoing costs for awarding organisations.

Until now, the Department for Education has overseen the completion of industry placements, collated parts of the T Level to determine overall results, and issued final certificates.

Under Ofqual’s proposals, awarding bodies would be responsible for collecting, checking and retaining records of industry placement declarations.

They would also have to ensure declarations are supported by evidence, aggregate results and comply with the DfE’s published subject content.

The rules are set to come in from September 2028 for new T Levels such as sports and social care, and from whenever the other T Levels’ single licence models come to an end.

The single awarding organisation per T Level model was introduced with the first set of technical qualifications in 2020, in contrast to most other qualifications including A Levels and GCSEs, which have a multi-awarding organisation market.

DfE officials previously called the single supplier model “incredibly challenging”.

Pearson, NCFE and City & Guilds have been the dominant holders of T Level contracts since their launch, but the latter two have gradually reduced their share of the market amid concerns the contract values did not meet delivery demands.

Following a recent relicensing round, Pearson will award 16 out of the 20 available T Levels by September 2027.

Placement oversight ‘significant’ change

The Federation of Awarding Bodies said moving to a regulated market is an “important step in the development of T Levels”.

A spokesperson said: “While changes to the regulation of the qualification element of T Levels appear relatively modest, the changes to the requirements around industry placements for awarding organisations are more significant.

“And while Ofqual’s proposal place additional responsibility on awarding organisations to receive assurance that placements have been completed, it will be important for the success of the programme that government continues to provide support around the availability of placements.”

The consultation is open for six weeks from today. Ofqual expects to publish its response and final decisions in early 2027.

Little for FE in the budget, but the hard choices are coming

John Healey’s first budget as chancellor was broadly the budget many people were expecting. It included a relatively small cost of living package, a handful of tax rises, and plenty of small measures.

But many of the big decisions, on areas such as the welfare system, public spending and the path to spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence, have largely been pushed into next year. Those decisions will not be easy: the plan to bring down government borrowing, which will be higher across the rest of the decade, relies on public service spending plans that look extremely tight.

For further education, there was little news. The government reaffirmed funding for the youth employment package announced in the spring and expanded local apprenticeship services, but there was nothing new on further education funding.

One wider measure that could affect the sector indirectly is the minimum wage. For 18- to 20-year-olds, it will rise by 3.9 per cent from April, in line with the adult rate, postponing plans for the young person’s rate to converge with the higher adult minimum wage.

So the budget had little to say directly about FE. That’s a reasonable decision for a government that has already made quite a few announcements on FE outside of fiscal events, including technical pathways from age 14 and plans to hand mayors control of 16-19 funding.

And more decisions are likely on the way. The chancellor confirmed that the government will respond to Alan Milburn’s review of young people and work before the end of the year, with a white paper to follow in early 2027.

Reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training will require action on several fronts: young people need the skills to work and the incentive to do so, and employers need to be willing to take them on.

The budget’s measures mostly work through employers. The wider questions, including what will be expected of FE providers, are likely to remain unanswered until the government responds to Milburn.

On devolution, the budget included a new framework to give mayors and local areas control of some of the revenues raised in their area. Yet there is still little detail on the prime minister’s plan to hand them control of 16-19 funding.

That leaves some basic questions open. What exactly will be devolved: all 16-19 funding or mainly technical routes? Will funding still follow students at a national rate, or will mayors set their own rates and rules? And will students’ post-16 choices materially change depending on where they live?

Looking ahead, the biggest decisions for FE are likely to come at next year’s spending review, which will set departmental budgets.

It is likely to be a difficult one. The chancellor left overall departmental spending broadly unchanged in cash terms, so higher inflation has cut its real value. Combined with existing plans to slow spending growth sharply, this implies real-terms cuts for some public services.

New decisions on defence add to the pressure. The chancellor confirmed a target of spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030, but without setting out how it will be funded. To the extent it is met by reallocating spending, it will mean less for other areas, which could include FE and adult skills.

Overall, yesterday’s budget was not hugely consequential for the FE sector. But that doesn’t mean the sector has been forgotten: we have seen quite a few consequential decisions already, and we’re expecting more to come. The government will need to make sure these decisions fit together, both in their design and, importantly, in the resources available to deliver them.

Apprenticeship provider faces closure after achievement rates judgment

An apprenticeship provider handed Ofsted’s lowest grade for poor achievement rates is facing closure after the Department for Education ended its contract.

Hundreds of apprentices at Cherith Simmons Learning and Development LLP now have a month to find alternative providers to complete their training.

The termination followed an Ofsted inspection that resulted in an ‘urgent improvement’ judgment for the provider’s apprenticeship achievement, following years of below-par rates in which barely a quarter of apprentices completed their programmes.

Cherith Simmons is at least the second apprenticeship provider to have its contract terminated after a red rating for the achievement evaluation area under Ofsted’s new report card system.

‘We didn’t really understand QAR’

The DfE’s published qualification achievement rate (QAR) data shows Cherith Simmons’ overall apprenticeship achievement rate was 29.2 per cent in 2023-24, against a national rate of 60.5 per cent. The provider’s rate was 25 per cent the year before.

No QAR data was published for the provider in 2024-25, but its leader has suggested the rate was below 10 per cent.

Achievement was the only area graded ‘urgent improvement’ for Cherith Simmons. It received ‘needs attention’ judgments for inclusion, leadership and governance, and curriculum and teaching, while participation and development was rated ‘expected standard’.

The government served notice to Cherith Simmons at the end of August and rejected the provider’s challenges to the decision.

Karan Kumar, a senior partner at Cherith Simmons, claimed the firm’s apprenticeship accountability framework showed significantly improved achievement rates of more than 60 per cent by September, but the DfE would not consider this “new evidence”.

Kumar co-bought the provider in May 2025 when it was rated ‘good’ across the board by Ofsted. But he appeared to be unaware of the seriousness of poor QARs.

He told FE Week: “We bought a business that Ofsted rated ‘good’. Honestly, at the time we didn’t really understand QAR. On the figure we inherited, achievement stood at 9.7 per cent. That was the hole we had to climb out of. On reflection, we should have dug deeper. But DfE was notified of the change of ownership and didn’t raise any concerns that the provider was failing.”

He added that the DfE imposed restrictions on the number of new apprentices the provider could recruit shortly after the takeover.

Ofsted’s latest report, published in May, said new leaders had “sensibly used their vocational and technical expertise to improve the curriculums and ensure that apprentices develop relevant knowledge and skills”.

However, “despite some progress in supporting apprentices to work towards final assessments, their actions have not been swift enough to have a positive, demonstrable impact on the proportion of apprentices who complete their programme and achieve”, it added.

‘What message does this send?’

In an email to apprentices and employers this week, Kumar said: “Unfortunately, I am writing to share some very sad and disappointing news. The DfE has decided to terminate our contract to deliver apprenticeships.”

He added that employers and apprentices would need to transfer to a new training provider from 26 November to continue their programmes.

The provider specialised in training apprentices in health and social care, digital technology, business management, water treatment and catering. Most apprentices study at level 5 or level 7.

It had almost 200 apprentices at the time of Ofsted’s inspection.

The provider “recognises this is an unsettling situation”, the email said, and would “continue to work closely with apprentices, employers and any new provider throughout the handover period”.

Kumar said his team was “extremely disappointed” by the DfE’s decision, adding that they have worked “incredibly hard” to support apprentices since acquisition of the firm. He reiterated his claim that since Ofsted’s inspection began in January, the provider’s achievement rate has risen to more than 60 per cent.

He said: “We went from 9.7 per cent to 62.8 per cent. Our accountability framework is all green. If that isn’t enough, what message does it send to every provider that inherits a problem and works to fix it? It tells them not to bother.”

The provider, which mostly employs freelance tutors and a handful of full-time staff, now faces potential closure as apprenticeships was its only operation.