WorldSkills announces Shanghai finals replacement as UK field 35 learners

The global WorldSkills competition has lined up 15 countries to host finals this autumn to replace the cancelled Shanghai event – with Cardiff and Wrexham hosting two of the competitions.

The UK will put forward 35 learners to compete in the finals, it has been confirmed.

The WorldSkills Competition Special Edition – which brings learners from across the world in a host of disciplines to showcase their talents – had been due to hold the finals in Shanghai this October, but in May organisers called off the visit amid the country’s Covid-19 lockdown measures and ongoing prevention and control measures.

It has now been confirmed that the 61 finals will be split across 15 countries, with more than 1,000 learners taking part in total.

Two of those – aircraft maintenance and the manufacturing team challenge – will be held in the UK.

The aircraft maintenance final will be held from November 1-4 at the International Centre for Aerospace Training, part of Cardiff and Vale College, where 13 nations as diverse as Zimbabwe, South Africa, Canada, France and the United Arab Emirates will compete.

The manufacturing team challenge will be hosted by Coleg Cambria in Wrexham on the same days, featuring five nations.

It marks the first time the UK has hosted the global skills competition since Worldskills 2011 in London.

Neil Bentley-Gockmann, WorldSkills UK chief executive, said: “I look forward to welcoming young people from across the globe who are coming to the UK to go for gold.

“The WorldSkills competitions arena is a brilliant opportunity for the world’s most skilled students and apprentices to showcase their talents and to motivate and inspire more young people to make the most of their potential and develop their skills to world-class standards.”

WorldSkills UK has confirmed that 35 finalists across 29 skills will fly the flag for the UK at the finals in October and November, with welding, digital construction, lab technician and cyber security among disciplines they will be competing in.

The UK finished 12th in 2019 at the last event in Kazan, Russia.

Bentley-Gockmann said: “After the cancellations and disappointment of the past few years, young people from across the UK have demonstrated their resilience and will finally have the chance to get out there and test themselves against the world’s best.

“The WorldSkills competition arena is a huge opportunity not only to raise the profile and prestige of UK skills, but to also allow us to learn from other countries and transfer those insights to drive up training standards at home and boost the economy.”

The list of finalists is outlined below:

Students still don’t know what ‘green skills’ are

If the UK is going to attract investment in its green economy, we desperately need skilled young people to enter the sector, writes Neil Bentley-Gockmann

Last year, ahead of world leaders meeting in Glasgow for COP26, I chaired sessions on green skills for the WorldSkills International Conference looking at how educators are playing their part in the shift to more sustainable economies.

It opened my eyes to how the Indo-Pacific region, as a real powerhouse of high-quality skills and talent, is helping drive the world economy in terms of low-carbon economic development.

However, it was also clear that demand for high-quality green skills in the region is increasingly not being met because of a lack of skills supply, skills mismatches and a paucity of data on what green jobs are.

I was keen for WorldSkills UK to better understand the picture closer to home in terms of risks and opportunities.

That’s why we commissioned Learning and Work Institute to produce a report looking at the attitudes of young people and employers towards green skills.

That report, published earlier this summer, found that we risk missing crucial net zero targets.

That’s because, although young people have a strong appetite for jobs combatting climate change, their interest is being thwarted by a lack of advice and support on how to pursue a green career.

It also highlighted a stark disconnect between increasing employer demand for green skills and young people’s knowledge of what they are.

Four-fifths of young people want to work for an organisation that is committed to tackling climate change but 87 per cent said they didn’t know what green skills are.

We found that young women are especially keen to work in roles that tackle climate change, but that they are even less sure than young men about the skills they need.   

This disconnect matters because meeting the UK’s ambitions for net zero is essential for the planet, and it also holds huge opportunities for the economy and for young people.

Boosting the supply of world-class green skills can help secure inward investment, spur productivity and create highly skilled jobs across the UK.

The Skills Taskforce for Global Britain, set up last year by WorldSkills UK, found that clean technology is a growing area for inward investors seeking to help create high-quality jobs in the UK.

However to compete successfully with other countries for such lucrative investment to create jobs and drive growth, we need a skills offer which showcases our high quality technical talent.

For all these reasons, we are committed to working with our partners to develop an internationally competitive skills base for net zero.

That’s why we are leveraging our global network and working with the likes of Weston College and WorldSkills in Taiwan to share international skills best practice in offshore wind technology.

On electric vehicles we have brought together WorldSkills in Korea with Mira Technology Institute to share intelligence, as well as working with the Institute of the Motor Industry to bring electric vehicle skills into our automotive competitions programmes.

Meanwhile on renewable energy we are linking the East Midlands Institute of Technology up with WorldSkills in Kenya to help develop new national and international programmes that measure our skills against the rest of the world.

But to go further and faster, we need more partners and partnerships to help us deliver the green skills of the future, because we cannot just look to governments to make things happen.

We know that employers need green skills and we know that young people are interested in them.

So please work with us to help the UK become a world leader in green skills development that will benefit young people, the economy and the climate.

HMRC under fire from Ofsted over apprenticeships fiasco

The HMRC forced thousands of employees onto apprenticeships before realising it did not have capacity to meet their training demands – leading to the majority withdrawing from their programme.

The fiasco was revealed in an Ofsted report published today, which rated the government department as ‘requires improvement’ overall.

Leadership and management was slammed after inspectors found that the tax office, which started delivering its own apprenticeship training in 2017, made it mandatory for all employees to enrol on an apprenticeship in response to a “requirement” to increase recruitment and training significantly.

Senior leaders took the decision in 2019 to place around 2,500 new and existing civil servants on investigator officer and professional accountancy tax technician apprenticeship programmes in the tax academy.

But they soon realised this approach was “not appropriate” as they did not have the structure or capacity to support this number of apprentices, according to Ofsted.

“Furthermore, these programmes did not meet the requirements of the apprenticeship standards,” today’s report said. “This led to confusion and uncertainty for many apprentices, which was exacerbated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their job roles.”

Senior leaders subsequently took the decision to change their position on mandating employees to enrol on an apprenticeship and offered existing apprentices the option to withdraw from their programme – a choice that most tax academy apprentices opted for.

Inspectors found that those who remained on programme “did not receive sufficient support and guidance in the early stages of their apprenticeship” and therefore have not “progressed quickly enough and have had their end dates extended by a significant length of time”.

The HMRC told FE Week that the pandemic presented unique challenges to its apprenticeship programme, due to the department’s direct role in delivering financial support to customers.

A spokesperson added: “We welcome Ofsted’s report into our apprenticeship programmes and remain committed to working closely with our educational partners to further improve them, and address Ofsted’s recommendations.”

The tax office had just 168 apprentices at the time of Ofsted’s visit in June 2022. Half are apprentices in the tax academy and study for either the level 3 investigating officer programme or the level 4 accounting/taxation technicians programme. The other half are on the level 4 counter fraud professionals apprenticeship.

Despite past failures in leadership and management, the rest of HMRC’s apprenticeship delivery was judged to be ‘good’.

Inspectors found that apprentices who remain on their programme gain the knowledge, skills and behaviours that they need to carry out their roles successfully. They “value the training and support provided by experienced and expert staff, including trainers, assessors and line managers, that enables them to progress quickly to working on more complex and difficult cases”.

Ofsted reported that leaders and managers now have a “clear strategy” for the apprenticeship programmes that they provide. The three programmes that they run are “designed to address staff shortages in niche government roles, particularly tax collection and counter fraud”.

Safeguarding arrangements were found to be effective.

York and North Yorkshire secures adult education powers in devolution deal

A devolution deal for York and North Yorkshire is to be signed today which will include adult education funding transferring to local leaders.

The government’s levelling up white paper published in February confirmed devolution plans that would see York and North Yorkshire to agree a mayoral combined authority deal, an expanded mayoral combined authority deal for the north east, and invited formal negotiations with nine other areas for ‘county deals’.

Today, coinciding with Yorkshire Day, the York and North Yorkshire agreement is to be completed, which will see £540 million distributed to a new mayoral authority over the next 30 years.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities confirmed that the deal will enable York and North Yorkshire to take control of its adult education functions – including the adult education budget (AEB) and contribute to local skills improvement plans.

It is unclear at this stage how much the area’s AEB will total, but the report said that the AEB would be fully devolved in time for the 2025/26 academic year.

Other devolved responsibilities include bus franchising, regeneration plans and new house building developments.

North Yorkshire County Council leader, Carl Les, said: “The chance to secure a host of decision-making powers as well as bringing in millions of pounds of investment for North Yorkshire is a huge opportunity to shape the future of the county for many years to come.

“Whether it is improving skills and education, bringing in more investment to the region or helping improve transport links and providing much-needed affordable housing, the deal will enable us to take far greater control of our own destinies.”

Levelling Up secretary Greg Clark said: “Yorkshire Day 2022 is an historic one. It marks the return of power and resources from London to much of North Riding.

“Levelling Up – driving prosperity and opportunity in all parts of Britain – is done best when people locally can forge the future of their area. This deal is a big step in that direction.”

Currently nine mayoral combined authorities and the Greater London Authority have devolved powers over adult education, including responsibilities to decide which providers deliver AEB provision in their area.

It means they can contract provision to meet local skills need, and set their own priorities.

More than half of the adult education budget, around 60 per cent, is already handled by devolved regions. More of the AEB will be devolved as more areas secure powers. It is the government’s ambition that eventually the adult skills system is wholly devolved.

Meanwhile, negotiations are continuing with the nine areas due for county deal devolutions, with announcements on those possibly coming as early as September.

Those deals are based on three levels of devolution. Level one has the lowest level of powers with local authorities working together in a committee. Level two has a county council without a directly elected mayor but more powers than level one, while level three includes a directly elected mayor with the most powers available.

Level two and three deals include devolved adult education functions as well as input into local skills improvement plans.

Negotiations are taking place behind closed doors, meaning the nature of each areas plans are murky at best, but most appear to be pursuing level two or three deals which would include those skills and adult education elements.

Those areas are: Cornwall; Derby and Derbyshire; Devon, Plymouth and Torbay; Durham; Hull and East Yorkshire; Leicestershire; Norfolk; Nottinghamshire and Nottingham; Suffolk.

1,600 university places delayed after awarding body misses Access to HE submission deadline

An investigation has been launched after an awarding body missed the deadline for submitting Access to HE Diploma grades, resulting in 1,600 students experiencing a delay in finding out whether they have gained a university place.

The Skills and Education Group (SEG) has apologised for the “frustration and added anxiety” the blunder has caused, which has been blamed on a “file issue”. It hopes to resolve the issue within the next 24 hours.

The deadline for submitting Access to HE Diploma results to UCAS was Monday (July 25), and the deadline for the universities admissions body’s processing was yesterday (July 28).

Students were expecting to have their university place confirmed today, but those certificated by SEG will now experience a delay.

An inquiry has now been launched the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher Education, the regulator for the qualification.

In a letter to centres that deliver SEG’s Access to HE Diplomas, SEG said: “We are writing to notify you of a file issue affecting the ‘Main Results’ upload to UCAS. This issue has resulted in the ‘Main Results’ file not being processed in time, meaning learners studying our Access to HE Diplomas results will not have been confirmed to higher education institutes.

“Our team have been working hard with QAA and UCAS to rectify the issue, and this will be resolved within the next 24 hours. We would like to assure you and your learners; that specific offers made to students by universities and other institutes will stand, however there will be a delay in confirming these places.

“We understand the frustration that this may cause, and the added anxiety that this will bring to your learners, and we apologise for any inconvenience that this causes.”

QAA’s inquiry may result in regulatory action being taken, which could be as severe as removal of SEG’s licence to deliver Access to HE Diplomas.

QAA said: “We have been notified that results data files for some Access to HE Diplomas, awarded by Skills and Education Group, did not meet the deadline for results to be processed by UCAS.

“These results could not be included in the initial results transfer to higher education receiving institutions, and these students will experience a delay in finding out whether they have gained a place.”

The statement continued: “QAA deems this a serious incident, noting the potential adverse effect to students. We have therefore initiated an immediate inquiry. We will work with all parties concerned to ensure that students’ results from Skills and Education Group Access are provided to higher education receiving institutions as quickly as possible.”

Students or providers affected have been told to contact QAA officers by email on ahe@qaa.ac.uk if they have concerns about their individual situation. They can also contact SEG via ucas@skillsedugroup.co.uk.

SEG is one of 11 Access Validating Agencies (AVAs) who are licensed by QAA.

UCAS confirmed to QAA that results for students from all other AVAs were successfully transferred to universities yesterday.

Colleges celebrate alumni in England Women’s Euro 2022 squad ahead of final

Colleges which taught players in the England women’s football team have hailed the achievements of their former students ahead of the Euro 2022 final on Sunday.

The Lionesses defeated Sweden 4-0 in the semi-finals earlier this week to secure a place in the final at Wembley this weekend against Germany.

Among the 23-strong team are a handful of college graduates.

Jill Scott at Gateshead College

Jill Scott and Demi Stokes both studied at Gateshead College – with Scott going on to help in a coaching capacity.

Scott studied at the college’s academy for sport from 2003 to 2005 for a level 3 BTEC in sports science, going on to complete a foundation degree in sport in 2006 in partnership with the University of Sunderland.

Between 2008 and 2013, when she was part of Everton’s line-up and the international squad, Scott returned to the college to help head coach Melanie Reay with coaching and mentoring.

Stokes (main image) meanwhile attended the college’s sport academy from 2008 to 2010 to achieve a level 3 BTEC in development coaching and fitness, and a level 4 diploma in sport and recreation.

David Alexander, principal and CEO of Gateshead College said: “It’s a fantastic achievement to reach the final and we’re all immensely proud to have two Gateshead College alumni, Jill Scott and Demi Stokes, in the squad, they are a real inspiration to all our students. 

“Along with the whole country, everyone at Gateshead College will be cheering on the Lionesses this Sunday and it would be great to welcome Jill and Demi back for a visit with the trophy.”

Ella Toone at Wigan & Leigh College

Midfielder Ella Toone, who scored in the team’s 2-1 quarter final win over Spain, studied at Wigan & Leigh College for a level 3 national extended diploma in sports science from 2018.

Gareth Hayes, head of sport at the college, said: “Since she left college, we have continued to watch Ella’s football career flourish. We are extremely proud of what she has achieved.

“From making her first team debut for Manchester United, to scoring a crucial goal for England in the Women’s Euros 2022, her performance has been nothing short of exceptional.

“As a Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) accredited college, we are extremely proud of how we support our athletes with a dual career, offering a flexible approach to their studies to support academic performance, alongside their professional sport commitments.

“Ella is a true inspiration to the next generation of athletes and we look forward to seeing what she will accomplish in the future.”

Striker Bethany England attended Barnsley College, where she is understood to have studied A-levels in citizenship, health and social care, law and sociology.

Luke Forgione, performance and athlete development co-ordinator at the college, said: “Beth is an inspiration for all. A woman that comes from our town and represents the Barnsley values so well.

“Like many girls, Beth fought against all odds to play the game of football and is part of an England women’s team that is reaching new heights. Here at Barnsley College, we are immensely proud of her achievements,  and she is an inspiration for many.

Bethany England playing for England

“Beth’s story shows what can be achieved with hard work, dedication, and sacrifice. Beth has shown football is for all, she is a hero on and off the pitch. This girl definitely can.”

Deputy principal for culture, place and communities, Liz Leek, added that the college is “rightly proud” of Beth and those who helped her realise her talent, adding: “Our sports academy provides opportunities for young people to shine and Beth is one of the shiniest! We are all delighted that Beth is one of our alumni and everyone will be cheering her on this Sunday.”

The squad secured a 1-0 win over Austria before trouncing Norway 8-0 and breezing 5-0 over Northern Ireland in the group stages. A 2-1 win over Spain in the quarter finals was followed by a 4-0 crushing of Sweden in the semis to reach the Wembley final.

Kick-off for Sunday’s final is at 5pm.

DfE opens £32m injection fund bids for higher technical qualifications

Bids have opened for an eight-figure pot of government cash to boost delivery of level 4 and 5 higher technical qualifications.

The Department for Education today opened the applications for the £32 million Higher Technical Education Skills Injection Fund, which is to be used for investing in equipment and resources for providers delivering approved higher technical courses.

But bidders must predict the number of learners they expect in their applications for the cash, and risk clawbacks if they don’t hit 80 per cent of those numbers.

The DfE said the aim of the fund is to “create additional capacity to grow and deliver high quality level 4/5 provision and HTQs”.

The funding will be used for newly approved occupational routes in digital; construction; and health and science for September 2023 or January 2024 delivery.

An ‘early adopter’ opportunity to apply for funding to support higher technical qualification routes in business and administration; education and childcare; engineering and manufacturing; and legal, finance and accounting, which are earmarked for September 2024 or January 2025 delivery, is also available.

The pot is made up of £22 million for capital costs such as specialist equipment, perpetual software licenses and refurbishing existing facilities. The cash cannot be used for constructing new buildings though.

The remaining £10 million of the fund is for resources such as upskilling technician staff, curriculum planning, or learner recruitment events.

The DfE said the fund is open to further and higher education establishments, independent training providers and existing Institutes of Technology.

Providers with an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted rating and those not registered with the Office for Students will not be able to make a bid.

The formula for grants will be based on predicated learner numbers, with funding capped at £5,000 per learner, but the DfE stressed the final amounts will be based on the number of successful applications.

It said there were no minimum learner numbers, but did expect a “viable cohort”, and warned that funding clawbacks could be used where providers failed to reach 80 per cent of their predicted numbers.

In addition, Institutes of Technology can benefit from a 10 per cent uplift in funding, while some providers in designated Local Skills Areas – places where skills-based interventions are taking place as part of the Government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda – can secure a 5 per cent uplift.

Applications must be submitted by the end of October 5 and include details of predicted learner numbers and spending plans. Funding allocations are set to be confirmed in late November or December.

Monitoring and evaluation returns are also among the conditions of funding.

The DfE said: “The government is committed to growing high quality Level 4/5 provision to help raise productivity and unlock potential. This is a key part of the post-18 skills system reforms given the skills shortages and employer demand. Growing high quality Level 4/5 provision includes increasing uptake of higher technical qualifications.

“In the government response to the higher technical education consultation (July 2020), the Department for Education set out the government’s plans to make higher technical education a more popular and prestigious choice that provides the skills employers need. The reforms include a new national approval scheme to identify HTQs that meet employers’ skills needs, improving the quality of higher technical education, and encouraging more people to take higher technical education courses.”

It added that it wants to “ensure that, over time, HTQs are established as a flagship offer at Level 4/5”.

The full conditions of the pot are available on the government website here.

The PM-hopefuls need a plan for missed traineeship targets

Instead of taking back unspent cash, the DfE and Treasury should look at reallocating this underspend as a new training allowance, writes Ian Ross

It is hard to escape the media frenzy and coverage of the Conservative Party leadership contest. 

Most of us have probably thought about what the next Tory government will have in store for the FE sector. 

While politicians and ministers have short shelf lives, the imminent change in leadership gives us the opportunity to influence the FE agenda. 

Undoubtedly the next prime minister will want to differentiate their premiership after Downing Street has been rocked by months of scandals. 

One quick fix to addressing youth unemployed is to tweak traineeships.

In Wales, where skills funding is devolved to the Welsh government, young people on a traineeships programme receive a weekly training allowance, paid dependent on learner attendance. That is now part of the Jobs Growth Wales+ initiative.

For example, young people on the Jobs Growth Wales+ engagement strand receive a weekly training allowance of £35 per week.

Meanwhile those young people on the advancement strand receive £55 per week. 

It is worth highlighting that in Wales this does not affect their universal credit entitlement. 

This means those receiving universal credit who are in the intensive work search group can take advantage of more sector-specific training while still receiving financial support. This training can range from digital skills to social care and engineering.

As it currently stands, in England jobseekers can also take part full-time in the free Department for Education skills bootcamps for up to 16 weeks.

Ministers in England had hoped to achieve 43,000 starts on the traineeships scheme in 2021-22 after investing an additional £126 million through the Chancellor’s budget last year. 

This was on top of a £111 million investment to achieve 36,700 traineeships in 2020-21.

But the target was missed by more than half, with only 17,400 starts.

It resulted in the Department for Education handing £65 million of the funding back to the Treasury. 

It’s a travesty so much traineeship cash is returning to the Treasury

The Chancellor’s goal was to triple the number of starts on the pre-employment programme after 14,900 were achieved in 2019-20. 

A similar underspend is looking likely for this year as figures show just 8,900 traineeship starts in the first half of 2021-22 between August to January.

In February to April 2022, 455,000 young people aged 16-24 were unemployed. The number who are economically inactive stands at 2.61 million. 

Meanwhile 61,000 more young people have become economically inactive compared to pre-pandemic levels, an increase of two per cent.

Paying young people a training allowance in England will incentivise young people to sign up to a traineeship. 

With the cost of living crisis continuing to bite, providing a £35 to £55 per week training allowance will make traineeships more accessible for young people.

As inflation continues to rise young people who claim universal credit will find the real value of their benefits decline.

As young people spend more on essentials like rent or bills, this is a serious problem that we must solve. It’s crucial so that young people are not excluded from participating in a full-time skills programme.

And although the former chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is to be congratulated for investing in traineeships, in my opinion it is a travesty that so much of this funding is being returned to the Treasury. 

From our own experience we find that many young people think short-term and opt for whatever pays more, often opting for a minimum wage part-time job over a Traineeship. 

Part-time employment may provide short-term income. But a traineeship is a longer-term investment in their skills and qualifications, enabling learners to widen their future opportunities including moving into apprenticeships with better career prospects and pay. 

My preferred option is for the DfE and Treasury to look at reallocating this underspend as a new training allowance.

I believe this will greatly help towards achieving the government’s ambition of tripling traineeships. 

Another option is giving traineeships providers the flexibility to use their existing funding allocations to pay discretionary training allowances. 

If Conservative Party leadership candidates are serious about addressing youth employment, now is a good time to announce their position.

Strike threat cancelled after Merseyside college ups staff pay offer from 1% to 9.8%

Staff at the Hugh Baird College in Merseyside have secured a pay deal up to 9.8 per cent plus additional leave, according to the University and College Union.

The UCU said the pay deal struck at Hugh Baird College, which bests the current 9.1 per cent inflation rate, included a £2,668 uplift to the starting salary of lower paid staff.

In addition, all staff will get a £500 non-consolidated payment, and an additional three days of annual leave per year.

The union said the total offer amounted to a rise of up to 9.8 per cent.

The deal comes after UCU members voted to strike last month unless the college’s original offer of 1 per cent was significantly improved.

UCU regional official Martyn Moss said: “We welcome this agreement and management’s recognition that pay must improve to mitigate the effects of the cost-of-living crisis.

“This deal shows what can be achieved when union members stand together and demand better. It is a testament to the will of our members and their determination to bargain for a fairer deal, and shows there is no excuse for other colleges across the country to offer real-terms pay cuts, whilst ignoring the severity of the cost-of-living crisis facing staff.”

The news comes after ballots across a host of English colleges resulted in 39 voting in favour of strike action this autumn.

The UCU rejected a 2.5 per cent offer from the Association of Colleges in June, describing it as “totally unacceptable”. That had been increased from first 1 per cent and then 2.25 per cent.

Earlier this month Capital City College Group agreed to a 9 per cent rise for staff on £30,000 or under, with 5 per cent for those on £30,001 and £45,000.

A UCU report in July said that seven in 10 respondents to its survey would seek new employment in other sectors unless pay and conditions improved.

A spokesperson from Hugh Baird College said: “In September 2021, the college launched a bold five-year strategic plan. Attracting and retaining high quality teaching staff who share our vision and our values is central to our people strategy, and has heavily influenced the shape of the pay agreement reached.

“We want our staff to feel valued and rewarded for the work they do in delivering the best possible experience for our students.

“In service of our strategy and following productive discussions with the UCU, we have reached an agreement on a two year pay settlement, backdated to August 1 2021.”