Here are 3 ways to improve inclusivity in apprenticeships

Existing apprenticeship providers should reach out to smaller businesses to encourage them to offer training, writes Linda Martin

It’s a turbulent time for the planet’s young people.

The increasing likelihood of recession, heightened awareness of the climate crisis, continued displacement of people from war-torn countries – there are plenty of reasons why our youth are facing exclusion from learning and upskilling.

Apprenticeships offer a unique opportunity to level this playing field. As they allow people to earn money while they acquire skills, they can improve social mobility for all.

What’s more, anyone can apply for one, no matter their previous experience or qualifications.

This means that individuals who may have experienced complete exclusion from the professional sphere can enter an industry of their choosing with sustained, proper support from the outset.

Yet as the call for equality grows even louder, it’s important to recognise what more we can do as end-point assessors, apprenticeship providers and employers to boost the inclusive nature of the scheme.

  1. Support a varied employer base
  2. Encourage engagement with EPA providers
  3. Support specific skill sets

Here they are in more detail below:

  • Support a varied employer base

The introduction of formalised end-point assessments (EPAs) for apprenticeships means that there is a standardised quality of training across all sectors and organisations.

No matter if the course is offered by an established leader or a start-up, EPAs offer equality by nature.

More work can be done, however, to encourage increased diversity of employers offering apprenticeships.

For example, while many larger organisations offer courses, the same can’t be said for most small businesses.

This may be because they have less time to invest in training or they don’t have the same scale of HR function that can aid in recognising and facilitating opportunities in the workforce.

They also face the challenge of having to contribute financially to the costs of training rather than having access to dedicated levy pots like their larger counterparts.

Ultimately, this means in areas where small businesses dominate, such as rural towns, young people may have less access to apprenticeships.

We, as apprenticeship providers and end-point assessors, can address this inequality by increasing levels of communication with and support for small businesses that aren’t yet offering apprenticeships.

Encouraging larger businesses to use the Levy-transfer scheme, where left over funding can be donated to another business, could also alleviate the cost for smaller firms.

  • Encourage engagement with EPA providers

By working towards an EPA there is a guarantee that the training provided will meet both the needs of the apprentice and employer upon completion.

However, to ensure that the experience throughout the course is equal across organisations and sectors, businesses should be encouraged to engage with EPA providers at an early stage.

By first familiarising themselves with the standard assessment plan, and any preparation resources the EPAO provides, employers can ensure that every employee is given the same opportunities to learn and grow throughout the course.

This will also mean apprentices aren’t left vulnerable to any surprises that may knock their confidence in the assessment process, allowing each student equal access to success.  

  • Support specific skill sets

The wide-ranging assessment formats available as part of apprenticeships, including professional discussion, written exams, and formal observation in the workplace, can open the door to students with varying experience of formal exams and academia.

We should reach out to the more marginalised members of the community and welcome them with open arms

More often than not, however, individuals will have fluctuating strengths depending on their existing personal skills. In order to foster equality, employers, providers and end-point assessors should prepare each candidate for the different styles of assessment dependent on their style of learning.

Practice professional discussions in role play scenarios; hold mock observations during busy days in the workplace; and prepare them for any written exam by ensuring the apprentice has a good factual understanding of the skills and issues relating to their role and the industry they’re entering.

All of these will ensure that no matter the apprentices prior experience, they can achieve top marks.

Particularly in the current climate, it’s time to put thoughts into action and further improve the inclusivity of apprenticeships.

As an industry we should reach out to the more marginalised members of the community and welcome them with open arms and a clear message: apprenticeships mean inclusive training opportunities for everyone.

First ‘outstanding’ inspection for Educationwise Academy Ltd

A Bristol-based training provider has received ‘outstanding’ judgements across the boards in its first full inspection. 

Educationwise Academy received an outstanding inspection results
Educationwise Academy

Outcomes from The Educationwise Academy Limited (TEAL)’s June inspection were published today in a report which praised the provider’s “meticulously constructed” curriculum and “extremely positive” relationships with “carefully selected” employers.

The firm began training apprentices in 2019 and scored top marks across the board in each Ofsted sub-judgment in its June full inspection.

Apprenticeship standards on offer include sports coaching, leadership and management and rail engineering from level 2 to level 5. There were 208 apprentices at the provider at the time of the inspection, 135 were working on apprenticeships in spots coaching and development. 

Inspectors praised TEAL’s approach to quality, stating in their report that the company “only offers apprenticeships in areas for which they have excellent staffing expertise and capacity” and that leaders prioritise working with employers that show a “strong commitment” to their apprentices.

Tutors were commended for tailoring delivery around apprentices’ existing knowledge and for adapting teaching approaches according to apprentices’ additional support needs. As a result, the report proclaims, “apprentices make significant progress in learning.”

Issues are identified and remedied quickly by leaders, according to the report, and review progress towards their “aspirational targets” on a weekly basis. 

Staff get a “daily information session” from leaders which ensures “they are ready for the day”. The specialist training and IT resources staff receive was also lauded.

Inspectors said that the majority of apprentices achieve the highest grades possible in their assessments, and they all either continue to work in their industry or progress towards a higher-level course.

The organisation’s founder and chief executive, Gavin Deane, said that Ofsted’s findings vindicated “five years of foundation building” and described the result as an “unbelievable achievement.”

“During the visit I went through a mixture of unknown feelings with excitement and concern for what the badge represents for the sector. As the founder I felt responsible but had complete confidence in the team to do what they do on a daily basis. Seeing and hearing the triangulation of information and evidence from the students, employers and tutors was phenomenal.

“Outstanding across all areas is an unbelievable achievement and for me personally and justification for the last five years of foundation building. Moving forward this provides us with an opportunity to shape education and employment progression for our learners and in turn support employers and the wider community” Deane said.

Successful bidder to run governor recruitment service revealed

Search firm Peridot Partners Ltd has been awarded just under half a million pounds to establish a new fully-subsidised governor recruitment service for college boards.

The Department for Education began its hunt for an organisation to run the service back in May and has revealed the successful bidder this week. 

In return for £458,000, Peridot must place at least 137 “diverse and lasting” individuals to college boards by the end of the 2024-25 academic year. 

The new service will be available for free for colleges identified by the Department’s regional teams and the FE Commissioner as part of its package of support measures for struggling institutions.

However colleges that are experiencing “considerable difficulty” in recruiting board chairs, committee chairs or filling skills gaps to their boards can apply for help through the new service.

The funding from DfE replaces the Inspiring FE Governance service, ran by the Education and Training Foundation, which was available to all colleges and training providers regardless of their intervention status. 

At least half of the new governors recruited through the new service, which begins this September, must be women and at least 30 per cent must be from black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds. 

Peridot is already known in the governor recruitment space, having delivered a pilot programme for the DfE in 2020-21 worth £110,000. As well as their profile in FE, the firm recruits for boards of charities, universities and multi-academy trusts.

Peridot’s director of education practice, Drew Richardson-Walsh, told FE Week the firm is “thrilled to have been selected to lead this important work again.”

“Working to support the development and enhancement of effective governance across the English FE system is something we take great pride in, and something we take very seriously.

“We look forward to bringing more new and diverse talent into FE and creating a cohort of ambassadors for their college and the sector as a whole” Richardson-Walsh said.

This summer, let’s make sure EDI initiatives aren’t just a tickbox exercise

Exploring the diverse history and stories in the local area around your college is a powerful way to include students, writes Ellisha Soanes

This year marks the second anniversary of the death of George Floyd. This tragic incident took place on 25 May 2020.

I feel the world was turned upside down, and time stood still at that very moment.

As an educator I noticed this was a catalyst for change and I observed how this unfolded in my hometown of Suffolk.

A tribute to social injustice ensued and resulted in changes being made at West Suffolk College where I work.

Black history is facilitated across the year to students, not just for one month.

There has been a ripple effect throughout the nation, not only in education but in other sectors too.

I saw equity being explored, recommendations being made, pledges, notable figures using their platform, and in-depth training taking place to develop a greater understanding of Black history and cultures, in the hope of removing the unconscious bias across the UK.

I wondered if this was just a tick box system at the time.

What sustainable models do we see two years on from this tragedy?

During the summer I’ve been reflecting on how we can continue to implement a steadfast awareness of diversity in education and beyond.

Here are four key points to remember:

  • 1) Invite your local communities into your sector/organisation. Talk about their experiences and understanding, they can help you fill in the gaps in areas that you aren’t aware of.
  • 2) If you’re in the education sector, take on a student-led approach. Their perspective is different and it’s worthwhile to let them teach you a thing or two.
  • 3) Self reflect. This is a worthwhile investment, in turn helping your organisation develop a strategy to implement change.
  • 4) Use inclusive language – terms like disadvantaged groups, urban areas, etc marginalise groups and are problematic.

It’s particularly important to invite and visit local communities and local history. I call this the ‘power of stories’.

As educators we don’t have all the answers. It’s important to understand this, and invite organisations and community groups to help develop our perspective.

One of the main achievements so far in my career is working closely with local museums, and interlinking this with local historical accounts.

I’m grateful to say I was involved in an incredible Power of Stories museum exhibition, inspired by the academy award-winning Marvel hit The Black Panther.

Various costumes worn by the film’s extraordinary cast including the late Chadwick Boseman, Letitia Wright, and Danai Gurira, have been exhibited across the county!

This includes Christchurch Mansion in Ipswich, Moyse’s Hall in Bury St Edmunds and Food Museum in Stowmarket, in association with Suffolk Museums and Aspire Black Suffolk.

This award-winning exhibition also invited those in the local community to share their accounts and build on the theme of the Power of Stories in the local black community. 

College students were our first attendees and had the opportunity to meet celebrity stylist Lisa Farrel.

Lisa also worked as a stylist on the set of The Black Panther, and provided a phenomenal master class on Afro and curly textured hair to hair and beauty students, encouraging them to gain insight on how to care for Afro hair.

Students were also able to meet Derrick Bobbington Thomas, an untold hero from the Windrush generation that was one of the first few RAF sergeants based in Suffolk.  

This was an amazing moment for public services students. It continued with an introduction to Franstine Jones, the first female president of the black police association; novelist Alex Wheatle; and Stuart Lawerence, activist and brother of Stephen Lawrence. 

Another wow moment for me was inviting a group of 60 construction students to the Power of Stories exhibit.

About 97 per cent of those young people had never set foot into a museum.

So seeing their faces when presented with these iconic costumes from an unforgettable Marvel film was priceless.

They also designed Black Panther-inspired selfie frames, which are now being toured nationally with the costumes.

Inviting those with real stories into colleges created a catalyst effect.

Finding out local history, and taking on a student-led approach, allowed students to explore a diverse history and create a bridge to link the past and present, undoubtedly influencing the future.

The students were supportive, proactive and engaged and wanted to know more about their local diverse history.

Melody Broomfield, an EDI student ambassador, has since developed Windrush workshops for her peers.

These amazing workshops were personalised and supported by the EDI team, and explored an array of topics around the Windrush generation.

These included initial job roles, travel costs on the Tilbury Essex Windrush ship and how tight-knit ethnic communities grew and adapted to life in the UK.

Melody won the prestigious EDI award for her contribution in the Eastern College Group.

A year later Melody is now a community curator. This highlights how a student-led approach can really make a difference in encouraging change.

I invite everyone to take this time over summer to reflect on how you can continue the work in your organisation and link history and the power of working with your communities.

DfE extends HGV driver training offer for another year

Support for learners to take up HGV driving qualifications have been extended for another year in a bid to get more haulage drivers on the country’s roads. 

Last year the government announced ambitions to train 4,000 new HGV drivers to tackle the shortage of haulage drivers – 3,000 to be trained through skills bootcamps and 1,000 through the adult education budget (AEB). 

The government had said the HGV offer in the AEB was under review, and on Wednesday confirmed its 2022/23 adult education budget rules would include an extension of the flexibilities for a further year.  

It means participants taking an eligible level 2 qualification to become an HGV driver will have the first attempt costs of the HGV licence and medicals covered by the government, as well as for an upgrade from a category C licence to a C&E licence – those for articulated lorries. 

A spokesperson from the Department for Education said: “Our skills bootcamps in HGV driving and HGV courses offered through the adult education budget have proved highly popular. 

“We want more adults to take advantage of these courses and get on the path to well-paid careers in the logistics sector, which is why we have extended our AEB offer for another year.” 

It is not yet clear whether the government hit its target numbers outlined last September, but it said courses had been “highly popular”. 

Latest government statistics published in March this year found that there were 27,144 practical HGV driver tests from October to December last year – more than double the same period in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In May, Logistics UK, the business group for the logistics industry, said that the driver shortage remained “chronic” but expressed “cautious optimism that initiatives introduced by government and industry in the latter part of 2021 and into 2022 are starting to yield results.” 

It said its analysis of labour survey data indicated that the number of HGV drivers in employment had fallen by just over 30,000 in the first quarter of 2022, but that was a smaller reduction than the last two quarters of 2021 at 44,000 and 49,000. 

It added: “It is vitally important that these initiatives continue at pace to maintain recruitment levels and ensure that a sustained future pipeline of skilled drivers can be available to support the supply chain as the economy recovers after the impact of the pandemic.” 

Mayors’ plan to simplify adult education funding

Simplified adult education funding is being eyed by some of England’s mayoral combined authorities this year, ahead of plans by central government to merge pots of money. 

The government is consulting on a new simpler system which will see the adult education budget (AEB) and free courses for jobs (FCFJ) funds combined into a single ‘skills fund’ – but that is not due to start until 2023/24. 

But some combined authorities, which oversee their adult education budgets under devolved powers, are eyeing tweaks this year by administering their funds through a ‘single pot’ approach to make the application process less complicated for providers. 

Currently the AEB is devolved by the Education and Skills Funding Agency to mayoral combined authorities, with a separate pot of money for the government’s free courses for jobs offer – a scheme to enable those aged 19 and above to get a fully funded level 3 qualification if they do not already have one. 

West Midlands and West Yorkshire combined authorities have said they are simplifying the process so that the two funds effectively appear as a ‘single pot’ for commissioning, to streamline the application process. 

Greater Manchester meanwhile is taking a similar approach with the FCFJ pot and its own local level 3 adult offer – around £3 million out of its AEB – which has more courses and fewer entry criteria than the national FCFJ scheme. 

The Department for Education confirmed that the FCFJ pot can only be used to fund eligible learners under criteria for that scheme – they must be aged 19 or over and it must be their first level 3 qualification, or a second qualification if they are unemployed or earn below the real living wage. 

Under a ‘single pot’ commissioning approach, it will be down to the authorities to account for funding awarded from the correct budget.  

But it said that it was up to authorities how they administered the funds as long as the grant funding conditions were met. 

It added that there is flexibility to use up to 20 per cent of FCFJ grants to fund eligible adults on government-funded technical, occupational and vocational level 3 courses in sector subjects covered by the offer if they are not on the national list of qualifications. 

A spokesperson from West Midlands Combined Authority said: “For our grant delivery planning rounds for 2022/23 with colleges and local authorities, we have brought together the funding streams of our devolved adult education budget and free courses for jobs into a single pot approach. This approach enables colleges and local authorities we work with to develop a coherent adult skills offer that supports local residents and employers.” 

The spokesperson said indicative allocations were communicated earlier this year. 

Those plans begin for the 2022/23 academic year. Its allocation for the year ahead is £131 million for the AEB and £10.9m for the FCFJ. 

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire said: “We have recently had an open and competitive tender to procure providers to deliver free courses for jobs, which will align with and complement our adult education budget.” 

The spokesperson said it will simplify the funding delineations set up by government. 

Its budget for the year ahead is £66m for the AEB and £5.5m for the FCFJ, and plans to begin the system from September this year. 

The government’s planned simpler system, due for introduction in 2023/24, will combine the AEB and FCFJ funds into a single ‘skills fund’. 

The DfE confirmed that would apply to funds administered by both mayoral combined authorities and the AEB the ESFA manages for the rest of England. 

Plans to simplify the process, which are currently under consultation, have been welcomed by combined authorities. 

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough said it wants to “hide the plumbing” of funding in the background for learners and providers, and a simplified system will help its ambition to double the number of level 3 learners. 

Tees Valley is understood to be working with DfE on a simpler process with a single pot approach where possible. 

Greater London said it believed merging pots was currently prohibited but added that “the mayor agrees there is a need to reform adult skills funding”. Sadiq Khan recently announced that he was using devolved powers to increase funding rates for courses at level 2 and below, and relax some learner eligibility criteria.

Liverpool City Region said it will be responding to DfE’s consultation shortly, and will try to minimise the administration burden on those delivering more than one devolved or delegated skills programme. 

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.