Lifetime Training’s grade 3 Ofsted report published

Ofsted has officially downgraded England’s largest apprenticeship provider to a grade 3, in a report published this morning that criticises the firm’s focus on financial performance and starts over quality.

Lifetime Training was also slated by inspectors for a lack of face-to-face teaching, off-the-job training, poor achievement rates and insufficient monitoring of delivery.

While some of the provider’s almost 20,000 learners are positive about their learning experience, others have become “disillusioned and demotivated”.

But Ofsted did identify good aspects of Lifetime Training’s offer, such as the relationship between most learners and coaches, a “valuable” collaborative approach with employers, and how apprentices make a positive contribution to their workplace through the skills they have developed.

FE Week revealed yesterday that the provider was set to go from a ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’ rating overall following an inspection in May.

The report, published today, includes four ‘requires improvement’ judgements and two – for behaviour and attitudes and adult learning programmes – ‘good’ judgements.

Lifetime Training has recruited more apprentices and secured more levy funding than any other provider in the country for several years. With around 900 staff, the firm delivers to big-name employers mostly in hospitality and adult care including the NHS, KFC, McDonalds, Wetherspoons, B&Q and David Lloyd, as well as the civil service.

Most training and support sessions for learners currently take place online, but the company is gradually reintroducing face-to-face training following the pandemic.

Ofsted warned that too many apprentices find the mainly remote online learning approach “either difficult to access technically or too much like unsupported self-study”.

“They dislike the lack of face-to-face training. Too many of these apprentices have not had the continuity and consistency of support from coaching staff they have needed. Consequently, the rate and depth of these apprentices’ learning have been slowed.”

Ofsted also found that governance arrangements “are not wholly effective” because they are focused “primarily on monitoring aspects of the financial performance of the organisation, such as the number of new enrolments and those who have completed their learning”.

“Governors do not focus enough on challenging leaders to improve all aspects of the quality of provision,” today’s report added.

Inspectors said Lifetime’s newly appointed chair – Geoff Russell, who used who used to head up the Skills Funding Agency – has identified this weakness and has “firm plans to recruit more board-level expertise in quality improvement and to ensure leaders accord a higher priority to enacting whatever improvements are needed”.

Lifetime made several leadership changes just before Ofsted visited, including replacing the firm’s long-serving chief executive Alex Khan with Jon Graham who joined from JTL Training.

Ofsted found that leaders’ implementation of their curriculums “is not consistently good and does not sufficiently meet the needs of all apprentices”, while leaders have also “not been monitoring and evaluating the quality and impact of their provision with sufficient rigour or planning for improvement in ways that are specific and measurable”.

A minority of apprentices struggle to achieve functional skills qualifications in English or mathematics, which means they cannot start their end-of-course assessments.

Lifetime’s achievement rates have been falling steadily: in 2015/16 the provider recorded an overall apprenticeship achievement of 67.6 per cent, which declined to 55.3 per cent in the latest available provider-level achievement rate tables for 2018/19.

Ofsted said the provider’s leaders recognise that apprentices’ achievement rates have not been high enough in all apprenticeships, but so far, their actions to increase the proportion completing their qualifications “have had only a modest impact”.

Leaders had also “not until recently” recognised the “full extent to which apprentices have not all been getting the training they need in order to develop substantial new knowledge, skills and behaviours”.

One of the most concerning issues for Lifetime was proving that at least 20 per cent off-the-job training was being delivered to apprentices, which Cornish blamed on the pandemic.

Apprentices “too often” spend their own time completing their off-the-job training assignments at home outside of work hours, Ofsted found.

Cornish said: “We have already taken steps to address the feedback and are confident we will see a rapid and significant improvement in the areas identified during this inspection.”

Investigation: how colleges coped with the £61.4m AEB clawback

Redundancies, slashing professional development budgets and merging classes are among lengths colleges have gone to in mitigating the impact of the controversial AEB clawback (adult education budget), an FE Week investigation has found.   

Analysis of government data showed that £61.4 million had been clawed back by the Education and Skills Funding Agency from 103 institutions, where less than 90 per cent of their AEB allocation was spent in 2020/21.   

The threshold proved divisive when it was announced in March last year, after being set at 68 per cent the year before as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns limiting in-person teaching. Colleges had argued that the pandemic had continued to impact teaching and finances during 2020/21 – particularly in areas which experienced local lockdowns as well as nationwide restrictions.   

The ESFA had initially refused a business case process for colleges to explain why they should be given leniency for missing the 90 per cent target, but u-turned on that in July last year.   

Despite more than 80 per cent of those that submitted a business case being given some sort of reprieve (even if it wasn’t for the full amount they wished to retain), colleges have still suffered as a result.   

Following the recent publication of the ESFA’s AEB clawback data, most institutions have remained tight-lipped about the impact this has had, but an FE Week investigation has uncovered some of the struggles.   

Derby College Group, which was among six colleges where more than £2 million was clawed back, confirmed it had been forced to make redundancies (24 voluntary and 22 compulsory) while 24 workers were redeployed within the organisation.   

In its annual accounts for the year ending July 2021, the college said: “As a result of an announcement by the ESFA to only reduce the tolerance on the AEB funding stream to 90 per cent, significantly higher than the previous year, where there was a lesser impact on adult education for DCG, DCG undertook a major restricting [restructuring] exercise in the latter part of 2020/21 in order to compensate for the anticipated clawback of AEB funding.” 

West Nottinghamshire College had just over £2.5 million clawed back, but said its favourable cash position from an in-year surplus meant ESFA advice indicated a business case wouldn’t be successful.  

It made adjustments to its finances mid-year, which meant no staff reductions were needed, but it still had to make some changes.   

The college confirmed it had limited recruitment of new staff, as well as use of its capital budget. Budgets for areas such as staff training and development were also reduced.   

“Although it was reasonable that colleges were incentivised to deliver more AEB activity, the revised targets were too high and achieving them was always going to be immensely challenging, given the Covid-19 pandemic, with various lockdowns affecting the ability to deliver face-to-face provision,” a college spokesperson said. 

“Mansfield and Ashfield had among the highest rates of Covid infections during the second wave in early 2021, which impacted upon us disproportionately. Furthermore, the college continued to incur staffing costs and did not access support through the government’s furlough scheme, which we feel should be recognised.” 

RNN Group, which runs Rotherham, North Notts and Dearne Valley colleges, said it was unable to comment on the measures it had taken, but in board meeting minutes from October said it was “reviewing class sizes, and decisions may be taken to merge some to make them more efficient”, explaining that the AEB underachievement had been “significant”.   

A spokesperson said: “The group recognises the need to apply appropriate performance management to public funding based upon evidenced impact and remains committed to ensuring value for money and high levels of quality in public funding.   

“It is felt, however, that the significant impact of Covid-19 upon educational providers strongly focussed upon meeting the needs of both local communities and employers could have been given greater recognition.”   

RNN secured the second highest amount in its business case, at just over £1.5 million, behind only Leicester College, which was allowed to keep £2.1 million.   

Leicester had been a vocal opponent of the clawback back in March 2021, with its students’ union launching a petition with more than 5,000 signatures against the policy, albeit before the business case process had been allowed.   

In a blog post on its website prior to the business case announcement, principal Verity Hancock said the college faced having to hand back around £4 million, warning of “serious consequences” for cashflow, capital programmes and future plans.   

In the final figures Leicester had £701,000 to return. The college did not wish to comment further.   

Chichester College also declined to comment, but in its report and financial statement for the year ending July 2021 it said that additional in-year enrolments in 2021/22 may be needed to offset the clawback.   

Ruskin College had the second highest amount clawed back – £3.5 million, behind only Birmingham Metropolitan College’s £3.8 million – and cited ESFA clawbacks and Covid-19’s impact on student recruitment in its year-end financial report last July. A spokesperson from the University of West London, which acquired the college in August last year, said a strategic plan had helped move the college on to a break-even position this financial year.   

Of the 103 institutions where some level of funding was returned, 19 had more than £1 million clawed back, which included two above £3 million and four between £1 million and £2 million.   

Justifying its switch to the 90 per cent threshold back in March 2021, the ESFA said it acknowledged the situation was difficult for providers but 90 per cent was “a fair representation of grant-funded providers’ average delivery”.   

It also cited the remote learning arrangements colleges were forced to develop at the start of the pandemic as an “effective contingency” to continue delivering learning.   

In January, the Department for Education revealed that 78 providers had submitted a business case, 58 of which were from general further education colleges. Of those, 48 were successful.   

Its criteria was for providers to demonstrate that “local circumstances made it impossible for the provider to deliver at or close to the 90 per cent level” or that “applying the full amount of AEB clawback would cause significant financial difficulties for the provider”. 

Universities told to advertise drop-out rates

Universities and higher education providers are being told by ministers to advertise subject drop-out and employment rates to stop students ending up “stuck on dead-end” courses. 

Government said the plans aim to give students “genuine choice” about where to study and will “clearly identify courses with high drop-out rates and poor graduate outcomes”.

However, it will only be voluntary, non-statutory guidance. If take-up is “insufficient”, ministers may consider whether to make it mandatory. 

All providers registered on the Office for Students register will be asked to comply. However, only full-time, first degree courses are in scope. It does not apply to foundation degrees, post-graduate degrees or degree level apprenticeship standards. 

Critics say it risks “stigmatising” universities trying to help those who “aren’t academic superstars”. 

A study by the Higher Education Policy Institute found that 59 per cent of students said they’d make the same choice of university and course again. This was 64 per cent in 2019, pre-pandemic.

Michelle Donelan, higher education minister, said the guidance will “ensure that just as every advert for a loan or credit card must include basic information like the APR, every university advert should include comparable data on drop-out rates and the progression rate of students into graduate jobs or further study”. 

“Making such a significant investment in your time, money and future is not made any easier by bold university advertising, which often promises students a high-quality experience even when the statistics suggest they will be stuck on a dead-end course.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of school leaders’ union ASCL, said the matter is more complex than “dead-end courses” and that the move risks “stigmatising universities and courses which are actually trying to do the right thing for those who aren’t academic superstars”. 

“Clearly, they have to make sure that they are putting the appropriate support in place for these young people to help reduce drop-out rates and ensure good outcomes. But this is a much harder job than it is with very confident and able young people.” 

Bill Watkin, chief executive at the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said HE’s value “extends beyond its role in contributing to the employment market and future careers”. 

The guidance says that while the data is already publicly available, it generally “requires some inside knowledge and a certain amount of persistence” to access it. 

So the government wants universities to position the data “prominently” on all “institutional and subject-specific advertising”.

They suggest the font size should be the same as the main body of text, but it could be smaller than the headline. 

It should apply to all new advertising, including on web pages, social media, TV and radio and influencers. 

Nick Hillman, HEPI director, said “the decision will leave many vice-chancellors wondering whether their institutions are as autonomous as they thought they were”. 

DfE monitors staff after edict to return to the office

The Department for Education is now monitoring WiFi use to track attendance after ordering staff to return to in-person working at least four days a week.

Officials who do not physically attend an office for 30 days or more will be reported to their managers.

FE Week revealed in May how civil servants had been forced to work in corridors and canteens because the department has almost twice as many workers as desks.

The DfE confirmed this week it is tracking logins to its virtual private network (VPN) and local area network (LAN).

Headline data on attendance is shared with the Cabinet Office, where the mandate to return to the office originated. Individual data is passed to senior civil servants so they can have discussions with those not coming in.

Helen Kenny, a national officer at the FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, said it was “very disappointing” the DfE “continues to waste time and energy tracking when staff are in the office, rather than accepting that the world of work has fundamentally changed”.

“FDA members have proven themselves to be just as, if not more, productive when working remotely, and government departments should move with the times. Work is what you do, not where you do it.”

Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, ordered staff to return to the office at least four days a week earlier this year. It followed a government-wide edict from efficiency minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, who visited departments and left notes for absent officials.

But the push backfired because the DfE, which encouraged flexible and hybrid working before the pandemic, has far more staff than desks.

Staff outnumber desks by almost two-to-one across the department’s 12 offices, figures seen by FE Week show. In Leeds, there are just 24 desks for 110 staff. Bristol has 95 desks for 299 people.

There was further criticism at the end of May when staff at the department’s overcrowded Sheffield office, which has nearly double the number of staff than desks, struggled to evacuate after a “suspect package” was discovered.

The order to leave resulted in queues in the stairwell and congestion on upper floors.

A DfE spokesperson said its approach “fits with the amount of desk space we have, gives us full and vibrant offices but also retains flexibility to work in different ways when needed.

“This is good for our business and staff – and good for the children and learners we serve every day.”

Thousands of students could be left without a qualification to study

Unless ministers take a slower, more iterative approach to T Levels, our analysis suggests many learners could be left without a course at all, writes David Hughes

The English qualification system is a complex beast, so reforming it is tricky.

There is a lot to consider and a lot at stake: the credibility and currency of thousands of qualifications run by hundreds of awarding organisations, the engagement of the teachers and education providers who deliver them and the trust and understanding of employers and HE providers.

And most importantly, the hopes and ambitions of the students who will take and use these qualifications is at stake.

There is also the challenge of maintaining integrity across time so that, for instance, ‘old’ qualifications are not debased because of new ones. 

It’s a fragile balance which needs sensitive handling, clear communications and strong stakeholder management with a diverse range of people and institutions who ‘use’ qualifications – students, parents, employers, universities, colleges, schools, teachers, advisers etc. 

In England, we are in the middle of several simultaneous reform programmes. One strand is the new T Levels and higher technical qualifications, based on a premise that we support at AoC: that England needs a coherent and respected set of technical qualifications that help to meet the aspirations of students and the needs of industry. 

With the first cohort of T Level students soon to receive their results, it’s a good time to take stock of where we are and think about how the reform roadmap might need to be adjusted. 

Ministers are understandably keen to see results quickly and yet we know that getting these reforms right will take many years.

Colleges are rightly setting entry requirements for T Levels

The current consultation on the first 160 existing qualifications for which funding will be removed because of ‘overlap’ with T Levels has heightened our concerns about the pace of reform. Our analysis suggests it could result in many thousands of students without a qualification to study. 

Some current level 3 students will find T Levels very demanding, so colleges are rightly setting entry requirements to ensure students will be successful.

Some colleges and areas of the country might struggle to deliver all of the T Levels, particularly with the challenge of finding work placements in some sectors. 

That’s why we believe the decision to cease funding for any qualifications that are deemed to overlap with the new T Levels is risky.

There are 52,920 college enrolments on the 160 qualifications in 2021/22. Of these, 44,796 are aged 16-18 and nearly all have the defunded qualification as their main aim. We do not believe that all these students would have been able to move straight on to a T Level.

And for adults, alternative qualifications might simply be unviable because of small numbers. 

If our concern comes true, it will disproportionately affect students facing the greatest disadvantage, with more young people ending up not in education, employment or training (NEET). That’s why we are asking for a full impact assessment to be carried out urgently.

Today, we are publishing our analysis to support the wider debate about how we ensure that every young person has access to the motivating, stretching and relevant education they deserve.

We would like to see a more considered, iterative approach, with time for the T Levels to become established and to prove their worth. That way, the 160 pre-existing qualifications would simply wither on the vine and defunding would be simple.

We believe T Levels have the potential to be a long-term success, if introduced in the right way, but the pace at which qualifications might cease to be funded looks high risk. We want to see more young people achieve level 3 by age 19, but our fear is that these reforms might instead result in fewer. That should worry us all.

We want T Levels to be respected, widely understood and supported by employers with exciting placements, but the approach being taken risks too much in its haste to reach that point.

NEET 16: Out of work and training 16-year-olds at highest level in nearly a decade

The number of 16-year-olds not in education, employment or training is at its highest level since 2012, new data shows.

Department for Education figures released on Thursday showed the overall NEET figure for 16-18s is down, thanks largely to a big fall in 18-year-olds considered NEET.

But the numbers for 16- and 17-year-olds not in education, employment or training is more of a concern.

FE Week has picked out the key findings from the latest stats.

16-year-old NEETs highest since 2012

The number of NEETs aged 16 in 2021 is 4.9 per cent, according to the DfE’s Thursday release.

That’s the highest it has been for nearly a decade – back in 2012 the 16-year-old level was 5.8 per cent.

In addition, NEETs aged 17 has also risen – 5.2 per cent last year compared to 4.6 per cent in 2020. The last time it was that high was in 2016 at 5.6 per cent.

Laura-Jane Rawlings, chief executive of Youth Employment UK, said it was “concerning” and saw a number of factors at play.

“The growing anxiety for those in education on what their future will hold and the inconsistency in support around key transition points could mean this is a growing trend,” she said.

“With a growing mental health emergency for our young people and a lack of support to make big decisions, inaction can feel like the safest option to young people.”

Rawlings said the Covid-19 pandemic and fluctuations in the economy and labour market meant teenagers have had to make decisions on their future during a period of uncertainty.

She added: “There is growing frustration from organisations struggling to recruit and a record number of vacancies – all the while young people remain convinced that there are no opportunities local to them. This shows that there is worrying disconnect between young people and opportunity, something Youth Employment UK work hard to address through our #CreateYourFuture campaign.”

Sam Avanzo Windett, deputy director at the Learning and Work Institute and co-chair of the Youth Employment Group, said: “The latest DfE measures show a record low rate of 18-year-olds NEETs, which is cause for celebration.

“However, we’re concerned by the continuing rise in economic inactivity among young people.  In a labour market with record levels of job vacancies, there are a growing number of young people who are not engaged in the labour market and risk being locked out of these opportunities.”

Findings are soon to be published on the characteristics of NEET youngsters, which will highlight health issues and disparities, the institute said.

Record low for 18-year-old NEETs

18-year-olds appear to be helping bring the number of overall 16 to 18 NEETs down, as the DfE data shows a record-low of 9.3 per cent of 18s who are NEET.

It marks the first time that number has been below 10 per cent, and contributed to the overall NEET rate for 16 to 18s being 6.4 per cent. That is its lowest since 2017 when 6.4 per cent was also recorded.

A DfE spokesperson said: “It is great to see that despite the impact of Covid, the proportion of 16–18-year-olds not in education, employment, or training remains one of the lowest on record, with those aged 18 the lowest on record.

“Our ambitious education recovery programme is supporting pupils to catch up on lost learning through tuition, world class teaching, and extending time in schools and colleges.

“Alongside this, we’re continuing to work with employers to offer more apprenticeship opportunities, rolling out new T Level qualifications and have launched a campaign ‘Get the Jump’ to promote the full range of exciting opportunities available to young people.”

Boys still favour apprenticeships

According to the data, males are still opting for the apprenticeship route more than females.

Figures for apprenticeships and work-based learning last year was 3.5 per cent for females – below the 5.9 per cent recorded for males.

But it appears females still favour the full-time education pathway, as the 77.2 per cent figure for females in full time education remains well above the 70.1 per cent figure for males.

Ofsted to hit England’s largest apprenticeship provider with grade 3

England’s largest apprenticeship provider is set to be slammed by Ofsted for failing to deliver high quality teaching and enough off-the-job training, FE Week can reveal.

Lifetime Training will be downgraded from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’ in a critical report due to be published tomorrow by the education watchdog (full story here).

The firm has recruited more apprentices and secured more levy funding than any other provider in the country for several years, delivering to big-name employers including the NHS, KFC, McDonalds, Wetherspoons, B&Q and David Lloyd, as well as the civil service.

But Lifetime’s overall achievement rates have been falling steadily: in 2015/16 the provider recorded an overall apprenticeship achievement of 67.6 per cent, which declined to 55.3 per cent in the latest available provider-level achievement rate tables for 2018/19.

Lifetime’s most popular apprenticeship in 2018/19 was hospitality team member, delivered to 2,230 apprentices, and recorded a 34 per cent achievement rate.

FE Week understands that Ofsted sent around 30 inspectors to Lifetime Training in May for its first full inspection since 2012 and found a range of quality concerns, resulting in an overall grade 3.

The biggest issue was proving that at least 20 per cent off-the-job training was being delivered to apprentices mostly in the hospitality and care sectors.

FE Week understands that Lifetime Training requested and secured an extra day’s inspection after complaining that Ofsted’s sample of apprentices was not large enough to reflect the size of the company – a defence that was unsuccessfully used by Learndirect during its failed High Court battle with the inspectorate that attempted to overturn a grade 4 report in 2017.

Ofsted agreed to increase its sample size for Lifetime Training but stood by the grade 3.

A spokesperson for Lifetime Training told FE Week that Ofsted’s grade and the evidence used during the inspection was not appealed.

The report is due to be published in the same week that skills minister Alex Burghart and Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman raised concerns about the quality of apprenticeship training and poor achievement rates, which Spielman said are damaging the prestige and brand of apprenticeships.

Carl Cornish, Lifetime’s new chief operating officer, blamed the off-the-job issue on the pandemic.

“Due to the challenges brought by the pandemic, many of our employer partners have experienced increased staff turnover rates and high sickness and absence – particularly in the hospitality and care sectors,” he told FE Week.

“This has contributed to an unexpected number of apprentices not getting their entitlement to high-quality off-the-job training during working hours, which was one of the key areas identified by Ofsted.”

He claimed that despite the overall grading, “many positives” were identified through the inspection. A “highlight” was the “relationship between our learners and coaches and the impact our apprenticeship programmes have, with many apprentices making a positive contribution to their workplace through the skills they have developed, which our employer partners highly value”.

Lifetime Training has made several leadership changes in recent months. Geoff Russell (pictured above left), who used to head up the Skills Funding Agency, became the firm’s new chair in April. Since then, Lifetime’s long-serving chief executive Alex Khan, chief financial officer Peter Mitchell, and chief commercial officer Sean Cosgrove have left.

Jon Graham (pictured above right) is now Lifetime’s chief executive after joining from JTL Training.

Lifetime Training was put up for sale in 2019 by its private equity parent Silverfleet Capital. But the auction was put on ice during the pandemic.

The provider has sat top of the apprenticeship provider table when it comes to starts for a number of years. But recruitment has fallen significantly.

The provider recorded 20,170 starts in 2017/18, which grew to 23,020 a year later, before falling by more than a third to 14,980 in 2019/20. In 2020/21 Lifetime had 12,910 starts and figures for the first two quarters of 2021/22 show 6,990 starts. The falling starts numbers led to large-scale redundancies in 2020.

Lifetime has also topped the list of providers who receive the most funding from apprenticeship levy paying employers. It was paid £51.5 million in 2018/19, £50.6 million in 2019 20, and £43.3 million in 2020/21.

Cornish said Lifetime was “disappointed” with the Ofsted outcome, but insisted the provider has “already started working on a detailed improvement plan against the recommendations and progress against this plan will be our key focus”.

“The majority of the actions required to deliver these improvements are already in flight or at launch stage,” he added. “We have already taken steps to address the feedback and are confident we will see a rapid and significant improvement in the areas identified during this inspection.”

New ‘method’ to quality assuring higher and degree-level apprenticeships launched

A new “method” for external quality assurance of integrated higher and degree-level apprenticeships has been launched today.

Thirty-eight standards, mostly delivered by universities, will be subject to the scrutiny delivered by the Designated Quality Body in England (DQB) on behalf of the Office for Students (OfS).

Site visits using the new EQA method will begin next month.

It is part of the second phase of the reforms to how EQA works for apprenticeship end-point assessment.

The first phase involved transitioning apprenticeships below integrated higher and degree-level to Ofqual for EQA from a mix of professional bodies, employers and the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. This process is still ongoing.

A new handbook outlining DQB’s new method has been published today (click here to read). It includes sections on readiness checks and approvals, as well as how the EQA monitoring process will work.

The handbook says DQB will undertake risk-based monitoring of each apprenticeship, confirming that the delivery of the EPA is “valid and compliant, delivering consistent and comparable results that are recognised by employers as delivering the right outcomes”.

DQB will also “confirm evidence and information that will be required from the EPAO, giving them the chance to comment on and agree reported information”, and “identify actions and recommendations to inform the EPAO’s action planning process”.

Rob Stroud, director of the DQB, said his organisation’s independent experts will check that providers and EPAOs are “delivering high-quality outcomes for apprentices, employers and all those involved in their delivery”.

Rob Nitsch, delivery director of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, said today’s announcement is an “important step forward for higher and degree-level apprenticeships”.

“It is vital that all assessment is consistent and of high quality, meeting the high expectations we have for all apprenticeships,” he said.

“It must match up to the rigor associated with higher level learning but also fully respect that this is an apprenticeship, so the focus must be on ensuring the apprentices are properly challenged to prove they can do the job they’ve trained for. I am confident that the new method will achieve this.”

DQB said it will host webinars on the new method for apprenticeship providers on July 12 and July 14. 

Keith Smith to leave DfE to become London college boss

A high-profile skills civil servant is set to leave the Department for Education to become the chief executive of a college.

Keith Smith will take the reins at HCUC, the merged college group for Harrow College and Uxbridge College, in November.

He will replace Darrell DeSouza who is retiring from the role after over 20 years at Uxbridge College and HCUC.

Smith began working in the then Skills Funding Agency in 2012 as director of funding and programmes before becoming director of apprenticeships in the Education and Skills Funding Agency in 2018, leading on the levy and funding reforms.

He moved to the Department for Education as director of post-16 strategy and analysis in 2020 and led on the skills for jobs white paper.

“It is a real privilege to be given the opportunity to lead HCUC,” Smith said. “I am really excited to work alongside such an amazing team and represent the outstanding work done at both Harrow College and Uxbridge College. We have an exciting future ahead.”

His move comes amid government plans to reduce the civil service headcount by 91,000 by 2025.

HCUC said Smith’s experience and background will “provide a new perspective for the role” at the college.

Nick Davies, HCUC chair, said: “I know all of HCUC’s staff and stakeholders will join me and the entire governing body in congratulating Mr Smith on his appointment, and we look forward to Keith taking up this new role later in the year.”

HCUC teaches almost 10,000 students, including programmes for young people, adults and apprentices.

The college was judged as ‘good’ by Ofsted in a report published last month.

Smith will join as Richmond upon Thames College merges with HCUC in the autumn. Richmond is currently engaged in a bitter dispute with University and College Union staff members, who are preparing to strike for three consecutive weeks at the beginning of the 2022/23 academic year.