Winners of 2022 BTEC Awards revealed

Inspiring students, teachers, colleges and schools from across the country have been honoured in Pearson’s 2022 BTEC awards.

Twenty winners were announced today for the awards that are in their twelfth year.

Pearson’s senior vice president, Freya Thomas Monk, said that after “two long years spent giving or receiving lessons behind a computer screen, through face masks, or socially distanced, 2022 has been a whirlwind for everyone involved in education”. 

“Considering this, it makes the inspiring achievements documented in our winners’ submissions all the more impressive,” she added.

Prizes were won across multiple categories including health and social care, engineering, music, esports and creative media.   

Learner of the year

Judges praised ‘learner of the year’ winner Lyla Khan for her curiosity and relentless motivation as “incredibly impressive”.

Fleeing her native Pakistan to claim asylum in the UK a few years ago, she has gone on to achieve unimprovable triple distinction star grades to win a place at university.  

Khan, who attended The Pendleton Sixth Form College in Salford, was said to have regularly brought new ideas, arguments, and theories into class to challenge pupils according to her teachers.

Harrow College and Uxbridge College (HCUC) in London won BTEC College of the Year. Judges highlighted that 96 per cent of HCUC BTEC students went on to study at a higher level or into employment last year.  

BTEC International Institution of the Year 2022 was presented to Beaconhouse International College, in Islamabad, Pakistan. 

The college offers BTEC learners the opportunity to gain an international qualification and building strong industrial experience.  

Other awards went to Tahreema Khatun from Newcastle College for the BTEC Art and Design Learner of the Year award.  

Daljeet Sachdeva, from Blackburn College, landed Business and Enterprise Learner of the year award and Mark Cruxton, from Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group won BTEC Tutor of the Year.

During lockdown, Mark Cruxton, who is the curriculum leader for graphics, games design, animation and concept art, created a 3D virtual gallery space from scratch and helped more than 20 courses to render work which allowed hundreds of students to give their efforts the showcase it deserved, in spite of the testing circumstances. 

Over the course of several years at Stafford College, he has maintained a 100 per cent success rate of his students being accepted on to university-level courses. 

He said: “I am very surprised and honoured to have been selected for this award. 

“I enjoy helping students to move forward in their journey and have had the pleasure of seeing many students fulfil their ambitions of working within the creative industries at some of the biggest names in the business.” 

The ceremony also included the 2022 Showstopper Challenge, a chance for students to showcase their performing talents, in addition to the award winners.  

Performances came from Stage Right College, Jackie Palmer Academy, D16 Performing Arts College, and Woodkirk Academy.

The full list of BTEC winners 

BTEC Art and Design Learner of the Year – Tahreema Khatun, Newcastle College  

BTEC Business and Enterprise Learner of the Year – Daljeet Sachdeva, Blackburn College  

BTEC Child, Health and Social Care Learner of the Year – Alfie Brown, Truro and Penwith College  

BTEC Construction Learner of the Year – Rebekah Woodend, Leeds College of Building  

BTEC Creative Media Learner of the Year – Siomha McStay, Belfast Metropolitan College  

BTEC Engineering Learner of the Year – Elizabeth Willis, Blackpool and The Fylde College  

BTEC Esports Learner of the Year – Layton Ripley, Barnsley College  

BTEC Hospitality, Travel and Tourism Learner of the Year – Bethany Bradford, Blackpool Sixth Form  

BTEC IT and Computing Learner of the Year – Adam Davey, Callywith College  

BTEC Land-Based Learner of the Year – Emma Radcliffe, Dean Valley College  

BTEC Music Learner of the Year – Domhnall Morris, Belfast Metropolitan College  

BTEC Performing Arts Learner of the Year – Lise-Mari Van Wyk, Northlink College, South Africa  

BTEC Public Service Learner of the Year and Adult Learner of the Year – Emily Checkley, Blackpool Sixth Form College  

BTEC Learner of the year and Science Learner of the Year – Lyla Khan, Pendleton Sixth Form Centre  

BTEC Sport Learner of the Year – Lois Page, Nelson and Colne College Group  

BTEC College of the Year – HCUC Group, Harrow  

BTEC International Centre of the Year – Beaconhouse International College, Islamabad, Pakistan  

BTEC School or Multi-Academy Trust of the Year – Archbishop Holgate’s School, York  

BTEC Teacher of the Year – Caroline Noela Gichuru, Braeburn International School Arusha, Arusha, Tanzania  

BTEC Tutor of the Year – Mark Cruxton, Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group, Stafford   

Lifetime Training taken over by ‘lenders’ amid ESFA investigation

England’s largest apprenticeship provider has been taken over by its “lenders” amid an investigation that could result in the government demanding over £13 million is repaid.

Lifetime Training had been owned by private equity parent Silverfleet Capital since 2016 but has now been sold to Alcentra – one of the provider’s lenders which specialises in credit management, private credit and structured credit strategies.

Jon Graham, Lifetime Training’s chief executive, claimed the sale is part of the “natural cycle of private equity and puts the business on firm, secure footing for the future”.

FE Week understands the Education and Skills Funding Agency is about to commence an audit into the provider after they raised concerns over overclaimed funding.

The provider’s newly published accounts state: “A funding partner of the company communicated its desire to further audit past trading and referenced a figure of £13.7 million.

“The amount and timing of any contingent liability is uncertain and a reasonable estimate cannot be made at this time and therefore a provision has not been included in the financial statements. The company has retained legal counsel regarding this matter.”

Graham claimed Lifetime Training is being audited as part of the ESFA’s “regular audit cycle of all independent training providers” but added that the investigation is specifically looking into the use of additional learning support funding, which is available to meet the costs of putting in place reasonable adjustments for apprentices with a learning difficulty or disability.

Lifetime Training’s accounts show there was an additional £1.46 million clawback, which has already been repaid, to the Student Loans Company after an “error” was identified which was “directly attributable to funding for apprenticeships for the years ended 31 July 2016, 2017 and 2018”.

The reason for the refund was because Lifetime Training’s systems “did not retain sufficient evidence to support their adherence to the requirements of the ESFA for these learners for the periods mentioned”, the accounts state.

Lifetime Training was founded in 1995 and currently trains around 20,000 apprentices and learners. 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.

The provider was recently hit with a ‘requires improvement’ report from Ofsted, in which inspectors criticised the firm’s focus on financial performance and starts over quality, as well as a lack of off-the-job training and poor achievement rates.

Lifetime Training has made several leadership changes this year, including bringing in Geoff Russell, who used to head up the Skills Funding Agency, as chair and Jon Graham as chief executive.

The firm’s accounts show that its highest paid director received a salary of £430,362.

Lifetime Training has almost 1,000 staff.

The firm’s turnover increased to £71.1 million compared to £59.9 million in 2020. But its EBITDAE (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and exceptional items) fell from £9.391 million in year ended July 31, 2020 to £2.249 million in the 18 month period ended January 31, 2022.

The accounts also reveal the company made a loss for the financial period of £9.2 million, compared to a profit of £6.8 million in 2020.

Graham said the change in ownership will not affect the day to day running of the business, nor will it deliver any changes in personnel.

“We will be continuing business as usual. Alcentra shares our ambitions for organic growth, and we look forward to working together,” he added.

Lifetime Training’s accounts explain that an “agreement” was entered into to restructure, which means its group parent company – MTH Midco 2 Limited – and its subsidiaries are “to be acquired by a new parent entity, a UK registered company jointly owned by certain lenders who currently provide debt financing to the group”.

Alongside the change in ownership, a new financing package is to be put in place that includes the “extension of the maturity of the existing loan facilities to 31 July 2027 and the provision of an additional working capital facility”.

In addition, the “relevant lenders have confirmed that they will support the Company to meet its financial obligations as they become due for at least the next 12 months from the date of approval of these financial statements”.

The ESFA was approached for comment.

What’s behind the spate of ‘inadequate’ SEND college inspection results?

Staff shortages, leadership gaps, and a lack of accountability have been blamed for a spate of ‘inadequate’ inspection results of colleges working with the most vulnerable students. 

Independent specialist colleges (ISCs) provide post-16 education and training to young people and adults with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. 

As well as education and training, specialist colleges must also cater for learners’ mental and physical care needs, and help students with life and employment skills. They are funded by both the ESFA and local authorities.  

Specialist colleges are independent with their own legal status, including charitable status, and are inspected by Ofsted. But, unlike general FE colleges and independent training providers, there is no clear intervention regime or support structure for this part of the sector.  

As a result of poor inspection outcomes, one specialist college was forced to close earlier this year after having its contract terminated by the ESFA and its local authority. Another has been warned it will face an ESFA funding review if it fails to improve by early next year.  

FE Week analysis of recent ‘inadequate’ inspection reports found poor leadership, staffing shortages and several safeguarding breaches have concerned inspectors.  

In the years between 2017 to 2021, there were only four ‘inadequate’ Ofsted inspections at independent specialist colleges. But there were seven inadequate inspections in 2021/22, whose reports are peppered with issues surrounding staff shortages, curriculum shortfalls, and leadership challenges.  

A spokesperson from Ofsted emphasised that these challenges are only part of the picture. Although there has been an increase in the proportion of inadequate judgements, the proportion of specialist colleges judged as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ rose to 79 per cent by August 31, 2022 – a 5 percentage point increase compared to last year.   

Ruth Perry, senior policy advisor for NATSPEC, the representative body for specialist colleges, explains that the issues have been around for a while, but she doesn’t think there is a common theme behind the ‘inadequate’ grades. Rather the weight of a succession of historic problems has culminated to overwhelm a small proportion of smaller providers.    

Staff shortages  

Colleges have been struggling to recruit staff from all levels, including governors, senior leaders, teachers and learning support staff, as well as specialist therapists and behaviour analysts.    

Perry explains that the whole FE sector is currently facing challenges in recruiting staff. “This is being felt acutely by specialist colleges where difficulties in sourcing appropriately skilled and often highly specialist staff have had a detrimental impact on provision. 

“Training new staff and agency staff in time to ensure continuous high standards of provision is also a challenge. Natspec has been lobbying DfE on the staffing crisis since last winter to help address the potential risks to provision for learners with the most complex needs.”  

There has been a challenging recruitment crisis across the whole FE sector for a long time. An Association of Colleges survey carried out earlier this year showed that there are around 6,000 job vacancies in the general FE sector. According to the AoC this is the highest number of vacancies seen in “two decades”. 

Ongoing wage issues 

Perry explains that this challenge is put under further pressure from the loss of staff to the hospitality, retail and catering sectors.   

According to David Holloway, senior SEND policy manager at the AoC, where funding is provided by local authorities, specialist colleges are unable to pay staff like teaching assistants more than the minimum wage. He says such low pay means that it is difficult to recruit to the sector.  

According to the National Careers Service, the average salary for a full time SEN teaching assistant is between £14,000 and £23,000 per year – below the national living wage. 

Research from the DfE in 2019 showed that teaching assistants were consistently asked to carry out a huge range of other tasks, including providing personal care and monitoring medical equipment or administering medication.  

Farleigh Further Education College in Frome received an ‘inadequate’ inspection in February. The inspectorate found in the follow up visit that despite the college making ‘reasonable progress’, not all the students had access to specialist therapy required to help them access the curriculum.  

This was because “leaders had been unable to obtain the services of fully trained staff.” 

The inspector noted that plans were in place to address this, and leaders are working with a local university to provide placement opportunities for year 3 occupational therapists.  

Without the right staff, SEND learners struggle to access the curriculum which compromises the quality of learning.     

Progress being made 

Ruth Perry says that whilst it is concerning that there are seven ‘inadequate’ specialist colleges, the most recent monitoring visits suggest that some colleges are making encouraging progress.  

If a specialist college receives an ‘insufficient’ judgement for safeguarding, the DfE says it will be removed automatically from its section 41 list – a list of approved independent special schools and special post-16 institutions. Some local authorities will only fund a college if it is on that list.  

If a local authority declines to pay for new students or withdraws funding for existing students, this can make the college unviable and result in its closure. 

Specialist college My Life Learning announced its closure to new students in July after its ESFA and local authority funding was pulled following an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted inspection outcome. The inspection followed two monitoring visits, the first of which provided ‘insufficient progress’ ratings across the board. 

An agreement has been reached between the ESFA, the local authority and the college to transition learners to new provision, which is currently underway.  

Clarity around inspections 

Unlike the general FE college and independent training provider sectors, what happens when a specialist college receives an ‘inadequate’ inspection report is unclear. Specialist colleges are not part of the FE 

Commissioner’s remit and local authorities are able to decide their own approaches to support, intervention and, ultimately, contract termination in the wake of poor performance.  

The Michael Tippett College received an ‘insufficient progress’ monitoring visit report this week following an inadequate inspection result back in March, which included ineffective safeguarding. But it’s funding hasn’t been withdrawn.  

Perry Vlachos, the acting head of Michael Tippett College, told FE Week his college has one more chance to show its improvement. 

Vlachos explains that if the college fails to make improvements by the next Ofsted inspection, expected in early 2023, this could trigger a review of funding arrangements by the ESFA.  

NATSPEC’s Ruth Perry suggests that statutory duties on colleges and local authorities are not being enforced, and a lack of sanctions is holding back improvement. She says it doesn’t seem right that you can have a set of duties that aren’t fulfilled, and nothing happens as a result.  

Those duties are set out in the government’s SEND code of practice. The code, at nearly 300 pages, sets out expectations for high-quality education and transparent decision-making with local authorities. 

“If colleges were delivering against the current SEND code of practice, then these issues wouldn’t be happening. Why are there no sanctions for a local area when they don’t fulfil duties?” Perry asks.   

“You can never just throw money at a problem, can you? You’d still need a relentless focus on quality improvement. Extra money doesn’t buy that, you’ve got to put the work in.”  

“I feel for local authorities because they’re trying to work with an amount of funding that doesn’t stretch to cover everything that they need to do well but the fact you can fail to comply with impunity, that’s problematic for the system,” Perry says. 

WorldSkills UK national finals 2022 supplement

Find who has topped the tables at this year’s WorldSkills UK national finals in this special supplement from FE Week.

Enjoy interviews with some of Worldskills UK’s international stars, features on how skills competitions are leading the way in new and emerging industries, and find out what TV’s Steph McGovern has to say on why vocational and technical student deserve their spot in the limelight.

REVEALED: WorldSkills UK’s 2022 national finals results

The UK’s newest crop of top vocational and technical skills champions have been announced as the results of last week’s WorldSkills UK national finals are finally revealed.

From a special broadcast from the ‘Steph’s Packed Lunch’ studio, Steph announced over 200 bronze, silver and gold medal winners across 63 award categories.

The national finals were split into five categories: foundation skills, construction and infrastructure, digital business & creative, engineering & technology, and health, hospitality and lifestyle.

Southern Regional College topped the medal table, moving from third position last year, with 32 medal points.

City of Glasgow College maintained their second place position with 28 medal points including five golds, one silver and two bronze.

Coleg Gwent shot up the table from 11th place to 3rd place.

North Warwickshire & South Leicestershire College was the winning organisation for foundation skills medals, with Chichester College Group and Coleg Gwent not far behind in second and third.

Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann, WordSkills UK chief executive said: “To be named among the top performing organisations in the WorldSkills UK national finals is a fantastic achievement and recognises the high level of teaching standards within these colleges and training providers.”

The winners

Two hundred and seventeen young people have been recognised in total, an increase on last year’s 186.

Rosie Boddy, from Airbus UK, won gold for aircraft maintenance, Tymoteusz Rozanski, from Coleg Cambria won silver and Bradly Pettitt from Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group in third.

Other gold medal winners included Chloe Vicary, from Coleg Gwent, for creative media make-up, City of Glasgow College’s Lidia Modlinska in website development and Jade Oakes from Riverside College in painting and decorating.

Zeeshan Hassan, from Oldham College, and Margret Holly McCauley-Brown, from Coleg Sir Gar, came joint first in foundation skills: health and social care.

Sam Hurst, from North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, and Amy Sanderson, from New College Durham, both won gold medals in foundation skills: restaurant service.

Bentley-Gockmann said: “If we are to create a high value skills economy in the UK then organisations like these are going to play a vital role in getting us there, and they need to be celebrated for their commitment to excellence for their students and apprentices.

“It is also great to see such strong representation in the medal table from organisations who are part of our Centre of Excellence programme.  The initiative, which was launched in 2020 in partnership with NCFE, to drive up standards of technical training, has seen us work with educators across the UK to transfer international best practice to ensure young people are being equipped with the world-class skills that employers are demanding.  To date over 37,000 learners and apprentices have benefited, and it was fantastic to see some of them demonstrating what they have learnt in our National Finals.”  

The full results for every competition category can be found in our special WorldSkills UK national finals supplement, published today.

WorldSkills UK 2022 National Finals medal tables
WorldSkills UK 2022 National Finals medal tables

Over 40 organisations removed from apprentice assessment register

More than 40 organisations have been removed from the government’s register to deliver final assessments for apprentices, as officials strengthen regulation around the system. 

Data released under Freedom of Information laws to Apprenticeship Data Insight – operated by FE Week publisher Lsect Ltd – found 42 end point assessment organisations (EPAOs) that had previously been on the register (and awarded 2,509 apprenticeship certificates between them) were no longer on there because of changes this year. 

The new system introduced this year requires EPAOs to gain Ofqual recognition and submit their EPA on Ofqual’s register of regulated qualifications, as well as applying to the EPAO register through the Department for Education’s apprenticeship service. 

The DfE then reviews the application submitted to its register and cross-checks that with the qualification on the Ofqual register, before approving its inclusion. 

This more robust regulation system was introduced after years of concern over the organisations that were being allowed onto the EPAO register, which FE Week previously revealed had included one-man bands and companies with no trading history.  

Federation of Awarding Bodies chief executive Tom Bewick said EPA had become a “Wild West market”. 

According to the DfE, EPAOs had until May 16 to make formal applications to Ofqual for recognition and must complete the recognition process by December 31. Its guidance however did stress that those removed from the register will be welcome to reapply for Ofqual recognition and the register later. 

Ten of the 42 EPAOs no longer on the register had not issued a certificate in the last three years, according to the data, with the other 32 having issued a combined 2,509 certificates in the last three years. The United Centre of Excellent Ltd (UCE) issued 339 in the last three years, but twice has been refused entry onto the register. 

It remains in the system attempting to iron out the issues raised by Ofqual in its application, but said it had lost customers as a result. 

Richard Bates, former chief executive of UCE, said the rejection was around UCE’s role as both a training provider and an EPAO, with Ofqual not satisfied there were no conflicts of interest around the firm assessing its own intake. 

It has also faced a 12-week window before it could re-apply. 

Bates said: “We have applied and are still waiting in that window. It was the conflicts of interest that was the problem, and we could show quite clearly that we had a system working around that and had no conflicts, but it was just the wording and the clarity.” 

Bates said the firm, which assessed standards in improvement technicians, practitioners, professionals and leaders from levels 3 to 6, would have preferred to have seen Ofqual visit and carry out an audit. 

“I know why they put Ofqual in to do that, I can appreciate that and we are happy we have got proper governance now, but the only thing is it has taken too long – it should have been done right from the start,” Bates said. 

Others, such as the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT), opted not to apply as a commercial decision. 

The ATT, which issued 231 certificates in 2019/20 and 20/21 but none in 2021/22, said it did not apply for Ofqual recognition at all given the number of EPAs it was issuing, and was only involved in one standard – level 4 taxation technician. 

Rosalind Baxter, institute secretary and director of education at ATT, said: “We always have around 5,000 students per student qualification at any given time, but we never got over 100 per session on the EPA, and sometimes a bit lower than that. 

“If you weigh that up against the requirements of going into Ofqual, it’s hard to stack that up resource-wise as we are a charity.” Instead, ATT opted to work with NCFE for the same standard, and was able to ensure existing apprentices could transfer. 

Jeremy Hay-Campbell from Manpower Services Ltd, which issued just over 300 certificates in the last three years, said the firm opted to withdraw from delivering EPAs as a commercial decision following a review earlier this year. 

According to the data obtained by ADI, City and Guilds issued the most certificates in the last three years (37,000), followed by Innovate Awarding Ltd (25,629) and Chartered Management Institute (22,932). 

There are now 285 EPAOs left on the register. 

Sixth form and FE college quality hits new high

The quality of education at sixth form and general further education colleges has hit a record high, FE Week analysis of latest Ofsted data has revealed. 

Top ratings for independent training providers have, however, begun to fall. 

FE Week analysis of inspection grades shows that 100 per cent of the 44 sixth form colleges in England had an ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ Ofsted rating as of August 31, 2022 – 13 percentage points up on the same period last year. 

And 88 per cent of general FE colleges achieved a grade one or two in their most recent inspection – 11 percentage points up from the 77 per cent achieved in 2021. 

The findings are expected to feature in the education watchdog’s annual report for 2022, due to be published on December 13. They show that colleges are faring better under Ofsted’s education inspection framework which puts more emphasis on the quality of education rather than data. 

College sector chiefs have been buoyed by the figures. 

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said the data “reflects the extraordinary efforts made by staff and students in the sixth form college sector”. 

“For every sixth form college to be judged as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ is remarkable, particularly given the disruption caused by Covid. We are proud to represent such a high performing sector,” he added. 

More than 30 sixth form colleges have converted to academy status since this became possible in 2015, at which point they get their Ofsted grade wiped. The SFCA does not think this process has impacted the proportion of ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ sixth form college grades, however. 

A spokesperson from the Association of Colleges said there are several possible reasons for the increase in ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ general FE college grades, including the merging of weaker colleges with better performing colleges and college groups, as well as “this cycle of focusing on those with historically poorer grades, which lots of hard work has gone into turning around”. 

However, the AoC warned government that historic underfunding risked impacting on quality and provision, and stressed that properly funding colleges would protect future delivery. 

Elsewhere, 96 per cent of adult community education providers secured a grade one or two in the most recent inspection – up four percentage points on 2021, while the numbers of 16-to-19 academies in the top two grades at their most recent full inspection were up six percentage points to 98 per cent. 

In addition, 79 per cent of independent specialist colleges were in the top two grades – up four percentage points on last year, despite less than half of those inspected in the 12 months up to the end of August receiving an ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’. 

Independent providers suffer

However, while three quarters (75 per cent) of independent training providers were in the top two inspection boundaries as of August 31, that figure had fallen four percentage points on 2021. 

The proportion of private providers with the top two Ofsted grades sat at 75 per cent in 2019, the point at which Ofsted’s new education inspection framework came in, and grew to 77 per cent in 2020, then 80 per cent in 2021. 

Jane Hickie, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers said Ofsted inspections of ITPs were heavily weighted towards new providers. 

“In fact, over three-quarters of ITPs inspected in the last year hadn’t previously had a full inspection and only 63 per cent of these were subsequently good or outstanding,” she said. 

“This drags the overall figure for all independent training providers lower and dilutes the full story of how the range of independent training providers are performing.” 

Hickie added that it was positive to see nearly half of the ITPs previously rated ‘requires improvement’ that were visited last year progress to ‘good’ or better. 

Prisons remain a problem

While sixth form colleges and general FE colleges celebrated rising figures, the ratings for prisons and young offender institutes remained problematic. 

Ofsted’s data showed that of the 22 inspections Ofsted contributed to in the 12 months to the end of August, 21 received one of the bottom two ratings. 

All but one of the 116 prisons or young offenders institutes have a rating, with just 37 per cent judged ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ – nine percentage points down on 2021. 

Jon Collins, chief executive of the Prisoners’ Education Trust, said it was “extremely concerning” and “not good enough”. 

He said that prison education remained “chronically underfunded” with severe shortages of prison officers and teachers, as well as facilities not being up to scratch, a lack of digital technology and prisoner teachers too often feeling undervalued. 

He added: “The education select committee, the prison inspectorate, and Ofsted have all highlighted the need for urgent action. This data shows that if we carry on as we are education in prison will continue to deteriorate and learners will not get the opportunities they need.” 

Step aside Eton: New trust joins ‘elite’ sixth form race

A Bradford-based academy trust has unveiled plans for an “elite” all-girls STEM sixth form college. But, the proposals have gathered a mixed response from local education chiefs.

Feversham Education Trust is consulting on its early proposals with a view to submitting a bid to wave 15 of the Department for Education’s free school application process.

Government ambitions for new “elite” sixth forms emerged earlier this year as part of its levelling up white paper, targeted at the 55 education investment areas (of which Bradford is one) where it aims to bolster opportunities for disadvantaged pupils.

To date, the most high-profile bids have been from renowned private school Eton College, which has teamed up with Star Academies to submit proposals for selective sixth forms in Dudley, Middlesbrough and Oldham.

The government’s plan proved divisive at the time of the announcement, with the response to Feversham’s bid similarly mixed.

Luminate Education Group, which runs schools and colleges in the proposed catchment, said it was “short-sighted” and “saw little value in the concept of elite sixth forms”.

Gemma Simmons-Blench, deputy chief executive for quality and curriculum, told FE Week: “In an educational context, the elitist model inevitably leads to fragmentation of provision and a ‘winner versus losers’ scenario – the opposite of the inclusive, collaborative approach we and other colleges have been successfully pursuing”.

She said elite sixth forms “will offer nothing for the many students who would benefit from a more technical or vocational approach, rather than a narrowly academic one.”

The group warned that “unnecessary competition” could put some institutions and their programmes at risk of closure.

The sixth form would have 250 students in each year group and admit girls aged 16 to 18 from Bradford and the neighbouring cities and districts.

But a Feversham Education Trust spokesperson defended its plans.

“Given the ongoing need to improve female representation in the STEM sector, and the clear demand from related businesses for jobs and talent both regionally and nationally, we are in the very early stages of considering the establishment of an all-girls STEM sixth form college, to provide a proactive and innovative solution to these challenges,” the spokesperson said.

As part of its consultation, Feversham is asking interested parties whether other specialisms should be considered, such as humanities, English, law or social sciences.

It is also asking for feedback on the types of courses it should offer, including A-levels, T Levels, BTECs and apprenticeships.

The trust already runs two girls secondary schools and a primary, meaning the sixth form would likely provide an avenue of progression for its current students.

The bid has been backed by Bradford Council. A spokesperson said Feversham has “a track record of delivering outstanding Ofsted-rated provision that is valued by the local community.

“We remain committed to working with all partners to deliver improved outcomes in the post 16 phase in the Bradford district.”

The spokesperson added that while there was “not a basic need for places in the district,” the proposal contributes to ambitions of improving post-16 education and “also the national challenge that not enough young women are pursuing STEM pathways into higher education or as a career choice”.

Imran Hussain, Labour MP for Bradford East, also said he was delighted with Feversham’s plans in “opening new doors” for girls’ participation in STEM.

“With girls woefully underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and maths fields and careers, particularly computer science and engineering, the whole country is missing out on the potential that they can bring, and we need to be doing much more to break down the barriers that many women and girls face in taking up these subjects and seeing it as a viable future career.”

NCFE acquires health and leisure awarding organisation

An awarding and end-point assessment organisation specialising in health and physical activity qualifications has been acquired by NCFE.

Active IQ (previously owned by US-based firm Ascend Learning) brings with it over 30,000 learners on its vocational qualifications and 1,600 apprentices, extending NCFEs reach in areas such as personal training, fitness, and leisure management.

NCFE said Active IQ will continue to operate independently as a distinct brand owing to its “highly respected” position in the marketplace.

According to its latest accounts, Active IQ generated £4 million in income in its 2020/21 financial year and employed 42 staff. All current staff will be retained, NCFE said.

Jenny Patrickson, managing director of Active IQ, said: “I’m delighted and excited that Active IQ has joined the NCFE portfolio.

“There is much synergy between Active IQ and NCFE in our core purpose, vision and values and I am confident that joining the NCFE group will enable Active IQ to build on everything we have achieved since we were established in 2003.”

Jenny Patrickson

The amount NCFE paid to acquire Active IQ has not been disclosed. 

FE Week understands that Active IQ’s previous owners were seeking to exit the UK market. Ascend Learning, based in the United States, had another subsidiary company, Premier Global, which ceased trading in June.

NCFE confirmed to FE Week that it has no plans to make changes to Active IQ’s products or services.

The charity’s chief executive, David Gallagher, said acquiring Active IQ will allow NCFE to “better service a broader range of learners and fulfil current and future skills needs”.

He added: “We chose to make this acquisition given that policy direction and market forces are taking us towards consolidation in the market.

“We’re delighted to add Active IQ to the NCFE portfolio. Both organisations are aligned in vision and purpose – Active IQ, like NCFE, prides itself on exceptional customer service and high-quality, transformational learning experiences.”

This isn’t the first time NCFE has taken over another awarding organisation.

The former childcare and early years awarding body CACHE was bought by NCFE in 2015. Its name still features on some of NCFE’s education and childcare qualifications.