Prisons face educators’ strike action over low pay

Education staff at 48 prisons and youth offender institutions are set to vote on strike action in a row over low pay.

Around 500 University and College Union members will be balloted on the action from next week. The staff are calling for a pay rise that helps them meet the cost of living crisis.

Novus, their employer, has offered a two per cent rise for 2021/22 and three per cent for 2022/23, below the current RPI inflation of 12.3 per cent.

The UCU claimed that prison educators have seen their pay fall by more than 25 per cent since 2009.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “Prison educators urgently need a pay rise to help them meet the cost of living crisis, yet Novus wants them to accept a real term pay cut. This is completely unacceptable, our members in prison education are at real risk of facing poverty this autumn because historically low pay means they are already financially insecure.”

A spokesperson for the LTE Group, the parent group of Novus, said: “LTE Group is committed to ensuring that all our colleagues receive a pay increase that will help to support them in the face of the current cost of living crisis at the earliest possible opportunity.

“We commenced discussions on colleague pay with unions in February this year, and have remained in an ongoing dialogue ever since. We remain engaged in productive discussions with trade unions with the aspiration of reaching an agreement swiftly.”

The ballot will open on September 14 and close on October 5.

[UPDATE: On October 10 UCU announced that 94.47 per cent of its voting members voted for strike action. UCU members will now meet to decide next steps.]

Health and science T Level results WILL be regraded after watchdog finds ‘serious’ issues

First-year results for health and science T Level students will be regraded after the exams regulator found exam papers were not fit for purpose, FE Week can reveal.

An Ofqual review identified a catalogue of issues including question errors and inadequate mark schemes. The watchdog has now ruled that students’ grades did not validly measure their performance.

The “serious” incident comes after large numbers of students complained that they received lower than expected first-year grades over the summer for the flagship new qualification, citing severe problems with the core exam papers.

Many said they were predicted A* to Cs but received Ds, Es and U grades.

Around 1,600 students across 76 colleges and schools on the two-year course – which launched in 2021 – picked up their first-year results in August, although they have not been released publicly.

A petition started by disheartened students which secured more than 1,200 signatures said that the exams contained some topics which were not covered in the syllabus, while the textbook was reported to have only been released a few weeks before the exam.

They demanded grade adjustments in light of the problems – an option that was originally refused by awarding body NCFE.

However, a review by Ofqual and the Department for Education resulted in a summit of college principals which took place on Wednesday morning. A letter issued later that day by the DfE’s director of professional and technical education, Sue Lovelock, confirmed the exams had serious and significant issues.

The letter, seen by FE Week, said: “Ofqual have now completed their thorough review of the core assessment papers. This identified issues including question errors, inadequate mark schemes, and questions covering areas not explicitly in the specification.

“Given the breadth and volume of issues, Ofqual has determined that the assessments do not secure a sufficiently valid or reliable measure of student performance. This is obviously a significant finding and a serious matter. Ofqual has initiated an investigation to identify the issues in how these papers and mark schemes were developed to ensure that NCFE address them for future series.”

As a result, students’ grades will change to be based entirely on their employer set project grade. However, it recognised that students should not be unfairly penalised, and any students who secured a higher grade in their overall core component than their employer set project can carry the higher mark forward.

For those that did not secure a grade they were happy with, an opportunity to re-sit the employer set project this autumn will be provided. They will not be charged for the resit.

It marks the biggest hurdle to date for the bellwether new post-16 qualifications, designed to be the technical equivalent to A-levels.

T Level grades comprise a core exam component, employer set project and an industry work placement of 45 days.

The DfE also said that “Ofqual will review the employer set project tasks and mark schemes to check that they have met expectations”.

Following the DfE’s letter, one tutor who delivered the course but wished to remain anonymous said: “The response from Ofqual shows the gravity of the situation, despite repeated warnings the NCFE did not adapt appropriately to concerns raised, nor did they respond appropriately when the results came out.

“Colleges, including ours, have lost up to half or all of their students to other health courses or out of healthcare completely. Those left are still in limbo over what they want to do as the changes have come too late.”

He said his college’s numbers for first years this year was half that of last year, despite higher application numbers.

One student, who did not wish to be named, said: “I think it’s good for people whose grades have improved, but I think it is a bit of a kick in the teeth considering we’ve spent a whole year learning the content for the exams for it all to be ignored.”

But some students who got the same grades on the core exams and the employer set project said they would not benefit.

The DfE’s letter said this would be a one-year adjustment only.

In addition, the DfE said that the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) will review the content of all three health and science T Level pathways, and consult with employers, colleges and schools to see if changes are needed.

The DfE recognised the problems could have impact on recruiting or retaining students, and said that it did not expect to recoup capital funding for providers which have delayed delivery or low numbers for a year as a result of the problems.

But the news comes too late for some students, with some already having been encouraged to switch to BTEC alternatives, while others have dropped out entirely.

A spokesperson from NCFE said the awarding body is working with providers on the details around using only employer set project grades as student outcomes.

“We are also keen to ensure a smooth transition for students who want to move to alternative provision,” the spokesperson added. “In addition to this, we intend to provide a raft of early interventions and personal support to maximise future assessment success.”

T Levels were launched in 2020. Full results for the first three T Levels were issued last month. First year grades for the health and science T Level, which launched in September 2021, were also issued over the summer.

A further three T Levels pathways begin this September.

Kelly Tolhurst appointed education minister

Kelly Tolhurst has been appointed as an education minister, as schools minister Will Quince moves to the Department of Health.

Following cabinet-level appointments last night, the new prime minister Liz Truss is now appointing junior ministers in government departments.

Tolhurst, a former housing minister who is MP for Rochester and Strood, is the first junior minister to be appointed to the Department for Education under Truss.

However Quince, responsible for overseeing the SEND review, has moved on. Like Quince, Tolhurst is a minister of state, but her exact portfolio is yet to be confirmed.

Kit Malthouse was made education secretary last night.

Tolhurst was first elected in 2015, when she beat former UKIP MP Mark Reckless to the Kent seat he had won the year before in a byelection.

She served in a string of junior ministerial jobs, including small business minister, aviation and maritime minister and minister for housing and rough sleeping.

Following the resignation of deputy chief whip Chris Pincher earlier this year, Tolhurst took on the role until her promotion today.

Further ministerial appointments are due to be made today. 

More to follow…

Colleges call for aid as four-fold energy price hikes threaten solvency

College heads across England have demanded urgent action by new chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in tackling the soaring cost of energy bills, warning of a “serious risk to solvency”.

A joint letter penned by the Association of Colleges chief David Hughes and signed by 189 college leaders – eight out of 10 in England – said that as colleges are not protected by an energy price cap in the same way as consumers, some are now facing bills four times higher than they were paying previously.

The letter warned that there are “very serious risks to solvency and in turn UK skills development if nothing is done”.

It said that in recent years the college sector’s energy bill has been a combined £130 million annually, with rising prices meaning that could rocket up to £520 million a year on energy alone if replicated nationally – up from 2 per cent of college income to 8 per cent.

The letter pointed out that a lack of investment in the last decade to buildings has left some more vulnerable to rising energy costs. Colleges in England run an estimated 4,500 buildings across 800 sites, according to the AoC.

The letter, issued ahead of an expected announcement this week by the new government on its plans to tackle skyrocketing energy bills – has called on the new chancellor to increase funding rates for 16 to 19 students, boost efforts to recruit and retain teachers and exempt colleges from VAT.

AoC chief executive David Hughes said: “Outside of the cost-of-living crisis, few challenges will be as important as tackling the skills shortages which are holding back businesses and the economy.

“Supporting colleges must be at the top of his priority list. Cutting VAT on skills and paying college staff better will deliver the economic growth the new PM has promised.”

The AoC said the funding rates for 16- to 19-year-olds was last reviewed in 2021 while adult funding rates last increased in 2010 – both before the spike in inflation, most recently at 10 per cent.

On teacher recruitment, the letter pointed out that teachers can earn more money in industry or in schools, where pay is up to £9,000 a year higher.

The letter said the energy costs “cut the resources we have for staff at a time when colleges are already struggling in the face of the widening gap between college pay and what skilled teachers can earn in industry and in schools,” and was “already hampering the expansion of technical education”.

It has called for a new workforce fund to be established to help recruitment, particularly in key sectors like health, construction and green energy.

The letter also asks for colleges to be VAT exempt in the same way schools are, if the Office for National Statistics review re-designates colleges as being public sector.

Kit Malthouse: 12 facts about the new education secretary

Downing Street has announced that Kit Malthouse is the new education secretary following a reshuffle by the new prime minister Liz Truss.

Here are 12 facts about the new boss at DfE:

  1. Born in 1966, Malthouse is 55 years old. This is older than the average for education secretaries, but he is a long way off being the oldest. Keith Joseph was 63.
  2. Malthouse is the MP for North West Hampshire, but he is not the first education secretary to represent the county in recent history. Damian Hinds was the MP for East Hampshire.
  3. Like his recent predecessors Michelle Donelan and James Cleverly, Malthouse was first elected in 2015. He has been a work and pensions minister and crime and policing minister, but served more recently as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
  4. He is the fourth education secretary in just over two months, and the fifth in the past year. Cleverly, now foreign secretary, was in post for less than two months. His predecessor Donelan served for just 35 hours. Malthouse will no doubt be hoping for a longer tenure.
  5. Born in Liverpool, Malthouse studied at Sudley County Primary school and Liverpool College, which was at the time a private school but has since become an academy, before studying politics and economics at Newcastle University.
  6. After graduation, Malthouse moved to London and qualified as a chartered accountant, working for Deloitte and Touche. He was also involved in a “number of startups” including County Finance Group, of which he remains chair and a majority shareholder.
  7. He was elected to Westminster Council in 1998 and became its deputy leader, standing down in 2006. He was elected to the London Assembly two years later, the same year as Cleverly was elected to the same body.
  8. In 2008, London mayor Boris Johnson appointed Malthouse as his deputy mayor for policing, a role he held for four years before becoming deputy major for business and enterprise.
  9. An often touchy subject, but as the role involves children so directly it will be mentioned at times: Malthouse has three.
  10. He is perhaps best known for the eponymous “Malthouse compromise”, a Brexit plan he brokered between leave and remain-supporting MPs in 2019.
  11. During his time as policing minister, Malthouse said he believed schools should teach boys how to treat women and girls with respect. His comments came in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard.
  12. While Johnson was on holiday this summer, Malthouse was responsible for coordinating the government’s response to the extreme heatwave in July, and was criticised for telling schools to stay open.

Contracts risk for provider after Ofsted finds ‘students’ who never studied with the firm

An east London training company is at risk of multiple contract terminations after a damning Ofsted report found students hadn’t even heard of the provider.

Inspectors visiting Waltham International College (WIC) in July found “too many learners whom inspectors spoke to had not heard of WIC” and a “high proportion” said they “had not studied a course at the college”.

Inspectors also found apprentices without jobs.

The private training provider was founded in 2010 and provides adult education programmes for the Greater London Authority and at least one other mayoral combined authority – Liverpool City Region, as well as level 3 advance learner loan-funded courses and apprenticeships.

But following the publication of an ‘inadequate’ inspection report on Thursday, mayoral combined authorities which had contracts with the college have said those are under review alongside the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London, which gave WIC a contract worth nearly £3 million to use between 2019 and 2023, said: “Following the Ofsted inspection, City Hall is working with the provider to review the position and to determine next steps.”

Liverpool City Region announced in May that WIC was one of a number of out-of-area providers to have secured a portion of its £70 million contracts pot from the adult education budget, but said the provision with Waltham did not go ahead at the start of term.

A spokesperson for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority said: “Waltham International College’s inspection and provisional grade took place prior to the start of the 2022/23 academic year. As soon as we learnt of the provisional inspection results we suspended learner starts and any delivery within the Liverpool City Region, prior to the start of the academic year.  

“No learners have been left without provision as a result of this action and we are discussing our future intentions with the provider now the inspection report has been published.”

FE Week understands the Department for Education and Education and Skills Funding Agency are in discussion with Ofsted about the findings, and considering options. Ofsted said it is for the funding agency to consider what action it wishes to take. The ESFA had contracts worth £1.6 million with WIC in 2021/22.

At the time of the inspection, WIC had 113 adult learners, 77 of whom were on an English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) course, as well as 104 apprentices on qualifications such as digital marketing, care, hospitality, business and management.

On rail engineering courses, Ofsted inspectors said attendance was not good enough on the level 1 course, and on the traineeships suitable work placements were not secured which left learners lacking the opportunity to work on live tracks.

For digital marketing and junior content producer apprenticeships, Ofsted said that “leaders have not checked thoroughly that employers have suitable experience of working in these sectors,” and most apprentices “do not value their training”.

Furthermore, it said that for digital marketing apprenticeships, “too many apprentices are not in employment, are self-employed or undertake significant other duties at work such as being waiters in restaurants”.

Inspectors said online ICT courses were not taught in sufficient detail, and “too many learners cannot recall what they have been taught”.

The report said that feedback on learners’ and apprentices’ work was “not good enough” on most courses.

In addition, it said leaders “have not ensured that learners and apprentices have a secure understanding of the dangers of radicalisation and extremism”.

WIC did not respond to requests for comment.

Kit Malthouse appointed education secretary

Kit Malthouse has been appointed education secretary by new prime minister Liz Truss, becoming the fourth person to hold the role in just over two months.

The North West Hampshire MP has been serving as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the cabinet since July 7 following prime minister Boris Johnson’s reshuffle.

Malthouse had previously served as a housing minister for a year from July 2018 to July 2019 under Theresa May’s leadership, before being appointed as minister for crime and policing thereafter when Johnson became PM until July this year.

The 55-year-old had also worked with Johnson during the latter’s time as Mayor of London, Malthouse being deputy mayor for policing for four years and a member of the London Assembly.

Prior to his senior political career, Malthouse had qualified as a chartered accountant in the mid-1990s, before holding a finance director role at Cannock Investments Group. He became chief executive of Alpha Strategic and chair of County Holdings during the 2000s.

He was educated at Sudley County Primary School and Liverpool College, which was at the time a private school but has since become an academy, before studying politics and economics at Newcastle University.

Malthouse in ninth education secretary since 2010

The appointment marks the fourth education secretary since July, the fifth in a year and the ninth since the Conservatives took office in 2010.

The resignation of two cabinet members and an exodus of junior ministers forced Boris Johnson in July to announce he was standing down, prompting a leadership race through the summer while Johnson stayed on as caretaker PM.

During that time, then-education secretary Nadhim Zahawi was promoted to Chancellor of the Exchequer, with further and higher education minister Michelle Donelan succeeding Zahawi.

But Donelan resigned less than two days into the job, with Johnson appointing Braintree MP James Cleverly to the role in his reshuffle.

Cleverly was promoted by Truss to the foreign secretary role.

With the leadership contest having concluded on Monday, Johnson visited the Queen at Balmoral to formally resign earlier today, with Truss invited to form a government this afternoon.

Truss defeated fellow leadership contender Rishi Sunak by 81,326 votes to 60,399 among Conservative party members to secure the top job.

Corrienne Peasgood announced as new AoC president

A recently retired principal has been chosen as the next president of the Association of Colleges.

Corrienne Peasgood led City College Norwich for ten years until her retirement at the end of July.

She will succeed Sally Dicketts, who has served as AoC president since August 2020, on October 16.

Peasgood has been on the AoC board since 2016 and has represented the organisation regionally as well as nationally, including briefing MPs on the skills and post-16 education act. She has represented Norfolk and Suffolk FE colleges on the New Anglia LEP Board and was the vice chair of the Norfolk Children and Young People’s Strategic Alliance.

Peasgood said: “It is an honour and privilege to take on the role of AoC president from Sally Dicketts.

“I firmly believe in the importance of a strong FE sector voice and I look forward to playing my part in that over the next year. As always, there are many challenges to be faced and I will support colleges and the AoC in ensuring we get the best outcomes for our students, staff and sector.”

Each year a college principal is elected by AoC members to be president. Their term of office runs for a maximum two-year tenure.

The president acts as an ambassador for the membership organisation and the further education sector.

Dicketts said it has been an “honour to have held this position and I am proud to have supported college staff and students who have shown such resilience during the challenges of the past two-years”.

Peasgood began her time at City College Norwich as a lecturer in 1995, working her way up to the role of principal in 2012.

She was made an OBE in the Queen’s New Year honours in 2020 for services to safeguarding and construction skills in Norfolk.

David Hughes, AoC chief executive, said: “I am delighted Corrienne will be our next president. She worked tirelessly at City College Norwich for 26-years. Her impact as an educationalist has improved the lives of thousands and thousands of students. She will be able to draw on this lifetime of experience to be an ambassador for colleges during a time of deep political and economic uncertainty.

“I also want to thank Sally for championing the sector throughout the pandemic and helping to navigate the challenges faced by college staff and students during this unparalleled upheaval. She has been a very supportive president for me and the staff team at AoC. She should be proud of her work for the further education sector and the impact on AoC itself.”

The future is digital – but not exclusively so

Technology will help us improve assessment for certain courses and groups of pupils, writes Jo Saxton, but we won’t be drinking the digital Kool-Aid

I’m always telling my teenage children to get off their phones. Yet, however determined I might be that they actually talk in person to one another and their friends, I also know I couldn’t be a working mum without my mobile constantly by my side.

I too am torn. However necessary and handy technology is, you’ll find me dashing to the post box with handwritten Christmas cards to catch the final posting date. Sometimes, it’s just better to do things the traditional way.

So I’m not a technology evangelist, but I am evangelical about anything that can demonstrably improve the life chances of students and apprentices. They are and always will be my compass.

In my first year in post, my priority has been the reintroduction of exams. In August, we achieved that. Teachers, parents, exam boards, Ofqual and most of all students working together saw the safe return to students getting grades for work produced in an exam hall. It’s a familiar sight, and may not appear modern, but it is the tried and tested way that we ensure all students are assessed by the same rules.

Now it’s time to look to the future. It’s what we committed to do in our three-year plan. Greater use of technology in GCSEs, A levels and other high-stakes exams is coming down the track.

But we must be led by the evidence and do only what is right for students.

It would not be right for an evidence-based regulator to determine the future of children’s assessment based on a gulp of the technology Kool-Aid, and the latest bright and shiny, but ultimately untried-at-scale technology.,  

That’s why we have committed to careful, considered and thorough work to look at the opportunities, challenges, risks and benefits of technology in assessment.

Our regulatory role is unique – affording us both the powers and the expertise to put in place the protections students need as exam boards start to trial new approaches to assessment.  

It will not be Ofqual that develops onscreen assessment platforms, nor will it be Ofqual that secures the reliable broadband connection that each school will need.

I do not envisage a world where students sit exams solely onscreen

But we will use all our capabilities to make sure that awarding organisations adopt technology cautiously and always with students’ interests and valid assessment at the forefront of our decision-making.

I do not envisage a world where students sit exams solely onscreen. Handwriting is an essential part of our education and is best assessed with pen and paper. Many maths capabilities are assessed better when students can show their workings.

Computer programming, however, is both an essential skill for the future economy and one we can all agree is better assessed on a computer. There will be others too where onscreen assessment enables more valid, lifelike and engaging assessment.

I am determined too that we explore fully the opportunities for technology to improve assessment for those with disabilities. The opportunities are there for the taking to provide easy adjustments for screen reading, font size changes and many others.

In my view, technology could play an important role in bringing an end to the necessary evil of tiering we are forced to accept in exams today. That won’t happen overnight, but the potential gains are substantial and worth time and careful consideration.

I am pleased that exam boards have announced a range of pilots and tests to begin to develop and refine their approach.

Ofqual will be working with the Department for Education to play our part in assessing the options for safe adoption of onscreen assessment over the coming years. It’s two years since

Ofqual published a report looking at the barriers and opportunities to high stakes assessment. Now it’s time to look seriously and carefully at how we overcome those barriers.

The move to digital assessment can only come about through joint endeavour. It will take schools, teachers, parents, exam boards, Department for Education, Ofqual and others to work together.

And as the successful return of pen-and-paper exams this summer has shown, that’s well within our grasp.