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New digital functional skills qual: warning sounded on SEND exclusion

Brand new digital functional skills qualifications have already generated error messages, after the government warned special educational needs learners could be excluded from the “essential” courses.

Skills minister Alex Burghart last week heralded the launch of new subject content for the reformed entry-level and level 1 qualifications, following a consultation on the content in 2019. The old digital functional skills qualifications were shut down in July 2021.

However, an equalities impact assessment released alongside the consultation revealed the “design and delivery of digital FSQ assessments has the potential to negatively impact on learners with learning difficulties and disabilities or special educational needs”.

These learners “make up a significant proportion of enrolments on existing basic digital qualifications,” the assessment warns.

But it goes on to state officials believe: “We cannot change the subject content to the extent that assessment would not pose any potential barriers to learners with special educational needs.”

This is to ensure the qualifications can command the “full confidence” of learners, providers and employers, and to ensure “comparability across different awarding organisations and individuals”.

The need for digital FSQ subject content to reflect the “vast majority” of the skills government believes people will need for work, study and life “outweigh the need to ensure all learners can achieve a digital FSQ,” the assessment continues.

‘Essential’ that DfE ensure there are no barriers to digital skills

This is despite a new legal entitlement, introduced in August 2020, which entitled adults with little to no digital skills to a fully funded digital qualifications at entry level and level 1, on top of existing entitlements to English and maths training.

Respondents to the consultation had raised their concerns with the DfE about whether the subject content would be accessible for special educational needs learners.

After being shown the impact assessment by FE Week, Zoe Spilberg, head of education for BCS The Chartered Institute for IT, said “ensuring there are no barriers to participation in functional skills qualifications is essential”.

“Computing education and digital skills courses should be accessible by design and with the right support in place to meet the needs of every learner,” she added.

Fil McIntyre, manager of specialist provider network Natspec’s TechAbility assistive technology support service, said the organisation believes digital FSQs “should be as accessible as possible and that greater flexibility should be integrated into their design”.

He said it was “often the design of the content which can create an accessibility issue, asking learners to demonstrate a skill they would never be able to perform”.

‘Too many adults lack the know-how,’ says Burghart

Launching the new subject content on Friday, Alex Burghart said the Department for Education had reformed “essential digital skills so more adults will have the confidence and knowledge they need”.

In its consultation response, the department cited evidence from Lloyds Bank that one in five adults lack essential digital skills.

“From sending emails, to keeping our data safe online, digital skills are vital for
navigating our everyday lives and getting on in work, but too many adults still lack the know-how,” said Burghart.

In addition to new digital functional skills qualifications, which are set to be rolled out in 2023, new essential digital skills qualifications (EDSQs) launched alongside the implementation of the digital skills entitlement in August 2020.

These replaced all low-level IT courses, which had been studied by over 100,000 people a year.

FE Week reported last July how just 270 people had achieved an essential digital skills qualification by June 2021, with the slow start having been blamed on Covid-19.

DfE insists SEND learners can be supported to take courses

A DfE spokesperson insisted learners with special educational needs are “not prevented” from taking digital FSQs, as “support is available through the adult education budget to meet the cost of putting in place a reasonable adjustment for individuals with an identified LDD to achieve their learning goal”.

Awarding organisations must make reasonable adjustments for their qualifications under the 2010 Equality Act, the spokesperson added, and must have “clear arrangements in place” and made public for such adjustments under Ofqual rules.

Awarding body Pearson, which took part in the consultation, told FE Week it makes every effort to make specifications and assessments accessible to all learners as far as possible.

But, the DfE spokesperson said, if a digital FSQ was “not appropriate” for a learner, they can also take one of the EDSQs.

The consultation opened on May 16, 2019 and closed on July 11, 2019, but the release of the results was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, the DfE said.

‘Everything goes at 18’: Ofsted warns of SEND cliff-edge

Support for special educational needs students beyond age 16 is an area of “serious weakness” in ten areas visited by Ofsted after inspections restarted this year.

Experts have warned the situation is so bad that colleges are being left to pick up the pieces and help the learners “almost by magic”.

The watchdog told FE Week the trend is not new, “but the pandemic has certainly made issues worse.”

“It’s a real concern that young people aren’t getting the support they need as they transition between services and into adulthood.”

FE Week found ten of the 16 reports published after the inspections resumed in May highlighted problems faced by post-16 special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) learners, mostly in their transitions from school to further education or employment.

Councils were slammed by Ofsted for having “too many” young people not in education, employment or training, and for having “limited and variable” pathways to adulthood.

Inspectors also spoke with college leaders who were concerned about how accurately young peoples’ needs had been identified before they started post-16 courses.

This comes as the government last month parachuted in a SEND commissioner to remedy failures in Birmingham – the first intervention of its kind.

‘Confusion’ at transition points for SEND learners

Learners with SEND can stay in school until age 19, but can leave earlier and many will go to a college. It is estimated that over a quarter of colleges’ 16-to-18 population have SEND.

Not all will have an education, health and care plan (EHCP), which sets out the needs of a young person with SEND.

From age 19 to 23, they will leave college and move into employment or care, among other options.

It is at age points 16, 19, and when they are in their twenties that information becomes “confused” between the councils, health authorities and education providers involved in SEND services, experts say.

Young people’s transitions’ into post-16 ‘not a positive experience’

Of the 16 reports, seven out of the eight areas visited for the first time in this wave of inspections were told to produce a written statement of action owing to “significant areas of weakness in the local area’s practice”.

Sunderland is one such area, where inspectors reported a parent said: “Everything goes at 18.”

Many parents in the area “feel they need to find out everything themselves”, the report adds.

In Tower Hamlets, adult services were found to be refusing referrals from children’s health teams until a young person’s 18th birthday, which the report says “hinders effective transition planning”.

Preparation for adulthood was a “serious weakness” in Rotherham’s services, with support stopping for “too many” young people once they reach 18.

In Birmingham, young people’s transitions into employment and training are “not a positive experience” for families.

Haringey was picked up for its delays in assessments for young adults with learning disabilities, which parents said had a “negative effect” on their children’s longterm outcomes.

SEND families deal with ‘appalling’ lack of guidance

Specialist providers’ network Natspec’s chief executive Clare Howard blamed the problems on a “really appalling” lack of advice and guidance for families on post-16 options and on local authorities not engaging in a “timely manner” in what happens once a SEND learner leaves education.

Howard highlighted a comment from Haringey’s report that “preparation for adulthood is not planned well… That is a comment that could have come from anywhere,” she said.

A survey of 137 families of a young person with an EHCP, carried out by Natspec, found 58 per cent believed discussions about post-16 options came too late.

Council budgets have faced cuts, Howard reasoned, with the Department for Education pouring in millions of pounds to bail out councils with SEND funding deficits earlier this year.

The Local Government Association has called for the deficits to be written off and for the government to “urgently” complete its review of SEND services, launched in 2019.

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi told MPs this week the review will be published in the first quarter of 2022.

Howard also said Ofsted tends to “overemphasise the children in schools and under-emphasise the young people in colleges”, and Natspec has “rarely” heard colleges being involved in the reviews.

Ofsted responded that FE and skills provision is an “important part” of SEND support, but they “do not focus on individual providers”, but rather “how services from health, education and care are working together to improve outcomes for children with SEND”.

Colleges having to use ‘out-of-date’ EHC plans

EHCPs were introduced in the 2014 Children and Families Act, which also brought in a SEND code of practice, mandating how councils, NHS bodies and education providers should support young people with SEND from the age of 0 to 25.

The Association of Colleges’ senior policy manager for SEND, David Holloway, argues the 2014 act is “excellent legislation, badly implemented”. The personalised EHCPs are “a positive”, but the “whole process stands or falls on its accuracy” and councils “aren’t keeping the plans up to date”.

Warwickshire’s local area SEND review, for instance, chastises the local authorities for plans that are “well out-of-date”.

Learners with an EHCP can choose which post-16 provider they wish to attend, but Holloway says colleges report this decision is often made “very late in the day”.

Local authorities are also often absent from annual reviews of EHCPs to update them with learners’ current needs, which are passed to colleges to decide whether they can take on the learner.

If the plans are out-of-date, “colleges won’t be fully informed about whether they can cater for the individual student who selects to go to that college”.

Consequently, colleges are providing to those young people “almost by magic,” Holloway said.

Howard said young people with SEND have “missed a year completely” while problems with their transition are rectified.

Councils admit there is ‘significant work to do’

Several councils have acted on their SEND provision since the publication of their area review.

In a joint statement, Sunderland’s city council, children’s services and NHS clinical commissioning group said it recognises “there is more do” to improve provision and they are “taking steps in the right direction to ensure children and families’ needs are addressed”.

Birmingham City Council told FE Week that the “local area partnership together with DfE and NHS England are working on a programme of work to address all 12 outstanding areas of significant weakness.

Progress will be monitored through the SEND Improvement Board, chaired by the DfE appointed commissioner.”

Tower Hamlets’ council and CCG admits they have “significant work to do” and plans “are in place to build on our strengths whilst improving the quality and delivery of our SEND provision to better establish and meet the needs of our children and young people”.

Rotherham Council’s assistant director for young people’s services Nathan Heath said they will publish a written statement of action in January 2022, with a “clear focus” on “developing positive transitions into post-16 pathways”.

Haringey Council’s cabinet member for families Zena Brabazon says the local authorities are “developing a partnership action plan,” focusing on young people with SEND.

The plan “greatly improves the way we co-design, co-produce, communicate, engage and interact with carers and parents going forward”.

FE providers unlikely to benefit from Budget’s £2.6bn SEND boost

Councils were handed £2.6 billion in last week’s spending review for new school places for SEND pupils, whereas post16 providers received nothing for their students.

Despite local authorities being responsible for SEND learners up to the age of 25, it is unlikely any of the £2.6 billion will go to post-16 providers.

Following the Budget, the Special Needs Jungle blog said just one per cent of non-ringfenced SEND capital grants paid to local authorities by the DfE over the past three years went to FE and early-years providers.

Ninety-five per cent went to mainstream or special schools and alternative provision providers – which educate children who are outside the school system.

When asked whether any of the £2.6 billion will go to FE providers, the LGA said it wanted the SEND review to grant “long-term certainty of funding”.

SEND consultant Barney Angliss argues the capital funding announced in the budget would not be much help to colleges though, as “just building another classroom doesn’t solve the issue”.

Students with EHCPs are “phenomenally expensive” compared to their peers, he said, and this all comes ahead of a demographic bump which will mean an extra 90,000 students in college classrooms by 2024/25, according to the AoC.

Though Angliss did say the extra money going towards school SEND places could mean specialist schools expanding their age range from 16 to 19, taking some pressure off colleges.

AELP conference round-up: Top officials talk traineeships, achievement rates and T Levels

Providers, regulators and government representatives headed to Manchester this week for the Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ (AELP) autumn conference – the organisation’s first in-person event since the Covid-19 pandemic. FE Week has rounded up the key take-aways…

ESFA’s Evans concedes traineeship target will not be met

The government will “not quite” achieve its ambition of 43,000 traineeship starts this year, a top skills civil servant has admitted as they expressed “frustration” at delays to the programme’s expansion.

Kirsty Evans, the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s director of FE, has made the concession just three months into the 2021/22 academic year.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak earmarked £126 million this year for the “largest ever expansion” of the pre-employability programme.

It followed a £111 million traineeship investment in 2020/21 to achieve almost 37,000 starts – a target that was missed by more than half as only 17,000 enrolments were recorded last year.

Starts figures for this year have not yet been released, but addressing Tuesday’s AELP conference, Evans admitted the government will not reach the target of 43,000 starts in 2021/22.

Providers previously warned that progress towards the goal has been scuppered by the delayed 19-to-24 traineeships procurement – an issue that FE Week understands personally “annoyed” Sunak – as well as the belated 16-to-19 market entry exercise that is still yet to be finalised.

Evans told delegates: “I’ve been frustrated about how long it has taken but it’s great that we’ve now got that exercise underway.”

The tender closed at the end of October and results are due to be announced later this month.

Evans also told conference there are “conversations happening” about extending the £3,000 employer cash incentives for hiring new apprentices beyond January 2022.

She said she is not part of those conversations, however, so could not share any further information.

IfATE’s Nitsch to ITPs: ‘Keep an open mind on T Levels’

Independent training providers have been implored to keep an “open mind” about offering T Levels by the government’s technical education quango.

Rob Nitsch, the Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s chief operating officer, told AELP delegates he was aware the new flagship post-16 qualifications were “a long stretch at the moment”.

But as take-up has been “affected by the pandemic”, he added, “I encourage you to approach them with an open mind and also to see the opportunities they offer for learners”.

From left: Chair Shane Mann and Rob Nitsch

Of the 194 institutions offering T Levels during their initial rollout between 2020 and 2022, just four are independent training providers.

None of the four was part of the first wave in 2020, but two joined in 2021, and a further two will begin delivery in 2022.

Around 1,300 young people started T Levels last year. Figures for this year’s enrolments have not yet been released.

To encourage more private providers to look at T Levels, Nitsch told AELP’s conference that there is work ongoing on the feasibility of an adult option for T Levels and changing the entry-level requirements, particularly around English and maths.

The institute, which is responsible for the rollout of T Levels, is also exploring how to make the substantial industrial placement component “easier” to deliver across the country and “how we bridge into work and other forms of training at the end of T Levels”.

Nitsch also gave an update on the proposal for a level 2 “public sector organisation administrative assistant” apprenticeship, which was submitted earlier this year after repeated bids for a level 2 business administration apprenticeship standard to replace the old-style popular framework were rejected.

He said it is “some distance off” meeting the quality bar for apprenticeships and refused to commit to giving the proposed standard a “rubber stamp at all”.

The institute has “had a look” at the proposal, and while his quango is “not casting off” the trailblazer group, they will need to change it substantially to meet the quality threshold.

Ofsted’s Joyce calms fears on achievement rates

Training providers will not have their Ofsted grades limited if their achievement rates take an expected dip this year, the watchdog’s deputy director for FE has promised.

Paul Joyce reiterated to AELP delegates this week that Ofsted’s new education inspection framework places “much, much less weight on data” than the old common inspection framework.

He said this is not to say that achieving qualifications is not important “because it clearly is”, but inspectors will look “in the round” when judging providers’ delivery.

Many in the sector fear that apprenticeship qualifications achievement rates (QARs) will take a substantial hit this year, partly due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. They are concerned this will spark more debate around the quality of apprenticeships, which Ofsted has repeatedly said is “troubling” .

Apprenticeship QARs dropped slightly from 64.8 per cent in 2018/19 to 64.2 per cent in 2019/20. They have not been published at institution level for the past two years owing to the pandemic but will return in 2021/22.

Joyce told conference: “I can assure colleagues in the room that just because achievement rates may dip or may not be as high for a number of reasons that will not lead inspectors to limit their judgments.

“We focus far more on the development of knowledge skills and behaviours.”

He also said Ofsted had managed to complete 800 new provider monitoring visits last year despite Covid.

Inspectors were “very concerned” in the first phase of the visits because the number of providers being awarded ‘insufficient progress’ grades was “particularly high”. He added that at the end of the academic year, around one in five providers were not making sufficient progress.

Insolvency Service to take no action against directors of collapsed provider 3aaa

The government’s insolvency watchdog will take “no further action” against the ex-directors of former apprenticeship giant Aspire Achieve Advance (3aaa) following an inquiry.

The Insolvency Service began investigating the company’s directors’ conduct following its collapse in 2018, in line with usual procedure when a firm enters compulsory liquidation.

A spokesperson for the government agency said this week the official receiver for the case has now concluded their enquiries and decided not to impose any sanctions.

3aaa was one of the largest apprenticeship providers in the country. Its downfall came after the government terminated its multi-million-pound skills-funding contracts following a five-month investigation into alleged inflated achievement rates and funding overclaims. The case was then passed to the police through Action Fraud.

This was the DfE’s second investigation into the provider in two years.

Derbyshire Constabulary took on the case but decided in January 2020 not to pursue any further action.

A spokesperson for the ESFA said at the time it would “not hesitate to take swift and decisive action against those who attempt to break, or manipulate, the rules, regardless of whether the relevant authorities take forward criminal proceedings”.

The provider went bust following the ESFA’s investigation and the High Court placed 3aaa into compulsory liquidation in late October 2018. Anthony Hannon was then made the official receiver handling the insolvency.

The Insolvency Service has three years from the date of the company winding-up order to launch enforcement action “if it was to determine doing so was in the public interest in the light of any investigation findings”.

Sanctions imposed by the official receiver, if they uncover unfit director conduct, include director disqualification of between two and 15 years.

3aaa had 4,200 learners and 500 staff on its books when it went bust.

The firm was holding £16.5 million in ESFA contracts and received more than £31 million in government funding the year before its collapse.

3aaa was co-founded by former Derby County Football Club owner Peter Marples and Di McEvoy-Robinson in 2008. They both stepped down in September 2018 in the midst of the ESFA’s investigation.

Neither Marples nor McEvoy-Robinson had responded to requests for comment at the time of our going to press.

College pleads for lifting of apprenticeship ban

A college is pleading with the government to lift its long-lasting ban on recruiting apprentices, saying the sanction does not reflect recent performance.

Stanmore College, rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, has been suspended from taking on new apprentices since May 2020 but the penalty only appeared on the register of apprenticeship training providers this term.

A spokesperson told FE Week the restriction was imposed due to a “legacy” issue for a “minimal” number of apprentices in 2017/18 who did not complete their programme “due to changing roles or leaving their employer”.

They refused to further explain why this issue led to a ban or say whether this brought the college below the government’s minimum standard. Qualification achievement rate tables published by the Education and Skills Funding Agency have excluded Stanmore since 2017.

The college claims their achievement rates have improved, reaching 72 per cent in 2020/21, and warned it is now being hindered from serving its local employers.

Stanmore is one of 33 apprenticeship providers currently suspending from taking on new apprentices.

Providers are typically only suspended from recruitment following an ‘inadequate’ full Ofsted inspection or ‘insufficient’ new provider monitoring visit.

Two other providers are currently banned from taking on new apprentices despite never receiving a low judgment from the education watchdog: Luton International College Ltd, and Nebula Consultancy Services Ltd. Both providers did not respond to requests for comment about their suspension at the time of going to press.

The ESFA said it is unable to comment on the specific circumstances of an individual case.

Stanmore College received its grade two from Ofsted in 2017, the report for which praised its apprenticeship programme. At the time the college was teaching 1,800 students, 33 of which were apprentices.

Its spokesperson said the majority of their 2017/18 apprentices who either switched roles or left their employer “did successfully complete their apprenticeship programme during the following year.

“Stanmore College has been actively working with the ESFA colleagues to remove the suspension as it does not reflect recent achievement levels for apprenticeships,” they added.

“An imminent return to delivery of a full apprenticeship programme is anticipated, in order for the college to deliver the skills and knowledge that employers require in the region.”

The spokesperson said its finances have not been impacted in “any way”. The college’s latest accounts show a £157,000 surplus in 2019/20 and reserves of £7.5 million.

Ministers play down BTECs cull

Ministers have begun playing down the Department for Education’s plans to cull most BTECs, in the face of mounting opposition.

They have gone as far as to blame the media for fuelling a belief there will be a binary choice between A-levels and T Levels, despite the DfE’s own consultation stating that the two “should in future be the programmes of choice for 16-to-19-year-olds taking level 3 qualifications”.

A DfE policy paper on their reforms even asserts that applied general qualifications such as BTECs “will be rare”, but ministers now insist “many produce excellent outcomes” and they “won’t get rid of quality BTECs”.

James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, which is spearheading the #ProtectStudentChoice campaign, said he has noticed a “change in tone from ministers” since Boris Johnson’s reshuffle.

He told FE Week this new DfE ministerial team “has shown it is willing to actually listen to the sector on this issue” which has “not always been the case” with their predecessors.

The DfE embarked on a highly contentious two-stage level 3 and below qualifications review in March 2019 to consider the 12,000 applied general qualifications, including Pearson’s popular BTEC courses.

The final outcome was published in July. At the time the DfE said the reforms would involve stripping public funding from “poor-quality” qualifications that duplicate or overlap with T Levels or A-levels, with then-education secretary Gavin Williamson warning: “There can be no room in our education system for second-rate qualifications.”

At the time the DfE did say that some BTECs would survive the government’s bonfire of level 3 qualifications if they can demonstrate there is a “real need” for them, or if they are in an area that T Levels do not cover, such as performing arts.

But when challenged on the issue during an education questions session in September, former skills minister Gillian Keegan told MPs: “Poor-quality qualifications benefit nobody, least of all those who are disadvantaged.

“I will tell the House what is a tragedy – a tragedy is having young people not able to get on in the workplace because they have spent two or three years studying something that does not offer the value that employers need in this high-tech economy.”

Michelle Donelan, who took on a joint HE and FE brief following September’s reshuffle, appeared to water down the agenda last week during an education select committee hearing.

She said: “I would like to bust a myth here, because the media has sold a story that we are abolishing all BTECs and there will be a binary choice between A-levels and T Levels, which is certainly not the direction of travel.

“We know that many BTECs produce excellent outcomes for young people and for people later on in life. However, there have been various studies, including the welfare review, which showed that some of them are not of a good enough quality; the quality that we would want our own children or our own constituents to be taking. It is right that we take stock of it and we review it.”

During Monday’s education questions, new education secretary Nadhim Zahawi weighed in on the issue. “I want to just squash that misrepresentation: we are not withdrawing funding from BTECs,” he said.

“BTECs that are of high quality and are valued will continue, but it is only right that we look at the landscape and see where quality lies and how we can increase the ladders of opportunity, not take them away from people.”

And during an accountability hearing with the education select committee on Wednesday, he added: “We won’t get rid of quality BTECs. I want to squash that narrative that has somehow built up I don’t know where from. We will be evidence-led.”

A policy statement published by the DfE following the outcome of its level 3 qualifications consultation, made clear: “From 2024, T Levels and A-levels will be the qualifications of choice for classroom-based study.”

Kewin said: “We are encouraged by the change of tone from ministers and some of the more positive messages we have heard in recent weeks. All we ask is that decisions on the future of these qualifications are based on evidence rather than anecdote, and that ministers appreciate that BTECs can happily co-exist alongside A-levels and T Levels.”

Festive foodbank campaign relaunches as part of Good For Me, Good for FE

Colleges are getting in the Christmas spirit with the relaunch of #FestiveFEFoodbankFriday, donating items to local foodbanks facing “high demand”.

The FE sector’s foodbank drive was started by London South East Colleges during lockdown and collected 20,000 items and raised £47,000 between March and December 2020.

It has now been brought under the umbrella of the Good for Me, Good for FE volunteering campaign, which has 120 colleges signed up.

The campaign’s joint leader, Sam Parrett, LSEC’s group principal, said foodbanks are “continuing to experience high demand. Encouraging our partner colleges to support these is an important part of our campaign. Christmas is a difficult time for many, and we are delighted that so many colleges are re-launching their festive foodbanks.” 

‘Vital’ colleges play leading role in helping foodbanks

Colleges will be encouraging staff and students to donate single items or create hampers for people in need.

There will be a series of other fundraising activities taking place in 50 days until Christmas to support the campaign, including Santa Dash running events and Christmas lunches for care leavers.

Parrett’s fellow joint leader, Loughborough College principal Jo Maher said it was “vital” colleges play a “leading role in helping vulnerable local families and people in need this Christmas”.

She was “pleased” the campaign was relaunching the drive, so “we can continue providing that incredible support to people who need it the most.

“It never fails to amaze me how generous and selfless staff and students in our sector are.”

Her sentiment was echoed by the campaign’s other joint leader, East Coast College principal Stuart Rimmer, who said: “It will be wonderful to see every college getting involved and using our sector’s collective power to support a happier Christmas in all our communities.” 

Campaign has produced nearly £100k in social value

Good for Me, Good for FE has a goal of raising £1 million in social value – which involves colleges recording how much volunteering staff and students undertake.

This is then put through a “social value calculator” to figure out how many volunteering hours have been contributed in monetary terms to social goals, such as increasing access to employment and skills, helping the environment and growing businesses.

The campaign says, so far, nearly £100,000 of social value has been generated.

T Level placements CAN be done remotely, DfE announces

Students who started a T Level in 2020 and 2021 can complete a chunk of their industry placement remotely, the government has announced today.

Ministers and sector leaders have become increasing worried about convincing enough businesses to host students for the 315-hour or 45-day placements, a concern exacerbated by Covid-19.

A Department for Education spokesperson said officials have waited “as long as possible” to see if the impacts the pandemic has had on employers’ working practices “resolve themselves” in time to enable all students in the first cohorts to have a “100 per cent in person placement”.

But recent feedback has shown that providers are still experiencing difficulties in securing placements in some areas.

Several temporary flexibilities have now been applied to the first two waves of learners studying the flagship new post-16 technical qualifications.

For 2020 starters, students can spend a maximum of 40 per cent of their placement hours remotely, new guidance published today has revealed.

Learners starting in 2021 will be allowed to spend a maximum of 25 per cent of their placement hours not in the workplace.

This approach can be applied to students taking T Levels in the digital, construction and health and science routes, but not education and childcare.

The DfE said this was because education and childcare “cannot be delivered in a blended way and must continue as 100 per cent in person to reflect the level of competence in knowledge and skills that students need to be demonstrate in the workplace, to meet the early years educator criteria”.

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said this new flexibility “allows colleges some space to ensure that every placement is a high-quality experience” in the face of “changes in working practices”.

The DfE said the remote element must take place at either the provider’s site, a training centre or simulated working environment run by the employer.

Students should not complete this remote working element of their placement at home, the guidance adds.

It continues: “Providers and employers will need to agree which elements of the placement and which learning objectives can be realistically achieved remotely.”

Additionally, students who are studying the health, healthcare science and science T Levels will be able to complete a placement at “pathway level if a placement at specialism level can’t be sourced”.

Around 1,300 young people started T Levels last year. Figures for this year’s enrolments have not yet been released.

Providers of the early years educator T Level told FE Week last January they had postponed placements to keep students and the workplaces safe.

In response, the DfE cut the minimum hours for placements for level 3 early educator qualifications, including the T Level, from 750 hours to 415 because of the pandemic during 2020.

The department has now extended this flexibility to education and childcare students starting in 2021.

Providers have been told to continue to plan to deliver placements of 750 hours for education and childcare students who started their T Levels in 2021, but “in situations where they are not able to do this, students can still complete their placement if they do a minimum of 415 hours and are able to demonstrate competence against the early years educator criteria”.

Today’s flexibilities come after the DfE announced in May it would temporarily increase the cash incentives for employers running T Level industry placements to £1,000.

Employers running placements in 2020/21, the first year of the flagship qualifications’ roll-out, were gifted £750 for every student they placed, up to a maximum of ten students.

Firms are now able to claim for a new maximum of 20 students on T Level programmes until July 2022.

Three T Levels were rolled out last September, and a further seven started this autumn.

UCU claims victory over staff pay at 5 London colleges

Staff at five London colleges have landed improved pay offers following strikes.

They include salary increases of up to 5 per cent, increased annual leave and workload “protection”.

University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady claimed this as a “fantastic win” for their members and urged employers who are “refusing to negotiate on pay” to follow suit or face further industrial action.

Staff at Croydon College took to the picket line for seven days this term but have now voted to accept an offer.

The deal includes a backdated 2 per cent pay increase for all staff, 5 per cent for lower-paid members in learning support roles and a minimum salary for qualified teachers of “around £30,000”.

There are “additional commitments around workload protection, a four-week summer leave period and simplified pay progression”, a UCU spokesperson said.

South Thames Colleges Group, which includes South Thames, Merton, Kingston and Carshalton colleges, has offered a 2 per cent consolidated pay award for all staff. This increases to 2.25 per cent for staff who earn less than £23,000.

The offer also includes a “commitment to review and level up terms and conditions across the group including lecturers’ contact hours and holiday arrangements, as well as a new pay and grading structure”.

UCU members in the South Thames Colleges Group are voting on whether to accept the offer in a ballot that closes on Monday. Staff had previously taken one day of strike action.

Staff at fifteen colleges had voted to take strike action over pay demands in July this year. The latest offers mean ten of the colleges have now received improved pay offers.

The UCU has been demanding a pay increase of greater than 5 per cent to “close the school-college pay gap” which currently stands at £9,000, and after more than a decade of below inflation FE pay increases.

The union said its dispute with Capital City College Group remains unresolved. The group has seen ten days of strike action this year.

Roy O’Shaughnessy, chief executive of Capital City College Group, previously said he was “very disappointed” that the strike has continued because his lecturing staff “are already paid more than other further education lecturers in London”.

He added that the sector’s “ongoing lack of funding is precisely the reason why we cannot afford to pay the 7 per cent increase in pay that the union is demanding”.

Grady said today: “This is a fantastic win for all our members at Croydon, Carshalton, Kingston, Merton, and South Thames colleges. By taking industrial action they have won long overdue improvements to their pay and terms and conditions, which will particularly benefit lower paid staff.

“Employers that are refusing to negotiate on pay, such as Capital City College Group, need to follow the example of Croydon College and South Thames Colleges Group and agree to improvements in staff wages, otherwise they risk further disruption.”

Croydon College and South Thames Colleges Group were approached for comment.