Pearson vying to keep a third of its BTEC level 3 courses under threat

Awarding giant Pearson is appealing to keep one-third of its BTEC courses under threat of being axed by the government as part of plans to reform level 3 qualifications. 

In May, the Department for Education published a draft list of 38 BTECs that are planned to be culled. These are among 160 level 3 qualifications the DfE is looking to defund from 2024 as they “overlap” with the government’s flagship T Levels. 

The deadline for awarding bodies to appeal is today, July 8. 

Pearson had the greatest number on the list – 41 – and has confirmed it is appealing the closure of 14. 

A spokesperson told FE Week that over half of their qualifications on the defunding list are already being withdrawn “as part of our usual cycle of updating and renewing our products, or are designed primarily for apprenticeships learners, which means they will not be affected by this process”. 

Pearson said the 14 it is appealing are “valued by 16-to-19 learners, colleges, universities and employers, and are not replaced by T Levels”. The courses being appealed are mostly linked to mechanical engineering.  

Pearson confirmed it is also developing content and assessments for five of the new T Level qualifications. It includes two of the first three courses – digital production, design and development; and design, surveying and planning for construction. 

This September it will deliver T Levels in finance and accounting, with the legal services T Level to be added in September 2023. 

FE Week approached all awarding bodies with four or more courses on the under-threat list. City & Guilds, which has 36, Training Qualifications UK (five) and Gateway Qualifications Ltd (four) did not wish to comment on which courses they are appealing. 

NCFE is appealing five of the 19 it has on the list, largely health and social care courses. A spokesperson said the awarding body “welcomes” the DfE reforms but added: “We believe these specific qualifications should continue to be funded as they serve progression to job roles not yet covered by T Levels, specifically in the social care sector.” 

OCR said it would not comment on any specifics around the seven it has on the list, but a spokesperson said: “We will be appealing a limited number of qualifications where we believe there are clear grounds for appeal.” 

NOCN said it is likely to appeal the level 3 diploma in adult care of the four qualifications it has on the defunding list, while iCan Qualifications confirmed it would not be appealing any of its five on the list. 

Among some of the popular courses are Pearson’s national foundation diploma in engineering, which had 3,500 completers in 2021, with 3,299 on the course this year, while 2,200 finished its national extended diploma in engineering last year, with just over 3,000 on the course this year. 

The health and social care diploma BTEC had around 3,000 youngsters finishing the course last year. 

For NCFE, four of its five are among the top 20 most popular courses on the defunding list, according to the Association of Colleges’ defunding position paper published last week. Learners on those four health and social care courses this year total 11,705. 

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said: “A number of popular, established and well-respected qualifications feature on this list. That should come as little surprise, given the simplistic definition of ‘overlap’ adopted by the government and the lack of transparency in the review process.  

“If the appeals regime concludes that qualifications like the diploma in health and social care, or the suite of BTEC engineering qualifications, are no longer required, that will further damage the credibility of the government’s approach to reviewing level 3 qualifications. This is certain to be raised at the #ProtectStudentChoice debate that takes place in parliament on July 18.”    

Cath Sezen, AoC senior policy manager, said: “We are concerned around the defunding of these engineering qualifications as the new engineering T Levels are only being introduced this September.” 

Sezen said some who were working up the levels would not have a one-year level 3 option in a couple of years’ time, and a two-year T Level may not be appropriate. She added that sufficient placement opportunities must be available for learners in all parts of the country. 

She added: “There needs to be greater investment in the transition year – currently funded in line with other study programmes – to prepare students for T Levels and, of course, English and maths, which are a hurdle to starting a T Level.” 

Pearson’s 14 appeals, BTECs level 3 

National Diploma in Manufacturing Engineering 

National Extended Diploma in Manufacturing Engineering  

National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering  

Foundation Award in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Development Technical Knowledge)  

Award in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Development Technical Knowledge)  

Certificate in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Development Technical Knowledge)  

Diploma in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Development Technical Knowledge)  

Extended Diploma in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Development Technical Knowledge)  

National Foundation Diploma in Engineering National Diploma in Engineering  

BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Engineering  

National Extended Diploma in Mechanical Engineering 

National Extended Certificate in Construction and the Built Environment 

National Diploma in Health and Social Care 

  

NCFE’s five appeals, level 3 

Certificate in Health and Social Care 

Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care 

Technical Level 3 Certificate in Health and Social Care 

Technical Level 3 Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care 

Diploma in Adult Care 

  

NOCN’s appeal 

Level 3 Diploma in Adult Care 

New list of approved training providers put on ice 

Plans to create a new list of government-approved training providers have been put on ice.   

Leaders have been bracing themselves to go through what they fear will be a “costly” and “bureaucratic” process to join the mandatory register next year.   

The next stage will be to define the conditions for the list, which are expected to include a new form of expensive insurance to cover costs when a provider exits from the market, in law following the passing of the skills and post-16 education act 2022.   

But the Education and Skills Funding Agency has decided to pause the development of the regulations in light of the “changing” FE provider market due to wider skills reforms.   

“We want to assess the totality of change to understand the impact on providers and what is needed to protect learner interests in a proportionate way,” the ESFA told FE Week.   

The agency said it will set out a timescale at the start of 2023/24 for undertaking a review of the “changes to the FE provider market to inform a decision on proceeding with making the regulations”.   

The conclusion of the review will determine the timeline for the development of the list.   

Jane Hickie, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said the delay will be welcome news to the sector.   

“The sector hardly needs yet another bureaucratic hoop to jump through, when we’ve only just had another refresh of the register of apprenticeship training providers and when many providers are still getting back to business as usual after a difficult few years,” she said.   

Any provider not on the new list will not be granted funding agreements or be allowed to subcontract with another provider who is on the list. It will be additional to the existing register of apprenticeship training providers, which has gone through multiple refreshes since it launched in 2017.   

An impact assessment report for the skills bill explained that the new list of ITPs and its conditions are required because there are delays in the current system of finding a new provider for learners when another goes bust.   

The delays come about because providers often have to take on the learners and receive no additional funding. This “makes it difficult to place some affected learners with alternative providers and this brings with it the risk that the learner may disengage and then fail to complete their learning”, according to the DfE.   

The impact assessment stated that provider failings also “incur costs to government, for example, administrative costs in resourcing learner transfers or writing off advanced learner loans”.   

FE Week has reported on various cases of loans providers going bust in recent years, leaving learners in the lurch and in some cases, left with high levels of debt and no opportunity to complete their course.  

Following an FE Week campaign, the DfE changed the law in 2019 to give the education secretary the power to clear student debt in those cases. Almost 600 victims of the scandal had £1.5 million worth of debt written off as of January 2022.   

To combat the costs and delays, the DfE wants providers to take out a new type of insurance to cover the costs of transfer of learners to a new provider. The impact assessment warns this could incur significant additional costs on the sector.   

“Professional indemnity insurance” is anticipated to be required by the DfE, which is typically set up to cover: breach of duty, civil liability, breach of contractual liability that is not caused by negligence, contractual liability and legal costs.   

Aside from insurance, the new list of ITPs will require a registration fee, “provisions” of student exit plans and access to learner and financial records. 

Frustration as ESFA’s course directory crashes and delays crucial apprenticeship provider updates

Providers have been blocked from updating their apprenticeship offer to prospective employers for a month after the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s course directory crashed.   

Leaders have described the situation as “incredibly frustrating”, especially after the agency reminded providers of their contractual requirement to keep their information on Find Apprenticeship Training “up to date” two weeks after the back-end of the website went down.  

It comes at a time when the government is desperate to increase apprenticeship starts in the aftermath of the pandemic and during a busy recruitment period ahead of the new academic year.   

The ESFA has apologised to providers for the inconvenience and assured them they are working to resolve the issue but could not offer an estimated date for when the site will be fixed.   

Course directory data and information is shared with employers when they use the ESFA’s Find Apprenticeship Training website, which provides information about a training provider’s organisation and their apprenticeship offer, such as the geographical areas they cover and delivery model.   

In an update to the sector on June 22, the ESFA told providers that it is “important that this information is up to date so that employers and ESFA have an accurate view of coverage of apprenticeship provision across all apprenticeships”.   

The agency added: “To ensure compliance with your apprenticeship agreement, we are asking all providers to ensure their information is up to date and complete.”   

Adam Barnes, who runs Roemer Barnes Consultancy and works with multiple training providers, said training firms are “incredibly frustrated that they’re being asked by the ESFA to update their offering on the course directory when the course directory isn’t available”.   

He told FE Week this is having a knock-on effect on employer engagement and providers’ ability to encourage employers to re-engage with apprenticeships after Covid.   

“Providers are facing an uphill battle to raise the number of apprenticeship starts in line with ESFA expectations because they can’t actually advertise what their current offer is,” Barnes added.   

The ESFA did not respond to FE Week requests for an update to the course directory’s status at the time of going to press. 

Seven in ten college staff ‘may quit’ due to low pay

College staff are skipping meals, rationing hot water at home and seven out of ten say they could quit their jobs due to low pay and the cost-of-living crisis, according to the University and College Union (UCU).

Results of a survey of over 2,700 UCU members, published today, show that working in further education has become unaffordable for the majority of staff and puts the government’s levelling-up agenda at risk, claims the union’s general secretary, Jo Grady.

“It is beyond scandalous that dedicated college staff are being forced to skip meals and ration hot water and heating because their low pay has left them completely exposed to this cost of living crisis,” Grady said.

The report, called ‘On The Breadline: The cost of living crisis for England’s college workers’, furthers union calls for urgent pay increase for college staff. UCU branches in 33 colleges are currently balloting for strike action over low pay. Ballots close next Friday, July 15.

Grady has today threatened leaders with strikes in more colleges, saying the union’s findings should “shock employers into action”.

“The harrowing testimony of college staff should shock employers into action. If it doesn’t and ministers refuse to step in, our union will ballot for strike action at even more English colleges, with the aim of delivering uplifts in pay which will enable college staff to make it through this cost of living crisis, and safeguard the future of the sector.”

College staff want higher pay, more manageable workloads, reduced administration and better job security.

This follows research published by UCU in June which found that college staff were, on average, working at least two days a week for free.

Seven in ten respondents to UCU’s survey said they will “definitely not” or “probably not” still be working in further education in five years time unless pay is raised.

“I am literally living hand to mouth. I want to get out of teaching in further education,” one survey respondent wrote.

When asked what steps staff were taking to make ends meet, over 60 per cent said they were heating their home less frequently. Just over 55 per cent said they were using savings and 45 per cent said they were using credit cards.

“I am currently working three jobs in order to be able to live. I am also unable to rent a house or flat so I’m living with my parents. I had to decline a sick note from my doctor because of my low income and lack of sick pay as I can’t afford to have time off,” said one survey response. 

Negotiations between unions and the Association of Colleges for a recommended pay award for college staff are at an impasse. The AoC’s latest recommendation of 2.5 per cent was branded “beyond insulting” by the union and “simply unaffordable” by some colleges.

“As the government falls apart, the college staff responsible for delivering what remains of its levelling-up agenda are saying they cannot afford to stay in further education. With seven in ten pledging to leave their jobs if pay and working conditions continue to be eroded it is clear that the future of the entire sector is under threat,” Grady said.

Today’s report repeats the union’s ask for a ten per cent increase in pay and for “workload and wellbeing protocols” to be agreed between unions and employers.

UCU is also calling for a review of non-permanent teaching contracts to increase job security and opportunities for career progression, and wants to see pay gaps closed for disabled and black staff, who are more likely to be paid lower salaries.

The Association of Colleges said it has “urged the government for emergency funding to boost staff pay” because of soaring inflation and the cost of living crisis.

Its deputy chief executive, Julian Gravatt, defended the association’s recent pay offer: “This is the largest pay recommendation since 2014, but it is on the limits of – and beyond for some – what is affordable for colleges.

“Our recommendation represents a 6.6 per cent increase for staff at the very lowest end of the pay scale because we’ve recommended both a 2.5 per cent rise and a non-consolidated cost pressure payment of £750 for those earning up to £25,000, and £500 for others subject to locally agreed thresholds.

“We have asked those colleges not currently paying staff the Living Wage Foundation minimum wage, which is currently £9.90 – and £11.05 in London – to publish their timeframe for implementation.”

Adult education is helping keep Ukrainian people strong

“People are just doing their work. They see that they can be helpful for their community in this way,” an adult education representative in Ukraine says.

Adult education providers in war-torn Ukraine have had to get used to their lives changing overnight since Russian troops began an invasion in February. But for teachers and tutors the ethos remains the same – developing skills and supporting communities.  

Whether it is assembling first aid kits, sewing clothes for troops or psychological support, adult educators in the eastern European nation have stepped up to do what they can to help those repelling the invasion.  

A special recognition award was given by Learning and Work Institute to the Ukrainian Adult Education Association at the Festival of Learning awards this week.  

Oleg Smirnov, a representative of the association – the body that represents and supports providers of adult education and helps develop policy around lifelong learning – told FE Week: “The first weeks were rather nervous. Still there were members at local level who continued their activities, and we had examples of people in Nikopol in south Ukraine, just a few kilometres from the nuclear station captured during the first phase of the war.  

“The adult education centre there had sewing machines and they enrolled 40 to 45 women just for short courses for a few days and started to sew clothes for the army, for local defence groups, some kits for medicine, first aid kits. They started to sew what defence groups needed.  

“Some other adult educators we know tried to provide psychological support. There were some individual sessions and some special sessions using art therapy. They worked online with those people who stayed in occupied territories or those who were moving to western regions.  

“It was very helpful for people because of all the missile attacks and artillery in the eastern regions. Even in the western regions when you have these attacks from Russia, it is unpredictable which people will be around you and what can happen. They were very popular during the first weeks, and they are still popular.”  

Some have stayed in occupied territories, others have moved to the western side of the country. Smirnov says some adult education establishments in the western city of Lviv have seen learner numbers double or triple in size as a result of the displacement of people. In some cases, educators have moved to neighbouring countries such as Poland or the Czech Republic.  

But despite the dispersal of teaching staff, online teaching developed during the Covid-19 pandemic has allowed them to continue providing support remotely. Some courses can be kept online, while other support mechanisms for those who have fled the conflict, such as explaining how to transfer money and how to engage with local authorities, have continued.  

“There were several organisations in occupied territories, they couldn’t leave those territories during the first days,” Smirnov said.   

“One of our colleagues was captured and they spent around 40 days captured by Russian troops, and then she was liberated. A lot of teachers and educators left the country but they now work online, or at least they work for Ukrainians abroad. We have several colleagues who moved to Germany or Poland and they are now very active in those cities co-operating with local authorities, local communities, to adapt and to help other Ukrainians staying in those regions.”  

Despite the ongoing conflict, Smirnov and his team continue to plan for the future and life beyond war.  

He said: “We are sure that in general for the country it will be possible to liberate those territories which are occupied. There will be possibility for people to return to their places, and I am sure that adult education will have much more attention from local authorities. There will be more understanding of what it means, what non-formal adult education can do for the development, especially in local communities.  

“There is one idea also that our partners on the local level could be organisations which will initiate some discussions with other stakeholders on what are the educational needs for the next several months, what are the educational needs for the period after the war, for the rebuilding of ruined cities, what kind of professions will be needed and what kind of specialists should be attracted.” 

James Cleverly: 12 facts about the latest education secretary

Downing Street has announced that James Cleverly is the new education secretary, after Michelle Donelan stood down following just 35 hours in the job.

Here’s what we know about him…

  1. Born in 1969, Cleverly is 52 years old, which is older than the average for education secretaries, but he is a long way off being the oldest. Keith Joseph was 63.
  2. Cleverly is the MP for Braintree in Essex. He is the first education secretary or minister of education to hail from the county since Rab Butler.
  3. Like his predecessor, he was first elected in 2015. He has had a range of government roles, including as a cabinet minister without portfolio, as well as jobs at the Brexit department and Foreign Office. He was Conservative co-chair of his party from 2019 to 2020.
  4. He is the third education secretary to serve in two days, following the promotion of Nadhim Zahawi and Donelan’s resignation. He is the fourth education secretary this academic year, and the eighth to serve in 10 years.
  5. Born in Lewisham to a midwife and small business owner, Cleverly said seeing his parents’ hard work “showed him “the importance of supporting both the private and the public sector”.
  6. He served in the army after leaving school, making him the first education secretary with a military background since Ken Baker. But his career was cut short by injury and he studied for a degree in business instead. Cleverly worked in magazine and digital publishing.
  7. An often touchy subject, but as the role involves children so directly it will be mentioned at times: Cleverly has two children.
  8. Cleverley attended private Colfe’s School in London, and has previously tweeted his pride in the school’s work getting ethnic minority students into Oxbridge.
  9. He has defended sending his own children to private school, saying he’d “love to give everyone enough financial freedom” to make the same choice, and adding that he would not “play politics with the future life chances” of his children.
  10. The MP got into a spat with the National Education Union in late 2018 and early 2019, calling on them to take down their “school cuts” website. He challenged the claim that 91 per cent of schools face funding cuts and wrote to the UK Statistics Authority, who agreed the statistic was “misleading”. But the NEU stood by its figures, saying the funding crisis was “very real”.
  11. Cleverly said in 2007 he believed grammar schools “provide the best way for bright but poor children to get on in life”, adding: “Until a better way to aid social mobility comes along I will continue to support them.”
  12. He appears to not have spoken on FE or skills issues during his time in parliament.

James Cleverly becomes third education secretary in two days

James Cleverly has been appointed as education secretary, becoming the third person to hold the title in two days.

His appointment follows the resignation this morning of Michelle Donelan, who was only appointed on Tuesday evening following the promotion of Nadhim Zahawi to the post of chancellor.

Donelan’s departure after 35 hours came after the resignations of schools minister Robin Walker, children’s minister Will Quince and skills minister Alex Burghart yesterday which left the DfE with just one minister, Baroness Barran.

Cleverly said that “as someone whose grandfather was a teacher and whose children are currently in the education system, I am incredibly passionate about education and proud to be appointed secretary of state.

“From childcare and exams results, to our schools white paper, T Levels and the rest of our revolutionary skills agenda, we have a huge amount of work to do and I am looking forward to getting on with the job. That means ensuring children, young people and their families continue to be supported – they have my full commitment.”

He said he looked forward to “engaging with our brilliant nurseries, social workers, schools, colleges, universities and all the staff working across these sectors to realise people’s potential – whatever their backgrounds or wherever they come from”.

Cleverley was first elected as a Conservative MP for Braintree in 2015. The role is his fifth since joining government in 2019, serving in the Department for Exiting in the EU and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

He had only been appointed minister of state for Europe and North America in the FCDO in early February.

Cleverly was also the deputy chairman of the Conservative party from 2018 to 2019.

His appointment comes as Boris Johnson is expected to announce his resignation as Conservative party leader.

Education secretary Michelle Donelan resigns after less than two days

Newly appointed education secretary Michelle Donelan has resigned after less than two days in the job.

Donelan was promoted from joint HE and FE minister to the top role on Tuesday evening.

But this morning she tweeted that she has handed in her resignation.

She told prime minister Boris Johnson: “I see no way that you can continue in post, but without a formal mechanism to remove you it seems that the only way that this is only possible is for those of us who remain in cabinet to force your hand.”

Donelan added: “While I remain very worried about the prospect of no ministers in the department as we approach results day – the impact on students is real – as you know yesterday I pleaded with you to do the right thing and resign for the sake of our country and our party, both are more important than any one person.”

This leaves only one education minister left – Baroness Barran – after the rest resigned yesterday.

Meanwhile, Zahawi says he took on the chancellor role “out of loyalty” but now the country “deserves a government that is not only stable, but which acts with integrity”.

“Yesterday, I made clear to the Prime Minister alongside by colleagues in number 10 that there was only one direction where this was going, and that he should leave with dignity.

“Out of respect and in hopes that he would listen to an old friend of 30 years, I kept this counsel private.

“I am heartbroken that he hasn’t listened and that he is now undermining the incredible achievements of this government at this late hour.”

WorldSkills UK names over 500 students and apprentices for national finals 2022

More than 500 students and apprentices set to compete in a prestigious national skills competition in disciplines like bricklaying and culinary arts have been unveiled. 

WorldSkills UK has today published the list of finalists (see here to download full list) competing across 60 of the 62 disciplines at the national finals in November, with competitors in with a shot at representing the UK in the ‘skills olympics’ in France in 2024. 

The competition will showcase the skills of students and apprentices in a host of professions as diverse as fire alarm systems, floristry, restaurant service, beauty therapy, IT support, aircraft maintenance, plastering and website development among others. 

In total, 518 people from across the UK will be competing in the 60 categories already confirmed, including 259 from England, 128 from Wales, 68 from Scotland and 63 from Northern Ireland. 

Finalists in the stonemasonry and foundation skills (woodworking) competitions are set to be announced on Thursday, July 14. 

Barking and Dagenham, Belfast Metropolitan, Blackpool and The Fylde, Cardiff and Vale, Edinburgh and Middlesbrough colleges will host the finals in the week commencing 14 November, before winners are crowned on November 25 by TV broadcaster Steph McGovern at her Packed Lunch show studio. 

Ben Blackledge, deputy chief executive of WorldSkills UK said: “I want to offer my congratulations to everyone who registered for our competitions this year, especially those who are now going on to compete in November’s finals.  

“We are really excited to be taking the show on the road again this year with finals hosted by colleges across the UK. We hope seeing the finals in person or catching up with our online content will inspire more young people to develop their skills and have a go at one of our competitions next year.  

“Our competitions and competition-based development programmes equip apprentices and students with the lifelong, world-class skills that will help increase UK productivity and competitiveness.” 

According to WorldSkills UK, the competition has helped previous participants in their career progression, with 90 per cent saying their progression had improved as a result of the tournament and 86 per cent saying their personal and employability prospects had also been boosted. 

The 47th WorldSkills international competition will take place in Lyon, France, in September 2024, where young vocational learners globally will compete. UK finalists in the national competition this year may have the chance to compete on the world stage then.