MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 392

Katy Quinn

Principal & CEO,
City of Portsmouth
College

Start date: Summer term

Previous Job: Principal & CEO,
Strode College

Interesting fact: In her younger years, Katy played County netball for Somerset.

Gary Potts

Principal, Northumberland College, Education Partnership North East

Start date: August 2022

Previous Job: Group Vice Principal – Business, Innovation and Partnerships,
Education Training Collective

Interesting fact: Gary began his career as a design engineer following a five-year apprenticeship in toolmaking design and programming electric discharge machines.

IFS: Spending on adult education and apprenticeships will be 25% below 2010 levels by 2025

Total spending on adult education and apprenticeships will be 25 per cent lower in 2024/2025 compared with 2010/2011 according to new analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.  

Researchers found that total spending on adult education and apprenticeships fell by 38 per cent in real-terms between 2010–11 and 2020–21. Looking at classroom based learning on its own, the IFS found that spending has plummeted by 50 per cent over ten years. 

While the 2021 spending review provided an additional £900 million for adult education by 2024–25, total spending on adult education and apprenticeships will still be 25 per cent lower in 2024/25 compared to 2010/11. 

Sector leaders were quick to criticise the government’s spending review promises on adult education at the time.

The IFS has said today this will make it harder to achieve the government’s high ambitions to improve technical education and adult skills in order to level up poorer areas of the country.

“As part of efforts to level up poorer areas of the country, the government has announced an additional £900m in extra spending on adult education by 2024-25,” said Imran Tahir, IFS Research Economist and author. 

“However, due to significant cuts over the past decade, government spending will still be 25% lower in 2024–25 than 2010–11.”

Tahir explained that taken together, the government’s adult education reform plans will provide extra help to those who left schools with good GCSEs or equivalent qualifications. 

“Yet the main plans set out for helping adults with few qualifications – skills bootcamps and the new “Multiply” programme –  are relatively untested and are unlikely to lead to formal qualifications. 

“Providing effective support and training for this group is a significant challenge that will be key to levelling-up poorer areas of the country,” he added. 

Stephen Evans, chief executive of Learning and Work Institute said that the research echoed their findings that the “welcome increases” in funding would still leave budgets far short of 2010 levels. 

“With employers investing just half the EU average per employee on training, it’s clear we need to up our game. 

“Critically that means learning at all levels, with our research showing a 63% fall in adults improving their literacy and numeracy. This is a slow motion disaster, limiting people’s life chances and business access to skills. It’s a short-term saving with a long-term cost,” he said. 

Learner numbers have dropped just as drastically as funding. 

The IFS says there’s been a 50 per cent fall in adults taking qualifications at Level 2 and below, and a 33 per cent fall in the number of adults taking Level 3 qualifications. 

Researchers noted that such falls will partly reflect cuts in public funding for such courses and the introduction of advanced learning loans under the coalition government.

Toby Perkins MP, Labour’s shadow minister for Further Education and Skills, said the government’s “neglect of further education is plain to see” in shrinking opportunities and falling numbers of adults taking part in training and reskilling.

“Together with the lowest level of workplace learning in over a generation, it is clear that the Conservatives do not have a plan to tackle skills shortages across our economy” he added. 

Apprenticeships growth focused at advanced and higher levels

The IFS also found that apprenticeships were more focused at advanced and higher levels. 

After 2010, the number of adult apprenticeship starts initially increased to about 350-400,000 per year. 

However, researchers found that apprenticeship starts have dropped off to about 250,000 per year since the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy in April 2017. 

“At the same time, there has been [a] shift in the type of apprenticeships taken by adults. In 2020, fewer than 50,000 adults began the lowest level of apprenticeships (intermediate apprenticeships) compared to 200,000 a decade earlier,” the IFS said in a statement.  

“The number of higher apprenticeships (which include degree apprenticeships) has rocketed from a few hundred starts in 2010 to almost 100,000 starts in 2020”.  

The research found that whilst increasing numbers of higher and advanced apprenticeships is welcome, the number of apprenticeship opportunities at lower levels has been drying up.

“Both the economic downturn and the changing nature of the labour market are likely to increase demand for adult education and apprenticeships,” said Josh Hillman, education director at the Nuffield Foundation. 

“To ensure that adults from a wide range of backgrounds from across the UK are able to gain the skills required by employers, it is essential that the further education system is adequately funded.”

The DfE told FE Week: “We are targeting support where it is needed most, investing in high quality training that is delivering the skilled workforce employers need to grow, while plugging skills gaps in our economy and helping more people into jobs.

“This includes making £2.7 billion available by 2025 to support business of all sizes to create more apprenticeships, in addition to investing over £260 million in the last year to expand popular adult training schemes, such as Skills Bootcamps and Free Courses for Jobs.

“This approach is working. It is great to see the number of people starting apprenticeships across England so far this year bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels, and thousands of people have already taken advantage of the opportunity to upskill or retrain for free through one of our adult skills courses.”

Is it time to let go of the failures and ego of incorporation?

The colleges sector can only challenge the problems of incorporation if it takes the uncomfortable step of building a united political stance, writes Stuart Rimmer

With the announcement last month that the Office for National Statistics was reviewing the classifications of colleges, there was an immediate flurry among the FE Twitterati.

Did it signal the shift back to pre-incorporation? Might colleges struggle to access to bank loans and financing?

Both concerns at this stage are false dawns.

Colleges have been under various classifications over the years (in 1993, 2010 and 2012) with little impact.

A classification change would affect how colleges report to government and borrow (with requests coming to colleges this week) but are unlikely to be too dramatic.

For me, the sector can use this moment to consider whether we should be lobbying to go back into the public sector and undo some of the legacy of incorporation.

To have this debate would require the setting aside of egos and a cold, hard look at the position of the sector and how it has fared since 1993.

What we currently have is very much the worst of both worlds.

Policies around the area-based review and, latterly, local skills improvement plans are in many ways an attempt to control curriculum.

What we currently have is the worst of both worlds

When combined with funding rules and defunding rules (look at T Levels or adult funding) then curriculum is already restricted under a national banner.

It is an illusion to think colleges have wide choice.

Advice and guidance has often been found lacking in schools and colleges, with confused and duplicated local offers supported by what Oxford University professor Ewart Keep would describe as ‘quasi-markets’.

Colleges are obsessed with growth, damaging their neighbours, to keep pace with rising costs rather than nationally seeking settlements on the funding required.

We individually negotiate staff contracts and pay rather than have a national settlement. We know school teachers are paid at significantly higher rates.

National shortages plague college departments, weakening provision or prompting staff to be poached.

Nationalisation would allow college lecturers security and stronger national bargaining through unions.

In this parliament we have seen increasing control via both the Department for Education through the skills for jobs white paper, and the Treasury through recent capital funding, which is channelled through DfE rather than through the ESFA or college “bailouts”.

Colleges could also get the financial benefits of VAT, of lower cost borrowing direct from government rather than at commercial rates (which takes away from students).

Large capital projects, and the generation of public assets, could be delivered direct from government with risks sitting centrally, rather than with individual colleges.

A postcode lottery of inherited building stock or debt at incorporation hampers colleges’ ability to spend to this day.

Colleges could move away from perverse incentives to protect cash and restrict resources to keep regulators at bay – and focus on student experience and curriculum.

Since 1993, are colleges funded better or worse comparatively?

Are we more focused on educational mission or more conflicted? Do colleges feel more or less stable?

Do staff feel more or less recognised? Have colleges had the capital investment required to meet 21st century industry needs?

Has curriculum kept pace pace with European counterparts? Is there better local collaboration?

Taking all this into account: has incorporation been a success?

To discuss, colleges would need to do some very uncomfortable things:

  1. Adopt a strong and clearer collective political position. In my experience the sector has been very reluctant, or fearful, of doing this: scared of upsetting paymasters or the market. We do lack the coherence of political thinking generated through debate.
  2. Set aside our egos, as any nationalisation would lead to a giving up of individual and institutional power for the collective good. This would be undesirable for many and no doubt come with painful unintended consequences.
  3. Accept a recalibration of curriculum within localities, and of college finances nationally (losing both debt and reserves).
  4. Seize the opportunities from centrally planned responses to HE collaboration and issues such as sustainability or energy.

I may, as ever, just be politically daydreaming. But the debate is worth having.

Warning as cyber criminals try to cash in on exam season

Schools and colleges are being warned about a “despicable” cyber attack where scammers pose as a parent of a student who is in hospital and cannot make their exam, in order to potentially gain sensitive details. 

The email sent to exams officers says: “I am Jamie’s mum and I was told to contact you in regards to his examinations, I just want to make you are aware [sic] that he’s had a bad fall down the stairs. 

“I took him to hospital right away and the bone has fractured. They told him to rest but I don’t think he’s going to be able to make it to him [sic] exams.” 

The person says a medical report from the hospital is attached for the exams officer to “check over”. However, opening the attachment installs a virus on the recipient’s computer. 

When asked about the attack, a spokesperson for the National Cyber Security Centre said: “We know scammers exploit topical issues to trick people into sharing sensitive details or clicking on malicious content. 

“Any attempt to scam school and college staff is despicable and if individuals spot suspicious messages they should forward them to us at report@phishing.gov.uk”. 

The Joint Council for Qualifications warned exams officers about the email earlier this week. The body said a “small number” had received the “suspicious email containing a virus”, but did not know exactly how many had been affected. 

JCQ said in an email to officers: “This is a gentle reminder asking you to remain vigilant about potential cyber attacks. 

“If you receive this or any other email you are unsure about, do not open it or click on any links. Contact your IT department for support.”

A spokesperson for JCQ, which represents exam boards, said potential cyber security risks are something schools and colleges “take seriously throughout the year”. 

The NCSC, which is a part of government intelligence agency GCHQ, issued multiple alerts last year after an increase in ransomware attacks against schools and colleges. 

It warned: “It is important senior leaders understand the nature of the threat and the potential for ransomware to cause considerable damage to their institutions in terms of lost data and access to critical services.” 

Schools and colleges lost financial records, students’ coursework and Covid-19 testing data during more than 70 cyber attacks on the sector during the pandemic. 

More recently, colleges were warned to brace themselves for possible cyber attacks amid a heightened threat from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. 

Cyber attacks affecting colleges, which have included doctored emails from principals and hoax terror attacks, were on the rise before the pandemic.

South and City College Birmingham was forced to shut its eight campuses following a major ransomware attack that disabled its core IT systems last year. Lincoln College was hit by a similar attack in 2020. 

The government last year trialled a new, free cyber security tool that schools and colleges can use to measure the robustness of their online security measures. 

The rise in cases has sparked an “education drive” from national crime agencies. The NCSC, for instance, wants schools and colleges to sign up to its Early Warning cyber incident notification service, which was launched last year. 

Tom Middlehurst, curriculum, assessment and inspection specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “It is sadly a feature of the digital age that malicious emails containing viruses are sent to school and college staff, as they are to many other organisations.” 

The NCSC has also published a free cyber security training package for school staff and advice on common signs to look for in scam messages.

No T Level achievement rates until wave 3 students complete

T Levels will not be included in published achievement rates until the third cohort on the flagship new qualifications have completed their course, FE Week can reveal. 

But national-level results for T Levels will be published from the get-go, with the first set of outcomes set to be released alongside A-levels in August. 

The Department for Education published qualification achievement rate (QAR) business rules for 2021 to 2022 this week. 

QARs use pass rates and retention to measure training provider and college performance. They are used to hold providers to account each year by the likes of the DfE and Ofsted. 

This is the first year that T Level QARs could have been published, because the first students to take the two-year T Level courses began in September 2020. 

However, the DfE’s QAR business rules said that T Levels and the T Levels Transition Programme are to be excluded for the time being. 

The DfE told FE Week that T Level accountability is scheduled to start based on the cohort of students who complete their study in 2023/24. 

There were 43 providers delivering T Levels in year one of the rollout, when 1,300 students enrolled on the course. 

In year two, 105 schools and colleges are delivering T Levels to almost 5,500 young people. A further 88 providers will deliver the qualifications from 2022/23. 

Steve Hewitt, a management information systems and FE funding expert, told FE Week that the DfE’s decision not to include T Levels in QARs this year was not a surprise. 

“It’s been pretty standard practice for new programmes not to have achievement rates for the first couple of years. The same happened with apprenticeship standards and trailblazers before them,” he said.

“I can understand, particularly with the upheaval of the last two years, that achievement on T Levels might not be equivalent to the more well-established programmes, so it seems fair to give it a chance to bed in.” 

While QAR data won’t be available for T Levels this year, the DfE clarified that national results for the new qualifications will be published alongside A Levels this summer on August 18. 

Tom Bewick, chief executive of the Federation of Awarding Bodies, said: “The federation welcomes the government’s confirmation that T Level results will be published at a national level from the first cohort. 

“Transparency of the data and performance of skills programmes also helps ensure greater public confidence in the significant taxpayer investment that is going into them.”

Bewick added that it makes sense to allow time for the new flagship qualifications to “bed in” before they are included in achievement rates, particularly owing to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“However, ministers should ensure they are published from 2023, including progression data into skilled employment, particularly given what the education secretary has often told parliamentarians and the wider sector about his unwavering commitment to publishing data that helps drive better performance of the skills and qualifications system as a whole,” he said.

New alliance to offer fellowships for FE staff

Two college membership bodies have formed a “strategic alliance” that could soon see fellowships awarded to the “next generation of FE leaders”.

The Collab Group and the Chartered Institution for Further Education announced today that they have signed a memorandum of understanding committing themselves to working together on employer engagement, training future college leaders and to “act as a unified and powerful voice of advocacy”.

One of the benefits of the new partnership will be the ability to grant “fellowships” through the Chartered Institution to graduates of Collab’s leadership courses and local college CPD programmes. 

Ian Pretty, chief executive of Collab Group, believes offering fellowships to FE staff will not only “add to their CVs” but will boost the esteem and prestige of FE professionals. “It also adds to the idea that we have a professional class of people who are qualified fellows” Pretty said.

But staff will only be eligible if they work at a Collab member college that has been awarded chartered status through the Chartered Institution.

To date only five of Collab’s 29 member colleges have been granted chartered status: Bedford College Group; Blackpool and The Fylde College; Bridgwater and Taunton College; London South East Colleges and The Trafford College Group.

The Chartered Institution now has 20 members, six of which are independent training providers.

Pretty says more Collab Group members are “now in conversations” to go for chartered status, but insisted his members won’t receive preferential treatment.

The Chartered Institution for Further Education was given royal approval to confer chartered status in 2013 with the support of then minister for skills John Hayes. It relaunched in April 2021 as an independent organisation no longer in receipt of Department for Education funding.

Dawn Ward, principal and chief executive of Burton and South Derbyshire College, has been a leading advocate for chartered status in further education. Speaking as deputy chair at the Chartered Institution, Ward said the new partnership with the Collab Group will elevate professional status within the sector.

“The Chartered Institution is the only FE representative body with royal assent to provide chartered status to leading FE and skills providers. We have exciting plans to build on this and deliver new services to the sector that will celebrate dual professionalism of FE practitioners as well as elevating their professional status,” Ward said.

DfE seeks brokers to level up SME apprenticeships in the north

The government is on the hunt for brokers to boost the number of young and disadvantaged apprentices in small and medium employers in the north. 

A tender worth £2.25 million in total has been launched by the Department for Education to find intermediaries who can come up with “new and innovative ways” of engaging the SME market which is “beyond normal contractor activity”. 

Once developed, the approaches will be tested in a two-year “pathfinder” in the north west, north east and Yorkshire and the Humber focused on digital, manufacturing, adult social care and construction sectors. 

The regions selected were identified in the government’s recent levelling up white paper as having a high prevalence of deprived and low skilled areas. 

Apprenticeship starts in SMEs in these regions have fallen in recent years. Government data shows the number of people starting an apprenticeship between 2018/19 and 2020/21 fell by 58,000 across England, a drop of 19 per cent. The impact has been worst in the north of England, where the number dropped by 23,000 – a 22 per cent decrease. 

The Northern Powerhouse Partnership, which is chaired by former chancellor George Osborne and represents businesses and politicians from across the north, welcomed the DfE’s efforts to boost apprenticeships in SMEs in the north. 

Sarah Mulholland, the NPP’s head of policy, told FE Week: “We’re supportive of any effort to engage with northern businesses to create a stronger skills base — a critical part of levelling up. 

“It is vital the government takes time to speak to SMEs about what practical measures could make a difference.” 

DfE tender documents state that officials want winning contractors to focus on providing apprenticeships for young people in SMEs, particularly those aged 18 and 19 leaving full-time education. Disadvantaged or underrepresented groups are also being targeted, such as those with learning difficulties, from minority ethnic backgrounds, and who have been in care. 

Skills minister Alex Burghart has made increasing the number of young people taking apprenticeships one of his missions since coming into office in September. 

He told FE Week’s Annual Apprenticeship Conference in March that he “does not want to forget the young” in the face of falling numbers since the introduction of the levy. Burghart later ordered the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to help boost the figures. 

In 2018/19, under 19s made up 24.8 per cent of all starts. This dropped to 23.6 per cent in 2019/20 and in 2020/21 it fell to 20.3 per cent. 

Jane Hickie, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said SMEs have “traditionally been strong drivers of apprenticeship starts for young people, as well as at entry level”. 

“If this scheme proves to be successful in the test delivery areas, we hope to see it rolled out nationwide in the future,” she added. 

Bidders have been told they must outline the type of activity and actions they will take to achieve apprentice starts in SMEs that have either never engaged with the apprenticeship service or have not done so in the preceding 24 months. 

“The potential contractor must ensure SMEs gain a better understanding of apprenticeships, including but not limited to the business benefits, the funding, availability of transferred funds, and support available to them and their apprentices,” tender documents state. 

Contractors must then support the SME to identify an appropriate training provider and provide an end-to-end service from registering on the digital apprenticeship service, reserving funding and registering onto Recruit an Apprentice (RAA) to using a levy transfer. 

Winning bidders must also be satisfied that the employers would be confident in engaging with the apprenticeship service in the future without the assistance of the brokerage service. 

Government-approved apprenticeship providers can bid for the work, but they must clearly demonstrate how they will “operate independently of the role as a training provider, offer impartial and independent advice and support, and operate in the best interests of the employers that they are supporting”. 

Bids must be submitted by June 29.

Apprenticeship funding at risk for slow progress drop-outs

Funding will be at risk of clawback from August where an apprentice drops out without making enough progress towards their planned training, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has revealed.

But providers are up in arms about the bureaucracy required to be compliant with the rule, which they say is “impractical” and flies in the face of government efforts to simplify the system. 

The new requirement, published in the ESFA’s draft apprenticeship funding rules for 2022/23 (pictured above), states that where an apprentice withdraws from their programme and they have made “insufficient progress towards their training plan”, then funds will be at risk of recovery. 

By insufficient progress the ESFA said it means the apprentice is “more than four weeks behind on the planned delivery of training, but the training has not been replanned or the apprentice has not been put on a break in learning”. 

Around half of all apprentices on the government’s new-style apprenticeship standards have dropped out in each of the past two years. 

FE Week understands the ESFA wants to introduce the rule in an effort to tackle cases where providers have received monthly payments for apprentices up to the point they dropped out but had not delivered the amount of training claimed for. 

The ESFA pointed out that the requirement for an apprentice to be “actively learning”, or to be put on a break in learning after four weeks, has been in the funding rules since 2018/19. 

A spokesperson said the agency is now strengthening this area to “ensure learners are getting the level of training they rightly expect”. 

But providers have complained that replanning the delivery of training, which must be agreed with and signed off by the employer, every four weeks is impractical. Those that spoke to FE Week but did not wish to be named said it is not uncommon for some apprentices to go six to 12 weeks without training, particularly in hospitality and care sectors where there are busy spikes throughout the year. 

Providers claim that the four-week rule is also inflexible to account for holidays, illness and when apprentices learn at different speeds. 

“Active learning” can include off-the-job training or English and maths. Sector leaders question how auditors will measure progress and quantify how effective that learning is. 

The providers said they understand the intent behind the ESFA’s rule, but warned that agency officials are failing to take into consideration the practicality of complying with it for every apprentice. 

One senior leader from a large apprenticeship provider said compliance with the rule will depend on how well ordered each provider is in terms of keeping on top of learner progress, including what systems they have in place and how they can evidence it. 

“Big providers who have invested heavily in rigorous evidential methods should have this covered, but I can imagine across the wider sector, especially with smaller providers, I can understand how they would be very concerned about this. 

“The ESFA is asking for learners to be on track and for providers to not claim funding whilst apprentices are not making progress. So I get it on paper but it is harder practically, and some providers will get caught out which means money clawed back.” 

The ESFA published the draft apprenticeship funding rules for 2022/23 on May 27 and included a number of other changes that have been well received by the providers, such as removing the 20 per cent requirement for off-the-job training and replacing it with a baseline. The agency has also watered down English and maths requirements. 

Skills minister Alex Burghart said the changes had been made in an effort to make the apprenticeship system “simpler to use” for employers, training providers and apprentices themselves. 

But providers said the introduction of the clawback rule for apprentice drop-outs who make slow progress seems more like “complification” than simplification. 

The funding rules are only in draft version and could change before they come into effect from August 2022. Providers have until June 24 to submit their feedback. 

ESFA appoints David Withey as next permanent chief executive

The next permanent chief executive of the Education and Skills Funding Agency has been named.

David Withey (pictured), currently the chief operating officer and deputy ​secretary at the New South Wales Department of Education in Australia who also has experience in the UK’s civil service, will take up the position from mid-August.

He replaces Eileen Milner who resigned last summer to become chief executive of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority. Her decision came just before an independent review was launched to ensure the ESFA “remains effective into the future”.

John Edwards has been interim chief executive of the agency since Autumn 2021 but tweeted today that Warwick Sharp, the ESFA’s director of academies and maintained schools, will take over the role from Monday until Withey joins.

Withey will come on board at a time of change for the ESFA. The agency was stripped of all post-16 policy and delivery duties in April following the outcome of the independent review into its effectiveness.

Responsibility for those areas have now been absorbed by the Department for Education. The ESFA has been told to focus solely on funding and has essentially become a contracts manager.

Withey began his civil service career in the Northern Ireland Office, and he has experience working on public spending in the Treasury departments in the UK and Australia, where he also led the New South Wales’ Covid economic taskforce during the first stage of the pandemic.