Forty-five colleges delivering the government’s flagship T Level qualifications from next year have won a slice of £50 million capital funding to prepare their facilities.

Further education and sixth form colleges are being funded to, for example, build a mixed reality suite to teach coding, and a ward where students can practice health skills, the Department for Education announced today.

Apprenticeships and skills minister Gillian Keegan said this investment “will mean even more students will benefit from world-class facilities, giving them access to brilliant new buildings that will help them get ready for the world of work”.

A total of 65 projects have successfully bid for cash: forty-one bids have been approved for a share of the £50 million, while a further 24 have been approved in principle, “subject to satisfactory clarifications being provided in relation to specific parts of their application,” the DfE said.

Six schools have been awarded funding in this wave in addition to the 45 colleges.

T Level funding had helped college ‘transform’ facilities

The first three T Levels in construction, digital and education rolled out last year, a further seven will start this September in subjects including science, onsite construction and digital business services, and students will be able to choose from a further six such as accounting, finance and management in 2022.

Nearly 50 colleges scheduled to deliver T Levels from this year have been handed a share of £48.5 million to refurbish facilities, the DfE announced in January.

The funding has enabled our college to transform facilities

One of the T Level providers successful in both the last and the latest rounds is Weston College, and its principal Paul Phillips said the money had enabled his college “to transform facilities and develop new opportunities for learners to work with state-of-the-art resources”.

Tameside College will be using its share of the funding announced today to create a new health skills ward to support teaching the health and science T Level.

West Suffolk College will be refurbishing and creating new facilities with its slice of the £50 million. Its plans include creating a “mixed reality suite” to teach coding as part of its plans to deliver the digital T Level.

Sector welcomes T Level investment

Association of Colleges chief executive David Hughes welcomed “the fact that the government is continuing to invest in up-to-date buildings and facilities for these courses and students”.

The DfE revealed in January £135 million would be made available for providers delivering T Levels from 2022 and today promised further funding will be announced later this year.

FE Week has approached the DfE about how much each college has been allocated of the £50 million.

T Levels capital fund wave 3: approved projects

T Levels capital fund wave 3: projects approved in principle

(These projects have been approved subject to satisfactory clarifications being provided in relation to specific parts of their application)

The government will not compensate colleges for national insurance contribution increases even though it is helping schools, FE Week can reveal. The “indefensible” move will hit college budgets by an estimated £30 million.

Boris Johnson this week set out plans to increase national insurance contributions from both employees and employers by 1.25 percentage points from next April.

The so-called “health and social care levy”, which the government said would raise around £12 billion in extra funding each year, will be used to “tackle Covid backlogs” and reform adult social care.

However, the government will use £1.8 billion of the £12 billion to “compensate departments and other public sector employers” in England at the next spending review for the “increased cost of the levy”.

But in a move that makes “no sense” to the membership body for the sector, the Treasury told FE Week that colleges would not benefit from the compensation scheme even though schools and all other public sector employers will.

A spokesperson said this was because colleges are technically classified as private sector organisations by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Janet Meenaghan, chief executive at Inspire Education Group, which includes Peterborough and Stamford Colleges, said this was “yet another indefensible example of unfair treatment against colleges”. She called on ministers to reverse the decision “immediately”.

She added: “Not only have we taken more than our fair share of funding cuts, we also face a relentless onslaught of rising costs which are completely out of our control. The Treasury is penalising my staff and students just because we’re not a school.”

Julian Gravatt, deputy chief executive of the Association of Colleges, was also outraged. He said: “There is no sense in government using an accounting technicality to justify excluding college students from the benefits of the national insurance compensation arrangements when these benefits are being provided to students in government-controlled academies.

“We have seen this differential treatment in the past, but we had seen signs of a change.”

Early analysis by Gravatt found that the national insurance contributions increase will cost colleges around £30 million, or 0.45 per cent, of their £6.6 billion estimated total  income.

He warned that the costs which college leaders will face will “inevitably force difficult cuts elsewhere”.

A Treasury spokesperson tried to defend the decision by summarising the investment it has put into FE in recent years.

“Our support for further education colleges includes nearly £300 million in last year’s spending review and a commitment to £1.5 billion of capital funding to bring all college estates in England up to a good condition,” they said.

“The health and social care levy will raise £12 billion a year for the NHS and social care. Everyone is being asked to contribute, in a fair and progressive way, including businesses and workers.”

The ONS originally classified college corporations as private sector organisations in the 1990s but reclassified the sector in 2010 as general government organisations, alongside maintained schools and academies.

They were then reclassified again as private sector organisations in 2012.

PICTURED FROM LEFT: Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak announce the government’s national insurance hike

More than 1,300 penalties were issued for cheating in vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) in 2019/20 – with the majority handed out for plagiarism as more students took internal assessments due to Covid-19.

But the exams regulator Ofqual, which published the figures today, says it is “pleased” with the overall number because it is “small” in relation the one million VTQ certificates that were awarded in the same year.

Ofqual gathered the data from 40 awarding organisations and said it has decided not to compare the figures with those for previous years, which saw much higher cases of malpractice, due to the “exceptional impact” of coronavirus.

When the pandemic struck, the regulator decided that VTQs should either received a centre-assessed grade (CAG), modified assessments or be delayed.

FE Week has pulled out the main findings from today’s report…

Most penalties issued for student plagiarism

The 2019/20 figures show that awarding organisations issued 1,381 penalties, with 78 per cent going to students, followed by 13 per cent to staff and 9 per cent to individual colleges, schools or training providers.

Of the 1,074 penalties issued to students, the most common type was for plagiarism and accounted for 35 per cent.

Ofqual said the large proportion plagiarism likely reflects the fact that more students took internal, coursework-based, assessments in VTQs last year.

The number of penalties was highest in paper-based exams (73 per cent), followed by online exams (19 per cent) and lastly, performance-based tasks (7 per cent).

The regulator added that while “attempt to influence teachers’ judgements on centre assessment grades and/or rank order” was added as an additional type of offence for summer 2020 assessments, no penalties were issued for this offence.

Most students caught using phones or other devices lost marks

The most common type of penalty issued to students in 2019/20 was a “warning”, accounting for 41 per cent, closely followed by a “loss of marks” which accounted for 36 per cent, and then “loss of aggregation or certificate opportunity” accounting for 22 per cent.

Ofqual’s data shows that a “loss of marks” was the most common type of penalty when a student was found with mobile phones or other communication devices. A “loss of aggregation or certification opportunity” was most common for “collusion”.

Fewer than five penalties for dishonest CAGs

Individual colleges, schools and training providers were issued with 130 penalties last year.

The largest proportion of penalties issued to centres were for “maladministration”, followed by “improper assistance to candidates” which accounted for 58 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

Five categories of malpractice were added specifically for summer 2020: bias or discrimination, centre released CAGs and/or rank orders before the issue of results, late entry for learners, CAGs that do not honestly and fairly represent what learners would have achieved in their assessments, and a failure to accurately report grades of completed units for vocational qualifications.

Only the offence “centre submitted CAGs that do not honestly and fairly represent what learners would have achieved in their assessments” had penalties reported against it, with fewer than five issued.

No centre staff penalised for any new offences

A total of 177 penalties were issued to staff. The most common type of malpractice was “maladministration”, such as “failing to adhere to the regulations regarding the conduct of assessments”, with 38 per cent.

“Improper assistance to candidates” was the second most common staff offence type with 32 per cent of penalties.

However, of the five new categories of malpractice added this year, no penalties were reported against staff for these offences.

The most common type of penalty issued was a written warning or extra training, both of which accounted for 40 per cent.

Suspensions or disbarments accounted for 13 per cent of the penalties issued to staff.

Ofqual ‘pleased’ with overall number of penalties

Catherine Large, Ofqual’s executive director for vocational and technical qualifications, said: “These qualifications really matter. They are the passport to a job or more training, so it’s important that we trust their value.

“That is why we require awarding organisations to have procedures in place to prevent, investigate and act when they find malpractice. I am pleased that the number of penalties is small in relation to the one million or so VTQs that were awarded in 2019 to 2020.”

Awarding bodies ‘stand for the highest standards’

Responding to today’s data, Federation of Awarding Bodies chief executive Tom Bewick said: “Members of FAB stand for the highest standards in the regulatory approach to awarding and assessment of VTQs.

“While we should welcome the relatively small number of malpractice cases identified by Ofqual, we would also like to reiterate, on the back of this announcement, why it is important we maintain a strong single regulator for VTQs in England.

“And that we don’t see a cumbersome new ‘dual regulatory model’ emerging, as we’re seeing in the current Skills Bill, with the Institute or Apprenticeships and Technical Education also being given a regulatory role. In future, public confidence and the integrity of the value of VTQs will depend more than ever on a simplified, effective and strong unitary regulator of qualifications.”

An England-based college principal has been named as the new chair of a global membership organisation for technical education and training.

Dawn Ward, who leads Burton and South Derbyshire College, was appointed to the role at the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics (WFCP) yesterday.

She replaces Craig Robertson, the chief executive of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Directors Australia.

The WFCP is an international network of more than 50 colleges and technical education associations that spans six continents. Members share best practice, collaborate, and engage in joint research initiatives.

It was formed in 1998 from a group of five countries – Canada, the UK, USA, Australia and Africa.

Burton and South Derbyshire College is a member of the federation and runs its own international venture. It signed up to the Saudi Arabian Colleges of Excellence programme in 2013 and launched the International Technical Female College in Jeddah, a female vocational training institute, in partnership with Highbury College. Highbury stepped away from the project last year.

Ward said she was “delighted and humbled” to be elected by the WFCP as their chair.

“The federation has done amazing work in bringing together a global network of internationally focused education institutions for collective benefit and I am keen to ensure that this momentum continues,” she added.

“I know first-hand the life changing impact international education has on people’s life chances and career prospects which is why we have worked so hard at BSDC to embed this work into our learners’ journey and provide our domestic learners with the opportunity to not only think globally but to also secure international experiences that enhance their global outlook.”

Ward, who was made a CBE in the Queen’s New Year’s honours in 2014, is the deputy chair of the Chartered Institution for Further Education.

She is also a council member of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce and a director of Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership.

A spokesperson for the WFCP said: “Dawn Ward brings to the position a wealth of experience. She has been an engaged member of WFCP and its board for many years and has shown the organisation great dedication, leading and being active in a number of subcommittees, including the awards of excellence and governance subcommittees.”

There are three UK-based members in the WFCP – the Association of Colleges, Burton and South Derbyshire College, and Colleges Wales.

The Department for Education cannot say when colleges will get promised carbon dioxide monitors after the first delivery schedule showed that none would receive them within the next three weeks.

Last month education secretary Gavin Williamson announced that his department would provide around 300,000 CO2 monitors to all state-funded education settings from September to help tackle poor ventilation.

He said on Monday that the first deliveries would start this week, with priority given to special schools and alternative provision in the first phase.

All eligible settings are “expected” to start receiving monitors during the autumn term, and the DfE said schools should get their full allocations in one delivery. But the picture is different for colleges.

The first official delivery schedule showed that, at present, 1,008 schools are due to receive around 13,241 monitors over the next three weeks.

When asked by FE Week why no colleges were on the list and when they could expect monitors, the DfE could not offer a date. It said colleges should expect to receive “at least partial allocations” this term.

The spokesperson added that the schedule sent out by the DfE provides a forward look of deliveries covering the next three weeks and that specialist FE colleges will be prioritised “in one of the next delivery schedules”.

As previously revealed by this publication, independent training providers are excluded from this Covid-19 safety scheme.

Analysis by Schools Week, FE Week’s sister publication, shows that the delivery of CO2 monitors in the first three weeks of this term will cover less than 5 per cent of the 21,602 state schools in England, and include just over 4 per cent of the total number of devices promised.

The news comes after unions questioned the government’s decision to wait until the start of the academic year to begin distribution.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “While we welcome the provision of carbon dioxide monitors, the fact is that this programme should have happened a lot earlier and it has taken an eternity to reach even this modest point on the issue of ventilation.

“The fact that this was only announced just before the start of the autumn term has meant many colleges and schools will not receive devices until deep in the autumn term, when they really need every possible mitigation in place as soon as possible.”

The chair of the Department for Education’s skills and productivity board has stepped down a year after being appointed to the role.

Stephen van Rooyen (pictured left), an executive vice president at international broadcaster Sky, has left the position due to “family reasons”, a DfE spokesperson said today.

He has been replaced by Angela Noon (pictured right), the chief financial officer and executive director of industrial manufacturing giant Siemens.

Van Rooyen was appointed to chair the skills and productivity board in September 2020 before six “leading” skills and labour market economists were brought onboard in November.

The team provides independent “expert advice” on how courses and qualifications should align to the skills that employers need post-Covid-19.

Despite meeting six times since its formation, the DfE has failed to publish any board minutes for the board. A DfE spokesperson said today that these would be released in “due course”.

I am excited by the opportunity to take on this role

Education secretary Gavin Williamson did not comment on van Rooyen’s departure but said he was “delighted” to welcome Noon as the board’s new chair.

“Angela’s respected standing within the business community will be of enormous benefit to the board,” he added.

“Her experience as a leader within a large technology company will also be of particular value to the board and its aims to promote stronger productivity growth for the future.” 

Noon said: “I am excited by the opportunity to take on this role and to contribute to the board’s work.

“Equipping people with the right skills is a key part of improving people’s lives and increasing productivity to ensure the country is ready for future challenges.”

The other members that make up the board are:

• Arun Advani – Assistant Professor University of Warwick, Fellow at the Institute of Fiscal Studies
• Claire Crawford – Reader in Economics University of Birmingham
• Andrew Dickerson – Professor of Economics University of Sheffield and Director of Sheffield Methods Institute
• Ewart Keep – Emeritus Professor in Education, Training and Skills Department of Education Oxford University
• Grace Lordan – Associate Professor at London School of Economics (LSE) and Founding Director of the Inclusion Initiative
• Ken Mayhew – Emeritus Professor of Education and Economic Performance at Oxford University

How learners can protect the planet is set to be bumped up curriculums, after teachers complained the lack of such content in syllabuses stops them promoting sustainability to students.

Over half of the respondents to a new survey by the Education and Training Foundation said they do not include sustainability issues in their teaching because it is not in the curriculum for qualifications.

Sustainability, as the ETF describes it, covers issues affecting the health of the planet as well as how to use social structures to promote good quality of life and economic prosperity for all.

Awarding bodies such as Pearson, OCR, City and Guilds and NCFE are looking at how to “weave sustainability as a principle into qualifications, in the same way that they do numeracy and literacy and digital skills and equality, diversity and inclusion,” the ETF’s national head of education for sustainable development Charlotte Bonner told FE Week.

“It’s on their agendas, but there’s definitely more work to be done,” she said, especially after 68 per cent of respondents told the survey the UK’s post-16 education system does not adequately educate learners on sustainability issues.

Funding has ‘limited creativity and innovation’ in teaching sustainability

While the survey was originally meant for the foundation’s own use, they hope making it public means it will be of use to providers for questioning what they are teaching about sustainability, and whether they are promoting a culture among staff and students to improve on sustainability.

How they are making their estate more sustainable, including with energy efficient technology, and how they can work with local stakeholders are two other questions Bonner hopes this report prods providers into addressing.

Another issue with educating learners is there has been a dearth of work on sustainability in the sector since the late 2000s, the foundation has realised.

Bonner attributes this to some “really big challenges” the FE sector has had to face over the past decade, including area reviews and funding cuts.

The report recognises funding and time constraints have “limited creativity and innovation” when it came to including sustainability in teaching, something which “needs to be recognised in any sustainability education programmes targeting FE and training practitioners or providers”.

The ETF has also highlighted how Ofsted no longer provides guidance regarding sustainable development in learning and skills inspections, with Bonner saying the inspection framework is “incredibly influential” on providers.

“People feel that there’s opportunity for other top down drivers, not just within the regulatory frameworks,” Bonner said.

Staff ‘need urgent support and training’ to tackle climate emergency

Training for staff is one such area which could help spread sustainability education across the sector, with the Association of Colleges’ climate commissioner and former president Steve Frampton saying all FE staff “need urgent support and training” to teach learners about tackling the climate emergency.

He said while staff and leaders are “developing significant pockets of excellence,” the sector “lacks the vital significant investment, training, and resources to tackle these global challenges”.

It feels like sustainability is a zeitgeist in the sector

Employers and business organisations can and are moving the needle on sustainability education, according to Bonner.

Organisations such as the Confederation of British Industry and Engineering Construction Industry Training Board have been discussing how firms can retrain existing workers, as well as bring on younger ones, to become recharging engineers, for example.

Which is helpful as existing employees “don’t need to go through a three-year electrician course to start doing that particular job,” Bonner pointed out.

“I think it feels like sustainability is a zeitgeist in the sector, it does feel like there’s a lot of interest,” she said, and hopes the research “will be of use to lots of people”.

An audit of sustainability education content in the most popular FE qualifications was carried out alongside this survey and will be released next month.