Former Cabinet minister calls for end to ‘disrespect’ for non-graduates

Technical qualifications “must be a route to the top” to bridge the divide between graduates and non-graduates, a new Social Market Foundation essay states.

The think tank has this week published ‘The education divide is about disrespect: why it matters and what graduates should do about it‘ by Baroness Tina Stowell, a Conservative member of the House of Lords.

A former Cabinet minister under David Cameron, Stowell writes that the government “ramping up” technical and vocational education will only “assist in bridging the educational attainment divide if it is not seen as a consolation prize for those who do not go to university.

“It also has to be a route to ‘the top’,” she says, as employers find people who have not taken the academic route are “incredibly valuable”.

This, she said, is because: “They read a situation and the people involved and can often spot more quickly the cause of the problem that needs fixing, or identify the real need to be addressed.”

This comes as the government is pouring £2.5 billion into a National Skills Fund to create an entitlement to a first, full-level 3 qualification for adults and open technical skills bootcamps nationwide, training the employed and unemployed in areas such as digital and construction.

‘Deficit of respect’ between graduates and non-graduates could create ‘turmoil’

Stowell’s report criticises the social gap between those with university degrees and those without, arguing there is a “deficit of respect” for the views of those without a degree.

The report is based on a speech she gave in the Lords in 2019, warning that events such as the Brexit referendum “all exposed educational attainment as the biggest, most significant divide in our society”.

A quarter of postgraduates voted to leave, whereas over two-thirds of those with no qualifications did so, the essay reads.

non-graduates
Social Market Foundation director James Kirkup and Baroness Stowell at the event

Without action to improve the respect for people without degrees, Stowell thinks: “We’re going to have to get used to that kind of turmoil.”

That is “unless the graduate class decision-making powerful and influential people really understand what is driving that division and put right where things are going wrong.”

At the report’s launch on Tuesday, Stowell expressed her belief that organisations such as political parties and trade unions have been so slow to reorient themselves to better represent non-graduates because “they define success in their own image”.

Following last week’s reshuffle, social mobility charity The Sutton Trust reported that over a quarter of cabinet members attended a fee-paying school before an Oxbridge university.

That’s despite the i newspaper finding Boris Johnson’s cabinet is now more diverse than any of David Cameron’s or Theresa May’s.

During the launch event, Stowell highlighted how accountancy firm KPMG has promised 29 per cent of its staff will have “working-class backgrounds” by 2030.

“If all of those people who come from a working-class background have been through university, KPMG is not going to look any different to what it looks like now,” Stowell warned.

Vocational and technical students ‘deserve more respect’

SMF director James Kirkup, who chaired the event, said that he could still not remember anyone without a degree applying for a job at the foundation. He felt that he “should do more to try and cast our recruiting net wider to people who did not go to university”. And after the event, he told FE Week that the SMF is “always looking for new ways to promote vacancies to a wider pool of applicants.

“I’d welcome thoughts from FE Week’s readers on how best to do that.”

Kirkup said the foundation is interested in the issues Stowell raises because they want a “more harmonious society”.

Also, people who have a vocational and technical education “deserve more attention and respect from the people who make policy and help set the national conversation”.

DfE and provider locked in legal battle over terminated contracts

A training provider is suing the education secretary in the High Court after the firm’s FE loans and apprenticeship contracts were “unconscionably” terminated.

The Department for Education ended ABIS Resources Limited’s funding agreements in 2018 after discovering that an awarding body had imposed the most serious sanction possible and withdrawn its approval of the provider two years earlier.

Officials claimed that ABIS was in breach of its contracts because it failed to immediately and formally notify the DfE of the sanction when it was first enforced in June 2016. The alleged deceit also led to the provider being “mistakenly” accepted on to the government’s apprenticeship provider register.

But ABIS claims there was “no proper basis” for the termination because it had in fact notified the department of the awarding body “dispute” at the time.

High Court documents obtained by FE Week show the provider is now seeking damages worth £600,000.

The DfE, on behalf of the secretary of state – whom the contracts are technically entered with – is contesting the case and even counter-alleges the provider owes the government more than £100,000 in overclaimed loans funding.

This is believed to be the first time a training provider has taken the DfE all the way to court over terminated skills funding contracts.

A date for the case has yet to be decided, but a “costs and case management conference” is set to be heard by a judge on the next available date after October 30, 2021.

‘Serious misrepresentation’ leads to provider’s RoATP place

ABIS Resources, based in London, was set up in 2006 to offer a range of commercial and publicly funded courses. It is currently owned by Muhammad Shiraz Uddin.

The firm initially delivered Train to Gain courses until the controversial scheme was scrapped in 2010.

ABIS moved into the advanced learner loans market in 2015, holding direct contracts with the then Skills Funding Agency totalling almost £650,000 until 2018.

The provider was also a subcontractor to a firm called Hudson and Hughes Training Limited (HHTL) in 2016, delivering Access to HE qualifications from an awarding body called AIM Awards.

ABIS and HHTL had the same director, Balvinder Janjua, at the time.

AIM imposed a level 5 sanction – the most serious sanction an awarding body can place upon a provider – and withdrew its accreditation of ABIS in June 2016. This was due to “failure to comply with Access Validating Agency and Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education regulations and failure to provide assurances in respect of robust quality assurance, including poor assessor/internal moderation assessment practice”, according to correspondence received by the funding agency at the time.

The court documents show that AIM did write to the Skills Funding Agency on May 5, 2016 to “advise” officials that it had permanently withdrawn ABIS’s approval, which the DfE admits to receiving and is pertinent to the decision to terminate the provider’s contracts two years later.

ABIS Resources ‘particulars of claim’ against the DfE

ABIS claims that it also notified the DfE of the dispute “in writing” at the time, and despite alleged knowledge of the issue, the department entered a fresh advanced learner loans contract with the provider in May 2017.

The DfE also accepted ABIS’s application to the register of apprenticeship training providers (RoATP) in the same month.

However, the DfE contests that it received formal notification of the AIM sanction from ABIS, even though the provider was “contractually required to do so”.

The department said this failure “breached” ABIS’s funding agreement and was the reason for termination.

Additionally, RoATP applications asked providers whether “in the last three years have there been any issues preventing the award of a qualification, or apprenticeship, to your learners?”, to which ABIS responded “no”.

The DfE said this “serious misrepresentation” was the only reason the provider was accepted on to the register because the AIM sanction was hidden from the officials who processed the application.

In correspondence described in the court papers, ABIS claims there was a “misunderstanding of the question, but that has been completely unintentional and inadvertent”. The provider claimed it answered “no” because it believed the learners concerned in the AIM sanction were registered with HHTL, as the claimant was “only a subcontractor for delivery of that course” and the dispute “did not concern the award of qualifications”.

The DfE makes clear that ABIS was the relevant provider on whom the sanction was imposed and that it was entitled to remove RoATP applicants “in the event that it had included misleading information”.

A joint notice of termination for the advanced learner loans and apprenticeships contracts was served by the DfE to ABIS on October 31, 2017, citing breach of contract owing to the provider’s alleged failure to notify the department formally of the AIM sanction.

The DfE provides no explanation of why it took over a year to take action against ABIS, despite admitting to receiving information about the case from AIM on May 5, 2016.

But following threat of a judicial review from ABIS, the DfE backtracked on the provider’s exclusion from RoATP because it “should have been given the opportunity to make representations in relation to its removal”.

The DfE states that it “resisted” the judicial review and the proceedings were “dismissed at permission stage as having no real prospects of success”.

Subsequently, the department served a fresh notice of termination on April 3, 2018 in respect of both ABIS’s loans and apprenticeship agreements.

This notice “relied upon the general termination clauses which did not require the satisfaction of specific grounds,” according to the court documents.

‘It was unconscionable to terminate the relationship in all those circumstances’

ABIS’s key argument is that the ESFA “had been made aware of the issue concerning AIM from at least May 5, 2016” and “took no action against the claimant at that stage”.

Their lawyers add: “It was unconscionable to terminate the relationship in all those circumstances.”

ABIS alleges that it has suffered “loss and damage” as a result of the DfE’s “breach of contract”.

It is claiming for outstanding monies “due in respect of learners for whom courses were legitimately delivered” under the agreements of £354,508, and lost revenue totalling £247,678 from learners who had already applied to, and been registered with, ABIS for whom the provider “had a reasonable expectation that they would proceed with their courses”.

ABIS is also claiming for costs of staff “legitimately retained to ensure satisfactory delivery of courses under both agreements” of £60,000, as well as “interest from February 1, 2018 at a daily rate of £140.75.”

In the DfE’s counterclaim, the department denies that ABIS has “suffered any loss or damage” and demands the provider providers “strict proof” about the scale of its alleged loss.

The DfE goes on to claim that ABIS was in fact “improperly paid” £108,286 in loans funding and related bursary payments, and it is demanding repayment of these.

In addition, the department “seeks interest on those sums from the date on which they were wrongly paid until judgment”.

ABIS, the DfE and AIM said they could not comment as legal proceedings are ongoing.

Ministers ponder pilot scheme for ‘mini-UTCs’ within schools

Ministers are considering plans to open mini-university technical colleges (UTCs) within schools.

The Baker Dearing Trust, the licensing body for the colleges created by former education secretary Lord Baker, is hoping to pilot what they call “UTC sleeves” in ten schools across England.

Discussions were held with the Department for Education this month about the plan. The trust was hopeful of a final decision within the next couple of weeks but fears this may now be pushed back following last week’s reshuffle.

Simon Connell, the trust’s chief executive, told FE Week the “sleeves” would “mirror what a UTC does” on a smaller scale.

But experts warn the scheme could create a place where only academically low-performing pupils are sent. One union boss has also labelled the idea as another “vanity project” of UTC architect Lord Baker.

UTC sleeve could be used in place of new schools

Much like the 48 UTCs, the miniature versions would focus on science, technology, engineering and maths subjects and would be open to students from age 14.

Each school’s sleeve would have two specialisms, again like a normal UTC, such as health or engineering.

This UTC pathway would run alongside a school’s academic pathway, with an employer board to shape the curriculum.

Since 2010, schools have been judged on their GCSE entries to English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects, such as English, maths, science, languages, to the detriment of technical subjects.

But the new pathway would be judged on destinations and exam results, not on EBacc.

utcs
Simon Connell

Connell told FE Week the “sleeves” could be created instead of building full, brand new UTCs that “cost a lot of money”.

He said the Baker Dearing Trust has already passed the names of ten “willing” schools to the DfE who want to take part in the pilot. He suggested the DfE could use part of the £2.5 billion National Skills Fund to pay for the equipment, facilities and extra staff capacity needed to “embed the curriculum”.

Before Gavin Williamson left as education secretary and a new DfE ministerial team was appointed last week, the department was “working really closely” with the trust on a pilot, Connell added.

But details such as when it could run, for how many students and what resources it could need are still being ironed out.

A DfE spokesperson said officials “continue to have productive discussions with the Baker Dearing Trust on how best to strengthen technical education”.

But “no decision has been taken on piloting new approaches” so far.

Unions slam UTCs scheme as ‘vanity project’

Jonathan Simons, director of lobbyists Public First and a former government education adviser, said the trust should “stop trying to make 14 to 19 happen”.

While integrating students within existing school and having wider teaching and learning was a “good idea,” mini-UTCs suffer “from the same sheep and goats route at age 14” as UTCs, he told FE Week.

“Ultimately, we need a broad and balanced – and academic – education for all until 16, and then a choice of different and well-funded routes after that, including on technical education.”

Kenneth Baker

When asked by FE Week if UTC sleeves could become a “dumping ground” for students who are struggling academically, Connell said schools “can’t really do that any more” as they are “found out by Ofsted and the DfE”. Another disincentive would be that the student would remain within the school.

National Education Union joint-general secretary Kevin Courtney said the sleeves would have to be “a genuine choice for learners rather than a place where they are sent if they are not going to get their target grades”.

The union boss also slammed the scheme as a “vanity project”, and expressed concerns it would not “solve the fundamental issues about how our curriculum is organised”.

UTCs have been fraught with recruitment and quality issues since they were launched by Lord Baker in 2010. Eleven have been forced to close their doors due to low student numbers or poor Ofsted reports.

However, the Baker Dearing Trust reported this week the number of students on roll at UTCs across the country has shot up by ten per cent on last year, increasing from 15,861 to 17,504. The numbers have risen by 42 per cent since 2017, when UTCs had 12,304 learners on roll in total.

FA pitches in to help the ‘Good for me, Good for FE’ campaign

College students and staff helping to generate £1 million in social value as part of the Good for Me, Good for FE campaign have gained a new ally – the FA.

The English Football Association will be assisting the campaign by training up volunteers for grassroots football using its BT Playmaker scheme.

The free online course, run by the FA and telecoms giant BT, offers training in responding to concussion and cardiac arrests, planning activities that help train players and making football sessions inclusive.

It is hoped the four-and-a-half-hourlong course will give volunteers from the over 100 colleges signed up to the campaign greater opportunities to volunteer locally and work towards that £1 million target.

Jo Maher

Loughborough College principal Jo Maher, who helps organise the Good for Me, Good for FE campaign, says she is “absolutely delighted” to have the FA’s support.

The campaign recognises that football has been “hit hard” during the pandemic as it meant fewer volunteers to keep it running.

So, the FA’s course “gives people the skills to be able to go and volunteer, and increases their confidence in what’s required,” says Maher.

Aside from helping the campaign, sports fan Maher said: “Grassroots football is reliant on the success of our brilliant volunteers across the football family.”

Good for Me, Good for FE, which launched in June, is calculating social value by working out the monetary value of volunteering hours carried out by participants.

The national volunteering manager at the grassroots division of the FA, Paul Findlay, believes there is “great synergy” between BT Playmaker and Good for Me, Good for FE.

“We want to help raise awareness of the benefits of volunteering generally – as well as giving access to a free training programme for anyone interested in supporting community football.”

Two college strikes called off, but 13 more set to go ahead

Strikes at two colleges have been called off after leadership struck a deal to improve staff pay.

But industrial action at 13 other colleges is still set to begin next week after management refused to meet University and College Union demands.

UCU members in 15 colleges across England had voted to walk out in a row about pay earlier this summer. College bosses were given until September to increase staff pay by more than five per cent.

Among them was Sheffield College and City College Plymouth, which have both now found resolutions to end the dispute.

UCU head of further education Andrew Harden said: “Management at both City College Plymouth and Sheffield College have listened to staff and made an offer on pay and working conditions that has been accepted.

“Therefore, these colleges will no longer face the severe disruption of industrial action from Tuesday. We hope other employers take note and come back to the negotiating table.”

The UCU and both colleges were, however, unable to provide details of their pay deals at the time of going to press.

Paul Simpson, the executive director for people at The Sheffield College, said: “We are pleased that this issue has been resolved.

“During the last three years, we have offered pay awards above the sector average, including raising the minimum wage to the level of the foundation living wage, reflecting our commitment to investing in our staff.”

A City College Plymouth spokesperson said: “We are pleased to be able to confirm that we have reached an agreement.”

Up to ten days of strike action at the other 13 colleges will begin next week.

Five colleges will spend ten days on the picket line while eight colleges will initially walk out for three days (see table).

UCU said its members have a mandate for further action and that more waves of strikes are on the cards if employers refuse to meet its demands.

In December 2020, the Association of Colleges recommended colleges give their staff a one per cent pay rise because of the unforeseen and “severe financial pressure” colleges were facing owing to the Covid-19 pandemic that has “forced many into deficit”.

But the offer was still condemned by UCU, Unite the Union, Unison, GMB and the National Education Union.

According to UCU, the pay gap between college and schoolteachers currently stands at £9,000 as staff working in further education have suffered real terms pay cuts of over 30 per cent in the past decade.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “College staff are angry at having had their pay held down whilst workloads increase.

“It is completely unacceptable and is especially insulting after staff have worked so hard throughout the Covid pandemic. College leaders urgently need to come to the negotiating table if they want to avoid facing sustained strike action and severe disruption over the next few months.”

Staff at all affected colleges are taking action over pay, but at City & Islington College, Westminster Kingsway College and the College of North East London, which are all part of the Capital City College Group, the dispute also includes other working conditions.

Spending review: AoC calls for largest ever FE cash boost

The Association of Colleges is making its largest ever call for investment in FE.

In its submission to Treasury ahead of next month’s spending review and autumn budget, the AoC argues for a 50 per cent increase in total revenue spending on further education and skills. This would mean that in 2024/25, the sector’s revenue budget will have increased to £11.8 billion from today’s £7.9 billion.

The spending review will provide all government departments with their spending parameters for the next three years.

For its capital proposals, the AoC wants to see spending increase by £605 million, to £813 million in 2024/25.

In a letter to the chancellor, AoC chief executive David Hughes states: “This is one of so many letters you will receive asking for a boost in funding… I would ask you to view our asks as investments which will give you, the public finances, people and businesses returns which will help pay for other public services.”

David Hughes

Proposals within the AoC’s near 6,000-word submission cut across three priority areas: closing skills gaps, addressing lost learning and inequalities, and reaching a net-zero carbon economy.

“Rebuilding the country and meeting the challenges of the future is going to require determined action on long-standing inequalities across the education system, rising to the challenges posed by climate change and recognising that without colleges, levelling up will remain merely a slogan,” Hughes said.

College wonks have capitalised on the first multi-year spending review since 2015, arguing for an annual five per cent increase in both adult skills and 16-to-18 education budgets for the next three years. This would take the 16-to-18 base rate from £4,188 today to £4,848 in 2024/25.

Other proposals include a new £150 million climate action capital budget to fund colleges’ green estates plans, grants and loans for living costs to support the government’s lifelong learning agenda, and raiding the “unused university restructuring budget” to create a small, new college restructuring fund.

On apprenticeships, the AoC is calling for the government to take greater control, more incentives to encourage employers to prioritise new job entrants over existing workers, “weighted” funding for practical and growth sectors and for built-in progression incentives from other programmes, such as Kickstart and traineeships. The apprenticeship levy, though, should be maintained at its current level.

Whitehall departments, including the Department for Education, have been asked to find at least five per cent in savings, prompting alarm about the possibility of funding cuts, rather than increases.

Individuals and organisations have until 5pm on September 30 to submit a spending review submission to the Treasury. The full AoC submission can be found online.

‘I have no time for snobbery in education’ – Keir Starmer

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer has set out his vision for education and training. 

Ahead of the Labour Party’s annual conference, which begins in Brighton this weekend, the leader of the opposition has published an essay outlining his vision the country under a Labour government. 

Ready for the future of work

Starmer says UK education policy is “currently failing to prepare pupils for the future workplace”, citing evidence from coverage of research by Learning and Work Institute and Worldskills UK on digital skills shortages.

City & Guilds chief executive Kirstie Donnelly’s warnings, published in FE Week in February 2020, on the damaging impacts of skills gaps on productivity, the UK’s poor productivity performance among the G7 and “worrying” decline in social mobility are used by Starmer to justify action.

One solution offered is a “New Deal for Working People” which Starmer says he will bring in to law in his first 100 days as prime minister and would “provide security and opportunities for people across the country, with improved conditions, quality jobs, training and better pay”.

‘Exciting’ vocational education routes 

In a section lamenting differences in attainment and opportunities for people from independent school backgrounds and state school backgrounds, Starmer takes aim at the academic and vocational education divide saying: “I have no time for those who say that when it comes to poorer children, we should stick to the hard, vocational skills.

“No well-off family would ever consider denying their own children these experiences – so why should we not demand the same for the 90 per cent of British children who do not attend independent school?”

Without much detail, Starmer calls for vocational education routes to be “far more exciting, accessible and rewarding” and says that an education vision under a Labour government “cannot just mean a narrow focus on university education”.

Starmer is set to address the Labour Party’s annual conference in Brighton at midday on Wednesday 29 September. 

Revealed: Second wave of providers and colleges chosen for WorldSkills UK’s Centre of Excellence

The first private training providers to take part in WorldSkills UK’s Centre of Excellence programme have been named.

London-based Firebrand Training and Kent-based JTL have been included in the second wave of the project, alongside 15 colleges, where staff will receive 60 hours of training in techniques used to train WorldSkills UK competitors.

Ben Hansford, managing director of Firebrand’s apprenticeship provision, said being part of the centre “strengthens our commitment to reskilling the UK in much-needed digital competencies,” with digital being their specialist area.

“We’re looking forward to building upon our already highly-valued training methods and work towards our vision of closing the growing digital skills gap.”

Independent and employer providers were first invited to apply for the Centre of Excellence when applications for its second wave opened in June.

The 15 colleges selected alongside the two private providers are made up of six English colleges, one Scottish, two Welsh, and a consortium of six Northern Irish colleges (see table below).

When the programme launched last year, 20 colleges were selected to be taught by high performance skills coaches – who also train WorldSkills UK competitors.

JTL’s director of learning and innovation Liam Sammon said it was an “extra level of honour” to be picked.

Five of their tutors will work directly with their assigned WorldSkills UK high performance coach, who will “equip them with the knowledge and skills to support their fellow teachers with a range of skills, practices, and methods to embed excellence into teaching practice and improve the learner experience”.

Colleges ‘excited to be chosen’

English colleges to be chosen in this second wave include Weston College, Oldham College and Blackpool and the Fylde College.

worldskills
Paul Philips

Weston’s principal Paul Philips said the “prestigious upskilling opportunity for staff” the centre provides “will mean learners can learn the very best practices in order to prepare them for success in the world of work”.

The centre was launched last year by WorldSkills UK, with £1.5 million from awarding body NCFE.

Digital masterclasses, featuring sessions with training managers from other countries, have also been run as part of the three-year pilot project.

Oldham College’s principal Alun Francis said his college is “proud” to accepted into this second wave, calling it “another significant step in our work to deliver world-class skills provision”.

The centre will “enable our staff to equip the next generation of talent to the very best standards and sharing their new-found skills with colleagues and learners across every course and industry sector”.

Blackpool’s head of 16 to 19 provision Philip Grant said they were “delighted to receive a world-class skills boost after being selected for the elite Centre of Excellence”.

“This will help amplify the quality and delivery of our technical and professional training and allow us to transfer the expertise and knowledge gained, through sharing international best practice, direct to our students.”

Centre of Excellence ‘hugely oversubscribed,’ says WorldSkills UK

worldskills
Neil Bentley-Gockmann

WorldSkills UK’s chief executive Neil Bentley-Gockmann said the Centre of Excellence programme is “going through the gears,” having proven to be “hugely oversubscribed”.

This new wave of participants for the centre “means that we are now supporting young people the length and breadth of the UK”.

Providers chosen for the WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence second wave
Blackpool and the Fylde College
City of Glasgow College
Coleg Cambria
Firebrand Training (London)
Gower College (Swansea)
JTL
New College Durham
Northern Ireland consortium of six colleges
Oldham College
Solihull College and University Centre
Waltham Forest College
Weston College

ESFA fires warning shot to colleges over related party transactions

Colleges have been told to improve their reporting of related party transactions after the Education and Skills Funding Agency found cases where conflicts had not been properly declared.

In a letter to accounting officers today, the ESFA’s interim chief executive John Edwards warned college bosses the issue is “key” to ensuring public confidence in the sector.

He said in a “minority of cases”, it “hasn’t been clear from the disclosure itself that the process for managing potential conflicts of interest had been fully observed”.

For example, “individuals with an interest not always completely stepping aside from the awarding of contracts”.

While Edwards does not name the specific cases, he stated that in some instances the ESFA has had to run “further checks”.

Colleges must disclose any transactions with organisations and individuals they have a close association with in their financial statements every year.

One case of non-disclosure the ESFA might be referring to is Hull College, which partnered with a firm called 8-Bit Symphony to run its first ever music event in 2019. 8-Bit Symphony was co-founded by the college’s executive director for marketing and innovation, who was also the husband of the then-chief executive of the college. The contract was not declared in the college’s 2018/19 accounts.

‘Substantial number’ of OfS non-compliance cases

Edwards’ letter also warned colleges to check their compliance with Office for Students conditions of registration after finding a “substantial number” of issues in 2019/20.

He said: “Colleges that are registered with OfS are required to comply with their conditions of registration, including the requirements of the OfS accounts direction.

“This includes some requirements over and above those required by the ESFA.

“We have found that for the year 2019 to 2020 a substantial number of registered colleges had not fully complied with these requirements. I expect that colleges will fulfil all requirements of the OfS accounts direction for the year 2020 to 2021.”

You can read the letter in full here.